The restructuring plan of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (Kyiv) provides for its division into a number of specialized companies, up to five, member of the company’s supervisory board Serhiy Leschenko has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. “The Ukrzaliznytsia restructuring plan presents the company’s unbundling for discussion – there are different approaches involving the creation of three to five verticals. Cargo and passenger transportation, infrastructure, repairs and non-core assets. But this, of course, is an ideal plan,” he declared.
At the same time, according to Leschenko, Ukrzaliznytsia has not been able to separate at least passenger traffic into a separate company and stop subsidizing it from freight transportation for a year.
“Today I’m very upset that when the conditions were favorable for the company, the moment was missed. And we got into a certain centrifuge when we need to accept the anti-crisis program and reform the company at the same time,” he said.
He said Ukrzaliznytsia is still a huge national treasure that needs to be used correctly and which will lose its value simply under the influence of time, if it is not maintained and modernized.
“We need to optimize the company as much as possible – its purchases, staff, and expenses. Even if not everyone benefits from it, someone will get more orders, someone will close or will be fired. But in general, the company should be the winner. And in many ways it will depend on the new head of the company,” the official said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he will do the utmost to allocate UAH 3-4 billion for the development of the transplant system in Ukraine.
“We should make this transplant program. It is UAH 3-4 billion. We will do the utmost to find this money. If we can do this within two years, let’s do this,” he said during a meeting with entrepreneurs in Volyn region on Thursday.
Air France on July 14 will begin regular flights to Ukraine as part of its existing route network, Boryspil International Airport has said.
“Air France has announced a gradual restart of its flights on existing routes, which were suspended due to restrictions on flights in connection with COVID-19. Now you can fly from Kyiv to Paris,” the airport said.
Now, two Air France flights are planned per week starting July 14, and three flights per week starting August 24, 2020.
Starting July 14, Air France will fly from Paris to Kyiv and back on Tuesdays and Fridays, from August 24 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Britain’s Ferrexpo Plc, controlling Poltava Mining and Yeristovo Mining, in January-June 2020 increased iron ore concentrate processing – pellets are made of it – by 6.3% year-over-year, to 7.002 million tonnes.
The enterprise told Interfax-Ukraine that in June 1.115 tonnes of concentrate was produced.
In H1 2020, 5.598 million pellets were made, including 860,100 tonnes in June alone.
State-controlled Ukreximbank (Kyiv) as a financial partner of the Big Construction project has provided 68 bank guarantees over the past three months to ensure tender offers and guarantees for fulfilling contractual obligations of road construction enterprises, the bank’s press service has said.
“We have simplified a lot of procedures for road workers, reduced the time for making decisions. And as a result, today the bank with a whole range of financial instruments in the equivalent of hundreds of millions of hryvnias ensures the timely execution of work of all companies involved in the construction and reconstruction of roads of state and local significance,” a member of the board of Ukreximbank, the curator of the corporate business, Oleksandr Ihnatenko, said.
According to the report, in July, with financial support from Ukreximbank, repair and construction work is carried out at more than 200 facilities in Ukraine. It is specified that next sections of updated roads with a length of over 740 km will soon be commissioned.
Ukreximbank was established in 1992, the state is the sole owner.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of July 1, 2020, Ukreximbank ranked third (UAH 220.708 billion) among 75 banks operating in Ukraine.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at a Wednesday meeting supported a bill of the Ministry of Infrastructure on the transfer of dividend payments for 2018-2019 by JSC Ukrzaliznytsia to no later than December 31, 2020 aiming at reducing the economic fallout from the coronavirus COVID-19 and the impact of lockdown on the financial and economic activities, the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure has said.
According to an explanatory note to the bill, it is anticipated that the suspension of passenger traffic in Ukraine from March 18, 2020 will have a negative impact on the net profit of Ukrzaliznytsia in the amount of up to UAH 1 billion. At the same time, Ukrzaliznytsia was obliged to return significant amounts of funds for previously purchased tickets (almost UAH 300 million) to passengers.
In addition, a decrease in domestic production and the suspension of private shipping enterprises could result in the reduction in freight traffic in the first half of the year by 3-8% and will lead to a decrease in the volume of Ukrzaliznytsia earnings. In addition, due to the devaluation of the national currency in the first quarter of this year, FX losses in the amount of about UAH 5 billion are expected.
The document was agreed by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry for Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture.
