The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) raised the forecast of wheat exports from Ukraine in 2023/24 marketing year by another 1.5 mln tonnes to 16.5 mln tonnes.
According to the April report of the U.S. agency, at the same time, the estimate of carry-over stocks at the end of the MY was reduced from 3.28 mln tonnes to 1.58 mln tonnes, domestic consumption – from 7.7 mln tonnes to 7.3 mln tonnes, and carry-over stocks at the beginning of the MY – from 3.5 mln tonnes to 2.9 mln tonnes.
As for Ukrainian corn, the forecast of its exports after increasing by 1.5 mln tons in March, in April was kept at the same level – 24.5 mln tons.
At the same time, the overall forecast for Ukrainian feed grains was increased by 0.1 mln tonnes to 26.97 mln tonnes due to the same reduction of carry-over stocks at the end of this MY to 4.08 mln tonnes.
In general, the updated global wheat harvest forecast for 2023/24 MY has been improved by 0.66 mln tonnes to 787.36 mln tonnes, while the forecast for global wheat exports has been increased by 1.34 mln tonnes to 213.47 mln tonnes. On the contrary, experts revised the forecast of wheat ending stocks in the world downward by 0.56 million tons to 258.27 million tons.
As for corn, the forecast for its global production in April was reduced by 2.38 million tons to 1 billion 227.86 million tons, while exports were reduced by only 0.47 million tons to 200.59 million tons. The USDA also lowered its estimate of carryover stocks by 2.35 million tons to 318.28 million tons.
As reported earlier, Ukraine attributed the improvement in grain export estimates for this marketing year to the increase in the volume of grain transportation through the new sea corridor under the control of the Ukrainian Navy.
The Polish Trade Inspectorate for Quality of Agricultural and Food Products (IJHARS) in Rzeszów has issued a decision to ban the circulation on the Polish market of two batches of biscuit cakes with a total weight of 10.55 thousand tons imported from Ukraine.
As the inspectorate said in a post on social network X on Monday, the decision was made due to incorrect labeling.
The decision was immediately enforced.
As reported, the IJHARS on April 9 in Rzeszów issued a decision to ban the circulation on the Polish market of three batches of baranques with a total weight of 5.34 thousand tons imported from Ukraine.
A few days earlier in Lublin, three batches of ice cream with a total weight of 8.48 tons imported from Ukraine were withdrawn from the Polish market due to defrosting.
In early April, the Polish Trade Inspectorate announced the largest fine in its history of 1.5 million zlotys (about $380 thousand) imposed on an importing company for importing 11.5 thousand tons of technical rapeseed and fodder wheat to the Polish market from Ukraine as counterfeit due to their subsequent use as food. In addition, decisions were taken to prohibit the import of 57.66 tons of tomato paste from Ukraine due to the presence of mold.
IJHARS chief inspector Przemysław Rzodkiewicz said in March that over the past year, 1.4% of batches of products from Ukraine inspected by the commission at the border were rejected.
Eskulab Group of Companies, which manages the Eskulab medical laboratory chain (First Social Medical Laboratory (FSML) Eskulab and Eskulab Center LLC), has announced the risks of stopping the network’s operation due to an attempted raider seizure.
In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, the network’s founder, Serhiy Dyadyushko, said that the network’s work is currently blocked due to the actions of its two co-founders, Stanislav Lugovskyi and Denys Melnyk.
According to Dyadyushko, the network’s commercial director, Roman Vysotsky, who represents Melnyk, has blocked the financial operations of Aesculab, and as a result, the network cannot purchase reagents for analysis, nor pay salaries to nearly 1,200 employees.
“Now we are short of reagents, we need to purchase them, people are not paid salaries. Payments have been suspended, which prevents the company from continuing to operate. I have already invested about UAH 5 million of my own money, but today I have already exhausted my resources. The entire network across Ukraine will stop working,” he said.
Dyadyushko clarified that the conflict between the co-founders arose in 2023, when Luhovskyi and Melnyk tried to re-register Dyadyushko’s share and remove him from the chain’s management. At the same time, the co-founders agreed to create a management board consisting of representatives of each of the co-founders.
“Thus, Vysotsky blocked financial operations at the end of March,” Dyadyushko said.
