On October 30, the Ukrainian company WindFarm and the Chinese company PowerChina signed a contract on the joint implementation of a project for the construction of an 800 MW wind farm with a capacity of over $1 billion in Manhush and Nikolske districts of Donetsk region, Board Chairman of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA) Andriy Konechenkov has said.
“The specifics of this project is that it does not provide for a feed-in tariff. This is the first robin in the electricity market, the first project that will compete with conventional generation in real conditions,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, according to him, the project provides for local content policy or local components, which gives rise to the development of national wind energy production.
“How the payment for this local component will be carried out remains to be decided,” Konechenkov said.
He also said that the Chinese company is participating in this project “as an investor in a large, transparent project that does not depend on the ffeed-in tariff,” which, according to him, has already exhausted itself given the crisis of non-payments.
“It is necessary to start working on new technologies. Moreover, the issue is related to the reintegration of the regions, the launch of new environment-friendly production,” the board chairman of the UWEA said, noting that investors are currently not considering the possibility of participating in “green auctions” due to weak predictability of conditions and timing of their implementation.
At the same time, he expressed the hope that the experience and capabilities of the Chinese investor will contribute to the implementation of the project as soon as possible, noting that PowerChina is ready to work on the basis of the support of a domestic manufacturer and financing of European wind turbines.
Konechenkov said that this project, which has been in preparation for about a year, will become the largest onshore wind farm in Europe.
According to the data on the UWEA website, PowerChina, which specializes in the design and construction of energy and transport facilities, is in the top 100 largest companies in the country and in the top 500 largest companies in the world. In particular, it owns the Three Gorges, the world’s largest hydroelectric dam with a capacity of 22.5 GW.
The WindFarm team has developed a portfolio of wind power plants with a total capacity of 1.3 GW, of which more than 400 MW have already been put into operation.
Both companies are members of the UWEA.
Veon Plus LLC, the owner of Radisson Blu Hotel in Podil in Kyiv, received UAH 50.9 million of net loss in January-September 2020 against a profit of UAH 2.9 million last year.
According to the company’s statement in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, income decreased by 58.4% to UAH 39.8 million in the nine months.
The gross profit decreased by 83% to UAH 9.4 million, the operating loss amounted to UAH 29.8 million against a profit of UAH 25.1 million in January-September 2019.
Uncovered loss increased by 17.8% and amounted to UAH 337.2 million for the reporting period. The company’s long-term liabilities increased by 0.8% to UAH 455.3 million, while the current ones decreased by 40.7% to UAH 36.6 million.
The assets of Veon Plus decreased by 7.3% in the nine months and amounted to UAH 410.5 million.
In 2019, Veon Plus increased its net profit by 49% to UAH 5.5 million compared to 2018, net income decreased by 7% to UAH 130.2 million.
Veon Plus LLC was founded in 2006. In 2012, the company transferred the integral property complex of Radisson Blu Hotel in Podil to the management of Rezidor Hotels Aps Danmark (Denmark).
The opening of Radisson Blu Hotel with 163 rooms at 17-19 Bratska Street took place in 2012. CJSC Hotel Development (Moscow, Russia) acted as the project’s investor. Investments in the facility were approximately $ 40-45 million.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, as of October 2020, the owner of the 100% stake in Veon Plus is T.A.S Property Limited (Cyprus).
As reported, with reference to the data of the legal group CMS, the transaction on the purchase of Radisson Blu Hotel in Podil by Sergiy Tigipko took place in 2016. Its cost was EUR 9.2 million.
The charter capital of the company is UAH 63.9 million.
Ukraine exported 15.97 million tonnes of grains and legumes since the beginning of the new 2020/2021 marketing year (July-June) and as of October 30, which is 2.67 million tonnes less than on the same date of the last MY.
According to the information and analytical portal of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine, to date, 10.33 million tonnes of wheat (less by 850,000 tonnes), 3.37 million tonnes of barley and 2.22 million tonnes of maize (less by 1.73 million tonnes) have been exported.
As of October 30 of this year, 61,800 tonnes of flour were exported as well.
