COP29 plays a key role in the development of green energy in Azerbaijan. This event will provide our country with a unique opportunity to demonstrate its responsible attitude to the use of natural resources by developing green energy.
Jalal Huseynov, chairman of the Ukrainian-Azerbaijani business association Terezi, told AZERTAD.
According to him, Azerbaijan will be able to show its commitment to sustainable development and investment in environmentally friendly technologies.
“This not only reduces dependence on traditional energy sources, but also helps attract international investment, exchange of experience and strengthen cooperation in the field of climate policy. Thus, holding COP29 will be an important step towards a sustainable and environmentally friendly future for Azerbaijan,” J.Huseynov emphasized.
He noted that our country is actively working on the development of alternative energy: “We have recently signed an agreement on an energy cable from Azerbaijan to the EU, which will allow Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, to connect to this system. This agreement opens up new opportunities for cooperation in the field of green energy.
Azerbaijan’s investments in green energy projects have great potential, especially in the context of the destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as a result of Russian aggression and the shortage of electricity generation during the war. These investments will help not only restore but also modernize Ukraine’s energy system, making it more sustainable and environmentally friendly.”
Jalal Huseynov said that Azerbaijan could also become a transit country for gas from Central Asia through Ukraine: “This was recently announced by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Azerbaijan’s participation and experience in the development of new gas fields in Ukraine is also being considered, which indicates deep and promising economic ties between our countries.”
Ukraine has begun exporting organic millet to the United States, certification company Organic Standard reported on Facebook.
“The products are certified in accordance with the COR (Canadian Organic Regime) standard, but the certificate for import to the United States was issued through the Integrity electronic system, which confirms the equivalence of organic requirements of Canadian and US standards,” the statement said.
“Such shipments demonstrate in practice how one certificate in accordance with the COR standard, taking into account equivalence, can cover two large markets at once – the United States and Canada,” the certification body explained.
Organic Standard LLC is the first Ukrainian certification body that inspects and certifies organic production. It was established in 2007 as part of the Ukrainian-Swiss project “Organic Certification and Organic Market Development in Ukraine”.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, including its associates and joint ventures, increased its payments of taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine by 56% year-on-year to UAH 9.9 billion in January-June this year.
According to the company’s press release on Monday, the largest payment is the subsoil use fee, which more than tripled to UAH 2.9 billion in the first half of 2023. The second largest payment was the unified social tax of UAH 1.8 billion, up 19%. The top three largest payments were made in the form of UAH 1.7 billion in personal income tax, up 16% year-on-year.
At the same time, Metinvest’s Ukrainian enterprises paid UAH 1.4 billion in corporate income tax in January-June 2024, up 26% compared to January-June 2023. Land payments increased by 7% to UAH 631 million and environmental tax by 22% to UAH 368 million.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, stated that the group has overcome many challenges during the war, but many challenges are still ahead.
“Our efforts to rebuild our business to operate in the new environment and our ability to turn problems into opportunities have paid off – tax payments are growing. This is our contribution to supporting the economy of Ukraine and the regions near the frontline where the company’s enterprises operate. We allocate significant resources to help the army and civilians, continue to make plans for a peaceful future and are ready to participate in the post-war revival of the country,” the top manager emphasized.
As reported earlier, Metinvest almost doubled its tax payments to the Ukrainian budget in the first quarter of 2024 to UAH 4.2 billion. In 2023, the company paid UAH 14.6 billion to the Ukrainian budget.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are mainly located in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In 2023-2024 marketing year, Ukraine processed 1.0 mln tonnes of rapeseed, which was 22.3% of the 2023 harvest, despite the fact that rapeseed is considered to be mainly export-oriented agricultural raw material, reports the association Ukroliyaprom.
“The export of rapeseed oil in July-June of 2023/24 MY reached the record level of over 420 thsd tonnes. Ukrainian rapeseed oil is confidently entering the markets of China, EU countries, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries. Positive dynamics is also observed in rapeseed meal,” the analysts said.
Experts pointed out the continued growth of soybean and meal exports, and, accordingly, their production and processing, especially in January-June 2024.
