Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko says that the ministry is already preparing a proposal to the government on the regime of financial compensation for cultural sector.
“The Ministry of Culture is already preparing our proposal to the Cabinet of Ministers on the regime of financial compensation. We will appeal to the European experience, because the introduction of a lockdown there provided for financial compensation from the state to business entities (including self-employed ones) for a period of downtime,” Tkachenko wrote in the Telegram channel on Wednesday.
In this connection, the minister cited calculations on the impact of quarantine on culture, tourism and creative industries.
So, according to the minister, 2% of the country’s GDP, or more than UAH 83 billion, is the total loss of business in the cultural sector, creative industries and tourism from lost income since the beginning of March, taking into account the first lockdown.
In particular, in the field of tourism: a decline in the tourist flow by 75%; average loss of income for one weekend – UAH 1,045 million.
Hotels – drop in average occupancy from 50% to 20%; average loss of income for one weekend – UAH 119,7 million.
Cinemas – 39% loss of visitors; average loss of income for one weekend – UAH 17,13 million.
Culture and creative industries (excluding IT and film networks) – loss of 50% of income due to restrictions on holding events and entering institutions, loss of solvency; average loss of income for one weekend – UAH 324.16 million.
In addition, the minister said that a lockdown of tourism, culture and creative industries could lead to a loss of about 10% of GDP over the next five years.
According to him, the recovery of markets will take place slowly due to the migration of specialists to more protected industries, and the negative balance of the labor force in creative industries will lead to the loss of their export potential and the possibility of promoting Ukraine in the world through creative products and services.
The number of cattle in Ukraine (excluding the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, Sevastopol, the JFO zone) as of November 1, 2020 amounted to 3.26 million animals, which is 6.1% less than on the same date in 2019.
According to the State Statistics Service, the number of cows by the indicated date decreased by 5.9%, to 1.75 million animals.
The number of pigs increased by 0.6%, to 6.19 million animals, the number of sheep and goats decreased by 6.3%, to 1.32 million animals.
Poultry numbers in the country decreased by 4.3% compared to November 1, 2019, to 233.12 million birds.
According to the State Statistics Service, the number of cattle in Ukraine in 2019 amounted to 3.12 million animals, which is 6.5% less than in 2018. The number of pigs decreased by 4.9%, to 5.73 million animals, sheep and goats by 4.8%, to 1.21 million animals, and poultry increased by 4.2%, to 220.46 million birds.
Milkiland, a dairy group with assets in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, ended January-September 2020 with a net loss of EUR 29.03 million, which is 2.5 times more than in the same period in 2019.
According to the group’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Milkiland’s consolidated revenue decreased by 54.6%, to EUR 43.98 million in the nine months of 2020, as a result of a noticeable drop in the Russian segment of the group’s business. Gross profit decreased by 52.4%, to EUR 6.33 million, and operating loss by 50%, to EUR 9.46 million.
In the reporting period, Ukraine was the largest geographic segment for Milkiland, providing 59% of the group’s revenue (an increase of 19 percentage points compared to the same period in 2019). The segment’s revenues decreased by 33% to EUR 26 million, mainly due to lower sales volumes of the Ukrainian subsidiaries and lower export volumes.
The Russian Federation accounted for 41% of the group’s revenue in January-September 2020, compared with 57% for the corresponding period last year. The segment’s revenue decreased by 66.7%, to EUR 17.97 million, mainly due to a drop in sales of the Russian subsidiaries.
Whole-milk dairy was the largest segment in term of revenue, providing for 39% of revenue in the nine months of 2020 (9 percentage points down from the same period last year). The segment’s revenue decreased by 63%, to EUR 17 million, due to lower sales in Russia and Ukraine, partially offset by the appreciation of the main operating currencies against the euro.
Sugar production in Ukraine as of November 16 amounted to 702,900 tonnes.
According to a report on the website of the National Association of Sugar Producers Ukrtsukor, as of the indicated date, 30 sugar factories were operating in the country, which have processed 5.34 million tonnes of sugar beets.
As reported with reference to Ukrtsukor, the sugar beet processing season in the country started on September 5.
Sugar production in Ukraine in 2020 is projected at 1.2 million tonnes, which is 15% less than a year earlier.
As of November 12, 2020, Ukrainian agricultural producers harvested 6.7 million tonnes of sugar beets from an area of 161,600 hectares (75%).
Ukraine since the beginning of the new 2020/2021 marketing year (MY, July-June) and as of November 16 had exported 18.74 million tonnes of grain and legumes, which is 3.6 million tonnes less than on the same date last MY.
According to the information and analytical portal of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine, to date, 11.29 million tonnes of wheat, 3.51 million tonnes of barley and 3.58 million tonnes of corn were exported.
As of November 16 of this year, 65,500 tonnes of flour were also exported.
As reported, Ukraine exported a record 57.2 million tonnes of grain, legumes and flour in the 2019/2020 MY, which is 13.5% more than in the previous MY.
The number of requests from Lithuanian enterprises for business development in Ukraine, search for new partners has increased, Ambassador of Lithuania to Ukraine Valdemaras Sarapinas has said.
“From our own experience, we can say that now we see an increase in requests from Lithuanian enterprises for business development in Ukraine, searching for new partners. By the way, the same can be said about Ukrainian enterprises. We observe especially great potential in the introduction of electronic services, as Lithuania has vast experience in this area and is ready to share it with Ukraine,” Sarapinas told Interfax-Ukraine.
He also said that a reduction in the supply chain can also reveal new opportunities for both Lithuania and Ukraine.
“Lithuania can also become an excellent platform from which Ukrainian enterprises can significantly increase their exports to the West. By way of example, I can cite Kormotech company, which moved part of its activities to Lithuania, and this made it possible to take advantage of the EU financial policy and increase its competitiveness in Europe and other markets,” the diplomat said.
At the same time, Sarapinas said that Lithuanian business in Ukraine is faced with such problems as non-transparency of the judicial system, unequal conditions of competition, and administrative pressure on business.
“I am not a businessman, so I can only convey the position that I hear when communicating with our entrepreneurs: Lithuanian business, as, by the way, investors from other foreign countries or local Ukrainian entrepreneurs face the same problems, namely, the lack of transparency of the judicial system, different conditions of competition, administrative pressure on business. In the area of combating these problems, Lithuania and other Western partners are ready to share their experience,” he said.
The ambassador also said that there are several large Lithuanian companies that are now planning investment projects in Ukraine, however, negotiations are underway on this matter.
“It was recently announced that the Novus retail chain, which is operated by the BT Invest investment company, is buying 35 Billa stores. This is the fairly large investment: according to market analysts, the deal is worth about EUR 65 million. There are also few more large Lithuanian companies that are now planning investment projects in Ukraine, however, now it would be better to refrain from commenting, since negotiations are underway,” he said.
