The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a financing package under which NPC Ukrenergo will be allocated EUR 372 million to support urgent repair of damage caused by Russian bombing of civil energy infrastructure.
According to the bank’s press release, the company will be provided with a state-guaranteed loan of EUR 300 million, as well as a grant of EUR 72 million from the Netherlands.
In particular, EUR 150 million is provided for the purchase of equipment for emergency recovery work, another EUR 150 million is provided for the support of the capital structure of the NPC. Separately, part of the emergency repair loan will be supplemented by a grant from the Netherlands.
“This will be blended into a single EUR 372 million package to support the immediate transmission infrastructure restoration needs of Ukrenergo,” the EBRD said.
The Bank says that EBRD investments in Ukraine are made with the support of donors and partners. The United States of America, which has contributed $500 million to the EBRD’s Crisis Response Fund and is strongly committed to addressing to the impact of the war on Ukraine, will support up to 50 per cent of the EBRD’s loan with a funded guarantee.
“Urgent repairs on Ukraine’s electricity network is an immediate priority for the EBRD. The Ukrainian people and businesses need continued access to electricity to go through the winter. With this important financing, we will help Ukrenergo perform swift emergency repairs of damaged equipment, high voltage substations and transmission lines. It will ensure the continued provision of vital power transmission services during the heating season for Ukrainian households, businesses and communities,” said EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso.
“The EBRD condemns in the strongest possible way the unprovoked and unjustified Russia-led war on Ukraine and especially the strikes on civilian infrastructure,” the message reads.
The Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) increased the forecast for the harvest of grain and oilseeds in Ukraine in 2022 by 4.4% compared to the August forecast, to 67.5 million tonnes from 64.5 million tonnes, according to the UGA website on Wednesday.
This change in forecasts is due to an increase in the area where the crop will be harvested, as well as an improvement in the average yield from 3.57 tonnes/ha to 3.64 tonnes/ha.
According to it, the total export of grain and oilseeds from Ukraine in the 2022/2023 marketing year (MY, July-June) can reach 47.5 million tonnes (in the forecast for August, 31% less – 32.8 million tonnes), provided that marine grain corridors are operational until the end of the marketing year. At the same time, the transitional balances of agricultural products in the country at the beginning of 2022/2023 MY amounted to 26 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds, and by the end of the MY they are estimated at 19.2 million tonnes (in the forecast for August, 37% more – 30.5 million tonnes).
“In general, export of grain and oilseeds in 2022/2023 MY can be expected at the indicated level if the Ukrainian Black Sea ports continue to operate until the end of the season. Exporting grain through Ukrainian ports and ensuring the safety of navigation in the Black Sea is the only way to quickly and efficiently supply Ukrainian grain to countries that are in dire need of it,” the organization said in a statement.
According to UGA forecasts, in 2022, a wheat harvest is expected at the level of 19.3 million tonnes (1.5% more compared to the August forecast); 24 million tonnes of corn (forecast kept); 5.6 million tonnes of barley (3.7% more); 10 million tonnes of sunflower (11% more); 3.6 million tonnes of soybeans (1.6 times more); and 3.15 million tonnes of rapeseed (5% more).
In the November forecast, the association raised its export forecasts compared to August ones – for example, wheat exports in 2022/2023 MY are expected at the level of 13 million tonnes (33% more), corn – 20 million tonnes (a 2-fold increase), barley – 2 million tonnes (forecast is kept), sunflower – 6 million tonnes (forecast is kept), soybean – 3.5 million tonnes (an increase of 2 times), and rapeseed – 2.8 million tonnes (forecast is kept).
“We estimate the preliminary forecast for the harvest of grain and oilseeds for the next 2023 at the level of 53.2 million tonnes, and export at the level of 39.7 million tonnes. Everything will depend on the conditions under which Ukrainian farmers will be able to carry out spring sowing, and subsequently harvest crops,” the UGA said in the statement.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov announced a drop in Internet traffic in Ukraine due to shelling of the energy infrastructure by the troops of the aggressor country Russia.
