Number of refugees from Ukraine in selected countries as of 31.12.2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
In January-February of this year, ferrous scrap companies increased scrap supplies to Ukrainian steelmakers by 71.4% year-on-year, up to 206 thousand tons from 120.2 thousand tons.
As reported in the operational information of the Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals (UAVtormet) on Thursday, scrap metal procurement in the first two months of this year increased by 70% compared to the same period last year – up to 258.7 thousand tons from 152.2 thousand tons.
At the same time, exports of scrap metal for the period amounted to 40.4 thousand tons compared to 24.8 thousand tons in January-February 2023 (an increase of 62.9%). At the same time, imports of scrap amounted to 0.02 thousand tons, while in January-February 2023 – 0.05 thousand tons.
As of March 1, 2023, the level of scrap stocks at Ukrainian steelmakers was estimated at 20-30 thousand tons.
As reported earlier, ferrous scrap companies may increase their scrap procurement by 17-33% year-on-year in 2024, to 1.5-1.7 million tons.
According to UVTORMET’s forecast, Ukraine will produce 6.8-7 million tons of steel in 2024 (6.228 million tons in 2023 and 6.263 million tons in 2022), procure 1.5-1.7 million tons of scrap metal (1,277.3 thousand tons in 2023 and 996.7 thousand tons in 2022), and steel companies will consume 1,277.3 thousand tons (1,277.3 thousand tons in 2023 and 996.7 thousand tons in 2022). tons in 2023 and 996.7 thousand tons in 2022). tons), steelmakers will consume 1.2-1.4 million tons of scrap (1 million 34.7 thousand tons in 2023 and 895.7 thousand tons in 2022), export 250-300 thousand tons of scrap (182.5 thousand tons and 53.6 thousand tons, respectively), increasing the export of strategic raw materials for steelmakers by 37-64% compared to last year.
The modernization of CHP plants is one of the key priorities for 2024, which the management of Naftogaz Group discussed with the company’s Supervisory Board at an offsite meeting on March 20, 2024.
“The thermal generation facilities transferred to Naftogaz are in an extremely poor condition. They have not been modernized for years, and the war has also had a negative impact on their operation. In today’s environment, they cannot operate efficiently and ensure the proper level of reliability. Therefore, we need to find funds to modernize these facilities,” the Naftogaz Group website said on Thursday, citing its head Oleksiy Chernyshev.
Among the key priorities of the group this year, Naftogaz also highlighted the growth of gas and oil production, an increase in the volume of gas from foreign energy companies in Ukrainian underground storage facilities, the development of customer services for household consumers and the protection of facilities in times of war.
In particular, the group plans to increase natural gas production by 0.5 bcm this year and attract about 4 bcm of gas from foreign traders for storage in Ukrainian underground storage facilities, up from 2.5 bcm in 2023.
“As in the previous year, our top priority remains to increase our own Ukrainian gas and oil production. Our plan for 2024 is to increase natural gas production by at least half a billion cubic meters. We are increasing the pace of drilling new wells, using modern technologies for both subsoil exploration and direct gas production,” Chernyshov said.
As reported with reference to the head of Naftogaz, the group plans to produce 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2024 at the expense of PJSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya (UGV) and PJSC Ukrnafta.
According to Chernyshev, in 2023, UGV produced 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas.
For his part, according to UGV CEO Oleh Tolmachov, in 2023, the company increased gas production by about 700 million cubic meters compared to 2022. In 2022, the company produced 12.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas (commercial).
“In 2023, Ukrnafta increased oil and condensate production by 3% (by 39.9 thousand tons) compared to 2022, to 1 million 409.9 thousand tons, and gas production by 5.8% (by 60.4 million cubic meters), to 1 billion 97.4 million cubic meters.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to transfer six CHPPs from the State Property Fund to Naftogaz of Ukraine (Dniprovska in Kamianske, Mykolaivska, Kryvorizka, Khersonska, Odesa, and Centralized Metallurgical Plant of Sievierodonetska CHPP) in early August 2021. Later, the government decided to increase the authorized capital of the NJSC by UAH 646.248 million through an additional share issue by contributing additional stakes in these CHP plants.