“The growth of domestic processing of seeds and soybeans, as well as a significant increase in exports of high value-added products, namely oil and meal, confirms the position of the Association on the need to create conditions for maximum processing of oilseeds at domestic facilities. Further development of the oil and fat industry of Ukraine is envisaged not so much in increasing the processing of sunflower seeds as in such oilseeds as soybeans and rapeseed, which are still considered export-oriented,” Ukroliyamprom emphasized and expressed hope for the support of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and the Ministry of Economy.
At the same time, the industry association is skeptical about the prospects for the oilseed harvest in the 2024 season in Ukraine. Experts noted that the oilseed market participants have different forecasts. Most of the players expect an increase in soybean production and a decrease in rapeseed production.
The production of sunflower seeds and oilseeds in general will be almost the same as in 2023/24 MY. However, the abnormal heat can significantly adjust all the forecasts, the industry association stated.
InJanuary-June 2024, the customs of the State Customs Service of Ukraine detected 5,078 violations of customs rules worth UAH 13.4 billion. The value of this figure increased almost 3 times compared to the same period in 2023.
In 1407 cases of violation of customs rules, the objects of offenses worth almost UAH 217 million were temporarily seized. In particular
– industrial goods worth almost UAH 148 million;
– food products worth over UAH 32 million
– vehicles worth UAH 35 million;
– currency worth UAH 1.6 million.
In 1679 cases of customs rules violations, including those initiated in previous periods, customs applied administrative penalties in the form of fines amounting to UAH 39 million and collected fines amounting to UAH 41 million.
The customs authorities submitted 2, 543 cases of customs rules violations worth UAH 11 billion to the courts. As a result of court proceedings, including those initiated in previous periods, penalties (confiscation of goods and fines) amounting to over UAH 1 billion were imposed.
Source: https://customs.gov.ua/news/zagalne-20/post/za-pershe-pivrichchia-2024-roku-mitnitsi-derzhmitsluzhbi-viiavili-porushen-mitnikh-pravil-na-134-mlrd-grn-1667
In January-June of this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased their consumption of rolled metal products by 7.73% year-on-year to 1 million 736.4 thousand tons.
According to a press release issued by Ukrmetallurgprom on Monday, 592.4 thousand tons, or 34.12% of the domestic rolled metal consumption market, were imported during this period.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in January-June 2024, steel companies produced 3.140 million tons of rolled metal products (132.3% compared to the same period in 2023), of which, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, about 1.996 million tons, or 63.6%, were exported. In January-June 2023, the share of exports amounted to 52.9% (1.257 million tons with a total production of 2.374 million tons of rolled steel).
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries in the first half of 2024 was 45.39%, which is the same as in January-June 2023 (45.90%). The share of flat products in export deliveries in January-June 2024 is significantly higher than in the same period of 2023 (41.73% and 33.65%, respectively). The share of long products is significantly lower than in January-June 2023 (12.88% in 2024 vs. 20.45% in 2023).
“In the first six months of 2024, the domestic market capacity amounted to 1 million 736.4 thousand tons of rolled steel, of which 592.4 thousand tons, or 34.12%, were imported. In January-June 2023, the domestic market capacity amounted to 1 million 611.8 thousand tons, of which 494.8 thousand tons, or 30.17%, were imported. Thus, in the first six months of 2024, there was an increase in the domestic market capacity compared to the first six months of 2023 – by 7.73%, with a simultaneous increase in the share of the import component by 3.42%,” the press release states.
The structure of imports for the first six months of 2024 is still characterized by a significant dominance of flat products over long products (80.06% and 18.30%, respectively); in January-June 2023, the dominance of flat products over long products was also significant (78.88% and 20.09%, respectively).
According to the State Customs Service, the main export markets for Ukrainian rolled steel products in January-June 2024 were the European Union (77.1%), the rest of Europe (6.9%) and Africa (6.4%).
Among metallurgical importers in January-June 2024, the first place was taken by other European countries (46.5%), the second by the EU-27 (31%), and the third by Asian countries (20.5%).
As reported, Ukraine’s rolled steel market grew 2.19 times in 2023 compared to 2022, to 3 million 505.6 thousand tons. The company imported 1 million 118.6 thousand tons, or 31.91% of the domestic rolled metal consumption market.
