Business news from Ukraine

GRAIN COMPANY NIBULON COMMISSIONS ELEVATOR COMPLEX FOR GRAINS AND OILSEEDS TRANSSHIPMENT

Nibulon on May 23, 2018 commissioned a new elevator complex for transshipment of grains and oilseeds with a capacity of about 43,000 tonnes within the loading terminal in Mykolaiv. According to a report on the website of Nibulon, the complex includes six tanks with a capacity of 7,200 tonnes each.
In addition, the pier with a length of 222 meters has been reconstructed.
“The new complex with equipment from the manufacturers Bühler GmbH (Germany), Precia SA (France), Cimbria Unigrain A/S (Denmark), UAB Liucija (Lithuania), etc. increased the total capacity of the grain storage facilities located in the territory of the company’s transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv to 173,000 tonnes and allows separately and simultaneously storing seven different crops,” the report states.
Nibulon was established in 1991. It is one of the largest operators in the grain market of the country. It has elevators with a total capacity of about 2 million tonnes, as well as its own transshipment terminal with a capacity of 5 million tonnes in Mykolaiv. Nibulon cultivates 83,000 hectares of farmland. It exports agricultural products to more than 60 countries. The annual volume of exports exceeds 4.5 million tonnes.

, , , ,

OUTFLOW OF POPULATION THREATENS TO DEVELOPMENT OF E-COMMERCE MARKET IN UKRAINE – OPINION

The outflow of population from Ukraine is a real threat to the development of e-commerce market, the founder of In Time Serhiy Hrachev said at a press conference. “In February this year, browsing of Ukrainian online shops fell. Within my remembrance, this is the first time in five years. Of course, there are seasonal fluctuations, but in February usually there is growth… This year the profile was different,” he said, adding that in the future the quantitative indicator of browsing online stores has leveled off, but these trends force one to think.
“A real outflow of the population today is a threat to e-commerce that can slow down the growth of e-commerce in Ukraine. We feel it on ourselves. All blue-collar workers left the country, if earlier we took “one-day workers” only in the season, now it is the usual daily practice: a person can leave in the morning, work out a day and never come back at all. The labor force is leaving [the country] actively, and this is a disaster,” the founder of In Time said. In turn, according to Hrachev, the players of the logistics market are affected by the outflow of drivers and loaders.
“There are no them on the market at all. We already have contractors with vehicles, but there are no drivers, and trucks are idle, I consider this a key threat,” he said.
At the same time, Hrachev believes that in general the e-commerce market in Ukraine is developing very actively and this year it will continue to grow.

, , ,

STATE-OWNED UKRZALIZNYTSIA TO CREATE RAIL CAR COMPANY, TO ATTRACT LOAN FROM EBRD TO BUY 7,000 CARS

Public joint-stock company Ukrzaliznytsia plans to create a separate rail car company, which in 2018 and 2019 would buy 3,500 cars each year using a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), acting Board Chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia Yevhen Kravtsov said at the UZ: Investor Day 2018 conference in Odesa on Wednesday.
“This project will be implemented via the creation of a specialized rail car company, which would receive gondola cars bought for borrowed funds to its balance sheet.
According to a posting on the EBRD’s website, the project was pending approval of the bank’s board on May 23. The bank told Interfax-Ukraine that the consideration of the issue was postponed, and the new date will be announced later.
It is planned that the EBRD would provide a $150 million loan. The total cost of the project is $240.7 million. Some of the sum would be financed by Ukrzaliznytsia and thanks to grants under technical cooperation programs.
The bank said that it is planned to acquire around 6,500 gondola cars with the total need of the company of around 24,000 gondola cars.
Kravtsov said that if a separate company is created, the cars could be used on the market as a private fleet and earn more than the rolling stock of Ukrzaliznytsia.
“For us, these will be unprecedented conditions of work, when we are able to set real tariffs for transportation, which will allow us to talk about the payback of rolling stock and profit for investors. This project gives a signal to other potential investors to invest in Ukrzaliznytsia’s projects and show, how one can earn on them,” Kravtsov said.
He also added that to implement these projects, Ukrzaliznytsia is already negotiating with international companies that operate in the U.S. and European markets.

,

UKRAINE EXPORTS 36.55 MLN TONNES OF GRAIN

Exports of grain from Ukraine since the beginning of the 2017/2018 agricultural year (July-June) and as of May 30 amounted to 36.552 million tonnes, which is 4.2 million tonnes less than on the same date a year earlier, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food has said.
According to the report, in particular, wheat exports amounted to 16.18 million tonnes (485,000 tonnes less from the previous agri-year, exports of maize to 15.98 million tonnes (2.59 million tonnes less), barley to 4.19 million tonnes (1,070 tonnes less).
Rye exports totaled 35,000 tonnes (29,600 tonnes more) and exports of flour amounted to 392,800 tonnes (54,800 tonnes more).
As reported with reference to the ministry, Ukraine in the 2016/2017 agri-year exported 44.441 million tonnes of grain.

,