Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers have proposed creating a coordination group under the president of Ukraine with the participation of central executive authorities, industry associations and drug manufacturers to quickly resolve the issues of providing medicines during the spread of coronavirus infection.
Pharmaceutical companies that are members of the Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine Association said this at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
According to association president Petro Bahriy, the working group, in particular, could quickly resolve the problems associated with the increased demand for certain groups of drugs, a shortage of a number of active pharmaceutical ingredients, interruptions in the logistics of medicines, as well as the issues of patent law.
“Today, the enterprises involved in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients have been stopped, there are problems with the supply of substances, packaging materials, problems with the logistics of medicines, so today it would be very good to form a headquarters and plan our work in the government and the president’s office in such a way as to help domestic manufacturers cope with these challenges and provide the population of Ukraine with medicines,” he said.
The chairperson of the board of PJSC Indar, Liubov Vyshnevska, in turn, noted that the pharmaceutical companies faced a number of problems, including quotas for alcohol without excise taxes.
“Quotas, not even during the epidemic, but in ordinary life, are the Stone Age. Pharmaceutical manufacturers with production licenses should get enough alcohol,” she said.
The strengthening of e-commerce under quarantine conditions will stimulate the demand for warehouse space within the city in 2020, according to a study by CBRE Ukraine (Kyiv), an international consulting company. “As in the past ten years, e-commerce will again become a catalyst for demand and will lead to shifts and changes in the warehouse real estate market in the next cycle. E-commerce will stimulate demand for the format of so-called warehouses within the city (incity warehouses, urban warehouses). In 2020, transactions may be signed for the acquisition of former industrial facilities in the city for conversion into storage facilities,” CBRE said.
At the same time, the worsening of the economic situation could facilitate the acquisition by the market players of land plots for the development of built-to-suit projects at reduced prices. However, the launch of new projects may be suspended due to the limited work of government agencies and delays in processing permits.
“A large number of representatives of industrial real estate took a wait-and-see position, which most likely means a reduction in rental activity and vacancy in 2020. However, the likelihood of negative absorption in the industrial market is minimal. Warehouse services are currently in a great demand, more than ever before, which will allow most of logistics and warehouse services operators to stay ‘afloat’ throughout the crisis period,” CBRE predicts.
According to the consulting company, pharmaceutical distribution, food retail and its logistics are experiencing a peak in sales under quarantine conditions in the amount of 40-50% higher than in the New Year season.
The Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) in the April report updated its forecast for the harvest of grain and oilseeds in the 2020/2021 marketing year (MY) compared to March, to 94 million tonnes from 92.6 million tonnes.
According to the association’s Thursday press release, the forecast for grain and oilseeds exports for next season is also increased from 55.6 million tonnes to 57.2 million tonnes.
According to the association, in the current marketing year, Ukraine produced 98 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds, exports can reach 60 million tonnes.
The association said that a slightly decrease in the forecast for the harvest of grain and oilseeds in 2020 does not change the upward trend of the last three years, when Ukraine harvested more than 90 million tonnes. In the medium term, gross harvest in the country will approach 100 million tonnes and will continue growing.
The forecast for the harvest and export of wheat in the next marketing year has not changed compared to the March report and will reach 25.8 million tonnes and 18 million tonnes, respectively.
The association said that in 2019, Ukraine had a record-hitting wheat harvest of 28.2 million tonnes, and exports, according to its estimates, will reach 20.2 million tonnes in the 2019/2020 marketing year.
The forecast for corn harvest in the April report of the association increased from 34.3 million tonnes to 36.8 million tonnes, and export for the next season from 27.5 million tonnes to 30 million tonnes. Thus, Ukraine in the 2020/2021 marketing year may break its own record for the current marketing year, when 35.2 million tonnes were harvested with an expected export of about 28.5 million tonnes, the association said.
At the same time, the association decreased the forecast for barley harvest compared to the previous month forecast from 7.96 million tonnes to 6.8 million tonnes, and export for the next season from 4.5 million tonnes to 3.5 million tonnes.
According to its estimates, in the current marketing year in Ukraine, some 9 million tonnes of barley were grown with the planned export of about 4.6 million tonnes.
The Ukrainian Grain Association is an association of producers, processors and large exporters of grain, which annually export about 90% of Ukrainian grain products.
Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises increased the production of total rolled products by 3.5% in January-March 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, to 4.7 million tonnes.
According to a press release of the Ukrmetallurgprom association on Wednesday, April 1, steel production decreased by 3%, to 5.342 million tonnes, pig iron by 2%, to 5.105 million tonnes over three months.
In March, Ukrainian metal enterprises produced 1.560 million tonnes of rolled products (92.1% compared to March 2019), some 1.789 million tonnes of steel (90.9%), some 1.750 million tonnes of pig iron (95.4%).
