The holding company Kyivmiskbud has analyzed the projects and decided that, subject to the approval of the Kyiv City Council of the mechanisms and sources of financing, starting from the third quarter of 2024, it is possible to start their gradual unfreezing, said Vasyl Oliynyk, Chairman of the Board and President of Kyivmiskbud, at a meeting of the temporary commission for resolving problematic issues related to the activities of PrJSC Kyivmiskbud.
“During this month and a half (after his appointment – IF-U), we managed to inspect all construction addresses – we have 25 of them, 120 buildings in total – analyze the state of affairs in the company and, together with the team, determine the directions we plan to move in order to stabilize Kyivmiskbud. We have physically measured all the scope of work, which allows us to plan. We are facing challenges, among which the search for funding sources is a priority,” he said.
According to Mr. Oliynyk, the actual stabilization plan for Kyivmiskbud will depend on the amount of funds raised.
He clarified that several options are being considered. In particular, cooperation with the utility company Zhytlo-Invest, which can purchase a certain number of apartments under the Rent to Own program. According to the analysis, the existing volume of apartments in the completed facilities allows to raise about UAH 500 million.
In addition, it is proposed to transfer several completed and commissioned kindergartens to the city. According to Oliynyk, since they were built earlier, these buildings need to be adapted to meet increased safety requirements. If the city agrees to buy out these kindergartens after the refurbishment of the shelters, it will give Kyivmiskbud another UAH 200-300 million to complete the facilities.
At the same time, this amount (UAH 700-800 million) will only be enough to restart several sites. To fully unfreeze the facilities, about UAH 2 billion a year is needed, and in total, as previously announced, about UAH 4 billion in 2024-2025.
“We are negotiating with state-owned banks Ukrgasbank and Sens on lending under state guarantees and collateral. The key may be to increase the authorized capital of Kyivmiskbud, and if Kyiv City Council members support this issue, it would be a real help,” Oliynyk outlined the real mechanisms for resuming the company’s work.
He added that currently, each month of downtime costs the company about UAH 10 million (stabilization of facilities, taxes, etc.).
According to Oliynyk, if the necessary funding is accumulated, the launch of all facilities, starting with five, is possible in the summer of 2024.
As reported, in March 2024, the Kyiv City State Administration set up a temporary commission to resolve problematic issues related to the activities of PrJSC HC Kyivmiskbud.
An audit of the company conducted in 2023 by state-owned Baker Tilly Ukraine Consulting, NHD-AUDIT LLC and Ernst & Young LLC found no signs of actions to bring it to bankruptcy, concealment of financial insolvency or massive transactions by related parties. At the same time, the auditors found that Kyivmiskbud’s operations were disrupted by external factors: COVID-19, a full-scale war, and the Ukrbud factor. On November 17, 2023, the Kyiv City Council Commission approved an interim report with recommendations and proposals for the developer’s further work, including the purchase of apartments in Kyivmiskbud’s facilities, consideration of a financial loan or additional capitalization of the company. The commission also recommended that the Kyiv City Council address the Cabinet of Ministers on the issue of compensating Kyivmiskbud for the total planned loss associated with the completion of Ukrbud’s projects in the amount of UAH 2.28 billion.
HC Kyivmiskbud was established on the basis of the property of the state municipal construction corporation Kyivmiskbud in 1994 by merging controlling stakes in 28 enterprises and other assets in its authorized capital. The holding company consists of 40 joint-stock companies in which the company owns shares, six subsidiaries and 51 companies as associate members.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), the main shareholder of PrJSC HC Kyivmiskbud is the Kyiv City Council (80%).
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has received $118 million on a non-refundable basis from Japan under the World Bank’s Health Enhancement and Life Saving (HEAL Ukraine) and Housing Repair for People’s Empowerment (HOPE) projects.
“The raised funds under the HEAL and HOPE projects will help the government to provide its citizens with adequate assistance, in particular, to expand the range of medical services and access to them, as well as to ensure overcoming the consequences caused by Russia’s armed aggression, to restore the housing infrastructure of Ukraine,” Minister Serhiy Marchenko was quoted as saying in the release of the Ministry of Finance on Monday.
