The founder of Mandarin Plaza company, investor and developer in Lavina, Blockbuster, Ocean Mall and other shopping centers, Vagif Aliyev, has said that he plans to acquire Ocean Plaza mall by autumn 2019.
“We are still negotiating. I think we will buy first phase of Ocean Plaza by the autumn… and connect with Ocean Mall shopping center. Therefore, please, those [shops] which are located in Ocean Plaza, please consider Blockbuster and Lavina, because I think I will buy it by the autumn. I will not leave any brand there [in Ocean Plaza shopping center], no matter what it is. I think all contracts will be terminated because we are moving systematically, and with this system we will go across Ukraine,” the businessman said during a closed-up tour for retailers at the Blockbuster Mall shopping center.
According to him, the opening of the first phase of the Blockbuster shopping center is scheduled for May 31, the launch of the second phase is planned for the autumn.
As reported, in February 2019, Board Chairman of Mandarin Plaza, developing the chain of shopping and entertainment centers Lavina, Blockbuster, Ocean Mall and others, Oleksandr Chernitsky told Interfax-Ukraine that the company is holding talks with TPS Real Estate on the acquisition of the Ocean Plaza mall.
The share of vacant space on the office real estate market in Kyiv in the first quarter of 2019 fell by 0.4 percentage points (p.p.), reaching 7.2%, the press service of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) in Ukraine has reported. “We expect a further decline in vacancy, although not significant. On the one hand, the low commissioning volume that has been observed on the market since 2015 and steady demand contribute to the absorption of space in existing buildings, on the other hand, rising rental rates restrain the activity of tenants,” Head of office Group at JLL, Alexandra Globina said.
The highest rental rates in class A facilities in the first quarter of 2019 increased 6%, to $32 per sq. m. a month, which corresponds to the value of five years ago, according to JLL. At the same time, rental rates in class B facilities also increased to $25 per sq. m. a month.
According to JLL, a decrease in vacancy and an increase in rental rates have led to a gradual increase in developer activity.
The total volume of transactions in the office real estate market in Kyiv in the first quarter of 2019 amounted to 22,500 square meters, with about half of the transactions accounted for IT-companies, JLL experts said.
Ukrainian State Forest Agency logges 3.8 mln cubic meters of wood in Q1 2019
KYIV. April 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Enterprises of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine logged 3.8 million cubic meters of wood in the first quarter of 2019, which is 7.8% less year-over-year.
The agency said in a press release on Thursday that total round wood sales in January-March 2019 on the domestic market accounted for 2.9 million cubic meters. No cubic meter of wood was sold on the foreign market.
Forest enterprises over the period saw UAH 3.9 billion of net sales revenue, which is 3% less than a year ago. One of the main reasons for the decline in the indicator is a fall in the demand on the domestic market.
As of April 1, 2019, a total of 1.2 million cubic meters of ending stocks were at warehouses of forest enterprises, which is 32% more compared with ending stocks as of early 2018.
As reported, the enterprises of the agency logged 16.5 mcm of wood (a rise of 3.7% compared with 2017). The state forest agency sold 13.7 mcm of round wood to the domestic market (a rise of 9%).
The total area of forest areas in Ukraine is almost 10.4 million hectares, the forest cover of Ukraine is 15.9%. Some 7.6 million hectares of forests (73% of the forest fund of Ukraine) are subordinate to the State Forest Resources Agency.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Ukrainian Parliament passes law on green auctions for investors in green energy
KYIV. April 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Verkhovna Rada at a plenary session on Thursday passed bill No. 8449-d on green auctions for investors in renewable energy. A total of 251 lawmakers baked the bill amending some Ukrainian laws regarding ensuring competitive conditions for production of electricity from alternative energy facilities.
The document proposes the introduction of auctions from 2020 and the obligatory participation for investors in solar power plants with a capacity of more than 1 MW and wind farms with a capacity of more than 5 MW (or one turbine).
The pilot auction should be held no later than December 31, 2019, and the ProZorro electronic trading system is proposed to be the platform for the auctions. The period of granting a guaranteed tariff for transmission of electricity by the winner of the auction is 20 years.
The project assumes that the size of quotas to be put up for auction, according to the Cabinet of Ministers, is approved by the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry. During the first three years it is planned to provide wind farms and solar power plants with 30% of quotas, after this period – at least 15%.
Responsibility of producers of renewable energy facilities for misbalances is proposed to be introduced after the intra-day market is recognized as liquid, but no later than 2024.
It is proposed to reduce the current feed-in tariff for solar power plants in 2020 by 25%, and in 2021-2023 – by 2.5% annually.
For wind farms with a capacity of more than 2 MW, the tariff is proposed to be reduced in 2020 by 10% without further annual reductions.
The tariff for energy generated from biomass and biogas is proposed to be maintained at the current level.
For household solar power plants, the tariff is planned to be reduced by 10% from 2020 (currently it is EUR 0.18 per kWh). Before the start of the voting, the deputies returned the amendment, which introduces the condition for its receipt, the installation of a solar power plant up to 50 kW on roofs, facades of buildings and other hard-wall facilities.
