Former president of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and former chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus Stanislav Shushkevich have discussed a preparation for holding Baltic Black Sea Forum.
“Today in Kyiv, Leonid Kuchma received Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus (1991-1994) Stanislav Shushkevich. The conversation was about preparations for the seventh Baltic Black Sea Forum,” Kuchma press secretary Darka Olifer wrote on Facebook.
As reported, the first Baltic Black Sea Forum “Through dialogue to trust” was held in Kyiv in 2016. The agreement on the creation of this platform was signed by former statesmen and leaders of Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Russia.
Mariupol seaport (Donetsk region) in January-October 2019 increased cargo transshipment by 5.5% compared to the same period in 2018, to 5.285 million tonnes.
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, over this period the port increased transshipment of exported cargo by 1.8%, to 4.333 million tonnes, imported by 33.5%, to 946,480 tonnes and significantly reduced transshipment of cabotage goods, to 5,500 tonnes. At the same time, the port did not transship transit cargo.
According to the nomenclature of goods, for the ten months of 2019 Mariupol port increased transshipment of liquid cargo by 10.2 times, to 125,200 tonnes, dry cargo by 42.8%, to 1,976 tonnes and reduced the handling of packaged goods by 11.9%, to 3.184 million tonnes.
As reported, the volume of cargo transshipment in Mariupol seaport in 2018 decreased by 9.62% compared to 2017, to 5.89 million tonnes.
Mariupol seaport is one of the largest ports in Ukraine. Its capacities allow transshipment of over 17 million tonnes of cargo per year.
Ovostar Union, one of the leading producers of eggs in Ukraine, saw its net profit fall by 81.1% in January-September 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, to $2.6 million.
According to the company’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s website, its revenue decreased by 18%, to $77.63 million, which was due to lower egg sales and negative price dynamics in the reporting period.
Gross profit of Ovostar in January-September 2019 decreased by 2.6 times, to $9.18 million, operating by 4.7 times, to $3.22 million. EBITDA in the reporting period showed a decrease of 3 times, to $5.9 million, EBITDA margin from 18% to 8%.
As of September 30, 2019, total debt amounted to $12 million, net debt to $6.1 million.
As reported, Ovostar in Ukraine in January-September 2019 reduced egg sales by 15.9% compared to the same period in 2018, to 888 million pieces. Egg production during this period decreased by 0.9%, to 1.191 billion pieces.
Ovostar Union is a vertically integrated public holding company, one of the leading producers of eggs in Europe. The manufacturer is a certified exporter to the EU since 2015.
Interpipe international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company increased capital investments by 14.3% in January-June 2019 compared to the same period last year, to $24 million from $21 million.
According to Interpipe’s presentation for its first conference call with investors, in the reporting period $17 million of investments were used for the company’s pipe sector and about $4 million to the steelmaking complex (Interpipe Steel), as well as up to $4 million for the sector for production of railway wheels.
At the same time, the presentation notes that in January-June 2018 some $12 million were invested in the pipe sector of the company, $5 million in the steel sector and $3 million in the sector for production of railway wheels.
In January-June 2019 Interpipe increased EBITDA by 37% compared to the same period in 2018, to $125 million, revenue by 3%, to $557 million. At the same time, the company’s sales in the first half of the year decreased by 6.2%, to 423,000 tonnes, in particular sales of railway wheels increased by 1.1%, to 96,000 tonnes, while pipes decreased by 8.1%, to 317,000 tonnes.
It is also reported that in January-June the company increased production of welded pipes by 5.7%, to 56,000 tonnes, but reduced production of seamless pipes by 10.6%, to 261,000 tonnes. In monetary terms, production of welded pipes increased by 27.5%, to $51 million, but output of seamless pipes was down by 10.6%, to $311 million.
The total debt of insolvent VAB Bank and bank Financial Initiative of Oleh Bakhmatiuk to the state is UAH 29.3 billion, including a UAH 11 billion debt to the Deposit Guarantee Fund, a UAH 10.6 billion debt to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and a UAH 7.7 billion debt to three state-run banks. According to a posting of the NBU press service on Facebook on Friday, the debt of the former owner of VAB Bank and Financial Initiative Bank to the central bank was secured by his personal guarantee to repay a total amount of UAH 8.6 billion and property guarantees of Bakhmatiuk’s companies.
“In order for these guarantees to turn into a real refund, the NBU filed more than 50 lawsuits against him and his companies,” the regulator said.
The central bank said that as of October 15, 19 court decisions on Bakhmatiuk’s guarantee agreements regarding the bank Financial Initiative were made in favor of the National Bank and entered into legal force, while there are no decisions regarding the VAB bank.
“Nineteen victories have not yet allowed for the repayment of debts: the sale of property by the State Enforcement Service is surprisingly sluggish,” the regulator said.
The Parliamentary Budget Committee recommended that the Verkhovna Rada consider the redistribution of gambling proceeds for the construction and reconstruction of swimming pools, the development of sports and water supply in the villages when considering the state budget for 2020, according to the committee’s conclusions to draft state budget No.2000.
According to the conclusions, members of the parliamentary committee recommend to increase financing of the program “Development of physical culture, sports of the highest achievements and reserve sports” by UAH 431.3 million, including UAH 411.3 million meant for a special fund at the expense of payments for gambling licenses.
Besides, the committee members also proposed to establish a budget subsidy program for the construction of new and reconstruction of existing 50-meter and 20-meter swimming pools in the amount of UAH 200 million for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports with financing provided with the proceeds from these licenses.
Another UAH 150 million from these funds proposed to allocate for the budget program “Priority provision of rural settlements with centralized water supply”.
In addition, the document envisages reduction of expenses for the support of the National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine by UAH 300 million, while increasing the costs of supporting the newspaper “Holos Ukrainy” (Voice by Ukraine) by UAH 300 million, reads the document.
At the same time, the committee proposed to cut by UAH 130 million development expenditures under the budget program “Utilization of solid rocket fuel” and to increase the expenses for the program for scientific and technical activities in the agro-industrial complex by UAH 200 million.