As reported, Ukraine in January 2020 increased the production of total rolled products by 4% compared to the same period in 2019, to 1.629 million tonnes, but reduced steel production by 2.7%, to 1.8 million tonnes, pig iron by 5, 1%, to 1,698 million tonnes.
According to the results of 2019, the metal enterprises of Ukraine reduced steel production by 1% compared to 2018, to 20.848 million tonnes, production of total rolled products by 1% as well, to 18.387 million tonnes, and iron production fell by 2%, to 20.064 million tonnes.
Donbasenergo Board Chairman Eduard Bondarenko does not expect a significant reduction in demand for electricity generated by Sloviansk TPP, despite the general trend of consumption reduction in the country. “The operator of the power transmission system NEC Ukrenergo, according to the results of March, predicts a drop in electricity consumption in the industry as a whole, at least by 8.2% compared to the same period in 2019. At the same time, customers of Donbasenergo will keep their purchases at the same level, which will allow getting production volumes in April at the level of March,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
As reported, the operator of the power transmission system NEC Ukrenergo predicts a decrease in electricity consumption in Ukraine in March amid quarantine measures by 8.2% compared to the same period in 2019. In addition to quarantine measures, in which the operation of a number of enterprises in different economic sectors is restricted, electricity consumption is also reduced due to warm weather.
Electricity consumption in Ukraine in January-February 2020, taking into account technological losses in networks, decreased by 5.1% (by 1.451 billion kWh) compared to the same period in 2019, to 26.999 billion kWh excluding technological losses by 4.8% (1.63 billion kWh), to 21.29 billion kWh.
Electricity production in the unified energy system of Ukraine in January-February 2020 decreased by 7.5% (by 2.204 billion kWh) compared to the same period in 2019, to 27.318 billion kWh.
Donbasenergo owns Starobesheve (located in the occupied territory) and Sloviansk TPPs with the total installed capacity of 2,880 MW, in particular the capacity of Sloviansk TPP is 880 MW. At the end of March 2017, the generation company announced the loss of control over Starobesheve TPP, as well as part of structural units located in the temporarily government uncontrolled territory.
PJSC Energoinvest Holding owns 60.86% of the shares of Donbasenergo, another 25% of the shares of the generating company are owned by the state. Currently, Maksym Efimov is the head of the company.
The electricity prices for industrial consumers in Ukraine are two times higher than in Eastern Europe, according to the data of the Market Operator as of April 1, 2020.
According to the following websites https://www.oree.com.ua/ and https://www.nordpoolgroup.com/maps/#/nordic, in particular, the base cost of electricity for Ukrainian industrial consumers is EUR 51.01 per MWh, for Polish is EUR 30.23, for Romanian is EUR 25.69, for Hungarian is EUR 25.78, and for Slovak is EUR24.1.
The cost of electricity for daylight hours in Ukraine is EUR 58.85 per MWh, while in Poland it costs EUR 31.7, in Romania and Hungary is EUR 26.81, in Slovakia is EUR 24.35.
According to Nord Pool, the European power exchange, the tariffs are even lower in Western Europe. Thus, the cost of electricity in Benelux is EUR 22.5 per MWh, in France is EUR 21.86, in Germany is EUR 19.95.
The countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula, under support of national economies during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, reduced electricity prices to minimum levels. Thus, the tariffs in Norway, Sweden and Denmark dropped to EUR 4.58 per MWh.
As Ukrainian industrial company Interpipe said earlier on Wednesday, April 1, in the last week of March in Ukraine rise in price of electricity for industrial consumers was recorded, while the tariff increased from UAH 1.3 per kWh to unprecedented UAH 1.68 per kWh, or 35% compared to February.
At the same time, Interpipe urged Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission to take the necessary regulatory measures to stabilize the electricity market. The government needs to take measures to prevent the rise in electricity prices by one of the key market players – National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom, the group said in a statement.
“Amid COVID-19 pandemic, the governments of Europe and the United States are developing plans to support industry, introduce additional tools to stabilize the business. The situation is opposite in Ukraine. We, as a business, solve the problems of transferring employees, providing them with protective equipment, and purchase equipment for local hospitals. All this is amid falling volumes of orders. In response, we get a 35% increase in electricity prices and, as a result, a significant deterioration in our competitiveness in the falling market,” Interpipe Chief Financial Officer Denys Morozov said.
Interpipe is one of the ten largest manufacturers of seamless pipes in the world, is the third largest producer of seamless-rolled railway wheels in the world.
Interpipe incorporates five key assets: PJSC Interpipe NTRP, Interpipe NMPP, Interpipe NIKO TUBE, Interpipe VTORMET, and Interpipe STEEL.
