State-owned enterprise (SOE) Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority and one of the largest Ukrainian agricultural groups Kernel have signed an agreement of cooperation, foreseeing investment of the group in the development of infrastructure of the Chornomorsk seaport in the amount of over UAH 3 billion.
According to the press service of the authority, under the agreement, by the end of 2020, the port plans to dredge near four berths and build a new grain terminal, which will increase transshipment to 6 million tonnes.
“The agreement between the Sea Ports Authority and Kernel is a good example of public private partnership and the next step in the systemic development of the port of Chornomorsk, which the authority is engaged in. This year we completed a large-scale main dredging project on the port’s approach canal and the water area of the first boot basin of the Sukhy estuary and we immediately proceed to the creation of the depths necessary for business at the berths No. 14-17. The Kernel company, for its part, has committed to guarantee the volume of cargo traffic of at least 6 million tonnes per year. This will contribute to a quick payback on capital investment of the authority,” the press service of the authority said, citing its head Raivis Veckagans.
He also added that the implementation of the project will help improve the conditions for the export of products of Ukrainian enterprises, increase ship calls and create about 250 new jobs in the port of Chornomorsk.
In turn, Kernel CEO Yevhen Osipov said that agribusiness is now the locomotive of the Ukrainian economy, so the company’s strategic goal by 2020 is to increase grain exports to 8.8 million tonnes via launching a new terminal in Chornomorsk.
According to the report, the volume of investments in the public private partnership project by the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority will amount to almost UAH 230 million.
Industrial products (goods, services) worth UAH 1.485 trillion were sold in Ukraine in January-July 2019, which is 5.2% more than in January-July 2018 (UAH 1.411 trillion), in particular abroad for UAH 406.371 billion, the State Statistics Service has said.
According to the agency, in July 2019 compared with July 2018 the turnover of sold industrial products grew by 4.4%, from June 2019 by 0.6%. At the same time, sales in mining industry in July 2019 rose by 15.2% compared with July 2018 (by 8.1% compared with June 2019), in processing industry by 2% (a fall of 1.1% compared with June 2019).
In the total volume of industrial products sales in January-July 2019, the largest share was that of processing industry (63.4%), the supply of electricity, gas, steam and conditioned air (18.6%), metallurgical production and production of finished metal goods (16.9%), and mining and quarrying (16.8%).
Ukrainian metal companies saw a fall of 10% in foreign currency revenues from exports of ferrous metals in January-August 2019 year-over-year, to $6.3 billion.
According to customs statistics published by the State Fiscal Service, the share of ferrous metals of total income from exports was 19.08% compared to 22.65% from a year ago.
In August 2018 alone, receipts from ferrous metal exports amounted to $685.679 million.
In January-August 2018, Ukraine decreased imports of similar products by 4.4%, to $857.252 million including imports reaching $115.525 million in August.
In January-August 2018, Ukraine decreased metal products exports by 2.1%, to $713.87 million including August deliveries being $76.452 million. During this period, imports of metal products grew by 21.8%, to $728.858 million, including August imports worth $100.982 million.
As reported, in 2018 Ukraine saw its forex earnings from ferrous metal exports rise by 23.8%, to $9.937 billion. Ukraine saw imports of these products increase by 20.4%, to $1.367 billion.
Ukraine experienced a 23.8% rise in metal products exports, up to $1.11 billion. Metal imports grew by 19.9% last year, to $967.674 million.
The Energy Efficiency Fund plans within five years to finance over 16,000 projects under the Energodom program to support energy-efficient modernization for homeowner associations, Director of the fund Yulia Holovatiuk-Ungureanu has said.
“Our Energodom program began its work on September 3. We are starting the phase of project implementation. We plan that by 2023 almost 9,000 projects will be implemented, and by 2025 more than 16,000 projects,” the director of the fund said during the presentation of the Energodom program on Wednesday.
According to her, by the end of 2025, gas savings due to energy-efficient modernization will amount to 1.5 billion cubic meters.
The Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Olena Babak said that energy-efficient modernization will reduce the level of thermal energy consumption for the “light” package by 20%, for the “complex” package – by 60%.
In addition, 720 energy auditors have passed certification to date, and over the next two years their number should grow to 5,000, Hennadiy Zubko, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Economy in 2014-2019, said.
EFFICIENCY FUND, ENERGY-EFFICIENT, FINANCE, MODERNIZATION, PROJECTS
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is studying information on measures that can be taken to facilitate the movement of workers and visitors through the territory of the Government House.
“We are now studying with our security services how open the government building and the courtyard can be. We really want to open it as much as possible,” said Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk at a briefing after a government meeting on Wednesday.
According to him, the result will be visible throughout the week.
At the same time, an Interfax-Ukraine agency correspondent reported that several checkpoints on the floors of the Government House had already been removed.
Ukraine in January-August 2019 exported 4,340 tonnes of cheese, which is 19.5% less than in the same period in 2018.
According to customs statistics released by the State Fiscal Service, in monetary terms exports amounted to $15.64 million, which is 22% less than the figure for the eight months of 2018.
At the same time, cheese imports in January-August 2019 amounted to 12,500 tonnes, which is 1.6 times more than the figure for the same period in 2018. In monetary terms, imports rose by 49.5%, to $57.27 million.
Export of butter from Ukraine in January-August of this year decreased by 34.3%, to 14,100 tonnes, in money terms by 37.2%, to $58.1 million. Import of this product, according to the service, rose by 33%, to 950 tonnes ($5.28 million).
In January-August, export of milk and cream (condensed) rose by 9.5%, to 29,170 tonnes. Ukraine supplied condensed milk and cream for a total of $61.85 million against $43.77 million in January-August 2018. Imports of this group of goods decreased by 6.6%, to 1,330 tonnes ($2.91 million).
