Nova Poshta has launched a pilot project for waste collection and sorting in ten Kyiv offices and is planning to extend it all over its chain, Director of Nova Poshta Oleksandr Bulba has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“In mid-April we started a pilot project for waste collection and sorting in our offices for all clients of the company. Ten our departments Kyiv are participating in the project. Three boxes are installed in each of them. The first one is for paper, cardboard, and paper packing material. The second one is for transparent stretch film and bubble film. And the third one is for plastic bags and colored stretch film. We pass raw materials to our contractors for recycling and they make new products of it,” he said.
Bulba added that the company collected around two tonnes of waste materials over months, 80% of which is corrugated cardboard.
“We are planning to extend this project all over Ukraine,” he said.
The decision of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to cancel mandatory sale of currency by business could result into active use of derivatives, such as forwards, futures, options, and swaps, Senior Associate Lawyer of Evris Law Firm Kateryna Breduliak has said. She recalled that the regulation on mandatory sale of 30% of currency on the interbank currency market was canceled on June 20, 2019. Mandatory sale of currency from clearing accounts was canceled on June 19, 2019.
Breduliak said that the NBU’s decision to cancel mandatory sale of currency was “rather predictable” taking into account the law on currency and currency transactions, which took effect on February 7, 2019, as well as the NBU’s course towards currency liberalization.
“Despite another relaxation of currency rules by the NBU, several approved currency liberalization measures have no significant effect on the financial market. However, the regulator took a timely decision as long as demand for U.S. dollar and at the same time for currency earnings is expected in summer,” the lawyer said.
She added that as a result of such changes businesses could actively use derivatives (forwards, futures, options, swaps).
“Bankers also hope for improvement as long as businesses will transfer currency in Ukraine more actively because now they can withdraw it any time,” she said.
The lawyer stressed that “in such situation it will be much more difficult to make dollar rate forecasts and the volume of currency on the market is also unknown.”
Breduliak added that “cancellation of mandatory sale of currency will not have a dramatic effect on businesses.”
“For example, take an agricultural company. The farmers need hryvnias to prepare for the sowing campaign. Hence, there is no point in holding currency back and the agricultural company anyway has to sell currency to insure its further work,” she said.
As reported, the NBU canceled the mandatory sale of currency by businesses from June 19, 2019.
Some 3.376 million people used services of Ukrainian tour operators in 2018. Total income of travel companies was UAH 16.9 billion (without VAT), according to the statistics on the website of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine. According to the ministry, the largest number of tourists used services of the following companies: Join UP! (902,600 people, including 878,400 Ukrainians traveling abroad), ANEX Tour (515,600 Ukrainians traveling abroad), and Accord Tour (279,700 people, including 260,500 Ukrainians traveling abroad).
Leaders among travel companies also include (284,900 people), Coral Travel (243,700 people), and TUI Ukraine (230,400 people).
Tour operators sold 1.56 million tours worth around UAH 37.766 billion in 2018.
As reported, total income of Ukrainian tour operators in 2017 was UAH 13.14 billion. Some 2.56 million people used their services.
Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS) operator JSC Ukrtransgaz (UTG) has addressed the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB) with a request to revise current modernization loan agreements for Ukraine’s section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline. UTG said in its press release that one of the reasons for which it is unable to implement the loan program was the operator’s failure to meet the financial stability requirements outlined in the loan agreements with the EBRD and EIB (due to tariffs for its services which have been set too low since the end of last year).
The company added that reliability and effectiveness of the Ukrainian section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline could be improved with a significantly smaller amount of assets (than it is envisaged in the loan agreements).
“For this reason the company is asking the EBRD to reduce the amount of its loan as long as a EUR 125 million investment (instead of EUR 300 million) is sufficient for the achievement of its primary goals,” reads the statement.
UTG also asked the financial institutions to hold consultations with the Ukrainian government in order to determine the extent of liability on the loan agreements for UTG and a new GTS operator as well as the mechanism for use of funds and loan servicing after the completion of the unbundling process in Ukraine.
As reported, UTG signed a EUR 300 million loan agreement with the EBRD and EIB (EUR 150 million from each) for the modernization of Ukraine’s section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline. Ukrtransgaz will also invest EUR 166 million of its own funds in the project.
Ukrtransgaz, a 100% subsidiary of Naftogaz Ukrainy, operates Ukraine’s system of trunk gas pipelines and 12 underground gas storage facilities.
GAS PIPELINE, LOAN, MODERNIZATION, REVISE, UKRTRANSGAZ, URENGOY-POMARY-UZHGOROD
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) only purchased foreign currency on the interbank foreign exchange market during the period from June 18 until June 21, 2019 and replenished its forex reserves by $40.5 million as compared with $135.1 million last week. Some $40.5 million was acquired at the best purchase and sale price (using the matching tool), the NBU said on its website.
In total, since the beginning of this year, the NBU has bought $1.595 billion on the interbank market, including $278.3 million in June, and sold $231.43 million there (the central bank did not sell foreign currency in June).
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of june 21
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