As reported, Ukraine exported record 57.2 million tonnes of grains, legumes and flour in the 2019/2020 marketing year, which is 13.5% more than in the previous marketing year.
PJSC Azot (Cherkasy), a member of Dmytro Firtash’s Group DF, produced 1.29 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizers in January-September this year, which is 10.4% more than in the same period in 2019.
According to the Group DF press release, in particular, 347,100 tonnes of commercial ammonium nitrate were produced; commercial urea totaled 439,900 tonnes, urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN) was 493,000 tonnes, and ammonia water totaled 11,000 tonnes.
“The indicators for the nine months of 2020 exceeded the same period of 2019 by 10.4%. In particular, ammonium nitrate production increased by 8.1%, UAN production increased by 26.1%. Total urea production increased by 4.4%, but not all urea was sold. Part of it was used for the production of UAN, for which demand is increasing. Thus, the company responds to market conditions,” the press service of Group DF quotes the words of chairman of the board of the company Vitaliy Skliarov.
The company has also expanded its product range of mineral fertilizers. The plant produces four types of urea-ammonia nitrate: UAN- 32, UAN- 30, UAN – 28, UAN – S (in 2019 it produced only one type UAN-32).
Today Cherkassy Azot is operating at 100% capacity load. According to Vitaliy Skliarov, the company intends to work at this pace in the future, providing the autumn sowing campaign.
Cherkasy Azot is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical enterprises. It is engaged in the production of mineral nitrogen fertilizers. Since 2011 it has been a member of Ostchem Group (the nitrogen business enterprises of Group DF).
Kyiv needs about UAH 245 million to deploy temporary hospitals at the Sports Palace and exhibition centers, said Health Minister Maksym Stepanov.
“We received information from Kyiv authorities on where they are going to place temporary mobile hospitals, if necessary – it can be either an exhibition center or a Sports Palace. They calculated that they need UAH 245 million,” he said at a briefing on Friday.
Stepanov said that temporary mobile hospitals will create 500 additional beds. To ensure the treatment process in such hospitals, according to calculations, 1,200 medical personnel will be needed.
“We are organizing information now,” he said.
Six sections of Ukrainian roads with a total length of 1,500 km have been selected for potential public-private partnership projects under this program at the first stage.
The relevant program was presented by Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy, head of the State Agency for Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) Oleksandr Kubrakov, with the participation of Deputy Head of the President’s Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Regional Country Director of the World Bank in Eastern Europe (Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine) Arup Banerji, Senior Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation Oleh Kudashov, and head of the SPILNO PPP Project Management Office Taras Boichuk.
According to the head of Ukravtodor, in particular, among the specified roads are Kharkiv – Dnipro – Zaporizhia road (M-29, M-04, M-18) – repairs and overhauls, the estimated volume of initial investments is $370 million; Boryspil – Poltava road (M-03) – repairs, initial investment is $180 million; Kherson – Mykolaiv road (M-14) – reconstruction, overhaul, repairs and the construction of a new bypass of the settlement, the volume of initial investments is $310 million; Kyiv – Zhytomyr – Rivne road (М-06) – overhaul and repairs, initial investment is $370 million; Yahodyn – Kovel – Lutsk road (M-07, M-19) – reconstruction, repairs and overhaul, initial investment is $240 million; Dnipro – Kryvy Rih – Mykolaiv road (M-04, H11) – reconstruction, overhaul and construction of a new bypass of the settlement, initial investment is $290 million.
Krykliy, in turn, said that the model proposed by the first PPP program in the road industry would attract private investors to the Ukrainian road market. According to him, in the medium term it will be possible to attract more than $9 billion of private investments for the restoration and maintenance of over 4,500 km of national roads.
He added that international consultants hired by the World Bank Group have already completed a preliminary feasibility study for the six pilot road sections selected for the first stage of the project.
All the projects envisage further maintenance of the road by the investor for 20-25 years.
According to Krykliy, the ministry intends to announce the tender in 2021.
“But for this we must adopt all the necessary laws,” he added.
