The transit of natural gas from the Russian Federation through Ukraine in January-September 2020 decreased by 38.6% (by 28.3 billion cubic meters) compared to the same period last year – up to 45 billion cubic meters, head of the Operator of the Gas Transmission System of Ukraine (GTSOU) Serhiy Makohon said on his Facebook page.
According to him, the forecast for transit from Russia through the Ukrainian gas transportation system by the end of the year is 55-56 billion cubic meters.
Ukraine and France may soon sign an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation with ALSTOM for the implementation of a project for the supply of electric locomotives to a company with partial localization of their production and maintenance in Ukraine.
This was announced by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who is the head of the the Ukrainian-French Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, during negotiations with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsen and head of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC Volodymyr Zhmak on Friday, the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
“We have been working on the details of a common project with the French side for a long time and in the near future we can reach the signing of an intergovernmental agreement that will fully meet the needs of Ukraine,” the press service quoted Avakov as saying.
Zhmak, in his turn, said during the negotiations that Ukrzaliznytsia has a very old park and it needs to be strategically updated. At this stage, according to him, Ukrzaliznytsia is interested in 50 two-system electric locomotives capable of transporting from 5,500 to 6,000 tonnes of cargo.
“We need these locomotives with a long-term system of maintenance and localization of production in Ukraine. At the second stage, we are interested in getting single-system locomotives,” he said.
CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge assured that it could be a reliable and long-term partner for Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukraine.
“We have been working in the market for many years and we can satisfy the needs of Ukrzaliznytsia. ALSTOM has experience in working in markets with the localization of production and service capacities. This strengthens our cooperation and creates new jobs. In particular, we work in this way in Kazakhstan and South Africa,” he said.
The ministry also notes that this project was founded in September 2018, when ALSTOM and Ukrzaliznytsya signed a memorandum of understanding, which formalizes cooperation in the provision and maintenance of electric locomotives. The financial model of the project involves the attraction of credit funds from the French State Treasury and other sources.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on October 27 met with CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge and discussed with him the prospects for the implementation of joint projects in the railway sector.
The French machine building company ALSTOM is one of the world leaders in the production of power equipment and railway transport.
The Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine allocated UAH 762 million of partial compensation for loan interest to agricultural producers out of UAH 1.2 billion, the amount of state support planned for these needs in 2020.
According to a report on the ministry’s website, the total amount of loans attracted by agro-industrial complex exceeded UAH 74 billion, of which soft loans (subject to compensation) are UAH 17.6 billion, including the types of loans: short-term 45.8%, medium-term 24,5%, long-term 29.7%; and the types of activities of borrowers: livestock industry 17.1%, and other industries 82.9%.
The average interest rates of banks, at which the subjects of the agro-industrial complex attracted loans, amounted to 14-16% per annum.
As reported, under the budget program of financial support for agricultural producers in the direction of financial support for activities in the agro-industrial complex by reducing the cost of loans in 2020, some UAH 1.2 billion are provided. For the period of January-September, 63.5% of the planned was actually used.
Of the total number of authorized banks that signed a memorandum on general principles of cooperation with the Ministry of Economy (34 banks), 32 banks participate in providing compensation for loans.
The net profit of Idea Bank (Lviv) amounted to UAH 77.254 million in January-September 2020, which is 73% less than in the same period of 2019 (UAH 285.564 million).
According to a report on the bank’s website, for the third quarter its net profit amounted to UAH 44.95 million, which is 61.5% less than in the third quarter of last year (UAH 116.57 million).
The net interest income of Idea Bank increased by 7% to UAH 1.258 billion in the nine months compared to the corresponding period of 2019.
The bank’s assets decreased by 11.9% to UAH 4.76 billion in January-September 2020, including loans to customers by 9.1% to UAH 3.76 billion.
The bank’s liabilities have decreased by 11.2% to UAH 3.98 billion since the beginning of the year, including customer funds by 10.95% to UAH 3.73 billion.
The bank’s net worth during this period decreased by 15.4% to UAH 784.22 million, the charter capital remained at the level of UAH 298.742 million.
Idea Bank (former Plus Bank) was founded in 1989. Its sole shareholder as of January 1, 2020 was the financial group Getin Holding S.A. (Poland).
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of September 1, 2020, Idea Bank ranked 24th among 75 operating banks in terms of total assets (UAH 8.287 billion).
Biopharma pharmaceutical company is mulling the possibility of building fractionation plants in Latin America and Africa, co-owner of the company Kostiantyn Yefymenko has said.
“Our next project will be the construction of a blood fractionation plant on other continents. We are now considering Latin America and Africa,” he said during a discussion at the Kyiv International Economic Forum.
Yefymenko noted that currently Biopharma chooses “between Egypt and Nigeria.”
“We associate this with the political situation in both countries. Our next investment will be the expansion of the business of blood plasma fractionation and the construction of plasma centers in these countries,” he said.
Biopharma is a Ukrainian biotechnology company, the only plant in Eastern Europe that has modern technologies, and has been producing and developing medicines from donated plasma for almost 50 years.
The company is focused on providing Ukraine with medicines and supplies its products to more than 30 countries of the world on a contractual basis. In the autumn of 2019, Biopharma moved its production to a new scientific and production complex in Bila Tserkva.
The company is developing a network of its own plasma centers. Now they work in Sumy, Shostka, Konotop, Cherkasy, Dnipro and Kharkiv.
The net profit of UkrSibbank (Kyiv) amounted to UAH 1.013 billion in January-September 2020, which is half of the same period in 2019 (UAH 2.062 billion), according to the bank’s quarterly reports posted on the bank’s website.
According to it, in the third quarter UkrSibbank’s net profit amounted to UAH 343.03 million, which is 44.5% less than in July-September 2019 (UAH 612.84 million).
The bank’s net interest income (after deductions on credit losses) decreased by 14.2% to UAH 4.15 billion in the nine months compared to the same indicator a year earlier, the net operating income decreased by 44.5% to UAH 1.24 billion.
The bank’s assets increased by 26.2% to UAH 67.13 billion in the nine months, including funds in other financial institutions at amortized cost by about 56.5% to UAH 22.83 billion.
Liabilities of UkrSibbank increased by 27.9% up to UAH 59.25 billion in January-September. In particular, customer funds increased by 28.2% to UAH 58.1 billion.
The bank’s equity capital increased by 14.8% to UAH 7.86 billion in the nine months and the charter capital remained at the level of UAH 5.069 billion.
UkrSibbank was founded in 1990. Its shareholders are BNP Paribas S.A (France), which owns 60% of the bank’s charter capital, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with 40%.
According to the NBU, as of September 1, 2020, UkrSibbank ranked eighth among 75 operating banks in Ukraine in terms of total assets (UAH 67.146 billion).
