Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will pay a visit to the Kingdom of Denmark on January 26-27 at the invitation of his Danish counterpart Jeppe Kofod, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported on Tuesday.
“During the visit to Denmark, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is scheduled to meet with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, members of the Danish Parliament, representatives of business and public organizations. An audience of Minister Kuleba with Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is also provided,” the message says.
It clarifies that against the background of aggressive actions of the Russian Federation, the main issue of negotiations with the Danish side will be the security situation around Ukraine and Denmark’s partner participation in a comprehensive package of containment of Russia, which includes active diplomacy, tough economic sanctions and in-depth defense cooperation with Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian and Danish sides will agree on a number of priority issues of bilateral cooperation, in particular, in the field of cybersecurity, the development of the Ukrainian fleet, the implementation of joint projects in the fields of energy, agriculture, the transition to green energy and energy efficiency,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
They add that attention will also be paid to issues of interaction within international organizations and priority areas of the Crimea Platform.
In 2021, state-owned enterprise Artyomsol (Donetsk region) extracted, processed and shipped 1.9 million tonnes of salt to consumers, which is 60% more than in 2020, while the share of exports in total supplies grown by 11.2 percentage points – from 28.3% (336,600 tonnes) to 39.5% (744,200 tonnes).
The company said in a report on its website on Tuesday, the sale of de-icing salt last year grew by 25.2% by 2020, to 936,800 tonnes, shipped in bulk ground salt – to 545,800 tonnes (33.2% more), packaged salt sales amounted to 171,900 tonnes, salt in flexible containers (FIBC) increased to 53,700 = tonnes (5.4% more), iodized salt amounted to 45,300 tonnes.
“The increase in the efficiency of the enterprise was achieved thanks to… a comprehensive program for the improvement of production, developed and implemented at the end of 2020. As a result, last year the volume of salt production increased, sales of products grew, the level of profitability of the enterprise increased, and the wages of employees also grew,” the company said.
SOE Artyomsol is one of the largest enterprises for the extraction and sale of table salt in Central and Eastern Europe. The production facilities of SOE Artyomsol are located in Soledar, Donetsk region.
A delegation of U.S. congressmen, led by head of the International Committee of the House of Representatives Gregory Meeks, left for Ukraine on Tuesday, The Hill reports.
Both Democrats and Republicans are participating in the trip.
The visit of members of Congress to Ukraine will be the third trip to the country by legislators from the United States in recent months. Earlier last week, a delegation of the Senate visited Ukraine, and in December last year, a delegation of the House of Representatives headed by Ruben Gallego visited the country.
Meeks himself said on Monday that he supports the diplomatic path chosen by the U.S. president to reduce tension on the border between Russia and Ukraine, and also criticized Russia for the lack of signs of de-escalation.
Pivnichny (Northern) Mining and Processing Plant (Kryvy Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region), part of Metinvest Group, increased production of commercial pellets in 2021, according to recent data, by 20.2% compared to 2020, to 6.35 million tonnes.
As the company told Interfax-Ukraine, in December production of pellets amounted to 550,000 tonnes.
At the same time, output of iron ore concentrate last year increased by 5.2%, to 13.4 million tonnes, including 1.13 million tonnes produced in December.
In 2020, the plant reduced production of commercial pellets by 32.6% compared to 2019, to 5.28 million tonnes, and production of iron ore concentrate increased by 4%, to 12.739 million tonnes.
Pivnichny Mining and Processing Plant is part of Metinvest Group, the main shareholders of which are PrJSC System Capital Management (SCM, Donetsk, 71.24%) and Smart-Holding (23.76%).
Metinvest Group’s management company is Metinvest Holding LLC
PrJSC Ukrnaftoburinnia (UNB) produced 691.3 million cubic meters of gas in 2021, which is 5% less than in 2020 (725.4 million cubic meters), according to a company press release on Tuesday.
According to the document, the volume of oil/condensate production decreased by 6% (by 4,200 tonnes) and amounted to 76,600 tonnes.
In general, gas production at Sakhalynske field last year amounted to 789.5 million cubic meters, and oil/condensate production – 80,800 tonnes.
“The UNB production indicators show a slight decrease compared to the previous year. The primary reasons for it included the forced reduction in the capital investment program and cancellation of the drilling program in the crisis year of 2020 and a natural decline in well flow rates at Sakhalynske field as it gradually depletes,” the press release says.
At the same time, in 2021, the company resumed its drilling program. In April, it completed new well No. 22 of 4,565 m. The initial daily flow rate of the well is 280,000 cubic meters of natural gas and 30 tonnes of condensate.
According to UNB, in 2021, the company completed workovers of eight wells. Well No. 54 was transferred from gas-lift to submersible pumping operation by installing a sucker rod pumping (SRP) at 3,251 m deep being the deepest sucker rod pump installation in Ukraine. Moreover, a large-scale investment project to construct a booster compressor station at Sakhalynske field is being implemented.
“UNB continues to implement investment projects aimed at further efficient development of Sakhalynske field and plans to drill another well and put it into operation in the first half of 2022,” the company said.
In the next two years, UNB also plans to expand the geography of production in Ukraine beyond Sakhalynske field.
“The team and I have very ambitious plans for 2022, aimed not only to maintain production at Sakhalynske field but also to find new investment opportunities outside it. Of course, the implementation of these plans will largely depend on what mechanisms the state will use to deal with the energy crisis in the country and how they will affect private gas companies,” Chairman of the Executive Board of Ukrnaftoburinnia Mykhailo Bakunenko said.
PrJSC Ukrnaftoburinnia is one of the largest private gas production companies in Ukraine. Since 2010, it has been developing Sakhalynske oil, gas and condensate field (Krasnokutsk district, Kharkiv region).
The owner of the UFuture group, businessman Vasyl Khmelnitsky, has said that he and his family have no plans to leave Ukraine and go abroad, and expressed confidence that there will be no full-scale war and its threats are not justified.
“Me and my whole family (mother, wife, children and grandchildren) stay in Ukraine. We continue to live our usual lives and do not plan to go abroad. My whole team also remains in the country. We continue to work, create value and invest in Ukraine,” Khmelnytsky wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
He said that he speaks exclusively as an entrepreneur, and his position is based on an understanding of many internal and external processes.
“But these are political processes, and I don’t want to discuss them publicly,” he said.
Khmelnytsky expressed the opinion that today, the most real threat that paralyzes all processes is panic.
“What can we do now to at least slightly stabilize the situation: 1. Continue to work effectively and live a familiar full life. 2. Maintain critical thinking, common sense and a cool head,” the businessman said.
“Whatever storms occur in the country and the world, I will leave my ship last,” he added.
A day earlier, a similar public post was posted by Andriy Stavnitser, co-owner of the TIS terminal group and the towing company P&O Maritime Ukraine, calling for “constructive calm activity.”
“We can’t let this crisis go to waste, it should make us stronger… I don’t believe in a full-fledged invasion, but I better be ready,” the businessman wrote.
UFuture is a holding company that brings together Khmelnytsky’s business and social projects. It has a diversified portfolio of assets in real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and IT. The value of UFuture’s assets is estimated at $500 million. The total capitalization of the businesses in which it has invested is up to $1 billion.
