Germany will provide Ukraine with an additional EUR100 million in aid this winter, Reuters quoted the country’s Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock as saying.
During a visit to Moldova on Tuesday, she said that Russia continues to attack the Ukrainian energy infrastructure and is planning a “winter war to make the lives of people in Ukraine as horrible as possible.”
As reported, Russian Federation fired 127 missiles and 109 attack drones on the territory of Ukraine on August 26, 2024. The NEC Ukrenergo recognized this attack on energy facilities as the most large-scale one since the beginning of the war.
At the same time, Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure are recorded almost daily.
Gold continues to rise in price and break records on the back of a weaker US dollar and on expectations of a significant interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this week. Based on futures quotes on the rate level, the probability of its reduction by 50 basis points (bps) by the Federal Reserve is estimated by the market at 67% compared to 25% a month ago, according to CME FedWatch.
In addition, demand for gold as a safe-haven asset has intensified following the second assassination attempt on U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump last weekend, Trading Economics noted.
“A fragmented world laden with geopolitical risks and debt will continue to support the price” of gold, notes Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank.
Analysts Goldman Sachs confirmed their forecast, according to which the precious metal may rise to $ 2700 per ounce in early 2025 due to lower interest rates in the U.S. and increased demand for gold from the Central Bank of emerging market countries. However, they noted that if the Fed raises the rate by only 25 bp, prices for precious metal may show a short-term pullback, Bloomberg reports.
Experts of the Australian bank ANZ also expect prices to rise to $2700 per ounce in the near future.
Quotes of October gold futures on the Comex exchange are now $2588.7 per ounce, which is $3.5 (0.1%) above the level at the close of the previous session. Since the beginning of this year, the precious metal has risen in price by more than a quarter.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 occurred in Romania at 17:40 Kyiv time, with tremors also felt in the city of Odesa. According to the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center, the epicenter was located in the Vrancha Zone in the Carpathians at a depth of 137 km.
Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov reported no casualties or damage in the city.
“An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 occurred in Romania. It was felt in Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, including Odesa. There was no information about damage or injuries in the city,” Trukhanov wrote on Telegram.
In local social media, users reported that the tremors were also felt in Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Bila Tserkva in Kyiv Oblast.
The volume of marketable products of Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (Kyiv KBC, Obukhiv, Kyiv region), the leader of the industry in Ukraine by this indicator, in January-August 2024 amounted to almost 5 billion 112 million UAH, which is 3.4% more than in the same period of 2023, according to the statistics of the association “UkrPapir”. As reported, the mill has moved to positive dynamics of production volume following the results of the first quarter, while in January-February there was a slight decrease in this indicator.
According to the statistics of UkrPapir, provided to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, in physical terms, the production of corrugated boxes at the mill slightly decreased to 147.8 million square meters, which consistently remains the best indicator in the industry.
Cardboard output decreased by almost 8% to 102.4 thousand tons, including production of containerboard decreased by 7.7% to 84 thousand tons and boxboard by 8% to 18.4 thousand tons.
Production of base paper for sanitary and hygienic products increased by 6.4% to 30.9 thousand tons, and the output of toilet paper in rolls increased by 6.3% to 175.3 million pieces.
The mill is steadily leading in the production of toilet paper in Ukraine – in the first eight months of 2024, the main enterprises of the industry produced a total of 422.4 million rolls, which is 7.2% more than in the same period last year.
According to the association’s data received from the main industry enterprises, in January-August 2024 in Ukraine the output of paper and cardboard increased by 3% by the same period of 2023 – up to 390.5 thousand tons, cardboard boxes – by 17%, up to 384.3 million square meters.
Kiev KBC is the parent company of the group of companies of the same name, one of the largest enterprises in Europe for the production of cardboard and paper products with a staff of more than 2.5 thousand people.
It has, in particular, a cardboard production facility with a capacity of 240 thousand tons per year and a corrugated packaging plant with a capacity of 355 million square meters, as well as a production facility for base paper and finished products with a capacity of 70 thousand tons of base paper annually.
According to the mill, since 2022, the Austrian owner Pulp Mill Holding GMBH has invested almost EUR15m in production modernization projects, and over EUR 360m over the entire period.
As reported, in 2023 the mill produced UAH 7 bln 568 mln worth of products, which is 1.8% more than a year earlier.
Prometey Group of Companies has decided to close three of its 28 grain elevators, as well as to reduce its workforce, which currently numbers more than 1,200 people, according to the company’s website.
“In the third year, the war reached Prometey Group of Companies as well. For the first two years we worked with the resources of the pre-war period, but this could not last long. The problems began with the start of the full-scale invasion. We lost seven grain elevators, 2 thousand hectares of land were under occupation. Of course, business suffered a lot. We realize that it will not be the way it was. But we have done and are doing everything possible to establish the work of the company,” – the press service quotes the head of the business development department of the company, Elena Zinovieva.
In “Prometheus” noted that the support of the domestic agro-sector continued only at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Over time, bank credit programs for the company began to be cut, as a result of which investments in agriculture had to be reduced.
“There is significant pressure on the business from the IRS. Blocking of tax invoices, non-recovery of VAT and unjustified fines have become commonplace for the companies of Prometey agricultural holding. Now two companies of the holding are forced to defend their rights in courts because of illegal actions of tax authorities,” the report adds.
The company hoped for a good harvest in 2024, but the summer in Ukraine was the hottest in the last 100 years. According to the company’s chief agronomist Ilya Troitsky, the harvest of many crops suffered significantly because of this. Although wheat was able to be harvested under favorable weather conditions, yields of soybeans, lentils and sunflowers, which occupied about 7,000 hectares, were extremely low due to the dry summer.
“Despite the difficult conditions Prometey agroholding continues to fight for its survival. However, if the situation does not change soon, the company will have to make radical decisions to save its business,” the report summarizes.
Source: https://prometey.org.ua/post/prometey-borotba-za-biznes-pid-cas-vijni/