Dyadyushko has now turned to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.
Melnyk, on the other hand, denies the allegations.
Eskulab Medical Laboratory is one of the three largest private laboratories in Ukraine, contracted by the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU). The network consists of five laboratory centers and 180 sample collection points in the western regions of Ukraine and Kyiv.
In 2023, Eskulab paid UAH 33.8 million in taxes, including UAH 14.97 million in unified social tax, UAH 1.33 million in military duty, and UAH 14.034 million in personal income tax. The company is among the ten largest taxpayers in Lviv region.
The co-founders of PE “PSML “Eskulab” are Dyadyushko, who owns 43% of the company, Luhovskyi (43%) and Melnyk (14%). The co-founders of Eskulab Center LLC are Dyadyushko, Luhovskyi and Melnyk, who each own 20% of the company, and Ruslana Soltani, who owns 40%.
NJJ’s investment in Datagroup-Vola-Lifecell, owned by French billionaire Xavier Nel, will amount to $1.5 billion, which includes the purchase of 100% of the companies’ assets and investment commitments for five years.
“For Ukraine, in fact, the issue of $1.5 billion in investments is being resolved, which includes the amount of the deal and capital investments to be made in the next five years,” Datagroup-Vola-Lifecell CEO Mykhailo Shelemba told Interfax-Ukraine.
He also noted that Datagroup-Vola-Lifecell, which will be established after the deal is completed, plans to participate in auctions for the allocation of 2355-2395 MHz, 1935-1950/2125-2140 MHz and 2575-2610 MHz mobile radio frequencies, which the National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum and Postal Services may hold in August.
“Frequencies are the main asset for any mobile operator. Lifecell currently has enough frequencies to provide quality services, but we want to grow and will need more frequencies,” Shelemba said.
He emphasized that the entry of such an investor as NJJ into the tender “will increase competition for frequencies by an order of magnitude, so the state will be able to raise more money.”
“And we are talking about tens of millions of dollars…” Shelemba said.
Earlier it was reported that the investment company NJJ, owned by French billionaire Xavier Nel, will merge their assets into a single company that will offer customers a triple package of services after the acquisition of Datagroup-Volia fixed-line telecommunications operator and lifecell mobile operator. Mr. Shelemba will head the combined Datagroup-Volia-Lifecell platform. Pierre Danon, the current chairman of the supervisory board of Datagroup-Volia, will also continue to serve as chairman of the supervisory board of the combined entity.
The transaction is subject to final regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. As reported earlier, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has found grounds to ban the acquisition of control over Lifecell Group by DVL Telecom, a member of the NJJ group of French billionaire Xavier Niel. At a meeting on March 7, the AMCU allowed DVL Telecom to acquire control of Datagroup Holding Limited (Datagroup-Volya).
Turkcell CFO Kamil Kalyon confirmed during the investor Q&A session at the company’s 2023 financial results presentation that the transaction with NJJ was set at $525 million at the time of closing, but the final amount would be subject to adjustment.
From April 24 to May 7, 2024, Sweden will host the European Festival: Ukrainian Spring, which this year will bring together 12 cultural events. Stockholm will host a variety of events that reflect Ukraine’s interaction with the European cultural context in different ways.
The concept of the festival is to present Ukraine as an integral part of the common European cultural heritage. This connection is emphasized by the festival’s slogan: “Reflections in each other’s eyes – Ukraine in Europe and Europe in Ukraine.”
The organizers are convinced that today the ultimate goal of all cultural events dedicated to Ukraine abroad should be to focus public attention on Ukraine’s struggle and victory in the war unleashed by Russia. And the primary task is to once again remind people of the need for increased assistance to protect us from the aggressor.
Therefore, this year, each of the 12 days of the festival will be dedicated to one of the Ukrainian artists who went to defend their country and died at the front.
Ukraine and Slovakia intend to hold a joint Ukrainian-Slovak business forum in the fall of 2024, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“We have invited representatives of Slovak business and government to the Recovery Conference to be held in Berlin in June this year. Based on its results, we plan to organize a joint Ukrainian-Slovak business forum in the fall,” Shmyhal said at a joint briefing with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Thursday.
According to him, the forum will clearly discuss the prospects for investing in the economies of the countries.
