The Cabinet of Ministers has imposed a ban on export of buckwheat until July 1.
During a meeting on April 2, the government approved respective order amending supplement 1 to instruction No. 1109 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 24, 2019.
“Thus, the resolution introduces a temporary licensing and quotas for buckwheat and peeled buckwheat grain (no bran covering) export until July 1, 2020,” the Economy Ministry said in a statement on Thursday evening, April 2.
In particular, a zero quota volume was established for the goods (according to foreign economic activity codes 1008 10 00 00 and 1104 29 17 00).
The relevant amendments, according to the Economy Ministry, were made in supplement 1 to instruction No. 1109 on the quota volumes of export of goods which is subject to licensing in 2020.
According to the ministry, the ban on buckwheat export is a temporary measure necessary to protect the domestic market. The Economy Ministry said that Belarus, the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan have temporarily closed their borders for buckwheat export.
“To date the situation in the Ukrainian market is stable. The government is in dialogue with manufacturers and retailers all the time. Ukraine will negotiate with the main producing countries to lift bans in order to maintain international food security and restore normal international trade conditions,” the ministry said.
The ministry also urges Ukrainian agricultural enterprises to increase the area sown with buckwheat.
Electricity consumption during quarantine, from March 12 to March 31, 2020, decreased by 7.5% compared to the same period in 2019, to 7.911 billion kWh, Ukrenergo transmission system operator reported to Interfax-Ukraine.
The average temperature for the indicated period was 5.6 degrees above zero compared to the temperature 4.9 degrees above zero in 2019.
Within the first week of quarantine, March 12-18 (the average temperature was 5 degrees above zero), Ukraine consumed 2.838 billion kWh, which is 6.8% less than within the same dates in 2019 (at an average temperature of 3.7 degrees above zero) and 0.9% higher than within the previous week, March 5-11 (8.5 degrees above zero).
Consumption within March 19-25 amounted to 2.786 billion kWh (at temperature of 4 degrees above zero), which is 6.6% lower than within the same period in 2019 (at temperature of 5.5 degrees above zero) and 1.8% lower than within the first quarantine week, and 0.9% less than the week before quarantine.
According to the results of the last six days of March (8.2 degrees above zero), Ukraine consumed 2.287 billion kWh, which is 9.2% lower than within the same period in 2019 (5.4 degrees above zero).
In general, according to recent data, electricity consumption in March at an average temperature of 6.4 degrees above zero was 12.414 billion kWh, which is 7.2% less than on March 2019, when the average temperature was 4.7 degrees above zero.
Earlier, Ukrenergo transmission system operator predicted that electricity consumption in Ukraine in March amid quarantine measures could decrease by 8.2% compared to the same period in 2019. The operator said that in addition to quarantine, which restricted the work of a number of enterprises in different industries of the economy, electricity consumption will also decrease due to such seasonal factors as warm weather and a decrease in heat supply.
Five Ukrainian pharmaceutical companies are ready to produce medicines that have been proved to be effective in combating the symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Head of the parliamentary committee for health of the nation and medical insurance Mykhailo Radutsky has said.
“Now all legal grounds are being made for Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers to start producing medicines that are used in other countries, but there is great shortage and high cost of such medicines. Today, this is a problem not only in Ukraine,” Radutsky said on the Ukraine 24 television channel on Thursday.
The MP said that there are already pharmaceutical companies capable of producing such medicines, for these companies the Health Ministry is preparing legal grounds for the production of such medicines.
“In Ukraine, five plants have already agreed to produce these medicines, but before that they need legal support. Now, the Verkhovna Rada along with the Cabinet of Ministers is preparing resolutions and legislative acts to allow these medicines production,” the head of the parliamentary committee said.
The Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) has pointed out a large growth in addresses of enterprises, which are trying to explain their ordinary problems and the non-performance of obligations by force majeure, although after analyzing documents the Chamber decides not to issue force majeure evidence certificates to them.
“We consider unacceptable attempts by a large number of entrepreneurs and enterprises that try to invoke force majeure circumstances to avoid obligations to partners – be it a Ukrainian or foreign business or individuals. In these cases, we refuse to issue force majeure evidence certificates,” the press service of the UCCI said, citing President of the UCCI Hennadiy Chyzhykov.
According to the press release, the UCCI analyzes the terms of the contracts in relation to liability for failure to meet obligations and the grounds for exemption from them, in particular, in the event of force majeure.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 06/04/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant, affiliated with Metinvest Group, topped the list of the largest recipients of VAT refunds in March 2020 with UAH 859 million, which is more than twice as much as in February (UAH 404 million).
According to the State Treasury Service, Zaporizhstal is followed by ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih mining and metallurgical plant, which increased its tax refund indicator from UAH 579 million in February to almost UAH 611 million in March.
At the same time, Kernel-Trade agro-exporter, the leader among VAT refunds recipients in February, worsened its result by almost 2.3 times and ranked third with UAH 473.5 million (UAH 1.075 billion in February).
The five largest recipients of VAT refunds also included Glencore Agriculture Ukraine enterprises with UAH 450.7 million (there were no data on reimbursement last month) and ADM Ukraine with UAH 405.7 million (UAH 428 million in February).
The companies are followed by AT Cargill with UAH 334.7 million (data were not available in February). Mariupol-based Illich Steel Mill, affiliated with Metinvest Group, almost halved its result to UAH 313.4 million, while in February it received UAH 604 million.
