Retailer Auchan Ukraine started importing salt from Poland, Romania and Hungary back in March to cover a possible shortage of State Enterprise Artyomsol (Soledar, Donetsk region), located in the war zone with Russian occupiers.
The trade network has already established salt imports in April, and Ukrainians do not have to worry about the summer season of canning vegetables, the company’s press service said in response to an inquiry from Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
“There is European-made salt on the shelves of Auchan, which costs around UAH 25-30. We plan to sell salt of the following categories: extra, iodized, and even rock salt. The main reason for the shortage of salt is excessive demand. Employees of Auchan hypermarkets literally do not have time exhibit it, and sometimes a stock of two or three weeks is sold in a day,” the press service of the company specified.
According to her, the import of salt from Europe has been established, only within a week the retailer will receive 150 tons of salt, including 50 tons in the coming days.
“The main goal of Auchan in Ukraine is to continue to purchase products from local manufacturers. But since at the moment not all enterprises are working, respectively, not all the needs of the population are covered, the company is ready to cover critical consumption goods by attracting Auchan Poland, Auchan Hungary “and Auchan Romania. As soon as Ukrainian enterprises resume work, Auchan will again give priority to local producers,” the company’s press service summed up.
Auchan Retail is an international retail company, the first store opened in France in 1961.
Auchan Ukraine Hypermarket LLC has been operating in Ukraine since 2008. According to the Auchan website, before the Russian invasion, it had more than 30 stores of various formats (hypermarkets, supermarkets, pick up points) in nine cities, and is also developing e-commerce.
Ukrainian banking institutions from the middle of March to May 25, under the government program to support the sowing season 2022, provided loans to farmers for a total of UAH 31.5 billion, including loans and portfolio guarantees for UAH 3.4 billion.
According to the data published on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, 80% (UAH 20.3 billion) of loans provided were portfolio guarantees, while a total of 13,060 agricultural producers received access to financing (last week it was 1,740).
Most loans for the sowing season were attracted by farmers of Kirovohrad (UAH 4.91 billion), Kyiv (UAH 3.37 billion), Vinnytsia (UAH 2.92 billion), Dnipropetrovsk (UAH 2.52 billion) and Odesa regions (UAH 2.48 billion).
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, loans up to UAH 60 million as part of the support for the 2022 sowing season are issued at 0% per annum (under the government financial support program Affordable Loans 5-7-9%). The term of such lending is up to six months, and after its completion, the interest rate for borrowers will be 5% per annum. Such financing can be used by farmers who fall under the definition of an agricultural producer.
A memorandum of cooperation in the development and implementation of projects for production of green hydrogen in Ukraine was signed by PrJSC Ukrhydroenergo with the German companies Andritz Hydro and MAN Energy Solutions, Andriy Lets, head of the project technical support department at Ukrhydroenergo, said.
“A memorandum was signed with Andritz Hydro and MAN Energy Solutions on cooperation in the development and implementation of projects for production of green hydrogen in Ukraine. Today, in a war, this topic is extremely important not only for Ukraine, but for entire Europe,” he said during an Energy Club online discussion “Hydrogen production in Ukraine. Resource base” on Thursday.
Lets expressed his conviction that the signing of the memorandum would launch global processes that would help create a so-called hydrogen hub in our state in the future, with the advent of which Ukraine can achieve real energy independence.
At the same time, it is specified that Ukrhydroenergo, together with Andritz Hydro and MAN Energy Solutions, are considering and carrying out fruitful work on a pilot project for launching a 1 MW electrolysis plant for production of green hydrogen.
“There are many issues in terms of legislation, technical capabilities that are being worked out today,” the representative of the Ukrainian hydro-generating company explained the situation.
According to him, according to the pilot project, we are talking about production of 100 kg of hydrogen per day. At the same time, Lets noted that Ukrhydroenergo has the potential to produce green hydrogen with the use of renewable sources through water electrolysis.
“This is a promising type of energy, which is also important for decarbonization of the economy and Ukraine’s entry into new markets,” he summed up.
ANDRITZ HYDRO, COOPERATION, HYDROGEN, MAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS, PRODUCTION, UKRHYDROENERGO
Estonian company Nortal, which is engaged in strategic consulting and technology implementation, has bought the Skelia IT company along with its offices in Eastern Europe, Dragon Capital said in a press release.
“Skelia has established itself as an international leader in building dedicated technology teams in areas where customers want to remain in control of the development process while experiencing the stability of a premium team and quality of service. Their strong presence in western Ukraine and Poland will provide Nortal with an excellent platform for growth. Together, we can further expand our business across geographies and time zones while strengthening our offering and serving customers across the full spectrum of their needs,” Nortal CEO and Founder Priit Alamäe was quoted as saying.
As noted, the companies will focus on creating new synergies and value for customers, as well as creating additional opportunities for Skelia employees in Poland and Ukraine, which will now become part of Nortal.
“By joining forces, Nortal and Skelia will leverage each other’s complementary and individual strengths, as well as provide new career opportunities for our global combined team of more than 1,700 people. Nortal brings us a wealth of experience in building end-to-end solutions and products. This greatly complements Skelia’s longstanding business of building over 200 sustainable cross-border IT and engineering organizations for leading companies in Europe, the UK, the Nordics and the US,” Skelia CEO and co-founder Patrick Vandewalle was quoted as saying.
The amount of the agreement is not reported.
Skelia was founded in 2008 and currently employs over 350 people, primarily in Ukraine and Poland. Skelia serves clients in 10 countries and operates through a network of offices in the Benelux countries, Poland, Ukraine and the USA.
Nortal was founded in 2000. The company has more than 1.4 thousand employees and has 20 offices in Europe, the USA and the Middle East.
Dragon Capital acted as an advisor to Nortal on this deal. Oaklins Sweden acted as an advisor to Skelia.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 26/05/22
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of May 26
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
