The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in Ukraine equals 88.0 in July, which is 5.5 points higher, than the indicator in June, and the highest figure since August 2013, according to a study of Info Sapiens posted on the website of the company.
“The Consumer Confidence Index reached the new peak. Indices of Current Personal Financial Standing and Expectations of the Country’s Economic Development in one and in five years show the biggest growth in July comparing with June… Trust in the new government promotes the growth of optimistic expectations concerning the economic development in general,” Info Sapiens analysts said.
They said that improvement of Current Personal Financial Standing estimation is explained by growth of real wages in June 2019 comparing to May, while UAH rates and prices remain stable.
Index of the Current Situation (ICS) increased by 5.8 points to the level of 76.9, including Index of Current Personal Financial Standing equaled 70.5, which is 8.1 points higher than the indicator in June.
In July, Index of Economic Expectations (ІЕE) increased by 5.4 points to the level of 95.4, including Index of Expectations of the Country’s Economic Development Over the Next Year increased by 8.3 points and equals 99.6; and Index of Expectations of the Country’s Economic Development over the Next 5 Years increased and equals 99.6, which is 7.7 points higher than in June.
In July, the indicator of Index of Expectations of Changes in Unemployment equaled 114.4, which is 5.0 points higher than previous month. Meanwhile, Index of Inflationary Expectations slightly decreased and equals 177.1, which is 0.7 points lower than last month. The expectations of Ukrainians regarding the hryvna’s exchange rate in the coming three months also have slightly improved: Index of Devaluation Expectations decreased by 1.1 points and reached the level of 129.5.
The Consumer Confidence in Ukraine survey was conducted by GfK Ukraine since June 2000. From 2019 this project is provided by Info Sapiens with support of Dragon Capital. The poll involves 1,000 respondents.
Ukraine in January-June 2019 imported 4.863 billion cubic meters of natural gas for a total of $1.060 billion, in particular in June 1.372 billion cubic meters for $259.638 million, according to the State Statistics Service.
Thus, the average price of gas imported by the country in June 2019 amounted to $189.3 per 1,000 cubic meters, which is 7.8% less than in May 2019 ($205.3).
The counterparties for the six months of 2019 were companies from Switzerland with 1.732 billion cubic meters of gas for $372.82 million, Germany with 1.567 billion cubic meters for $329.671 million, Hungary with 356.061 million cubic meters for $72.895 million, the Czech Republic with 246.071 million cubic meters for $51.799 million, Poland with 292.817 million cubic meters for $63.78 million, Austria with 224.315 million cubic meters for $63.597 million, France with 172.724 million cubic meters for $38.518 million, the UK with 106.64 million cubic meters for $28.751 million, Luxembourg with 88.627 million cubic meters for $23.159 million, Slovakia with 57.583 million cubic meters for $11.23 million, Italy with 16.893 million cubic meters for $3.487 million, and Bulgaria with 1.4 million cubic meters for $255,000.
Gas was not imported from Russia for the indicated period.
PJSC Energomashspetsstal (EMSS, Kramatorsk, Donetsk region), the owner of which is Russia’s Atomenergomash, has signed a new agreement with Steel Authority of India (SAIL) for delivery of 1,190 tonnes of rolled products. The press service of EMSS has reported that the agreement was signed following tender in July 2019. The value of the contract is not disclosed.
The rolls will be produced for a new hot-rolling mill 2250 of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP).
According to the contract, the products should be sent to the customer by the second quarter of 2021.
The company’s press service said a successful fulfillment of this order would favor further cooperation with SAIL into other projects.
For a moment, SAIL’s RSP is also waiting for another delivery under the previous order from EMSS that is to be sent to the customer by the beginning of 2020.
Energomashspetsstal is the largest Ukrainian producer of special cast and forged products for individual and small-scale production for metallurgy, shipbuilding, energy (wind, steam, hydro, nuclear) and general engineering.
SAIL is top five biggest companies of India.
Ukrspecexport, part of the Ukroboronprom State Concern, and the Turkish company Baykar Defense are developing a next generation unmanned aerial vehicle Akinci.
“The new generation strike UAV Akinci is being developed in accordance with the requirements of armed conflicts of the 21st century and is intended primarily for both Turkish and Ukrainian armed forces. One of its main advantages is the ability to deliver high-precision strikes with the same weapons that are used on conventional airplanes. We are talking about heavy-duty ammunition weighing hundreds of kilograms,” Ukroboronprom’s press service said.
According to the state concern, this has become possible thanks to the use of Ukrainian engines, which provide greater carrying capacity, speed and flight altitude, economy and ease of operation.
Akinci refers to the new “heavy” class of drones. It is equipped with two Ukrainian-made engines that provide flight at an altitude of more than 12 km. The drone has a wingspan of 20 meters, is capable of lifting more than 1,000 kg of weapons into the air and being in flight for a day.
The drone is equipped with the most advanced surveillance systems from thermal imagers and powerful cameras to radars with an active phased antenna array and numerous sensors.
“All this allows us to reveal even well-camouflaged targets at a considerable distance, to transmit coordinates for destruction, or to independently launch high-precision strikes,” Ukroboronprom said.
Akinci’s weapons range includes guided missiles and various conventional and high-precision bombs. Such armament allows the drone to destroy enemy manpower and equipment, as well as to strike at important enemy targets – fortifications, command and communications centers, bridges, warehouses, etc.
As reported, in 2019 the state-owned company Ukrspecexport and the Turkish Baykar Defence, which is one of the leading manufacturers of drones, created a joint venture that specializes in high-precision weapons and aerospace technologies. The main task of the joint venture is to combine the capacities of the defense complexes of the two countries for the mass production of new models of modern weapons for their own armies. This will allow moving away from classic arms sales and purchase contracts to a fundamentally new level of cooperation. The cooperation will exploit synergies of defense technologies and a combination of advanced developments in Turkey and Ukraine.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of August 22
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 22/08/19
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
