Leroy Merlin Ukraine LLC (Kyiv), developing the DIY hypermarket chain of the French brand Leroy Merlin, on April 4 will open a new hypermarket in Odesa, which will be the fifth hypermarket in the chain and the first regional hypermarket.
“Leroy Merlin is actively expanding in Ukraine. We are opening the first regional store in Odesa, which will be the fifth in Ukraine. I am confident that the new hypermarket will play a big role in improving the lives of people here in Odesa, thanks to our low prices every day, product range, and attitude towards customers,” the press service said, citing Director General of Leroy Merlin Ukraine Cedric Brosset.
He also said that the company plans to open a new store in Kyiv and further develop in Ukraine.
According to the press service, the new hypermarket with an area of 12,700 square meters (retail – 8,600 square meters) is located in the Riviera shopping and entertainment center at 1, Pivdenna Doroha Street.
The infrastructure of the hypermarket includes a pavilion of 600 square meters with goods for the garden, as well as a parking area for 183 cars.
According to the press service, the new hypermarket has created more than 100 jobs.
Investment in the project amounted to UAH 50 million.
Leroy Merlin Ukraine LLC was registered in 2008. As of March 27, 2019, the company had four Leroy Merlin stores in Kyiv and one in Odesa.
The State Statistics Service of Ukraine has confirmed grain harvest in 2018 at 70 million tonnes, the press service of the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has reported.
“The final report of the State Statistics Service on harvest in 2018 confirmed overcoming the historic for Ukraine grain production in weight after threshing – 70.057 million tonnes with a yield of 4.74 tonnes per hectare. In addition, the gross harvesting of corn, soybean and sunflower and the yield of sugar beet were the highest in the history,” Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Volodymyr Topchiy said.
In particular, Ukraine harvested 24.6 million tonnes of wheat with a yield of 3.73 tonnes per hectare, 35.8 million tonnes of corn with a yield of 7.84 tonnes per hectare, 4.5 million tonnes of soybeans with a yield of 2.58 tonnes per hectare, and 14.2 million tonnes of sunflower with a yield of 2.3 tonnes per hectare.
As reported, Ukraine since the beginning of the 2018/2019 agricultural year (July-June) as of March 20, 2019 exported 35.605 million tonnes of grain and leguminous plants, which is 20.8% more than on the same date of the previous agri-year.
According to the ministry, grain exports in 2018/2019 agri-year are projected to be 49 million tonnes (in 2017/2018 agri-year it was 39.4 million to tonnes).
The Frenchsportswear brand Decathlon, part of the Auchan Group, on March 23, 2019 opened its first store in Kyiv and plans to focus on expansion in this city in the coming two years.
“We have a plan, but it is still variable. This year we may open another store in Kyiv. Next year, new stores will also be in Kyiv. In 2021, the Decathlon brand will go beyond the city to Odesa, Lviv and possibly other major cities,” CEO at Decathlon Ukraine Florent Guieu told Interfax-Ukraine during the opening of the first store on Saturday (March 23).
The first outlet of the sports brand is located in the first line of Retail Park Petrivka. Its area is 2,500 square meters. The construction of the store lasted four months, the volume of investments amounted to EUR 1 million.
In addition, on the eve of the opening of the bricks-and-mortar store, Decathlon launched an online store. Delivery is available in all regions of Ukraine.
“Our main goal today is to open the first Decathlon store in Kyiv. First, we will learn more about the preferences of Ukrainians. Based on this knowledge, we will be able to think about opening a store in another city. Our dream is to have at least one store in each region,” the company said in a press release, citing Guieu.
According to him, the format of Decathlon stores will be 2,000-3,000 square meters, but the company may be testing the shops of a smaller format.
“It is hard to say how many we can open stores in Ukraine in general. For example, in Romania it took 10 years to open 25 stores, and now they are the leader in the local market. In Poland, in 15 years, 60 stores have opened and there Decathlon also occupies the leading position. It is not yet known how much and how quickly we will open stores in Ukraine, as this will directly depend on demand,” Guieu said.
The first Decathlon store was opened in 1976 in France. Currently, the brand has more than 1,500 stores in 56 countries. 99% of products in chain stores are goods of their own brands.
The state-owned enterprise (SOE) Ukrspyrt in 2019 will invest UAH 311 million in the electronic finished and shipped product accounting system and modernization of production facilities, the press service of Ukrspyrt has told Interfax-Ukraine.
The press service said that investment in the introduction of the e-accounting system would be around UAH 40 million.
In addition, the company plans to install feed additives lines at the sites where the company operates in Lviv and Sumy regions with an annual total production capacity of 32,800 tonnes.
Ukrspyrt also plans to expand production of raw spirit by 9,800 tonnes at the sites in Lopatyn and Sukhodoly, launch production of bioethanol with an annual capacity of 24,400 tonnes in Storonybaby (all based in Lviv region), modernize the production site in Tkhorivka (Kyiv region) for production of service fluids with a total capacity of 4,080 tonnes a year.
The press service said that Ukrspyrt plans to install energy saving equipment at two sites in Lviv region and one site in Sumy region.
In March, the company’s strategic plan for 2019-2023 with investment of UAH 1.53 billion was approved by the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine.
“First of all, these funds will be sent to the production of new types of products (bioethanol, raw spirit, high-protein feed additives, biogas and carbon dioxide), as well as the installation of energy saving equipment. In addition to our own funds, we plan to attract short-term funding from Ukrainian banks,” the press service of Ukrspyrt reported.
The company is also considering investments from foreign partners. In particular, Ukrspyrt is holding talks with Chinese partners on investments in the production of bioethanol and additional products on the basis of three existing production sites.
Electricity consumption in Ukraine in January and February 2019, taking into account in-process consumption in power grids, increased by 0.7% (by 187.4 million kWh) compared to the same period last year, to 28.442 billion kWh, the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry has told Interfax-Ukraine.
Without taking into account in-process consumption, electricity consumption in January and February 2019 rose by 0.8% (by 177 million kWh), to 22.332 billion kWh.
The country’s industry, excluding in-process consumption, decreased electricity consumption by 1.9%, to 8.679 billion kWh. Metallurgical industry consumed 4.905 billion kWh (1.1% down compared to January and February 2018), fuel industry some 613.9 million kWh (2.5% less), machine building industry some 781.1 million kWh (1.8% less), chemical and petrochemical sectors some 460.9 million kWh (17.2% less), food and processing industries some 746.4 million kWh (4.6% more), the sector of construction materials some 282.1 million kWh (11.1% less), and others some 889.8 million kWh (1.9% more).
In addition, agricultural enterprises consumed 625.9 million kWh (4.6% more), transport companies some 1.278 billion kWh (0.6% more), and construction enterprises some 216.2 million kWh (8.1% more).
In January and February 2019, the country’s population consumed 7.015 billion kWh (1% up), household consumers some 3.003 billion kWh (0.8% more), and other non-industrial users some 1.516 billion kWh (15.1% more).
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
