The seaports of Ukraine in January-October 2019 handled 129.8 million tonnes of cargo, which is 20.2% more compared to the same period in 2018. According to the press service of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the volume of grain and ore transshipment for the indicated period increased by more than a third.
At the same time, compared with the same period in 2018, the volume of grain transshipment grew by 37% (43.6 million tonnes), ore by 33% (30.5 million tonnes).
Transshipment of liquid cargo (oil, petroleum products, and others) rose by 9.6%, to 9.3 million tonnes.
In addition, according to data for January-October, the trend of container handling growth continues: in the ten months it increased by 19% (812,000 TEU).
The volume of exports increased by 24% compared with the same period of the previous year, imports by 12%, transit by 8%.
Among Ukrainian ports, five ports became the leaders in transshipment in the ten months, which provided the processing of more than 90% of the total cargo volume.
Over the ten months, the sea ports of Ukraine handled 9,800 ships, and increased the volume by 2.1% from last year’s figure.
Bank Zemelny Capital (Dnipro) increases its charter capital by UAH 73.5 million, or 32.5%, to UAH 300 million, through an additional issue of shares.
According to a bank report in the information disclosure system of the National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market, the bank’s shareholders at a general meeting on November 8 decided to increase charter capital.
The bank will place common registered shares without making a public offer. The placement price will be UAH 100 per share, which is equal to its face value and is higher than its market value (UAH 95.65).
Bank Zemelny Capital was founded in 1994. According to the NBU, as of January 1, 2019 the owner of the bank’s significant stake was former Minister of Coal Industry Viktor Topolov (94.426049% of the shares).
Bank Zemelny Capital ranked 66th among 76 banks operating in country as of early October 2019 in terms of total assets (UAH 731.218 million), according to the NBU.
Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Tymofiy Mylovanov has denied plans of the government to liquidate state-owned enterprise (SOE) Ukrainian Intellectual Property Institute (Ukrpatent), and the creation of the National Intellectual Property Authority is planned only on the basis of SOE.
“No one will close Ukrpatent. If something is created, it will only be based on Ukrpatent,” Mylovanov said during a meeting with the staff of the enterprise upon their appeal to the ministry.
In its appeal, the company pointed to abuses and violations by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, in particular, the director of the intellectual property department Valeriy Zhaldak and his deputy Bohdan Paduchak.
According to the document, in particular, in May 2018, ex-Minister of Economic Development Stepan Kubiv by his decree established the state-run organization National Intellectual Property Office, which duplicates the functions of Ukrpatent, which contradicts Ukrainian and international legislation in the field of intellectual property protection and bilateral international treaties, the company said in the appeal. The creation of such an organization requires an appropriate government decree, and not a ministerial decree, the team said.
In addition, Ukrpatent transferred over UAH 36 million for the maintenance of the National Office, the state company said.
The parliament has registered a package of bills (No. 2255, 2255-1 and 2259), which provide for the establishment of the National Intellectual Property Authority as a legal entity under the management of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture. At the same time, bill No. 2255 provides for the creation of the National Intellectual Property Authority on the basis of Ukrpatent.
Ukraine’s parliament on November 12 passed at first reading bill No. 2240 settling the issue of amber production, which envisages the introduction of unified licenses for exploration with the right to produce amber during the period of five years for the sites up to 10 ha sold at electronic auctions on the ProZorro platform.
A total of 342 MPs backed the document.
According to the bill, access to amber deposits will be regulated by establishing the right of land easements and the definition of separate Article 971 of the Land Code for the exploration and mining of amber deposits on disturbed lands.
In addition, the document introduces criminal liability for illegal mining and administrative liability for violation of mining requirements, as well as toughens liability for non-compliance with land reclamation requirements and the obligation to compensate for losses incurred.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Environment Protection, the bill also removes a number of duplicate and archaic approvals for amber deposits (in particular, mineral titles and permission to remove the fertile layer) and introduces the filing of all documents in electronic form through an electronic account.
Ukraine in January-October 2019 increased exports of titanium containing ore and concentrate in kind by 1.4% compared to January-October 2018, to 516,561 tonnes.
According to customs statistics released by the State Fiscal Service, over the period exports of titanium ore and concentrate in monetary terms increased by 19.1%, to $126.621 million.
Major exports were made to the Czech Republic (18.67% of deliveries in monetary terms), Russia (16.82%), and Egypt (16.57%).
Ukraine in January-October 2019 imported 711 tonnes of similar products worth $500,000 from Senegal and Vietnam, while in January-October 2018 it imported 15,797 tonnes of titanium ore and concentrate worth $3.088 million from Senegal.
As reported, Ukraine in 2018 increased exports of titanium containing ore and concentrate in kind by 2.7% compared to 2017, to 599,494 tonnes. Last year exports of titanium ore and concentrate in monetary terms increased by 19.5%, to $125.722 million. Major exports were made to the Czech Republic (19.41% of deliveries in monetary terms), Turkey (17.96%), and Russia (15.68%).
Ukraine in 2018 imported 15,874 tonnes of similar products worth $3.142 million from Senegal and Mozambique, while in 2017 it imported 202 tonnes of titanium ore and concentrate worth $143,000 from Senegal (87.41%), Finland (10.49%), and Iran (2.1%).
Vilnohirsk state mining and metallurgical combine (Dnipropetrovsk region), Irshansk state mining and processing combine (Zhytomyr region), Valki-Ilmenite and Mezhdurechensk Mining and Concentration Complexes (both are located in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region) are the main producers of titanium ore in Ukraine.
Dnipro-based Velta production and commercial firm built a mining and processing complex at the Birzulivske ilmenite deposit, which has a 240,000-tonne ilmenite concentrate capacity per year.
Holding company Velta Group Global Ltd. was registered in London in November 2011.
The voluntary restructuring of feed-in tariff in wind energy is possible subject to other market reforms, according to a letter from foreign developers of large wind farms, namely NBT, Windkraft Ukraine, LongWing Energy, Greenworx Holding and Akuo Energy, which was sent to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in late October.
According to the document, the restructuring may concern new wind farms or expansion of existing facilities, which will be commissioned on the basis of preliminary electricity sale and purchase contracts signed by the end of 2019, with the exception of projects or their stages being under construction or already having a financing agreement.
As an example, wind farm developers are considering a 5.0–7.5% reduction in the feed-in tariff rate for the wind farm project portfolio with a capacity of 1.9 GW compared to the feed-in tariff defined for wind farms for 2020–2022 in exchange for extension of the term of electricity sales contracts up to 15 years from the date putting wind farms into commercial operation.
At the same time, the authors of the letter oppose retrospective changes in the renewable energy market, drawing the head of state’s attention to the fact that the consequences of this option will be the loss of about $2.5 billion of direct investment, as well as the exit from the sector of foreign investors. According to the companies’ estimates, foreign investment in wind energy has already reached $1.2 billion, and an additional $2.5 billion is planned for the next three years.
In their opinion, the consequences of any retrospective changes to the previously approved by the law schemes for supporting wind energy incentives will be more significant than the problem of financing Guaranteed Buyer state enterprise.
