The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law on ratification of the protocol between the government of Ukraine and the government of the Republic of Belarus on amendments to the agreement between the government of Ukraine and the government of the Republic of Belarus on international road traffic of December 17, 1992 (No. 0060).
The relevant document was supported by 281 MPs.
The Ministry of Infrastructure noted that this law will liberalize the conditions for carrying out freight traffic between Ukraine and Belarus, free irregular passenger road transport from the licensing system, and also unblock the work of Ukrainian road carriers in the Baltic and Scandinavian directions.
“The lack of the required number of permits from Poland and Belarus, additional conditions for transit through Russia led to a situation in which Ukrainian exporters were virtually cut off from the markets of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. Only due to the lack of Belarusian permits, the loss of income of carriers in November-December this year should amount to UAH 1 billion. If we also take into account the needs of producers, then the actual losses for the country would be even greater. Today, the parliament defended Ukraine’s national interests in the international freight market and protected Ukrainian exports,” Deputy Infrastructure Minister Mustafa Nayyem is cited on the ministry’s Facebook page.
Transit of natural gas through the gas transmission system (GTS) of Ukraine in January-October 2021 amounted to 35.3 billion cubic meters, which is 21.6% less than in the same period of 2020 (45 billion cubic meters), and 56.7% less than in ten months of 2019 (81.5 billion cubic meters), according the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU).
In particular, in the western direction 32.456 billion cubic meters of gas were supplied by transit (to Slovakia – 22.43 billion cubic meters, to Hungary – 6.799 billion cubic meters, to Poland – 3.227 billion cubic meters); in the south direction – 2.833 billion cubic meters were supplied (to Moldova – 2.439 billion cubic meters, and to Romania – 394 million cubic meters).
In October, transit amounted to 2.634 billion cubic meters, which is 19.1% less than in September due to the cessation of gas supplies to Hungary via the Ukrainian route by Gazprom. In particular, in the direction of Slovakia, transit amounted to 2.117 billion cubic meters, Poland – 342 million cubic meters, and Moldova – 176 million cubic meters.
The GTSOU notes that according to the results of booking the capacities of the Ukrainian GTS on the RBP and GSA platforms for October 2021, Gazprom not only did not book the additional transit capacities, but also significantly reduced the use of the booked annual capacities, since no applications for transit of Russian gas to Hungary were received from October 1.
As a result, the average daily volumes of Russian gas transported through the territory of Ukraine in October fell to 86 million cubic meters, which is below the minimum volume under the current transit agreement (110 million cubic meters).
“We are concerned about the reduction in transit of Russian gas through the Ukrainian route: since October 1, the volume of pumping has been lower than the booked capacity. Although since November 1, transit to Moldova has increased thanks to a new contract for the supply of gas from the Russian Federation, however, the overall use of the Ukrainian GTS capacity for transit of Russian gas continues to decline: on average, at the beginning of November, it was 60 million cubic meters per day,” GTSOU Director General Serhiy Makogon said.
The volume of domestic cement consumption in Ukraine by late 2021 may reach 10 million tonnes for the first time since 2014, Head of the Ukrcement association Pavlo Kachur has said.
“We have production data for nine months, and we can predict with slight optimism that this year, for the first time since 2014, we will move to more than 10 million tonnes of cement consumed in the domestic market. If there are no emergencies, we will reach 10.5 million tonnes,” Kachur said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Ukrcement, in January-September 2021, cement production increased by 15.2% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, over the past four years, the volume of the cement market amounted to 9 million tonnes per year.
“Our market capacity is small. For the last four years, it is up to 9 million tonnes per year. In Poland, comparable in terms of population, which is much smaller geographically, the volume of consumption in 2020 amounted to 18.9 million tonnes – twice as much. Therefore, we have room to grow. Our factories operate at two-thirds of their actual capacity,” Kachur said.
According to him, the increase in cement consumption is associated with a positive period in the construction market, including active road construction.
