The World Bank will consider providing EUR 300 million to Ukraine for improving energy efficiency, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko has said. “The good news is that on December 17, the World Bank Board will consider providing EUR 300 million for Ukraine within the framework of the second tranche under the Second Economic Recovery Development Policy Loan for Ukraine. These funds will be used primarily to finance the presidential project Energy Independence,” Svyrydenko wrote on her Facebook page.
The large-scale program of thermal modernization of housing is designed to significantly reduce the energy consumption of Ukrainians and, accordingly, reduce energy costs. Program participants will be able to reduce energy consumption and utility bills by 60%. Already in 2022, it is planned to cover up to 5,000 apartment buildings throughout the country.
The minister of economy also said that at the meeting with World Bank Regional Country Director for Eastern Europe (Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine) Arup Banerji key issues of deepening the partnership were discussed.
“We are jointly preparing a systemic document on the areas of cooperation. This is Partnership Strategy for 2022-2026. The focus is on the economic development of Ukraine, macro-financial sustainability, the introduction of e-governance and digitalization, the expansion of export markets and the strengthening of the competitiveness of Ukrainian green technologies,” Svyrydenko said.
It is also expected that the World Bank will implement investment projects in the fields of mechanical engineering, energy, information technology, agriculture and construction.
As the minister of economy said, an important area of cooperation is increasing the competitiveness of foreign trade. The Ministry of Economy is working to legislatively strengthen and improve the efficiency of the Export Credit Agency (ECA). The institution’s activities should contribute to increasing the presence of Ukrainian exporters in foreign markets.
Another priority, according to the minister, is the expansion of public-private partnerships and the overall improvement of the business climate. Cooperation with the World Bank is important for Ukraine not only due to financial support of important projects, but also as expert assistance in the implementation of reforms. Strengthening national economic institutions is the way to strengthen the Ukrainian economy, she said.
Ukraine has registered 8,109 new cases of COVID-19, as well as 26,307 recoveries and 356 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
“Over the past day, Ukraine has recorded 8,109 new cases of COVID-19 (including 707 children and 182 medical workers), alongside 142,921 people vaccinated for COVID-19, among them 47,137 people who received their first shot and 95,784 who completed their vaccination. In the past 24 hours, 2,280 persons have been hospitalized, 356 have died, and 26,307 have recovered,” the ministry said on Telegram.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ukraine has seen a total of 3,578,557 coronavirus infections, including 3,259,316 recoveries and 91,958 deaths.
Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agricultural groups, held the third auction for the lease of grain carriages from its railway fleet for February-March 2022, a total of 220 cars were contracted for UAH 1,850-2,012 per day excluding VAT, the agricultural holding wrote on Facebook.
According to the agricultural holding, the auctions were held in the English auction mode (for the price increase). The lots included cars in batches of 10, 20, 30 and 50 units.
As reported, Kernel has successfully completed previous auctions for leasing grain cars from its railway fleet. On November 23, 2021, the first lease auctions were held, during which 220 wagons were contracted for UAH 1,800-2,000 per day excluding VAT.
As reported, Kernel in February 2019 acquired 100% of shares of the railway operator Rail Transit Cargo Ukraine (RTC Ukraine) for $64 million. The operator took the second place in Ukraine in the number of grain carriages after Ukrzaliznytsia (2,950 cars, 15% of the market).
Kernel is a manufacturer and exporter of sunflower oil, operating in production, export and domestic sales of sunflower oil, crop production, export of grain crops, provision of services for storage and transshipment of grain at elevators and port terminals. According to the agricultural holding, it ranks first in the world in production of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%), and is also the largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine.
Mariupol-based Illich Iron and Steel Works (Donetsk region), part of Metinvest Group, in January-November this year increased production of general rolled products, according to recent data, by 13% year-over-year, to 3.78 million tonnes.
As the company told Interfax-Ukraine, steel production during this period increased by 5.5%, to 3.9 million tonnes, and cast iron – by 7.4%, to 4.64 million tonnes.
In November, the plant produced about 360,000 tonnes of general rolled products, 350,000 tonnes of steel, and 460,000 tonnes of cast iron.
According to information from Metinvest Mariupol, the plant is completing the replacement of gas purifiers in a limestone firing building of an agglomeration shop. “Modern flat-bag filters will appear instead of outdated cyclones. Three firing machines have already been equipped with new cleaning equipment. Work is underway on the last one, the fourth,” the press release explains.
All work is planned to be completed by the end of this year. The environmental effect of the project is a reduction in the amount of dust by 82%.
Investments in reconstruction amount to UAH 200 million.
The Ministry of Infrastructure is studying the possibility of purchasing the first five An-158 aircraft from the state-owned enterprise Antonov (Kyiv), which is part of Ukroboronprom, for the needs of the Ukrainian National Airlines (UNA), the Ministry of Infrastructure has reported on Facebook.
The signing of the relevant contracts is expected in the first or second quarter of next year.
“For Ukrainian National Airlines, the sole owner of which is the state, different classes of aircraft are needed. For regional and medium-haul flights, we are considering the An-158, which is ideal for flights around the country,” Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov is quoted as saying.
Antonov enterprise expects that the contracts will be signed directly between the State Enterprise and JSC Ukrainian National Airlines.
“The An-158 is an excellent plane with 99 seats. We are ready to build five such planes within the next three years by order of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the National Air Carrier. The first plane will be launched within the first year,” Yuriy Husev, Director General of Ukroboronprom, said.
Ukrainian National Airlines was established in November 2021 on behalf of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Its main task is to develop domestic air transportation, expand the geography of flights for Ukrainians, protect the strategic interests of the state and turn Ukraine into a major European air hub.
Pavlohradvuhillia and Bilozerska mines, which are part of DTEK Energy, produced 15.2 million tonnes of coal in January-November 2021, which corresponds to the same production volume for the same period in 2020, the press service reported.
In November 2021, production amounted to about 1.5 million tonnes against 1.3 million tonnes in November 2020 (excluding Dobropilliavuhillia, already returned from lease).
DTEK Energy commissioned 28 new longwalls at its mines in 11 months, in November – five.
“DTEK Energy continues to produce maximum coal at its own mines. This is very important for the stability of the Ukrainian energy system during peak periods of consumption. In November, we produced about 1.5 million tonnes of G grade coal and put into operation five new longwalls. Also, the Dniprovske and Heroiv Kosmosu mine administrations have fulfilled the annual production plan ahead of schedule and continue to increase it to the maximum,” CEO of the company Ildar Saleev said.
As reported, DTEK Energy plans to ensure the production of about 17 million tonnes of coal in 2021.
DTEK Energy is an operating company responsible for coal extraction and enrichment, maintenance of mine equipment and power generation in the structure of DTEK Holding of Rinat Akhmetov.
