The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in February 2021 fell by 47.5%, to $0.32 billion, while the deficit of foreign trade in January-February 2021 slightly grew – by 5.9%, to $0.6 billion
According to the State Customs Service, imports in the first two months of this year showed an increase over the same period last year by 4.5% and amounted to $9.09 billion, and exports – by 4.4%, to $8.49 billion.
At the same time, in February, imports rose to $4.87 billion, which is 6.5% higher than the same period last year and 15.4% higher than in January.
As for exports, last month it also showed an increase of 14.8% compared to February 2020 and 15.8% compared to January, reaching $4.55 billion.
In general, the trade turnover in January-February this year totaled $17.57 billion, which is 4.44% higher compared to the same period last year.
As Deputy Minister of Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said, in February Ukraine increased the export of confectionery products by $50 million, or 15% compared to February 2020.
“The largest export markets [for confectionery products] were Romania, Poland, Belarus and Azerbaijan,” he wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
Kachka also pointed to an increase in the export of industrial goods to $398 million in February, which is 9.6% more than the same period last year and 21.6% more than in January. The trade representative said that $294 million of export of these goods falls on the EU (Hungary, Germany, Poland).
“Metallurgy began to feel better. Exports of ferrous metals (group 72) in February amounted to $764 million (a rise of 12%),” the trade representative said.
Exports of metal products last month showed an increase of 22% versus February 2020, to $77.2 million. The largest supply markets for them were Poland, Romania, Germany, the trade representative said.
He also noted an increase in the export of sunflower oil in February by 12% versus February last year and by 14% versus January, to $587 million. “India and the Netherlands are increasing supplies, China is cutting back a little,” he said.
“Meal (group 2) grew by 25.7% and amounted to $169 million. France and China began to buy more,” Kachka wrote.
As indicated by the State Customs Service, the largest trading partners in February were China (negative balance of $1.8 billion), Russia ($1.1 billion), Germany ($1.3 billion).
At the same time, the trade representative said that exports to the EU in February increased compared to last year by almost 28%, to $1.97 billion, and to Asia – by 17.4%, reaching $1.48 billion. At the same time, exports to the CIS countries decreased in February 12.3% compared to February 2020, to $461 million.
“We should note the revival with Britain – in the first two months of this year we exported products worth $145.2 million, which is 35% more compared to January-February 2020,” Kachka wrote.
According to customs statistics, in February this year, trade between Ukraine and the U.K. amounted to $503 million: exports were $209.5 million, and imports were $294 million.
Shipbuilding Smart Maritime Group (SMG) of Smart Holding, which unites Kherson and Mykolaiv shipyards, has modernized and put into operation dry-cargo vessel Gelius 1 (under Saint Kitts and Nevis flag).
According to a Wednesday press release of SMG, during the modernization, the vessel was extended by 25.35 meters with an insert and became a two-hold vessel. At the same time, the total volume of the holds increased by more than 64%, to 7,377 cubic meters.
In addition, there are hydraulically operated Folder-type hatch covers. The weight of the insert together with hatch covers was 393 tonnes.
Thanks to the modernization, carried out according to the project of the Marine Engineering Bureau (Odesa), the deadweight of the vessel at a draft of 4.85 m (summer waterline) increased by 54%, or by 1935 tonnes, to 5,492 tonnes.
The vessel Gelius 1 (project 003RSD04/ALB02, Caspian Express type) was built at the Ceksan shipyard, Tuzla (Turkey) in 2007. Its initial design dimensions were 89.95 x 15.87 m, depth 5.75 m, deadweight was 3,640 tonnes.
Smart Maritime Group is the largest shipbuilding company in Ukraine, uniting the shipbuilding assets of the industrial and investment group Smart Holding: Mykolaiv and Kherson shipyards. The production facilities of SMG allow building medium-tonnage full-scale vessels and carrying out complex ship maintenance works. The customers of the shipyards are companies from the Netherlands, Norway, Great Britain and other countries of the world.
In 2020, the company modernized and repaired 55 vessels, built two chemical tanker hulls.
The duty-free tariff quota for the import of eggs from Ukraine to the U.K. in April-June 2021 will be half of the amount determined by last year’s agreement (204.5 tonnes) due to lack of applications for imports of these products in January-March, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.
