Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

TRANSPORT ENTERPRISES SEE 5.6% DECLINE IN PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION IN UKRAINE

Ukraine’s transport enterprises in January-October 2019 carried 3.539 billion people, which was 5.6% less than in the same period in 2018, the State Statistics Service has reported. According to the report, passenger turnover for the reporting period totaled 91.4 billion passenger-kilometers, which was 4.1% more than this figure for January-October last year. In the 10 months of 2019, some 130.6 million passengers used rail transport (including the commuter rail service), which was 1.3% less than in January-October 2018, and 1.505 billion passengers were carried by road (5.5% less), the State Statistics Service said.
Airlines increased passenger transportation by 10.3%, to 11.9 million people.
In addition, according to the State Statistics Service, in January-October, 516.3 million passengers used trams (a decrease by 8.2% compared to the same period a year earlier), 591.3 million people used the subway (a 1.6% decline), and 783 million used trolleybuses (a 7.7% decrease).
Passenger transportation by water increased by 4.9% compared to January-October 2018, to 700,000 people.
The State Statistics Service says the report does not include data from the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, Sevastopol and certain districts in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: UKRAINE OPENS TRADE HOUSE IN AZERBAIJAN

On December 17, 2019 the Trade House of Ukraine will be opened in Azerbaijan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his official visit to Baku.
“I remind you that the Trade House of Azerbaijan has been successfully operating in Kyiv since 2018, and today, the Trade House of Ukraine will open in Azerbaijan,” he said during a joint press statement with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
The Trading House of Azerbaijan in Ukraine opened in June 2018.

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UKRAINE CUTS COAL PRODUCTION BY 6.8%

Ukrainian run-of-mine (ROM) coal producers in January-November 2019 reduced production of coal by 6.8% compared to the same period in 2018, to 28.412 million tonnes.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, production of coking coal increased by 5.3%, to 5.606 million tonnes, steam coal fell by 9.3%, to 22.807 million tonnes.
At the same time, Krasnolymanske LLC, controlled by Vitaliy Kropachev, continued the practice of hiding data on its activities from the ministry, which began in early September 2018.
According to the ministry, in November 2019 ROM coal production decreased by 1.2% compared to the same month of 2018, to 2.752 million tonnes.
Coal mining enterprises within the control of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry reduced extraction by 11.7%, to 3.343 million tonnes, in particular production of coking coal increased 56.9%, to 784,300 tonnes, while steam coal fell by 22.2%, to 2.559 million tonnes.
The mines of Donetsk region in January-November 2019 provided the production of 10.144 million tonnes of coal (0.2% less), Luhansk region some 313,100 tonnes (31.6% less), Dnipropetrovsk region some 16.633 million tonnes (9.2% less), Lviv region some 1.257 million tonnes (12.8% less), and Volyn region some 65,900 tonnes (down by 30%).

SERGIY TIGIPKO’S TAS ACQUIRES ASPHALT PRODUCER

Sergiy Tigipko’s TAS Group has acquired PrJSC Kyiv-based AB Stolychny asphalt and concrete plant.
Serhiy Samusev withdrew from among the plant’s shareholders by selling his stake consisting of 34,467,029 shares, which is 47.89% of the enterprise’s charter capital, the company said in the National Securities and Stock Market Commission’s information disclosure system.
Luregio Limited (Cyprus) became the new shareholder of AB Stolychny after it had purchased the shares owned by Samusev.
Meanwhile, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU), by a decision of December 13, granted permission to Cyprus T.A.S. Overseas Investments Limited whose main shareholder is Sergiy Tigipko, to purchase shares of Luregio Limited, which will provide an excess of 50% of the vote in the company’s supreme management body.
PrJSC AB Stolychny’s main shareholders as of the third quarter of 2019 were Samusev and Tigipko with shares of 47.9% and 22.6%, respectively, as well as Cyprus-based Forwincom Limited (24.7%). As of the end of 2017, the said stake belonged to Veker Limited. Samusev is listed as the ultimate beneficiary of the company as of December 16, 2019.
As reported, AB Stolychny in 2018 reduced its net profit by 35% from 2017, to UAH 38.6 million. Net income from product sales increased by 21.2%, to UAH 362.9 million. In 2018, AB Stolychny paid UAH 46.8 million in dividends to shareholders.
AB Stolychny was established in 2004 on the basis of a concrete, reinforced concrete, construction materials plant (municipally owned Concrete Products Plant before 1997). It produces asphalt mix for the construction and repair of roads. It also markets reinforced concrete products for underpasses, collectors, and other engineering and road construction facilities.
According to the State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, AB Stolychny’s charter capital as of December 2019 was UAH 17.99 million.
The TAS Group was founded in 1998. It has assets in the financial and industrial sectors, agriculture, real estate, pharmaceuticals and venture projects. The group’s financial sector includes TAScombank, Universal Bank, VS Bank, two insurance companies, and a number of other organizations. The founder and main shareholder of the group is Tigipko.

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FC SHAKHTAR DONETSK TO MEET WITH LISBON’S BENFICA IN UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE ROUND

FC Shakhtar Donetsk will meet with Lisbon’s Benfica in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32, season 2019/20. This was determined by the draw in Switzerland’s Nyon on Monday, December 16.
Both teams got into the playoffs, ranking third in their groups at the previous stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Round of 32 matches are scheduled for February 20 and February 27, 2020. The first game will be hosted by Kharkiv.
The draw also showed other pairs of the Europa League playoffs: Wolves (ENG) v Espanyol (ESP); Sporting CP (POR) v İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR); Getafe (ESP) v Ajax (NED); Bayer Leverkusen (GER) v Porto (POR); Copenhagen (DEN) v Celtic (SCO); APOEL (CYP) v Basel (SUI); CFR Cluj (ROU) v Sevilla (ESP); Olympiacos (GRE) v Arsenal (ENG); AZ Alkmaar (NED) v LASK (AUT); Club Brugge (BEL) v Manchester United (ENG); Ludogorets (BUL) v Internazionale Milano (ITA); Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) v Salzburg (AUT); Wolfsburg (GER) v Malmö (SWE); Roma (ITA) v Gent (BEL), and Rangers (SCO) v Braga (POR).

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ZHYDACHIV PULP AND PAPER MILL CUTS PRODUCTION BY 25%

Zhydachiv Pulp and Paper Mill (Lviv region), part of Osnova holding, in January-November 2019 produced UAH 307.6 million worth of products, which is 25.3% less than in the same period in 2018.
As reported, since the beginning of this year, the plant has demonstrated a positive trend in production, but over the five months showed an insignificant negative trend (0.7%), which accelerated later.
According to statistics from the UkrPapir association, in January-November 2019, the plant slightly increased production of corrugated packaging, to 16 million square meters, but reduced production of cardboard and paper for corrugating by 30.7%, to 19,800 tonnes. At the same time, paper production maintains growth: its output grew by 2.3%, to 4,400 tonnes.
Another enterprise of the holding, Izmail Pulp and Paper Mill (Odesa region), decreased package cardboard output by 19.6%, to 10,800 tonnes and cut corrugated box output by 2%, to 16.3 million square meters.
Zhydachiv Pulp and Paper Mill was put into operation in 1951. Now the mill produces mainly corrugated cardboard and corrugated boxes.

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