The leaders of Ukrainian companies named a shortage of labor among the main barriers to doing business in 2019, but 92% of them predict their businesses will grow in the next three years, according to the annual review made by KMPG in Ukraine.
According to the Global CEO Outlook study in Ukraine, during which 130 heads of companies were surveyed, 35% of CEOs (chief executive officer) plan to increase investment in innovation in the next three years, while among the heads of world companies 69% announced such plans.
At the same time, only 39% of the leaders of Ukrainian companies consider their business prepared for cyberattacks, and 31% found it difficult to evaluate their business regarding cyber security, the report says.
At the same time, 52% of managers called staff training the key strategy for preparing the company for the future, 57% would prefer to invest in labor than in technology. However, the global survey shows a different trend – only 32% of the heads of global companies surveyed prefer investment in human resources compared to investments in technology.
Only 16% of organizations around the world have implemented artificial intelligence in the automation of some of their business processes. In Ukraine, given the low labor costs, CEOs see the achievement of return on investment in artificial intelligence and process automation as a distant future.
Among the risks for business development, the heads of Ukrainian companies, in addition to labor shortages, noted regulatory and operational risks, as well as return to economic nationalism.
Regional structure of retail trade turnover in Jan–Sept, 2019
official rates of banking metals from national bank as of November 12
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 12/11/19
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Ukrainian enterprises in January-October 2019 decreased exports of ferrous scrap metal by 87.2% compared to the same period of 2018, to 40,736 tonnes (316,196 tonnes in January-October 2018). According to customs statistics released by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, exports of scrap metal in monetary terms fell by 89%, to $11.31 million ($102.5 million a year ago).
Some 103 tonnes of scrap metal was exported October, 3,551 tonnes in September, 155,000 in August, 204,000 tonnes in July, 208,000 tonnes in June, 8,068 tonnes in May, 8,791 tonnes in April, 8,246 in March, 8,252 tonnes in February and 3,140 tonnes in January.
At the same time, in January-October 2019, the country increased imports of scrap metal in kind by 46% compared to January-October 2018, to 45,669 tonnes. Imports in monetary terms increased 1.8%, to $29.495 million.
Imports of scrap metal for the mentioned period arrived mainly from Turkey (59.16% of deliveries in monetary terms), Russia (31.64%), and the Netherlands (2.26%); and major exports were shipped to Turkey (86.71%), the Netherlands (6.45%) and Germany (4.84%).
Ukrainian metal companies in January-October 2019 imported 1,462 tonnes of ferrous products obtained by direct reduction of iron ore (HS code 7203) – hot briquetted iron (HBI), which is a substitute for pig iron and scrap metal. The HBI was imported from Russia through July-August for a total value of $478,000 when 1,539 tonnes of HBI was imported through January-September 2018 with a total value of $509,000.
As reported, Ukrainian enterprises in 2018 decreased exports of ferrous scrap metal by 33% compared to 2017, to 327,547 tonnes. Exports of scrap metal in monetary terms fell by 13.3%, to $105.646 million.
The service for the delivery of food from Raketa restaurants (Dnipro) has begun to work in Kyiv.
According to the company’s official announcement, on November 11, 2019 around 200 Raketa pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle and auto couriers started working in Kyiv. They perform free delivery of meals from more than 70 restaurants located in the central areas of the city, with a stated delivery time of 60 minutes. The order is made in a mobile application (available for iOS and Android).
The first few months, Raketa will work in the capital in a beta testing mode. During this time, the service plans to cover the entire territory of Kyiv.
The size of commission from the restaurant for delivery of the order is not disclosed.
According to the report, the company plans to occupy at least 30% of the food order market in Ukraine and develop a network of its own kitchens (dark kitchen). The first of them is already working in a test mode near the Bessarabsky market in Kyiv, and the plan is to open 25-30 such kitchens in the capital.
“The network of our own kitchens will allow us to close all processes within the company, provide perfect service, and most importantly, deliver in less than 30 minutes,” Oleksiy Yukhymchuk, the co-founder of Raketa, said.
Raketa is a service of food delivery from restaurants that began operations in Dnipro on March 5, 2018. Currently, the company is owned by three stakeholders, including Ukrainian entrepreneurs Oleksiy Yukhymchuk and Stanislav Dmytryk (the name of the third owner is not disclosed).