The ministry said that the Rural Payments Agency in the U.K. has announced the start of accepting applications for the import of Ukrainian poultry eggs for the second quarter of 2021.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its website quoted the rules for distribution of this quota for poultry eggs and albumin from Ukraine in accordance with the provisions of the Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement signed by Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in October 2020.
According to the document, the administration of quotas for these products is managed by a system of import licenses, and the volume of the quota is distributed quarterly in parts – 25% of its total volume. The import license will be valid for the nine months (until December 31, 2021), and can be obtained by any British company that imported at least 25 tonnes of similar products in the period from September 17, 2019 to September 16, 2020 or September 17, 2018 through September 16, 2019.
The insurance premium for the import license is set at GBP 17 per 100 kg of product.
Since March 1, Ukraine has resumed the export of electricity from the Burshtyn TPP island to the European power system ENTSO-E, according to data on the ENTSO-E platform.
According to the operational data of NPC Ukrenergo, as of 18:45 Tuesday, electricity exports to Hungary were at the level of 486 MW, Poland – 210 MW, Romania – 93 MW; and the total volume was 789 MW.
At the same time, electricity to Ukraine was imported from Slovakia at the level of 188 MW, Hungary – 160 MW, Romania – 62 MW; with a total volume of 410 MW.
The import of electricity to the Integrated Power System of Ukraine (IPS) from Belarus also remained at the level of 100 MW.
According to market participants, the resumption of electricity exports to Europe became possible after a decrease in electricity consumption in Ukraine as a result of warm weather, as well as an increase in the load on nuclear power plants, which now operate in the amount of 12 power units out of 15.
“In the winter period of the shortage, three units at Burshtyn TPP instead of export were supplying power to Ukraine, the rest of the units met the conditions of ENTSO-E capacity order, and also provided the consumers of the island itself,” First Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Energy Assembly Yuriy Sakva told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the data of SOE Market Operator, as of March 2, the price of electricity on the day-ahead market (DAM) in the Burshtyn TPP island in the database was EUR 46.49 per MWh, while in Romania it was EUR 48.29, in Hungary – EUR 53.19 and Poland – EUR 62.30 per MWh.
The Gambling and Lotteries Regulation Commission has agreed to issue a license to Parimatch LLC (Kyiv) for organization of gambling activities.
This is evidenced by the decision of the commission of March 2 posted on its website.
According to the law on the regulation of the gambling market, the company is obliged to pay UAH 108 million for the license. Its validity is five years.
Earlier, Parimatch LLC, registered in November 2019 with a charter capital of UAH 60 million, received a license to conduct casino gambling on the Internet.
The main activity of the company is the organization of gambling. The ultimate beneficiary is Kateryna Biloruska.
Bimbo QSR Ukraine, part of the international bakery holding company Grupo Bimbo, is considering the possibility of building a plant in Fastiv (Kyiv region) to manufacture products for one of the world’s largest fast food chains.
As Head of the International Relations and Communications Department of the state-run investment company Ukraine Invest Olena Hitlianska wrote on Facebook, Bimbo QSR Ukraine on March 4, within the framework of the Industrial Relocation: Opportunities for Accelerated Development of Communities and Regions conference, will decide on the construction of a bakery plant on a land plot in Fastiv.
Hitlianska said that the government office of Ukraine Invest helps the Mexican investor, in particular, in finding a site for the construction of the plant.
She also said that within the framework of this conference, investment projects that will be implemented this year within the FastIV industrial and logistics cluster will also be presented.
According to the data of the unified public register of legal entities and private entrepreneurs, Bimbo QSR Ukraine was registered in 2000 by Dutch Bimbo QSR B.V. in Dnipro with a charter capital of UAH 297,000.
According to the website of Grupo Bimbo, it is represented in 33 countries, owns 196 factories, and the company has a worldwide network of 3 million points of sale. The bakery holding produces about 13,000 names of products under more than 100 brands.
As reported, Grupo Bimbo in October 2017 bought the East Bolt Ukraine bakery (Dnipro), which produced burger buns for the international fast food chain McDonald’s.
