Ukrainian business has worsened expectations regarding a slowdown in inflation over the next 12 months to 7% from 5.1% in the middle of the year and the weakening of the hryvnia exchange rate to UAH 28.28/$1 from UAH 26.01/$1.
According to the results of a regular quarterly survey of business expectations of enterprises, conducted by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) from May 4 to June 4 this year, businesses more restrainedly expected an increase in production of goods and services in Ukraine in the next 12 months. Thus, almost 34.1% (10.4% a quarter earlier) of respondents expected a decrease in this indicator.
According to the survey, the business activity of Ukrainian enterprises decreased to the lowest index of business expectations since 2015 for the next 12 months, to 90.8% from 110.5% a quarter earlier.
It is noted that a decline in business activity is expected by enterprises of all types and areas of activity.
The poll shows that most companies do not expect changes in their financial and economic situation in the next 12 months, 22% of companies expect deterioration. The regulator noted that representatives of small and medium-sized businesses have more pessimistic assessments.
According to the report, the business expects a decrease in the total volume of sales of products, including in the external market. In general, growth in this indicator is predicted only by respondents from processing industry and trade, and the lowest estimates are in construction and mining enterprises.
According to the survey, for the third quarter in a row, the share of companies that predict a decrease in the number of employees at their enterprises has increased. In particular, the share of enterprises planning to cut staff in the next 12 months increased to 26.3% from 21% a quarter earlier. The respondents are pessimistic in all types of economic activity, except for construction, where the number of employees is predicted to remain unchanged.
At the same time, the number of companies planning to raise wages for their employees has significantly decreased over the next 12 months, to 36.5% from 63.4%.
PrJSC Poltava Mining and Processing Plant (Poltava GOK, Komsomolsk, Poltava region), the main asset of Ferrexpo Group, has launched a new technological complex for production of finished goods – Section No. 9 of the concentrating plant, the total cost of the project exceeded $100 million.
According to Ferrexpo’s expectations, the project will make it possible to produce an additional 2 million tonnes of finished products, which will increase the company’s sales volumes by about UAH 2 billion per year, starting from July 1 this year. The implementation of this project will increase the plant’s installed capacity to more than 15 million tonnes of concentrate per year.
Section No. 9 is a modern complex of the production chain, which includes additional crushing and dressing areas, a new electrical substation, a system for transferring prepared raw materials and finished products, as well as additional conveyor lines, the press release says. The main equipment manufacturer for it is Metso Outotec. Other leading world companies also participated in the project implementation process and Ukrainian contractors from different regions were involved. Construction took over four years.
At the same time, the company indicates that this investment has already provided payments to the state budget and budgets of other levels in the amount of about UAH 400 million and will further bring up to UAH 300 million of such payments annually.
As reported, Ferrexpo plc in January-June 2020 increased the processing of iron ore concentrate – raw materials for pellets – by 6.3% compared to the same period in 2019, to 7.002 million tonnes.
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine.
Ferrexpo owns 100% of shares of Poltava GOK, 100% of Yeristovo GOK and 99.9% of Belanovo GOK.
The State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine will continue cooperation with experts of the German energy agency DENA in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy, the press service of the Ukrainian agency has said.
According to the report, following negotiations between the two agencies with the participation of the Ministry of Energy, the areas of cooperation will include, in particular, the development of Ukraine’s potential for the use of hydrogen, the introduction of energy storage systems, the implementation of EU directives in the field of energy efficiency, and improving energy efficiency.
The report notes that DENA experts, in particular, pointed to Germany’s plans for the use of hydrogen and expressed their readiness to share their research in this direction with Ukraine.
The Ukrainian agency also noted that DENA had been selected as one of the partners in the implementation of future energy cooperation between Ukraine and Germany.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution to sign a joint statement of intent between the government of Ukraine and the Federal Republic of Germany regarding the start of energy cooperation, authorizing Acting Energy Minister Olha Buslavets to sign it.
The volume of marketable output of Kyivsky cardboard paper mill (Obukhiv, Kyiv region), a leader in Ukraine’s pulp and paper industry in terms of production and sales, totaled UAH 2.742 billion in January-June 2020, which is 1.5% more than the same figure for the first half of 2019.
As reported, in January-May of this year, the plant’s production volume was practically at the last year’s level.
According to the statistics of the Ukrpapir association, in natural terms in January-June the plant slightly (by 1%) increased production of corrugated packaging, to almost 113 million square meters, maintaining the second position in terms of its production in the country after Rubizhne plant (together with Trypilsky packaging plant).
In addition, the rate of growth in the production of base paper for sanitary and hygienic products slightly slowed down, to 4.9% (compared to 6.7% in five months), to 42,200 tonnes, and production of toilet paper in rolls to 4.9% from 6.1%, to 229.3 million units.
At the same time, output of cardboard decreased slightly, by 1% (compared to 3.1% in five months), to 96,180 tonnes, in particular production of boxboard increased by 21.6%, to 31,590 tonnes, while container (including paper for corrugation) decreased by 9.2%, to 64,590 tonnes.
Kyivsky cardboard paper mill is one of the largest cardboard and paper producers in Europe. It employs almost 2,200 people. It sells produce to almost 700 companies in Ukraine, some CIS member states and the rest of the world.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 17/07/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of July 17
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
