Investment of the pharmaceutical company Biopharma is $15-20 million, co-owner of the company Kostiantyn Yefymenko has said.
“We have already invested $125 million in production facilities. We continue to invest $15-20 million every year. And we have not yet begun to build a second plant, for example, in Egypt. When we build it, investments will be even bigger,” he said during a discussion panel at the Kyiv International Economic Forum.
Yefymenko said that “the decision to sell the plant to the pharmaceutical company STADA was strategic.”
“We have built two plants. One plant that produces generic drugs, hormones and probiotics, we brought to a turnover of EUR 40 million and sold it completely to STADA,” he said, adding that “STADA and not only STADA is watching and continues to look at not only Biopharma, but also other pharmaceutical companies.”
Yefymenko spoke about the negotiations between Biopharma and STADA. “I can’t say that it took much time for them to come. STADA bought the plant and we have a completely transparent fence with them, because we are on the same site. STADA and I have remained partners, since all the infrastructure that we built, we have with them 50×50. This is a transformer substation, gas hydraulic fracturing, water supply, sewage and fire protection system,” he said.
“STADA is considering the possibility of expanding its plant, we are considering expanding our plant,” Yefymenko said
The volume of construction works performed in Ukraine in September 2020 increased by 11.8% compared to September 2019, while in August compared to August a year earlier – by 8.3%.
According to the State Statistics Service (Derzhstat), since the beginning of the year, the volume of construction works completed amounted to UAH 119.8 billion. In general, in January-September this year, this figure increased by 0.2% compared to the same period last year.
According to the statistics department, in September the indicator increased by 18.3% compared to the previous month (according to seasonally adjusted data – by 2.5%), while in August compared to July this indicator increased by 3.6%.
According to the State Statistics Service, in September 2020 in comparison with September 2019, the volume of work decreased in housing construction and increased in non-residential and engineering one. Thus, according to unadjusted data, the decrease in volumes in housing construction was 7.1%. At the same time, the construction of non-residential buildings increased by 10.9%, engineering structures – by 18.5%.
The share of new construction in the total volume of completed construction works was 38.1%, repairs – 34.1%, reconstruction and technical re-equipment – 27.8%.
In January-September 2020, compared to the same period a year earlier, an increase in the volume of construction works was recorded in Donetsk (by 36%, to UAH 5.37 billion), Khmelnytsky (by 35.3%, to UAH 3.47 billion), Chernihiv (by 34.7%, to UAH 1.67 billion), Odesa (by 23.9%, to UAH 14.45 billion), Kyiv (by 22%, to UAH 8 billion), Lviv (by 10.9% , to UAH 8 billion), Sumy (by 9.8%, to UAH 1 billion), Chernivtsi (by 7.9%, to UAH 1.39 billion), Poltava (by 4.1%, to UAH 5.48 billion), Vinnytsia (by 2.4%, to UAH 6.21 billion), Volyn (by 1.4%, to UAH 1.41 billion) and Cherkasy (by 0.1%, to UAH 1.32 billion) regions.
In the remaining 12 regions and the city of Kyiv, a drop in the volume of construction works was recorded, in particular, in Zaporizhia (by 35.4%, to UAH 1.71 billion), Kirovohrad (by 35.3%, to UAH 893.7 million), Kherson (by 32.6% to UAH 787.3 million). In Kyiv, the volume of construction works performed during this period decreased by 5.5% and amounted to UAH 26.8 billion.
The statistics are given without taking into account the occupied Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 02/11/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of November 02
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
The transit of natural gas from the Russian Federation through Ukraine in January-September 2020 decreased by 38.6% (by 28.3 billion cubic meters) compared to the same period last year – up to 45 billion cubic meters, head of the Operator of the Gas Transmission System of Ukraine (GTSOU) Serhiy Makohon said on his Facebook page.
According to him, the forecast for transit from Russia through the Ukrainian gas transportation system by the end of the year is 55-56 billion cubic meters.
Ukraine and France may soon sign an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation with ALSTOM for the implementation of a project for the supply of electric locomotives to a company with partial localization of their production and maintenance in Ukraine.
This was announced by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who is the head of the the Ukrainian-French Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, during negotiations with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsen and head of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC Volodymyr Zhmak on Friday, the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
“We have been working on the details of a common project with the French side for a long time and in the near future we can reach the signing of an intergovernmental agreement that will fully meet the needs of Ukraine,” the press service quoted Avakov as saying.
Zhmak, in his turn, said during the negotiations that Ukrzaliznytsia has a very old park and it needs to be strategically updated. At this stage, according to him, Ukrzaliznytsia is interested in 50 two-system electric locomotives capable of transporting from 5,500 to 6,000 tonnes of cargo.
“We need these locomotives with a long-term system of maintenance and localization of production in Ukraine. At the second stage, we are interested in getting single-system locomotives,” he said.
CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge assured that it could be a reliable and long-term partner for Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukraine.
“We have been working in the market for many years and we can satisfy the needs of Ukrzaliznytsia. ALSTOM has experience in working in markets with the localization of production and service capacities. This strengthens our cooperation and creates new jobs. In particular, we work in this way in Kazakhstan and South Africa,” he said.
The ministry also notes that this project was founded in September 2018, when ALSTOM and Ukrzaliznytsya signed a memorandum of understanding, which formalizes cooperation in the provision and maintenance of electric locomotives. The financial model of the project involves the attraction of credit funds from the French State Treasury and other sources.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on October 27 met with CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge and discussed with him the prospects for the implementation of joint projects in the railway sector.
The French machine building company ALSTOM is one of the world leaders in the production of power equipment and railway transport.
