Phase one of easing the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) foresees control over the spread of the disease, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
According to a table posted by the prime minister in social networks, if the trajectory of the detected cases among all the tested does not change or the daily deviation is kept at 5% within a 10-day period, the government will reopen parks and public gardens, some of the facilities of the beauty industry, and allow training for team sports.
Also, in this case, the work of wholesale and retail stores selling nonfood items, take-away coffee shops, the operation of car washing outlets, bike shops, bike rental points will be allowed, as well as notaries, lawyers and auditors can operate.
Ukraine has launched the domestic production of PCR tests and the first batch of 200,000 tests has been sent to regions, Secretary of the Coordination Council for Fight against COVID-19, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.
“As we promised a few weeks ago, Ukraine has launched the production of PCR tests. Today we have received the first batch of 200,000 tests. They will be sent to regions, the laboratories specialized in PCR testing, during the weekend,” the president’s press service cited him.
According to Tymoshenko, another batch of 400,000 tests is expected to be ready next week. The production of domestic PCR tests will continue and they will be distributed among healthcare institutions.
PJSC Ukrtelecom reduced EBITDA by 6.1% in January-March 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, to UAH 400 million, according to a press release released by the operator.
EBITDA margin for that period decreased by 0.5 percentage points (p.p.), to 25.5%, and net income by 5%, to UAH 1.6 billion.
Ukrtelecom said that the key positive factor influencing the company’s income is a steady increase in receipts from the provision of Internet services and data transfer.
“The revenues increased by 7%, to UAH 521 million in the first quarter of 2020 compared to last year. At the same time, the average traffic consumption by one Ukrtelecom home Internet subscriber grew by 25%, to almost 117 GB, and among users of optics to 235 GB, which is to some extent due to quarantine measures introduced in March,” the operator said in a statement.
In general, the income from telecommunications services of Ukrtelecom decreased by 7% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to UAH 1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019.
According to the operator, that was significantly affected by a decrease in revenue from fixed telephony, which is a global tendency for voice services. Ukrtelecom revenue from the provision of this service in that period amounted to UAH 574 million, which is 20.9% less than in January-March 2019. The company also told Interfax-Ukraine that compared with the same period in 2019, the receivables of the government to the operator for providing services to privileged categories of the population increased by 8%, to UAH 144 million.
Capital investments amounted to UAH 112 million for the first quarter of 2020.
“Strictly observing measures to prevent the spread of [coronavirus] COVID-19 in Ukraine, Ukrtelecom continues to implement a number of projects to develop an optical infrastructure that can reduce the digital divide in the country. The operator is expanding the geography of optics by connecting small towns and social facilities to the high-speed Internet,” the operator said.
In the first three months of 2020, Ukrtelecom laid almost 1,400 kilometers of fiber-optic cable and connected to the optical Internet about 100 medical and educational institutions, as well as 39 merged territorial communities. The Internet access network of Ukrtelecom covered 2,430 cities and villages of Ukraine for the first quarter of 2020.
Revenues from the commercial lease of property, which is not involved in production, increased by 24% compared to the first quarter of 2019 and amounted to UAH 87.5 million. Ukrtelecom transferred UAH 478 million in taxes to budgets of all levels in January-March of 2020. The company refused to disclose the net financial result for the first quarter.
Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Ukraine’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Stable from Positive and affirmed the IDR at ‘B’.
“The revision of Ukraine’s Outlook to Stable reflects the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic… The heightened macroeconomic and fiscal risks associated with this unprecedented global shock will partially reverse Ukraine’s improvements in recent years in terms of a declining debt burden, the normalisation of growth prospects after the 2014-2015 geopolitical and economic crises, and reduced growth volatility,” Fitch said.
Fitch forecasts the economy will contract by 6.5% in 2020, compared with 3.2% growth in 2019, reflecting the COVID-19 pandemic shock to the global economy, containment measures and a weaker currency affecting investment and private consumption. Consumption will be further hindered by the expected decline in household remittances (7.8% of GDP in 2019).
Fitch said that the shock will be partly cushioned by Ukraine’s low reliance on tourism, relatively more diversified commodity exports (including 40% soft commodities) and lower international oil prices given its net importer status.
“We expect the economy to recover to 3.5% in 2021, in line with our medium-term growth view for Ukraine. However, there are material downside risks to our forecasts, given the uncertainty around the extent and duration of the coronavirus outbreak,” Fitch said.
The next scheduled review date for Fitch’s sovereign rating on Ukraine will be September 4, 2020.
Nova Poshta International (NPI), a member of the Nova Poshta group of companies, has changed its name to Nova Poshta Global (NPG), according to the company.
“Such changes have occurred so that the name conveys a deeper meaning of the entire activity and strategy of Nova Poshta Global, the worldview of its employees … We help businesses, manufacturers and entrepreneurs. We work with more than 200 countries around the world, breaking down borders between people, creating strong relations and cooperation. And this is a global meaning,” Yuriy Benevytsky, the director of Nova Poshta Global, said.
According to the company, the word “international” in the previous name created borders and restrictions, and the word “global” symbolically erases them.
“We want to emphasize that the whole world for Ukrainians, those who use the Internet, is accessible and simple. Especially now that the borders for movement are closed,” the company noted.
As reported, in 2019 Nova Poshta International delivered 3.4 million international parcels, which is 26% more than in 2018.
Nova Poshta Global (formerly Nova Poshta International) has been providing international express delivery services since 2015, and is part of the Nova Poshta group of companies. Nova Poshta Global is developing the NP Shopping service – the delivery from online stores in the United States, China, Britain and Poland, provides import and export services for businesses and the ability to ship from any Nova Poshta branch to most countries of the world.
Azur Air Ukraine has begun preparations for carrying out cargo transportation on board long-haul Boeing 767-300 aircraft, the airline said on its Facebook page.
“Given the quarantine imposed by the Cabinet of Ministers and the closure of border crossing points, the airline’s flights were carried out only as part of evacuation measures to return Ukrainian citizens home. Thus, the company incurs significant losses … In this regard, the airline is looking for ways to realize its potential outside of passenger transportation,” the report says.
Azur Air Ukraine notes that organizational and technical measures are being implemented to partially change the configuration of passenger aircraft to cargo, in particular, the dismantling of passenger seats, etc.
Such measures, according to the company, should ensure the carrying capacity of Boeing 767-300 passenger aircraft and transportation of medical equipment and drugs, essential goods, etc. as part of humanitarian flights.
“The implementation of these measures by the airline’s management will minimize the negative impact of the economic crisis in the state, tax revenues to the state budget, improve the anti-epidemic situation and avoid the mass dismissal of the airline’s workforce,” Azur Air Ukraine expects.
Azur Air Ukraine (formerly Utair Ukraine) began its operations in 2009, changing its name in 2015. The company is based at Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv region), however, it offers flights from the regions, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Lviv, and Odesa.