According to preliminary data, a large Ukrainian manufacturer of sowing and tillage machinery Elworthy JSC (formerly Chervona Zirka, Kropivnitsky) has completed 2023 with a loss of UAH 85.85 mln, which is 81.6% more than the same indicator of 2022.
The corresponding information is contained in the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders of the company, scheduled for April 25, published in the disclosure system of the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market (NCSSM).
According to the draft decision of the meeting, the losses are planned to be repaid at the expense of retained earnings of previous years.
According to the Clarity-project resource, the company’s retained earnings amounted to UAH 611.039 million by the beginning of this year.
The meeting also intends, in particular, to re-elect the Supervisory Board.
JSC “Elworthy”, which is part of the group of enterprises “Elworthy Group” of businessman Pavel Shtutman, specializes in the production of seeding and tillage equipment: seeders for sowing grain and row crops, cultivators for continuous and inter-row tillage, disc harrows for resource-saving tillage.
As reported, in January-September 2023, the company has received UAH 59.17 million loss against net profit of UAH 29.3 million for the same period of 2022, with net income falling by 35% to UAH 422.93 million.
According to Clarity-project, net income for the whole of 2023 fell by 34.3% to UAH 490.7m.
The state enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has signed an agreement to supply 110,000 pine and spruce seedlings with a closed root system (CRS) to Slovakia, said the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“We are replacing raw material exports with products of our own production. (…) We are negotiating the purchase of seedlings with a number of clients. Not only European ones,” he wrote on Facebook.
Bolokhovets recalled that for the first time, the Lviv Seed Breeding Center of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” exported seedlings in 2022. The feedback from European customers was positive. Therefore, in 2023, the state-owned enterprise again received a large contract.
The CEO of the state-owned enterprise noted that one of the advantages of planting material from the SCA is the ability to plant it almost all year round, which greatly simplifies the work of foresters. At the same time, the cost of creating a forest is reduced by 35%. After all, modern plants require much less seeds, fertilizers, space, and post-planting maintenance, as seedlings with SCA have more growth energy.
Currently, forest seed plants of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” operate in Zhytomyr, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Lviv, and Kirovohrad regions. This year, another center in Ivano-Frankivsk region has already been launched.
“Our goal is to produce 40 million seedlings per year with SCA. Most of them are intended for Ukraine, but we plan to increase exports as well,” summarized the CEO of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
As reported, Ukraine launched a forestry reform in 2016. As part of it, the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions has already been introduced. Since 2021, an interactive map of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
The industry has implemented the Forest in a Smartphone project, which contains a list of logging tickets for timber harvesting and allows you to check the legality of logging on the agency’s online map.
On June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber. In addition, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has launched a pilot project to procure timber harvesting services through the electronic platform Prozorro.
New York has once again taken the top spot in the list of the world’s largest financial centers, according to a survey by Z/Yen Group Ltd. financial advisory company, which calculates the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI).
New York has been in the lead since the fall of 2018. Compared to the previous version of the ranking, published in September last year, New York’s score increased to 764 from 763, and London’s, which ranks second, to 747 from 744.
The top three leaders are still Singapore with 742 points, followed by Hong Kong in fourth place and San Francisco in fifth. Shanghai moved up to sixth place, Geneva to seventh, while Los Angeles slipped two positions to eighth. Chicago retained its ninth place, while Seoul moved up to tenth, displacing Washington.
The most significant rise in the ranking was demonstrated by São Paulo (up 21 places) and Wellington (up 15), while Miami (down 14 places) and Helsinki (down 12 places) showed the sharpest drops.
Among the financial centers of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Astana is in the lead (66th place).
The World Financial Centers Index was first published in 2007 and is updated every six months (the current edition is the 35th). The latest ranking was based on a survey of nearly 8.5 thousand respondents.
