PJSC Donbasenergo by July 2020 plans to complete the introduction of the single automated system to manage the key assets of Sloviansk thermal power plant (TPP). The company said that the system allows general effectiveness of business management.
The natural obsolescence of the key production assets of the TPP, which celebrated its 65th anniversary last year, leads to an increase in the number of breakdowns, malfunctioning of the equipment fleet and, as a result, expenditure growth.
The implemented module of the plant’s resource management and statistical analysis will help reduce the number of restoration repairs. Based on the available scheduled preventive repairs statistics, the economic feasibility of using equipment is determined, a decision is made to continue the operation of the old equipment or purchase new one, the company said in the release.
Donbasenergo owns Starobesheve (located in the occupied territory) and Sloviansk TPPs with a total installed capacity of 2,880 MW, in particular Sloviansk TPP’s capacity is 880 MW. At the end of March 2017, the generation company announced the loss of control over the operation of Starobesheve TPP, as well as part of structural units located in the temporarily uncontrolled territory.
Turkey’s Onur group, engaged in construction and repair of roads and buildings, plans to build a multifunctional exhibition center with a hotel and business centers in Lviv. “We plan to build a complex in Ukraine with a hotel, a multifunctional exhibition center for 3,000 people, and several IT business centers. We want to place all this in one place on a good location in Lviv,” the head of the representative office and general coordinator of Onur Group, Emre Karaahmetoglu, said in an interview with Newsweek in the framework of the Ukrainian promo for the World Economic Forum.
He also mentioned the company’s plans to invest in the Ukrainian tourism sector.
According to the decree of Lviv City Council of September 19, 2019, a joint venture was established between the Agency for Resources of Lviv City Council and Onur Construction International LLC – Synergy Alliance LLC, and a land plot of 4.82 hectares worth UAH 105.9 million in Shyretska-Riashevska Street was transferred to it.
Zaxid.net reported, with reference to Onur’s investment analyst Olena Chepurnova, construction work will begin in 2020. Construction will take about two years, the cost of the project is $70 million.
Onur Construction International LLC (Kyiv) was founded in 2004.
The share of the shadow economy in Ukraine should decrease from 30% of GDP (according to calculations of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture for 2018) to no more than 20% of GDP by 2025, according to Strategy of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development until 2025 approved by the regulators of the financial market on January 16. According to the document post on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the total volume of public debt for this period should decrease from 52.3% to no more than 40% of GDP, the deficit of public debt – from 2.1% in 2019 to 1.5% at the end of 2024. It is envisaged that the share of state-owned banks of the assets of the banking system over this period will decrease from 60.1% to no more than 25%.
The share of non-performing loans (NPL) in the banking system will decrease and will not exceed 10% of the total volume of loans (52.9% in 2019). At the same time, net loans in foreign currency of the total volume of net loans will decrease from 41.4% to no more than 30%, and deposits in foreign currency will not exceed 30% of the total deposits (41.7% in 2019).
The volume of net bank loans will increase from 16.5% to 22% of GDP, and the level of penetration of lending to SMEs – from 1.4% to 3% of GDP.
The cash (M0) and GDP ratio will decrease from 9.2% to no more than 7.5%. The share of banks issuing cards of the Prostir national payment system will increase from 21.5% to more than 70%, and the acceptance of Prostir payment cards will increase to more than 99%. The level of public confidence in the financial system will increase from 10% to 60% by 2025, the index of the level of financial literacy – from 11.6 to 12.5.
T.A.S. Overseas Investments Limited (Cyprus) belonged to Sergiy Tigipko has become a direct shareholder in private joint-stock company AB Stolychny concrete asphalt plant, building up a 47.89% stake in the company. The private joint-stock company reported in the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market that as of December 31, 2019 T.A.S. Overseas Investments become direct owner of 34.467 million ordinary shares in the plant, which the company owned indirectly via Luregio Limited (Cyprus).
Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on December 13, 2019 permitted T.A.S. Overseas Investments to acquire share in Luregio Limited, which will grant over 50% of the votes in the management body of the company.
The key shareholders of AB Stolychny concrete asphalt plant as of the third quarter of 2019 were Serhiy Samusev and Tigipko with shares of 47.9% and 22.6% respectively, as well as Forvink Limited (Cyprus, 24.7%, while as of the end of 2017, this stake was owned by Wecker Limited). The ultimate beneficiary of the company as of January 19, 2020 was Tigipko.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine has urged Ukraine’s authorities to start discussions on tax reform with the business community and revise some provisions of the law with amendments to the Tax Code (bill No. 1210). “Chamber members are ready to continue providing expertise to make Ukrainian tax legislation transparent, predictable, and effective during discussions on tax reform,” the Chamber said in a press release.
According to Chamber experts, the draft law contains both favorable and unfavorable amendments for the business community.
Among the provisions that will increase fiscal pressure against bona fide taxpayers, deteriorate Ukraine’s investment attractiveness as well as negatively affect the development of the economy are the following: lack of a clear for a taxpayer algorithm of determining a reasonable economic cause (business purpose); equaling tax rates for tobacco-containing products for heating to cigarettes; increase of penalties for late payment of the agreed financial obligation and equaling transactions to the actual payment of dividends with accrual and payment of advance contributions.
The implementation of BEPS (Base erosion and profit shifting) plan is in line with the fulfillment of international obligations taken by Ukraine. However, it would be worth considering such an important and largescale changes separately, the Chamber said.
The reduction of penalties for untimely registration and non-registration of tax invoices not provided to the buyer and the abolishment of the cancellation of VAT refund on the export of soybeans and rapeseeds as well as several other amendments on improvement of tax administration are positive.
