Ukraine’s largest producer of coking coal, PrJSC Pokrovske Coal, intends to increase production of coking coal by 2024 and process it into coal concentrate by 4.1 million tonnes, Kostiantyn Vialy, director of the coal directorate at the managing company of Metinvest Group, said.
According to him, 2021 was not an easy and difficult year for the company, however, it was possible to achieve fairly high production volumes.
“Albeit not at the level that was planned. We have something to be proud of and, we can say that we managed to create a reliable guarantee of success and stability in the future. Last year we passed a very good investment program for 2022. We are planning a powerful mining upgrade – mine equipment for sinkers. At the end of February, we expect the delivery of two Chinese-made combines. We plan to purchase two more combines at the end of the year. As for the overhaul, one combine has already been received, two more are ready to be sent to the plant,” Vialy said in an interview with a corporate publication.
At the same time, he expressed the hope that a certain breakthrough in the pace of mining will be achieved this year, which will make it possible to significantly increase the “cleaning front” and production volumes in the future.
At the same time, he added that the first suspended battery locomotive is being tested in the mine today – compared to diesel, it does not produce noise and exhaust gases. In the future, it is planned to gradually update the mine transport. This requires considerable investments, but if you look at the issue taking into account the prospects, they will definitely pay off – if not today, then tomorrow.
Answering a question about the problem with personnel, he noted that the shortage of personnel is a problem of the entire labor market, which has been observed for many years.
Speaking about the future of the company, the director stressed that the vision is positive and successful.
“With the support of Metinvest, we are developing production, building new blocks, improving labor safety, the professional level of our employees. Our plans are large-scale. It is important for us to provide intra-group assets that are part of Metinvest with our coal. We plan to reach the peak of mine workings in 2024, which will increase production and produce concentrate in the amount of 4.1 million tonnes,” the head of the coal directorate said.
International business has expressed solidarity with Ukraine in the face of a possible aggravation of the foreign political situation and continues to work in the country, the International Council of Business Associations and Chambers in Ukraine (ICBAC), which unites the trade communities of nine countries and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a statement.
“We remain to work on the territory of Ukraine and, together with Ukrainian partners, we will work to strengthen the economic potential and resilience of Ukraine,” the press service of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, citing the ICBAC statement in a release.
ICBAC brings together companies from France, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Turkey, Canada, China, the UK and the United States.
“Representatives of nine countries expressed their solidarity with Ukraine in the face of possible negative consequences for its economy, which may arise as a result of the aggravation of the foreign policy situation. They intend to expand trade turnover, which reaches $50 billion,” the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.
Agroholding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, is investing $14.6 million in the construction of a bulk sugar storage facility on the territory of its Narkevychi sugar plant (Narkevychi, Khmelnytsky region) with a total storage capacity of 60,000 tonnes.
The decision of the board of directors of the group was published on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) on Tuesday evening.
The commissioning of the facility is scheduled for July 2023.
“Unique for Ukraine, technological solutions under the project will create optimal conditions for long-term storage of sugar and preservation of its original quality. Such warehouse will also allow optimising logistics costs, maintaining the high quality of the company’s products and selling it in alternative packaging,” Astarta said in the statement.
As reported, Astarta planned to build and put into operation this facility back in 2020.
The agricultural holding acquired the Narkevychi sugar plant in 2008.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine.
Italy plans to allocate EUR 110 million in financial assistance to support the population and economy of Ukraine in areas that will be agreed with the Ukrainian authorities, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio said during a briefing in the Senate of the Italian Parliament.
“We also intend to help the International Committee of the Red Cross in the humanitarian sphere,” he added, commenting on the results of his visit to Kyiv last week.
The hryvnia exchange rate, when plans to introduce a state of emergency were announced, fell below the level of UAH 29.5/$1 on the interbank market on Wednesday afternoon.
As one of the market participants told Interfax-Ukraine, in the first half of the day, thanks to the efforts of the National Bank, it was kept at the level of UAH 29.3-29.35/$1 compared to UAH 29.05/$1 at the end of the day on Tuesday, however, some transactions have now appeared much cheaper than UAH 29.5/$1.
The weakening of the hryvnia is also taking place in the cash market, where since the beginning of the day the bid quotes have risen from about UAH 29/$1 to UAH 29.2/$1, while the selling rate has risen from UAH 29.3/$1 to UAH 29.7/$1.
In the cash market among individuals, according to the finance.ua resource, the hryvnia exchange rate has already fallen to UAH 30/$1.
As reported, last week, after two weeks of net redemption of foreign currency, the NBU again returned to its net sale to support the hryvnia: the sale amounted to $503 million, the purchase – $50 million, although since the beginning of the year the National Bank has sold $2.064 billion and bought – $0.657 billion.
However, another aggravation on the part of Russia and its recognition of the so-called “L/DPR” with the next territorial claims this week led to the weakening of the hryvnia by almost 4%, and the need for the National Bank to again enter the market with interventions to support the hryvnia. Its additional interventions are estimated at over $400 million.
