Brussels Airlines, the subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa Group, will start flying to Kyiv from October 17, 2018, Lufthansa General Manager for Ukraine, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan Rene Koinzack said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday. “The first flights will be on October 17. Brussels and the capital of Ukraine will be connected, which is very important for us,” he said.
Koinzack said that Brussels Airlines also fly to Africa, which creates additional opportunities for Ukrainians.
Lufthansa Group in the field of passenger air transportation, along with the same name brand, includes Austrian Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Eurowings (including Germanwings) and Brussels Airlines, as well as a share in Turkey’s SunExpress. In addition, the group includes logistics, technical and service companies.
The Lufthansa Group in January-August 2018 increased passenger flow on flights to/from Ukraine by 14%, to 551,020 passengers, Lufthansa General Manager for Ukraine, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan Rene Koinzack said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday. “This is a large growth for us. The frequency of flights also increased by 8.5%,” he said.
Koinzack said that today four brands of the Lufthansa Group are servicing four Ukrainian airports.
“A lot of Ukrainians are traveling to Europe, so the passenger flow from Ukraine increased by 26% compared to last year, possibly thanks to the liberalization of the visa regime,” Koinzack said.
According to him, the airline services 91 destinations to/from Ukraine. The most popular destinations are Spain, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Also the interest in flights to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing has increased.
Lufthansa Group in the field of passenger air transportation, along with the same name brand, includes Austrian Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Eurowings (including Germanwings) and Brussels Airlines, as well as a share in Turkey’s SunExpress. In addition, the group includes logistics, technical and service companies.
State-owned enterprise (SOE) Boryspil International Airport plans to start building a cargo terminal in 2019 even if no investor is found, Director Pavlo Riabikin said at the Global Outlook 2018 conference organized by the European Business Association (EBA) in Kyivy. According to him, the existing cargo infrastructure of the Boryspil airport was formed in the late 1960s – early 1970s and it was designed to handle about 40 tonnes of cargo per day. “Today we process 110-120 tonnes of cargo a day, which is very problematic with the existing infrastructure,” Riabikin said.
According to him, in the past four years there has been a lot of talk about attracting investors and creating an investment project for the construction of a cargo terminal at the airport, but due to the fact that the state has few mechanisms for attracting investors to infrastructure projects, this has not been realized.
“Next year, if the ministry [the Infrastructure Ministry] fails to attract an investor, we plan to build a new cargo terminal based on existing capacities, but we will implement it using own forces. To be honest, the volumes of investment that we need in coming years make the implementation of the cargo terminal very difficult,” the head of the enterprise said.
Riabikin said that the project for the construction of the cargo terminal is not a profile for the airport, since the company is oriented, first of all, to passenger transportation.
“I think we are able to implement it [the construction of the cargo terminal] during a year and a half. The only question is whether we have the funds or the opportunity to attract them,” Riabikin said.
SigmaBleyzer investment company has announced the creation of a new International Fund for Ukrainian Energy LP (IFUEL) for $250 million, which will focus on investments in the energy sector of Ukraine. “We will consider everything, including alternative energy. But, of course, we are interested in oil and gas, energy saving,” SigmaBleyzer President Michael Bleyzer told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the 15th YES forum organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Kyiv. According to the company, during the first closure, which took place in September 2018, more than $100 million has already been approved.
“SigmaBleyzer cooperates with highly-capitalized and very experienced energy companies in Texas to create this fund,” the document says. Bleyzer added that for investment of funds both greenfield, and brownfield projects can be considered. According to him, significant potential is concentrated in energy saving projects, as the level of energy efficiency in Ukraine lags behind the best world indicators.
SigmaBleyzer is based in Houston (Texas). It has been operating private investments in Ukraine for more than 25 years. Since its creation, SigmaBleyzer has implemented more than 100 investments in a wide range of sectors, including power generation, cable television, food and beverage, agriculture, and retail.
The growth of Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) in April-June 2018 was 3.8% compared to the same period in 2017, whereas according to the preliminary assessment of the State Statistics Service, published in mid-August, this indicator was 3.6%. The department said in relation to the previous quarter, the economy of the country in the second quarter of this year (taking into account the seasonal factor) grow by 1%
According to the service, nominal GDP for the second quarter of 2018 was UAH 807.3 billion, the deflator’s change was 17%. In the second quarter of 2017, these figures were equal to UAH 664.76 billion and 20.9% respectively.
GDP per capita, according to statistics data, in April-June this year rose to UAH 19,074, in real terms by 4.3% compared to April-June last year.
According to the report, the share of final consumer spending increased to 91.5% from 90% a year ago, while that of gross savings decreased to 14.6% from 15.3%, and the deficit of exports and imports of goods and services increased to 6.1% from 5.3%. The National Bank of Ukraine in July estimated GDP growth in the second quarter at 3.2%.
The central bank forecasts acceleration of the country’s economic growth this year to 3.4% from 2.5% in the past year. At the same time, the NBU expects the slowdown in growth in 2019 to 2.5%, followed by acceleration to 2.9% in 2020.
The production of milk in Ukraine (excluding the temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol, part of Donbas) in January-August 2018 declined by 2% compared to the same period in 2017, to 6.998 million tonnes. At the same time, egg production in the first eight months grew by 3% compared to the same period in 2017, to 11.069 billion eggs, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said.
Production of meat (in live weight) in January-August 2018 grew by 0.1%, to 2.015 million tonnes.
According to earlier statistics reports, milk production in Ukraine in 2017 decreased by 0.5% from 2016, to 10.329 million tonnes, meat (in live weight) by 0.4%, to 3.259 million tonnes. Production of eggs in 2017 rose by 3.2%, to 15.578 billion eggs.
