One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Ukraine in January-March 2019 increased cement production by 23% compared to the same period in 2018, Executive Director of the Ukrcement Association Roman Skylsky has said.
“In the first quarter of 2019, the growth of the construction market was already 24%, and cement production rose by 23%. Exports grew by 66%, imports by 2.8 times. These figures will obviously change after the introduction of a number of restrictive measures by the Ukrainian government regarding imports from neighboring markets,” he said during the international conference UkrCemFor 2019 in Kyiv.
According to the expert, cement production in 2018 decreased by 0.8%, which is associated with a slight drop in demand and the limited capacity of railway logistics, which accounts for 65% of all cement transportation.
“However, the year of 2018 showed a rise in clinker production by 4.3%, which means that producers have the reserves and resources to produce goods, but they decide not to manufacture final products due to a drop in demand or logistic restrictions on the delivery of goods to end consumers,” he explained.
Ukrainian and Hungarian transmission system operators – Ukrtransgaz and FGSZ Ltd. – increased the technical capacity of natural gas transportation from Hungary to Ukraine by 14% at the point of GMS Beregadorets to 19.5 million cubic meters per day, the press service of Ukrtransgaz has reported.
The relevant agreements have been signed between Ukrtransgaz JSC and FGSZ Ltd, and will come into force on 30 May 2019.
“The new agreements enable a significant increase of the gas import capacity from Hungary to Ukraine. This development is particularly important in light of the preparations for the winter season 2020,” Ukrtransgaz said, recalling that to mitigate supply risks, Ukraine aims to accumulate 20 billion cubic meters of gas in its underground storages by the beginning of the next heating season.
Ukrtransgaz said that the Hungarian import direction has gained in popularity in recent years among Ukrtransgaz customers. In 2016, about 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas was imported from Hungary to Ukraine. In 2017 this figure rose to 2.8 billion cubic meters, and in 2018 it reached 3.4 billion cubic meters. Since the beginning of 2019, there has been additional year-on-year growth of 66% to 0.92 billion cubic meters.
“With tariffs for the exit points of the Hungarian gas transmission system from April to September at the competitive to European ones level, there is a strong possibility that the current growth trend will continue over the coming months,” the company said.
Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agricultural groups, could consider a possibility of selling shares in a deep-water grain terminal at the Taman port (Russia) if the price offered for them were acceptable, the agricultural holding has said on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).
Several potential buyers are interested, and if the holding receives the satisfactory price, it will seriously consider the issue of leaving the Russian market, Kernel President Andriy Verevsky said.
As reported, in 2012, Kernel and Glencore acquired a 100% stake in the deep-water grain terminal in the port of Taman from the EFKO group. The transaction value was $265 million. Kernel received a 50% stake in this terminal. In 2018, Kernel transferred its quota for transshipment of 1.8 million tonnes of grain to a third party and received $7.8 million for this.
Kernel is the world’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, a leading manufacturer and supplier of agricultural products from the Black Sea region to the world markets.
Total wage arrears in Ukraine in April 2019 increased by 6.2%, and as of May 1, 2019 amounted to UAH 2.615 billion, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to its data, in April 2019 the amount of wage arrears at economically active enterprises increased by 10.6% and as of May 1, 2019 amounted to UAH 1.416 billion.
The decline in wage arrears in April 2019 were recorded in Khmelnytsky (by 14.2%), Zhytomyr (by 2.6%), Poltava (by 2.2%) and Mykolaiv (by 0.9%) regions.
The growth of wage arrears was seen in Lviv (by 75.3%), Chernivtsi (by 49%), Kherson (by 18.1%), Ternopil (by 17.2%), Dnipropetrovsk (by 13.3%), Vinnytsia (by 10.9% ), Zakarpattia (by 8.1%), Chernihiv (by 7.7%), Donetsk (by 6.9%), Cherkasy (by 5.7%), Sumy (by 4.9%), Zaporizhia (by 3.6%), Odesa (by 3.3%), Kharkiv (by 3.2%), Rivne (by 2.1%), Luhansk (by 2%) regions and Kyiv city (by 10.3%).
The State Statistics Service said that in April 2019, the wage arrears decreased in the field of administrative and support services – by 10.8% (to UAH 8.59 million); temporary accommodation and catering – by 10.5% (to UAH 0.365 million); construction – by 3.1% (to UAH 70.07 million); in the woodworking industry – by 2.5% (to UAH 13.948 million), the chemical industry – by 2.2% (to UAH 80.904 million) and food production – by 0.8% (to UAH 92.317 million).
The debt in the sphere of in the arts, sports, entertainment and recreation increased almost twice (to UAH 1.85 million), IT and telecom – by 50.7% (to UAH 5.92 million), health care – by 21% (up to UAH 13.62 million); education – by 18.2% (to UAH 7.61 million); in the mining and quarrying industry – by 14.7% (to UAH 526.129 million); professional, scientific and technical activities – by 12.9% (to UAH 128.76 million); textile production – by 10.7% (to UAH 6.027 million); agriculture – by 9.5% (to UAH 21.85 million); in the sphere of residential services – by 8.9% (up to 113.69 million UAH); in engineering – by 5% (to UAH 943.93 million); the production of rubber and plastic products – by 4.9% (to UAH 30.326 million); in the sphere of wholesale and retail trade – by 4.3% (to UAH 43.96 million); real estate operations – by 2.8% (to UAH 57.98 million); financial and insurance activities – by 2.3% (to UAH 18.34 million); transport – by 1.7% (to UAH 177.51 million); state administration and defense, compulsory social insurance – by 1.2% (to UAH 3.79 million).
Real wages in Ukraine in April 2019 compared with April 2018 increased by 11.2%, compared with March 2019 it fell by 0.8%, the State Statistics Service has said.
According to the agency, the average nominal wage of full-time employees in April 2019 compared with March 2019 rose by 0.3% and in annual terms by 21.1%, amounting to UAH 10,269.
The service said in March 2019 it amounted to UAH 10,237, February 2019 some UAH 9,429, and in January 2019 some UAH 9,223.
According to the statistics department, the largest increase in the average wage of full-time employees in April 2019 compared with April 2018 was observed in Dnipropetrovsk (24.9%), Kyiv (24.6%), Ternopil (24.5%), Chernihiv (23.2%), Kharkiv (22.1%), Rivne (21.6%), Donetsk ( 21.6%), Poltava (21.5%), Cherkasy (21.3%), Volyn (21.1%) regions and Kyiv city (20.7%).
The highest level of wages in April 2019 was recorded in Kyiv city at UAH 15,876, the lowest one in Kherson region at UAH 7,695.
