Export Credit Agency (ECA) and state export credit agency of Slovakia Eximbanka SR signed a memorandum of understanding that defines main principles of cooperation between them in promoting export of goods and services of Ukraine and Slovakia, ECA website reports.
“By signing the Memorandum of Understanding, we are laying the groundwork for further unlocking trade and investment potential between our neighboring countries in the current difficult times. From the point of view of Eximbanka SR, the memorandum of understanding is a new impetus for a deepened partnership and strengthens our confidence in continuing cooperation in the form of concrete projects of mutual interest,” commented the event in Slovak Eximbanka SR.
According to the report, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the total trade turnover of Ukraine with Slovakia to full-scale military operations on the territory of Ukraine in 2021 was $1.84 billion. Ukraine had a positive balance in trade with Slovakia: the volume of exports was $0.93 billion while imports were $0.91 billion. Ukraine’s share of Slovakia’s imports was 0.9%.
“In 2021, we saw our trade volume grow by 20.8% ($332.2 million). Unfortunately, raw materials still remain the main export items from Ukraine to Slovakia,” notes Oksana Ocheretyana, a member of the ECA board.
These are, particularly, sales of ores, slags and ashes – 47.8% ($539.6 million), ferrous metals – 8.8% ($87.7 million), wood and wood products – 4.2% ($41.5 million).
“ECA’s task is to change that,” Ocheretianna stressed.
According to her, the Slovak market has demand for Ukrainian electric cars (in 2021, it increased its purchases by 33.1% to $90.8 million), railway locomotives (Ukrainian exports in this commodity group grew by 22.8% in 2021 to $17.1 million), Ukrainian furniture (presence of furniture manufacturers in the Slovak market during this period increased almost twice and the export volume was $9.8 million).
“Exporters of all these commodity groups can be supported by ECA within the framework of current products of the company”, says a member of ECA board.
Eximbanka SR is a state export credit agency of Slovakia, established in 1997 to promote export activities of Slovak businesses. Eximbanka SR offers a wide range of financial products: financing, credit insurance for exporters, guarantees.
As earlier reported, the ECA was established to promote export of goods (works, services) of Ukrainian origin and support exporters who are residents of Ukraine through insurance, reinsurance and provision of guarantees under contracts ensuring export development.
From January 7, 2023 the National Bank was authorized to regulate the activities of the Export Credit Agency, which has to bring it in line with the requirements established by the decree and submit documents for obtaining a license until July 7, 2023, in the manner prescribed by the regulator.
A 1 MW gas-turbine station, which will be the first in Ukraine, will be opened in Irpen on January 31, the head of the National Energy Regulator of the NKREKU Konstantin Ushchapovsky said.
“Tomorrow you have a landmark event – the opening of Ukraine’s first gas turbine station, which will allow to power the entire critical energy infrastructure of the city, if necessary,” – said Ushchapovsky during a meeting of the commission on Monday, addressing the mayor of Irpen Alexander Markushin, who was present at this meeting.
For his part, Markushin confirmed the information about the opening of the station, specifying that its capacity is 1 MW.
As reported, in late December 2022, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine called gas turbine and gas piston mini power plants one of the options for creating alternative mobile generation in conditions of damage to the existing generation by Russian shelling.
Oil prices are moderately lower on Tuesday morning after a sharp decline on Monday, triggered by expectations of interest rate hikes by central banks around the world.
The price of March futures for Brent on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stood at $84.85 a barrel by 7:09 a.m., down $0.05 (0.06%) from the close of the previous session. Those contracts fell $1.76 (2%) to $84.9 a barrel at the close of trading on Monday.
The price of WTI futures for March at electronic trades of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) makes $77.54 per barrel by that time, which is $0.36 (0.46%) lower than the final value of the previous session. At the end of last session, the contract fell by $1.78 (2.2%) to $77.98 per barrel.
This week will be the first meetings of the world’s leading central banks – the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England. The Fed is expected to slow the pace of key rate hikes to 25 basis points from 50 bps in December, and the ECB and Bank of England will again increase borrowing costs by 50 bps.
“A hawkish attitude toward further rate hikes will cause weakness in the oil and oil products market,” StoneX analysts wrote in a letter to clients.
Traders are also trying to take a cautious approach ahead of Wednesday’s next OPEC+ ministerial meeting.
The OPEC+ committee is unlikely to signal any changes in production “given the continued certainty in the market, both on the demand and supply side,” ING strategists Warren Patterson and Ava Manty said.
It is noteworthy that the situation in Ukraine has deteriorated in the last two years, according to the information supplied by the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine (SOE).
Thus, Ukrenergo increases the daytime limits for the second day in a row, the nighttime limits are relatively sharply increased after the insignificant decrease on Monday.
According to DTEK’s report in the group’s Telegram Channel on Monday evening, the average time of no light in Kyiv throughout January 23-29 was 4 h. 50 min, 4 h. 51 min. and 4 h. 58 min, depending on one of the three groups. That is, 77-80% of days the residents of Kiev were with light.
DTEK noted that the blackout was uniform both among the groups and within each of them.
The information on the application of hourly schedules for tomorrow has already been made public by most network operators. In the Odessa region, emergency shutdowns will continue to be applied due to serious damage to the energy infrastructure as a result of the Russian attack on January 26. Prior to it, such blackouts were applied in the region only at night. As reported, DTEK forecasts that the repair work that would allow the region to return to stabaggering will continue at least until the end of January.
We coordinate all measures related to the strengthening of the Ukrainian Defense Forces with our NATO partners, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.
According to the Polish state news agency PAP, the prime minister and the head of the Defense Ministry were asked at a press conference whether, following the example of the Polish government’s pressure on the international arena to hand over tanks to Ukraine, similar actions would be taken regarding F-16 aircraft and long-range weapons.
“All actions aimed at strengthening the Defense Forces of Ukraine, we agree with our partners in NATO, including the transfer of Patriot to Ukraine, as well as the organization of a strong tank force in the form of Leopard and modern tanks. All this was pressure from our side, but also agreements with the United States,” Moravetsky replied.
The Prime Minister noted that, as a few months ago, in the context of MiGs, any other Air Force will be implemented and possibly redeployed in coordination with NATO countries.
“We will act in full coordination,” he stressed.