It is specified that the attracted grant funding consists of $70 million under the HEAL Ukraine project, aimed at supporting the state budget as a reimbursement of incurred expenses under the Medical Guarantee Program, and $48.2 million – under the HOPE project, the funds of which are used to reimburse state budget expenditures used for compensatory payments to homeowners for repairs in apartment buildings and private houses in need of minor and medium repairs.
As reported, Ukraine received a record $8.9bn in international financial aid in March after only $1.2bn cumulatively in the first two months.
Due to the low external support, international reserves fell by 3.8%, or $1.47 billion, to $37.05 billion in February, after falling by 4.9%, or $1.98 billion hryvnia, in January.
The National Bank had forecast that the latest external inflows would allow international reserves to recover substantially. In January, it lowered their forecast for the end of 2024 to $40.4 billion from $44.7 billion.
HEAL Ukraine, HEALTHCARE, JAPAN, life preservation, Ministry of Finance of Ukraine
On Monday, April 1, most regions of Ukraine will be covered with dust from the Sahara, and the sky will be cloudy, the Ukrainian Weather Center reports.
“The heat wave from the western Mediterranean, which has brought us abnormally high temperatures in recent days, has also brought dust from the Sahara (this is clearly visible on the EUMETSAT satellite image). Residents of the western region could observe it yesterday, and today it will spread to most regions of Ukraine,” the post on Facebook reads.
The Ukrhydrometeorological Center urges to close windows, as the dust can be harmful to the elderly and children, as well as to people with respiratory diseases.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has amended the plan of on-site inspections on financial monitoring, compliance with currency and sanctions legislation for 2024, the regulator’s website reports.
Lombard Finance PE with the participation of ITM Market LLC and I-Company LLC was excluded from the plan of on-site inspections due to the revocation of the license to operate and Inter-Realty PE and Company was included.
According to the plan, on-site inspections of banks are scheduled for 2024: in the first quarter – JSC CB PrivatBank, JSC RVS Bank, in the second quarter – JSC OTP Bank, JSC Bank Credit Dnipro, in the third quarter – JSC Crystalbank, JSC JSB Radabank, in the fourth quarter – PJSC Bank Vostok.
Non-banking institutions: in the first quarter – FC Mont Blanc Finance LLC, FC Wei For Pei LLC, in the second quarter – Lombard Doncredit LLC Inter Realty and Company, OTP Leasing LLC, in the third quarter – Nadezhda Insurance Company, NovaPay LLC, in the fourth quarter – Credit Union, Avance Credit LLC, Ultra Alliance Insurance Company.
The report emphasizes that the plan of on-site inspections was drawn up on the basis of a risk-oriented approach, including taking into account the results of the risk assessment of banks and non-bank institutions.
Benchmark crude oil prices continue to rise after a steady increase in the first quarter.
Market participants are looking forward to the meeting of the OPEC+ Ministerial Monitoring Committee later this week.
Quotations for June futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 8:05 a.m. ET amounted to $87.25 per barrel, which is $0.25 (0.3%) higher than the level at the close of the previous trading. By this time, the price of May futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) had risen by $0.28 (0.3%) to $83.44 per barrel.
The NYMEX and ICE Futures were closed on Friday, March 29, due to Good Friday.
In March, Brent rose by 4.6% and WTI by 6.3%, with the rise recorded for the third month in a row. In the first quarter, prices rose by 13.6% and 16.1%, respectively, according to Dow Jones Market data.
In 2023, Ukraine became one of the top three exporters of chocolate to the European Union, supplying 22 thousand tons of the product, Eurostat reported. According to its data, Ukraine accounted for 13% of EU chocolate imports.
Only Switzerland (62 thousand tons, 36% share) and the United Kingdom (61 thousand tons, 36% share) supplied chocolate to the EU.
At the same time, the EU countries supplied 867 thousand tons of chocolate and chocolate bars to foreign markets.
Germany was the largest exporter, with 221 thousand tons, accounting for 26% of the total. The second place was taken by the Netherlands with 123 thousand tons and 14% respectively, and the third place was taken by Poland with 115 thousand tons and 13%. Belgium, known for its sweets, exported 96 thousand tons (11%).
The five largest export partners outside the EU included: The United Kingdom, which bought 315 thousand tons of chocolate from the EU (36%); the United States – 72 thousand tons (8%); Russia – 65 thousand tons (7%); Canada – 31 thousand tons (4%); Australia – 27 thousand tons (3%).
