Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says that Ukraine is currently signing or has already signed contracts for more than 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
“There will be enough vaccines for everyone this year. Today, we have contracts for more than 30 million vaccines that have actually been signed and are being signed,” Shmyhal said on the air of ICTV channel on Monday evening, January 25.
The prime minister also said that all the queues according to the national vaccination plan will be observed, and the vaccination itself will start in February.
“In the near future, Ukraine will receive one million doses of vaccine. Until the end of January, we expect the amount of COVAX vaccine […] there will be the first delivery of COVAX vaccine in the amount of 200,000 doses or more, in order to start emergency immediate vaccination,” Shmyhal said.
The Office of the National Investment Council under the President of Ukraine proposes to create the State Fund of Funds and the National Investment Fund (NIF) with shares of large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for holding an IPO, Head of the Office Olha Mahaletska has said.
“Among the initiatives that are proposed to be considered for the National Economic Strategy of Ukraine is the creation of a National Investment Fund for the transformation of state-owned enterprises, the stakes in which will be under its management, into effective and profitable companies, as well as the State Fund of Funds. It will activate the development of the investment fund industry,” she said, presenting the Office’s proposals to the National Strategy until 2030.
The expected effect of the launch of the State Fund of Funds exceeds 1% of GDP, Mahaletska added.
According to her, the State Fund of Funds invests in other funds instead of directly investing in stocks and bonds of companies. The mechanism of operation is the financing of investment funds that have already received investments from a limited list of first-class foreign investors, such as the EBRD and IFC.
The seed capital of the State Fund of Funds will be the national budget of Ukraine (10-20%) and international financial institutions (IFIs, 80-90%).
Earlier, the government of the country considered the possibility of creating a “fund of funds” to support Ukrainian startups on the basis of public-private partnerships. However, instead, in 2019, the Ministry of Finance launched the Ukrainian Startup Fund.
As for the NIF, it is proposed at the first stage to transfer shares of 10-15 large state-owned enterprises to its management, and in the future this number can be increased, Mahaletska said.
According to her, the main task of such an investment fund is to increase the efficiency of state-owned enterprises through the corporatization. In particular, the NIF will be able to appoint its representatives to the company’s supervisory boards.
“The task of the highest level is to prepare the enterprise for an initial public offering of its shares on a stock exchange,” Mahaletska said.
Earlier, Head of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission Tymur Khromaev proposed to create a National Investment Fund, which will include minority stakes in about 20-30 strategic enterprises. The IPO of this fund will increase the investment attractiveness of Ukraine and provide the prerequisites for a successful IPO for these enterprises.
In recent years, the idea of creating a National Welfare Fund has been promoted by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, citing as an example the successful experience of such a fund in Romania and a number of other countries. However, these proposals were met with no response until recently.
Ovostar Union, one of the leading producers of eggs and egg products in Ukraine, in 2020 reduced sales of eggs by 4% compared to 2019, to 1.104 billion pieces.
According to the group’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the volume of exports fell more significantly, by 33.5%, to 349 million units, as a result of which the share of exports fell from 46% to 32%.
The average price of eggs in hryvnias increased by 2%, to UAH 1.634 per egg, while in dollar terms decreased by 2%, to $ 0.061.
The company reported that egg production last year increased by 5%, to 1.672 billion pieces, while egg processing decreased by 4%, to 552 million pieces.
Production of liquid egg products decreased by 3%, to 13,504 tonnes, while dry egg products increased by 6%, to 3,161 tonnes.
The volume of sales of dry egg products increased by 17%, to 3,270 tonnes, in particular exports rose by 9.9%, to 2,268 tonnes, but its share decreased from 74% to 69%.
The volume of sales of liquid egg products decreased by 3%, to 13,281 tonnes, in particular exports by 28.7%, to 4,647 tonnes, and its share from 47% to 35%.
The average price of dry egg products increased by 3% in hryvnia terms, to UAH 110.84/kg and fell by 1% in dollar terms, to $ 4.11 per kg.
The average price of liquid egg products decreased by 11% in hryvnia terms, to UAH 32.93 per kg, in dollar terms by 15%, to $ 1.22 per kg.
Structure of import of services for 9 months of 2020 (graphically).
Pivdenny Commercial Sea Port (formerly Yuzhny, Odesa region), the largest seaport of Ukraine in terms of transshipment volume, increased cargo handling by 14.49% in 2020 compared to, to 61.665 million tonnes.
According to the information on the website of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, in 2020, the port increased handling of export cargo by 20.17%, to 47.63 million tonnes, reduced handling of import cargo by 0.67%, to 7.212 million tonnes and transit cargo by 6.66%, to 6.477 million tonnes. Coastal cargo was handled 12.5 times more than in the previous year, 346,620 tonnes.
In terms of cargo nomenclature, in 2020, the seaport increased handling of liquid cargo by 23.9%, to 5.32 million tonnes, dry bulk cargo by 13.96%, to 51.743 million tonnes, and packaged goods by 10.53%, to 4.602 million tonnes.
Handling of containers for the specified period amounted to 243,790 TEU (more by 11.49%).
Pivdenny seaport was founded in 1978. It is located on the banks of the Adzhalyk estuary and is the deepest in Ukraine. The total length of the berths is about 2.6 km.
Ukraine’s economy after falling by 5.1% in 2020 will grow by 4% this year, with a slight increase in inflation (December from December) from 5% to 5.8% -6%, Citi analysts stated in the forecast of the global economy.
In their opinion, consumer spending will become the key growth driver against the backdrop of a planned 30% increase in the minimum wage from UAH 5,000 to UAH 6,500.
The experts expect the economy to recover to pre-crisis levels in the first quarter of 2022, generally assessing growth prospects in 2022 at 3% with inflation falling to 5.3%.
The bank forecasts that the National Bank will increase the refinancing rate by 50 b.p. in the second quarter of 2021, to 6.5% in order to balance price pressure caused by the rise in inflation. In particular, Citi expects the consumer price index to rise to 5.8% by the end of 2021.
According to the survey, the analysts predict the weakening of the hryvnia exchange rate by the end of this year to UAH 29.47/$1 with an average annual value of UAH 28.92/$1, and in the next year to UAH 30.67/$1 and 30.12 UAH/$1, respectively.
The analysts noted the institutional regression that occurred in 2020, but they are inclined to believe that the need to finance a large budget deficit will be an incentive for Ukrainian authorities to continue cooperation with the IMF. In their opinion, ensuring the independence of the National Bank and finding a way out of the situation that arose after the Constitutional Court had recognized a number of anti-corruption norms as unconstitutional will be of decisive importance.
