Ukraine is planning to implement the first pilot public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the road industry, transferring six highways to concession.
A source in the industry told Interfax-Ukraine that the first sections and routes for PPP implementation will be offered:
– a section of the M-03 road from Boryspil to Poltava;
– a section of the M-06 road from Kyiv to Rivne;
– the route from Dnipro to Kryvy Rih and Mykolaiv (М-04, Н-11);
– the route Yahodyn – Kovel – Lutsk (М-07, М-19);
– the route Kharkiv – Dnipro – Zaporizhia (M-29, M-04, M-18);
– a section of the M-14 road from Kherson to Mykolaiv.
At the same time, a private investor will undertake the obligation to update and develop the existing road, and funds will be allocated from the Road Fund to support the investor, provided that he observes all obligations on the quality of road maintenance.
Instead of collection of fares, it is planned that the investor will earn by developing roadside infrastructure: gas stations, catering establishments, advertising space, etc.
According to Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Krykliy, the implementation of the entire program will allow in the medium term to attract more than $9 billion of private investment in the restoration and maintenance of more than 4,500 kilometers of national highways.
The first public-private partnership program in the road sector of Ukraine is planned to be presented in Kyiv on October 29, 2020.
The owner of DCH Group, businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky intends to invest EUR 5.5 million in the creation of a production of low-floor trams on the basis of the Ecopolis HTZ high-tech business park in Kharkiv, according to the DCH website.
“Production will be complex, so called, design-creation-release. Our tram should be better than European models in terms of price and quality. In one and a half or two years we plan to start mass production,” the press service quotes plant’s director general Andriy Koval during the presentation of the production site last week.
He added that a large amount of repair work is to be done at the site, but this is not a problem.
In turn, Yaroslavsky recalled that the city authorities, represented by Hennadiy Kernes (Kharkiv Mayor) and Ihor Terekhov (First Deputy), had asked him about the idea of creating a tram.
According to DCH, the engineering and consulting support of the project will be provided by partners from the Czech Republic. Other details of the project have not been given yet.
“The tram production will become the first resident of the industrial part of the Ecopolis HTZ high-tech business park besides Kharkiv Tractor Plant itself. In addition, we have many global technology companies, we are preparing to cooperate with. For example, a memorandum has been signed with Hewlett Packard Enterprise,” director of Ecopolis HTZ Managing Company Vitaliy Barannikov said.
Creditwest Bank (Kyiv) unreasonably blocks the property that is pledged by it on the repaid loan, the owner of the group of companies Voda UA, Karpatska Dzherelna Vysokohirna, Horianka, Dmytro Nikiforov, has said.
“After all obligations under the loan agreement have been fulfilled, the bank continues to hold the property in pledge, conducts incomprehensible correspondence and constantly asks us to provide certain documents regarding financial reporting, our turnover in other banks,” he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“They made it very clear to us … that they are not going to release pledge from our property,” Nikiforov added.
According to him, the obligations of his companies on the loan to Creditwest Bank were fulfilled on October 1 and, according to the loan agreement, the bank had to remove the encumbrance from the pledge within five days.
Nikiforov clarified that in 2018 the companies attracted a loan from Creditwest Bank in the amount of UAH 15 million to replenish working capital and finance investment projects. Later, according to the owner, he sold one of the companies that was the borrower for this loan, and after a while this company stopped serving him.
For the purpose of settlements, Nikiforov began to negotiate with the bank, at the same time the bank sold the corresponding non-performing loan to a financial company owned by the persons who own the company that stopped servicing the loan, the owner of Voda UA noted.
“Later, the financial company, bypassing the lender, tried to contact me to recover my property as a surety to repay this loan … In this case, we see a very clear algorithm for removing the unscrupulous borrower from liability,” Nikiforov said.
In his opinion, Creditwest Bank can block the pledge in the interests of the partner of its chairman of the board.
“When the story with the loan transfer took place, chairman of the board Ihor Tikhonov … suggested that I transfer part of the business to my business partner. On what conditions I didn’t listen, as I interrupted the conversation,” Nikiforov said.
He stressed that he plans to collect funds from the bank in accordance with the procedure established by law for each day of delay in the unreleased encumbrance from the pledge. In addition, Nikiforov is going to apply to law enforcement agencies regarding possible personal corruption motives of the bank’s management.
ACCUSES, BLOCKING, CREDITWEST BANK, PROPERTY, TURKEY, VODA UA
The first container train on the China-Kazakhstan-Russia-Belarus-Ukraine new route, which delivered 41 containers with refrigeration equipment, has arrived in Ukraine.
The press service of Ukrzaliznytsia said on Thursday morning that the train had been on the way for 19 days.
Work is underway on the frequency of the train running once a week. “If there is sufficient cargo, the frequency of running will be increased and the train will run according to a clear schedule,” the press service said.
Work on the route’s capacity filling continues, “especially in the direction of receiving subsidies from China for cargo, so that the conditions of cargo transportation are economically attractive for carriers.”
In addition, Ukrzaliznytsia is developing an online service to enable customers to order a container seat on a train and pay for the service online, similar to purchasing tickets for passenger trains.
Ukrzaliznytsia recalled that direct container trains from China to Ukraine began to run on the territory of four countries from June 8, 2020. During this time, 13 trains have already arrived.
Container traffic accounts for 2.3% of the total volume of cargo transportation by rail in Ukraine. Currently, 36 container trains organized by Ukrzaliznytsia run on a regular basis across Ukraine.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 22/10/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of October 22
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
