Ukraine as of April 4 had planted 1.7 million hectares, or 75% of the plan (2.3 million hectares) with early spring grain and leguminous crops.
According to a report on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, as of April 4 farmers had sowed 77% of early spring barley (1.2 million hectares), 71% of wheat (118,000 hectares), 57% of oats (112,000 hectares), and 73% of peas (247,000 hectares).
In addition, 31% of sugar beets (76,000 hectares) and 2% of sunflower (123,000 hectares) were sown.
According to the ministry, winter crops were fed on 97% of the area.
As reported, the projected area for all spring grain and leguminous crops for 2019 is 7.2 million hectares.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has launched a new regular container train from the station Nyzhniodniprovsk-Vuzol station to Slawkow (Poland).
According to a report on Ukrzaliznytsia’s website, this train will collect containers from the Zaporizhia, Mariupol-Sortuvalny and Nikopol stations every Saturday.
“The direct container train, which follows a strict schedule without maneuvering operations on the way and with an accelerated border crossing technology, is a year-round all-weather alternative to road transportation,” Ukrzaliznytsia Head Yevhen Kravtsov commented on the launch of the train.
According to the state railway carrier, this is already the 19th container train, which will run on an ongoing basis, eight of which are transit trains.
“Now we are considering the possibility of organizing new container trains on the route Lithuania-Ukraine-Lithuania,” the expert said.
The Dnipropetrovsk International Airport increased its passenger flow by 12.4%, to 61,900 people, in January-March 2019 compared with the same period in 2018, according to a posting on the company’s website.
The airport serviced 21,500 passengers in January, 18,970 in February, and 21,440 in March.
Some 34,100 passengers used international flights and 27,810 people used domestic flights at the airport in Q1.
As reported, the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine supported the allocation of UAH 1 billion from the 2019 national budget for the construction of a new runway at the Dnipropetrovsk International Airport within the framework of a public-private partnership project under which a private investor would build a new terminal and put it into service in 2020.
Ukrainian businessman, owner of the DCH Group Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, who had earlier invested in the renovation of the Kharkiv International Airport, has announced his plans to modernize the international airport in Dnipro.
Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov called on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to influence the situation with the airport in Dnipro.
The Dnipropetrovsk International Airport was founded in 1943. It became an independent enterprise in 2011. The airport is situated 5 kilometers southeastward from Dnipro.
The international reserves of Ukraine in March 2019 increased by 2.1%, to $20.633 billion (in equivalent), according to preliminary data posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
Foreign direct investment (FDI) made from domestic assets was estimated at $485 million in 2018 against $270 million in 2017, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has said in its statement on the so-called “round-trip investment” (when a resident withdraws funds that are then returned to the country in the form of foreign direct investment).
The regulator noted that this amount was 20.6% of the total FDI in Ukraine in 2018, while in 2017 the share of round-trip investment was 10.4%, and 4.1% in 2016.
The central bank added that $106 million of the amount of $485 million mentioned above will be invested in banks (compared to $54 million last year). Round-trip investment in other sectors last year was estimated at $379 million ($216 million in 2017).
In 2010-2018 the volume of residents’ assets that were withdrawn abroad and then returned to Ukraine in the form of foreign investment was estimated at $8.4 billion, or 22% of the total FDI over this period.
According to the NBU, Ukrainian businesses conducted such transactions mostly via Cyprus ($4.1 billion), the Netherlands ($1.54 billion), Switzerland ($530 million), and Austria ($480 million).
The NBU plans to publish such data on an annual basis.
