Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in the first ten months of 2024 increased by 29.3% compared to the same period last year to $105.559 million (in October – $12.243 million).
In 2023, exports of aluminum and aluminum products increased by 0.7% compared to 2022 to $97.616 million.
In January-October 2024, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 22.3% to $376.269 million (in October – $42.993 million).
In addition, in 2023, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 7.7% to $366.463 million.
Aluminum is widely used as a structural material. The main advantages of aluminum are its lightness, stamping resistance, corrosion resistance, high thermal conductivity, and non-toxicity of its compounds. In particular, these properties have made aluminum extremely popular in the production of cookware, aluminum foil in the food industry, and packaging. The first three properties have made aluminum the main raw material in the aviation and aerospace industries (recently it has been replaced by composite materials, primarily carbon fiber). After the construction and production of packaging, such as aluminum cans and foil, the energy sector is the largest consumer of the metal.
On Thursday, 11/14/2024, an auction for the sale of a special permit for the extraction of granodiorite from the Yarivske deposit (site 1971) in the Rivne region was held in the electronic system of JSC Prozorro.Sale. NADRA.INFO reports with reference to UBIZ.ua.
Yarivsky quarry is located in the Yarovyi Dol tract near Tomashgorod and has been operating since 1948.
As of 01.01.2024, the remaining reserves of the Yarivske deposit (1971 site), accounted for by the State Balance of Mineral Reserves of Ukraine “Building Stone”, are as follows (thousand m3) by category A – 1965.5, B – 7064.2, C1 – 4407.8; A+B+C1 – 13437.5; C2 – 2850.6.
The auction was the second repeat auction, so it started with UAH 9.3 million, which is half as much as the first auction (UAH 18.6 million), which did not take place on October 08, 2024 due to the lack of participants.
This time, there were two bidders for the Yarivske field license. Dalgakiran Compressor Ukraine LLC offered UAH 9,407,800 for the lot, and Yarivsky Grancarrier PrJSC won with a bid of UAH 9,408,000.
Yarivsky Grancarrier was founded in 1993. The authorized capital is UAH 9,587,473. Registered in Tomashgorod, Rivne region. The owner is Yana Danylchuk, the director is Mykola Kravets. Yarivsky Grankarier PrJSC previously used the Yarivsky granodiorite deposit on the basis of special permits No. 2958 (invalid) and No. 2192 (canceled).
The nearest granite deposits are in use:
Omnichannel retailer Foxtrot paid UAH 700.5 million in taxes in January-September 2024, exceeding the total amount of taxes paid last year by almost a quarter, the company’s press service reports.
The release clarifies that the company’s turnover (20%) and website traffic (21%) also increased proportionally.
Given the seasonality (which lasted for a long time in the third quarter), the top sellers were charging stations (up almost 10 times compared to the same period last year), air conditioners (+141%), and fans (+135%).
GSM devices (smartphones, tablets, smartwatches) showed moderate growth during the Back-to-School period – by 32%, laptops – by 21%, headphones – by 22%, printers – by 37%.
During the third quarter, Foxtrot opened three new stores. The renovations were carried out in the chain’s stores in Bila Tserkva (Hermes shopping center), Sambir and Odesa (City Center shopping center). The key changes in the renovations included the replacement of commercial equipment, product placement, lighting, and interior design with elements of “embroidery”. In addition, when creating new and renovating existing stores, the company pays attention to creating inclusive retail spaces. In particular, Foxtrot has integrated DEAF ID (a unique electronic identification card for people who are deaf) into the FoxFan loyalty program for customers with hearing impairments.
“Foxtrot is one of Ukraine’s largest omnichannel retail chains in terms of the number of stores and sales of electronics and household appliances. The company operates 123 stores in 67 cities, including the frontline cities of Kherson, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, and an online platform Foxtrot.ua and a mobile application of the same name.
The Foxtrot brand is developed by the Foxtrot group of companies. The co-founders are Valery Makovetsky and Gennady Vykhodtsev.
PJSC Vatutinsky Refractories Plant (VKO, Cherkasy region) reduced its net loss by 24.5% in 2023 compared to 2022, to UAH 119.720 million from UAH 158.506 million. The company’s announcement of a remote annual meeting of shareholders on December 6 this year states that due to losses in 2022-2023, no dividends will be accrued or paid for this period.
The shareholders intend to approve the reports for 2022 and 2023, approve significant transactions, renew the composition of the Supervisory Board and terminate the powers of the members of the Audit Committee.
In addition, the agenda includes the issue of changing the company’s name to Imeris Bagacheve PrJSC.
As reported, in 2021, VKO reduced its net loss by 25% year-on-year to UAH 47.192 million from UAH 62.958 million, with retained earnings at the end of 2021 amounting to UAH 141.884 million.
