The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine and Qatar Petroleum, the state-owned oil and gas company of Qatar, have signed a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation, the press service of the Ministry of Energy said.
On the part of Ukraine, the document was signed by acting Minister of Energy Yuriy Vitrenko, for Qatar – President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi.
“Cooperation in the oil and gas sector of Ukraine and Qatar is promising and important for our country. Qatar is one of the largest gas producers in the world and has valuable experience and significant financial resources for investments in the exploration and production of gas in Ukraine,” Vitrenko, who is currently on a visit to the capital of Qatar, Doha, as part of the Ukrainian delegation led by the president of Ukraine, said.
In addition, according to him, cooperation with Qatar is of fundamental importance for Kyiv from the point of view of diversifying sources of gas supplies to Ukraine.
In accordance with the memorandum, the states intend to develop cooperation, in particular in the areas of investments from Qatar in the exploration and production of gas in Ukraine, as well as gas supplies (liquefied natural gas) from Qatar to Ukraine.
The memorandum will be valid for three years and can be automatically renewed for the same period.
Agro-industrial holding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, is going to carry out sowing work on an area of 208,200 hectares in optimal terms, despite the late start due to cold weather, the company said in a press release on Monday.
According to the agricultural holding, it will sow sugar beets on an area of 33,500 hectares, corn (59,900 hectares), soybeans (31,200 hectares), wheat (46,500 hectares), sunflower (28,100 hectares), winter rapeseed (7,200 hectares), and is also engaged in organic farming on 1,800 hectares.
Astarta noted that it is ready for the sowing season and provided with plant protection products, fertilizers and seeds. The agricultural holding said that it produces wheat and soybean seeds at its own seed plants under the Astarta Select brand
According to the company, John Deere tractors purchased in 2020-2021 will be used in the current sowing campaign, within the framework of a five-year investment program for the renewal of agricultural machinery, and properly trained personnel will be also involved into it.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 cows, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC)
Ukrainian metal companies in January-March 2021 increased earnings from exports of ferrous metals by 30% compared to the same period last year, to $2.67 billion.
According to updated statistics released by the State Customs Service, in March, earnings from exports of ferrous metals amounted to $1.16 billion.
At the same time, Ukraine reduced imports of similar products by 4.5% in January-March 2021, to $214.2 million. In March, this figure was $92.68 million.
In addition, Ukraine increased exports of metal products by 10.7% in the first three months of 2021, to $229.46 million. In March, their export amounted to $90.79 million.
During this period, imports of metal products increased by 7.7%, to $207.94 million. In March, they were imported for $82.66 million.
As reported, in 2020, Ukrainian metal companies reduced earnings from exports of ferrous metals by 12% compared to the previous year, to $7.690 billion. At the same time, Ukraine in 2020 reduced imports of similar products by 17%, to $1.040 billion.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) will resume its flight Odesa – Istanbul (Turkey) – Odesa from March 29, 2021, the press service of the air carrier has reported.
In addition, UIA is also increasing the frequency of flights Kyiv – Istanbul – Kyiv to 21 flights a week.
The airline said that flights from Kyiv to Istanbul and back will be operated daily three times a day, and in some periods – four times a day.
Return flights on the Odesa – Istanbul – Odesa route will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Direct flights from Kyiv and Odesa to Istanbul are also operated by Turkish airlines and Ukraine’s SkyUp Airlines.
Romania’s gas transmission system (GTS) operator SNTGN Transgaz has started selling capacity at the point of interstate connection with Ukraine Orlivka/Isaccea-1 on the RBP auction platform since April.
In this regard, the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) congratulated the Romanian colleagues in its message, expressing hope for the signing of interaction agreements at other points of connection between the countries.
“GTSOU constantly and systematically works with all its colleagues to ensure that such practices become a reality on each border with Ukraine and contribute to the further integration of Ukrainian and neighboring markets. We are glad that Romanian colleagues have now joined Poland and Hungary. This is another step towards easing the use of the Trans-Balkan Gas Corridor. We hope that our Slovak colleagues will support the trend of introducing auctions even before the end of 2021,” Director on Government and International Affairs Olha Bielkova said.
GTSOU said that the distribution of capacities at auctions is a transparent mechanism for the sale of services for the transportation of natural gas, in accordance with the Third EU Energy Package. From October 1, 2020, GTSOU, like all EU countries, distributes capacities to all points of interstate connection exclusively through auctions.
Sales of agricultural machinery Amazone in Ukraine last year in units increased 19% compared to 2019, despite the general drop in the market of agricultural machinery by almost 15%, Amazone-Ukraine subsidiary has told Interfax-Ukraine.
In particular, in 2020, the sales of pneumatic seed drills Primera DMC and Condor increased significantly, which allowed Amazone in terms of the number of sold seed drills among importers to climb from the fourth place in 2019 to second place in 2020, having sold 58 units.
“Despite a significant overall drop in the seed drills market by about 40%, we managed to increase sales of Amazone seed drills by almost 30% compared to 2019. One of the positive factors was the growth in demand for no-till, strip-till technologies in Ukraine, which is associated with climatic challenges that agricultural producers faced last year,” General Director of Amazone-Ukraine Dmytro Davydenko said.
According to the company, the segment of disc harrows in Ukraine in 2020, compared to other segments, decreased slightly – by 5-6%, which, according to Amazone-Ukraine, confirms the general trend of transition to minimum tillage technologies. “At the same time, sales of Amazone disc harrows grew by 64%, which allowed the brand to increase its market share to 12%. In the segment of fertilizer spreaders and high-tech sprayers, Amazone maintains a stable leadership in Ukraine,” the press service said.
As Davydenko said, this year, taking into account climate changes and a revision of the approach to organizing agricultural production processes, the company intends to continue to offer farmers Amazone technologies, which can significantly improve soil performance and reduce the costs of enterprises for fertilizers and plant protection products.
The press service of the company also reported that in 2020, the turnover of the Amazone group in the world increased 15% compared with 2019, to EUR 537 million, which made it possible to achieve the highest profit in the entire 138-year history of the enterprise, despite the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 80% of products are exported, Amazone is the leader in the markets of Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Russia and Austria, and a high level of turnover was again recorded in France, Ukraine, Poland and the UK in 2020.
Family company AMAZONEN-WERKE H. DREYER SE & Co. KG, headquartered in Hasbergen-Gast, specializes in the manufacture of agricultural and municipal machinery. The company has nine production sites in Germany, France, Russia and Hungary with a total of about 1,900 employees.
It manufactures tillage implements, seeders, fertilizer spreaders and crop protection implements.
This year it expects at least to keep sales at the level of the previous year.
The company has been operating in Ukraine since 1998. Amazone-Ukraine does not disclose the figures of turnover in monetary terms.