“Due to massive missile strikes by Russian terrorists, Internet traffic has been down in many regions. Emergency power outages. Communication towers and fixed-line operators switched to generators whenever possible. Mobile operators where the towers operate are overloaded with traffic,” Fedorov wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday evening.
He said that the team of the Ministry of Digital Transformation centrally helps organize the delivery of diesel fuel to operators and providers, as well as in solving other operational problems.
“A challenge that no country has seen in the field of telecommunication. As in other industries. We will overcome it. We clearly know what to do. We are working,” the Deputy Prime Minister stressed.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal called on Canadian companies to invest in Ukraine now.
“Those who first invest in Ukraine will benefit the most in the future. Speaking at the “Rebuild Ukraine” business conference organized by Canada, called on Canadian companies to join in the reconstruction of our country already now. Ukraine’s civil and energy infrastructure continues to take blows from Russian terrorists. Pointed to the importance of assistance from Canadian businesses in providing critical needs of the state”, – wrote Shmygal in Telegram-channel.
Also priority areas of investment, according to the Prime Minister, are: security and defense industry, the agricultural sector, energy, IT and new infrastructure.
“We are negotiating with IFC and MIGA on insurance of military risks to intensify the attraction of investments. Sovereign bonds of 500 million Canadian dollars issued by the Canadian government will also be an important tool to strengthen Ukraine,” he added.
International insurance broker Oakeshott Insurance Group Ltd (OIG), broker Lloyd’s of London, and London Marine Insurance Services Ltd (LMIS) signed a cooperation agreement in Ukraine on November 9, according to a press release from Oakeshott.
“Due to internal changes in the business, intending to specialize mainly in insurance and reinsurance of marine risks, cargo and energy, Internet insurance and at the request of our colleagues in Kyiv, we reached an understanding with London Marine Insurance Services Ltd. Our Kyiv colleagues, contract reinsurers will join LMIS and take care of Oakeshott’s Ukrainian contract reinsurance clients.
According to the press service, Oakeshott will continue to be liable for contracts, and asks to put it in copies of all correspondence until LMIS is fully operational, and all obligations under previously concluded contracts are, by law, removed from Oakeshott.
According to the announcement, Oakeshott London/Valencia will develop its usual specialized operations: direct marine, cargo, energy insurance and all types of facultative reinsurance from different countries (the broker now operates in 22 countries).
“In Ukraine, we will work with our maritime clients, a number of whom have been friends with us since the early 1990s. We will also develop online sales operations,” the report says.
Broker Oakeshott, registered in the UK in 1993, has had a representative office in Ukraine since 2000
Earlier it was reported that on November 11, the National Bank of Ukraine entered a representative office of London Marine Insurance Services Limited into the State Register of Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers.
The Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine has updated indirect housing construction cost indicators by region for the first time since the war, the ministry’s press service said, citing Deputy Minister Natalia Kozlovskaya.
The corresponding order Minregion signed on November 17, 2022.
Previously, since February 24, 2022, due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation, state statistics agencies suspended publication of statistical information needed to calculate the indirect cost of construction.
Given the importance and the need to address this issue, according to Kozlovska, the Ministry of Regional Development initiated a change in the procedure for determining and applying the indirect cost of housing construction by regions of Ukraine, which allowed to restore the process.
“During martial law to calculate the indirect cost of construction, the indicators calculated as of January 1, 2022, adjusted for the consumer price index provided by the State Statistics Committee,” – explained the deputy minister.
The updated figures are calculated as of October 1, 2022 and are published on the website of the Ministry.
The indirect indicators of housing construction costs by regions are used to determine the amount of public investment directed to the construction of housing for citizens in need of better housing conditions and state support in accordance with legislative acts of Ukraine, to determine the share of public investment in the construction of such housing and the amount of soft loans granted to certain categories of citizens to address housing issues.