Vatutinsky Refractories Plant was established on the basis of Novoselytsia kaolin quarry, which has been in development since 1963, and a chamotte firing plant launched in 1970, which was joined by Murzynsky kaolin quarry in 1982. The company specializes in the extraction and processing of secondary kaolins for specialized refractory complex enterprises producing aluminosilicate refractories for metallurgy, energy, mechanical engineering and construction.
The design capacity of VKO’s kilns is 320 thousand tons of calcined kaolin (fireclay) per year.
According to the second quarter of 2024, the plant’s main shareholder is the French company Imerys Refractory Minerals Clerac, which owns 89.3858% of the shares.
The authorized capital of VKO is UAH 5.911 million.
The HACCU ruling to cancel the preventive measure in the form of detention applied to former MP Dmytro Kriuchkov will force courts to more carefully substantiate the risks of absconding and return to more democratic preventive measures, says Olga Kukuyuk, attorney at Barristers.
“This ruling has become an important precedent for national court practice, as it emphasized the need for a more thorough approach to determining the validity of risks, in particular the risk of absconding. The HACCU made it clear that putting a person on the international wanted list cannot in itself be considered a sufficient ground to justify the application of a preventive measure in the form of detention,” she told Interfax-Ukraine.
The lawyer believes that “this decision was a significant step towards improving judicial practice in Ukraine, statistics for 2023 indicate serious problems in the system of making decisions on preventive measures.”
Kukuyuk provides statistics on court decisions on the application of preventive measures. Thus, in 2023, the HACCU AP considered 1182 cases, of which 999 concerned appeals against the decisions of investigating judges. Of these decisions, 132, or 13.2%, were overturned, which indicates a significant number of errors in the decisions of the first instance courts.
According to the lawyer, “the statistics emphasize the need to improve the quality of substantiation and thorough analysis of facts by investigating judges”.
“Insufficient attention to the details of the case or misinterpretation of the risks in cases can lead to unreasonable and disproportionate restriction of the rights and freedoms of suspects and defendants,” she said.
Kukuyuk also drew attention to the statistics of refusals to apply preventive measures: in 2023, the rate of refusals to apply preventive measures decreased to 5.9%, while in 2019 this figure was 23.8%.
“The downward trend in the number of refusals to apply measures of restraint is worrying. On the one hand, this may indicate a tougher approach on the part of judges when deciding on the application of a preventive measure. However, on the other hand, such indicators may indicate a tendency to restrict the rights of individuals through the unjustified application of preventive measures,” the lawyer believes.
In addition, Kukuyuk noted that the restriction of the right to cassation appeal against decisions of investigating judges on preventive measures further complicates the situation, as persons appealing against preventive measures in the vast majority of cases do not have the opportunity to verify the legality of decisions of higher court judges.
According to statistics for 2023, out of 128 cassation appeals filed against decisions of the HACC Appeals Chamber, 31.2% were rejected because they were not subject to cassation appeal.
“This fact indicates a restriction of access to justice for suspects and accused persons. At the same time, 4.6% of complaints were satisfied due to significant violations of the criminal procedural law, and 1.6% due to incorrect application of the law, which indicates the need to improve the quality of court decisions,” Kukuyuk said.
“From my own experience, I consider it necessary to add that the practice of the HACCU AP does not have a single approach to determining the procedural consequences of putting a person on the international wanted list for criminal proceedings in the context of establishing the fact of hiding a person from pre-trial investigation and court,” the lawyer said.
Kukuyuk emphasized that the prosecution in each case must prove with proper evidence that the suspect is evading investigation or trial, “however, the HACCU has repeatedly ignored the conclusion of the higher court.”
“In general, the decision of the HACCU to cancel the preventive measure in the case of Dmytro Kriuchkov is a positive signal for the Ukrainian judicial system about the need to improve law enforcement practice, ensure the rights and freedoms of citizens and minimize possible abuses in criminal proceedings,” the lawyer emphasized.
As reported in October 2020, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) completed an investigation into the suspected abuse of power by the acting chairman of the board of Cherkasyoblenergo (Svitlana Kuzminska and Oleksii Bezpalyi), acting CEO of Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo (Ihor Kornilenkov) and chairman of the board of Energomerezha (Dmytro Kriuchkov). Kriuchkov is involved in the case of misappropriation of UAH 346 million from Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, where more than 60% of the shares belong to the state.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/general/1027439.html
In January-October 2024, Ukrgasvydobuvannya JSC and Ukrnafta PJSC increased commercial gas production by 6% compared to the same period last year, up to 12.3 bcm, according to the website of Naftogaz of Ukraine.
“Despite the hostilities, our specialists continue to drill new wells and steadily increase gas production. We are doing everything possible to ensure that Ukrainians can continue to use their own fuel during the heating season,” said Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov.
As reported, the consolidated quarterly report of Naftogaz forecasts that the group’s commercial gas production in 2024 will amount to 14.6 billion cubic meters. In February, Chernyshov noted that the group’s goal for this year is to get closer to 15 bcm of production.