The volume of limestone imports to Ukraine in January-September 2021 increased by 21% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 107,000 tonnes, according to a study by the Ukrainian Lime Industry Association.
“After minimum supplies in 2014, there was a moderate increase in imports of limestone over the next years. 2020 was marked by a significant acceleration in the growth trend: in 12 months, imports of limestone amounted to 123,000 tonnes, which is 45% more than the previous year. 2021 continued the trend: in January-September, 107,000 tonnes were imported, which is 21% more than the last year’s level,” the association said.
According to it, for the first nine months of this year in the structure of imports, 59% of the supply of limestone falls on Russia, followed by Belarus (17%), Slovakia (12%), Poland (4%) and Moldova (4%). Over the period, the largest importer was the Russian company FELS (32%).
As indicated in the study, manufacturers of construction materials remain the main consumer of imported limestone starting from 2020 (43%), the second place is taken by the chemical industry (22%), and the third is the metallurgical industry (18%).
In terms of consumption among Ukrainian companies, the leaders are Entere Group (32% of all imports), Sumykhimprom (21%), small private enterprise Ideya (10%), and Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant (8%).
The Ukrainian Lime Industry Association was established in December 2011. The initiators of the association were representatives of Ukrainian enterprises engaged in limestone mining and lime production, and providing services in the field of study and use of natural resources.
PrJSC Insurance company Alfa Insurance (Kyiv) in January-September of this year collected UAH 1.073 billion of gross premiums, which is 35.99% more than in the same period in 2020, Standard-Rating reported in the information on the confirmation of the company’s financial strength rating at the “uaAA+” level on the national scale based on the results of work for the nine months of 2021.
According to the press release, receipts from individuals for the reporting period increased by 47.40%, to UAH 727.6 million, and from reinsurers, on the contrary, decreased by 33.81%, to UAH 6.441 million. Thus, individuals continue to prevail in the insurer’s client portfolio, as evidenced by their share in gross premiums of 67.81%.
Insurance premiums sent to reinsurers for the nine months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 increased by 26.69%, to UAH 15.163 million. As a result of high growth rates of gross premiums over the growth rates of premiums sent to reinsurers, the coefficient of participation of reinsurers in insurance premiums decreased by 0.07 percentage points, to 1.41%.
According to the results of the first three quarters of 2021, the company’s net premiums increased by 36.09%, to UAH 1.058 billion, and earned premiums – by 38.03%, to UAH 1 billion.
For the nine months of 2021, Alfa Insurance paid out UAH 292.601 million of insurance indemnities to its customers, which is 37.26% more than the volume of payments for the same period in 2020. As a result, the level of payments increased by 0.25 percentage points, to 27.27%.
According to the results of operations for the first three quarters of 2021, the financial result from operating activities amounted to UAH 36.749 million, and net profit amounted to UAH 30.933 million.
The company’s assets as of September 30, 2021 increased by 12.86%, to UAH 855.994 million, equity capital increased by 10.12%, to UAH 336.552 million, liabilities increased by 14.72%, to UAH 519.442 million, cash and cash equivalents decreased by 6.29%, to UAH 402.293 million.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air plans to hire more than 140 flight attendants in Ukraine over the next six months to operate at its bases in Lviv and Kyiv.
According to the company’s press service on Thursday, from November 5 to December 20, as part of the selection process for flight attendants, Wizz Air plans to organize Open Days in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Dnipro and Mykolaiv.
Earlier, Wizz Air signed an agreement of intent to cooperate with the National Aviation University of Ukraine in order to provide students with the opportunity to start a professional career after graduation.
As reported, Wizz Air plans to deploy seven more aircraft in Ukraine, increasing their total number to 11. Five new aircraft will be deployed in Kyiv (in addition to the three already based in the Ukrainian capital), two more aircraft will be supplied to a base in Lviv (in addition to one aircraft).
Wizz Air also announced the launch in 2021-2022 of twelve new destinations from Kyiv, nine from Lviv, three from Odesa and two from Kharkiv.
