The Ukrsadvinprom public association has called on the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine to adapt the state-funded program compensating expenses on construction of fruit refrigerators to berry farms, member of the association and founder of Yahidky company producing organic blueberries Oleh Naumenko has said.
“In 2018, we received compensation for planting material in full. However, officials have a misunderstanding of some simple questions… We ask the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry to hear us and reconsider the program on refrigerators in the direction of adapting it to berry farms,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
According to representatives of Ukrsadvinprom, the criterion of the capacity of this equipment for compensation from the national budget from 500 tonnes, as provided for by the current government decree, should be relaxed to 50-100 tonnes.
“In addition to laying new plantings, you need to think about the storage of fruits and berries. However, refrigeration equipment with a capacity of 500 tonnes and more is used by large enterprises – producers of apples. And for blueberries, currants, blackberries, smaller capacity refrigerators are required,” Director of Horticulture Institute under the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine Ihor Hrynyk said.
Head of Uksadvinprom Volodymyr Pechko said that in 2019, about 15 enterprises are candidates to have compensation for the construction of refrigeration equipment under current requirements.
According to him, if the criteria for equipment are relaxed, about 80 export-oriented enterprises will be eligible for compensation under this state-funded program.
“This will support not only large fruit producers, but also small farms. It will also provide an opportunity of storing berry products for about three months and exporting them not only to neighboring countries, but also to China, as well as to Chile and Argentina,” Pechko added.
National Energy Company Ukrenergo as part of the modernization of the power grid installed the first interactive dispatch board made by Belgium’s Barco. The board will be launched on March 18, the press service of the company has reported. The board, combined with the operational information complex of the automated dispatch control system, transmits information about the state of the main power equipment of the Western energy system round-the-clock in a multi-window mode.
The equipment allows quickly and conveniently displaying the necessary information on any screen window – separate power hubs, diagrams and schemes. In the coming years, it is planned that the dispatch boards will be updated in all other regional dispatch centers.
The project, worth UAH 17.5 million, was implemented as part of the investment program of the Western energy system for 2018.
Ukrenergo operates trunk and interstate transmission lines, as well as centralized dispatching of the country’s integrated power grids. It is a state-owned enterprise managed by Ukraine’s Finance Ministry. The company will be soon reorganized into a private joint-stock company.
According to customs statistics, published by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, coke and semi-coke exports were down 60% in monetary terms, to $504,000.
The majority of deliveries were made to Romania (66.27% in monetary terms), Russia (16.47%) and Moldova (16.47%).
Imports of coke and semi-coke fell by 35.5%, to 168,673 tonnes in January and February 2019, worth $51.463 million (34.7% down). The goods were mainly imported from Russia (89.55% in monetary terms), Poland (8.42%) and the Czech Republic (2.03%).
As reported, Ukraine cut coke and semi-coke exports by 88.6% year-over-year to 25,578 tonnes in 2018. Imports of coke and semi-coke fell by 45.8%, to 839,757 tonnes in 2018, worth $251.724 million (44% down).
Due to hostilities in the eastern part of Ukraine some coalmines and coking plants were left in the Ukrainian government uncontrolled territories.
Ukrenergo has worked out a concept for the development of cybersecurity for 2019-2023, based on the analysis of the current state of information security in the company, its own developments and the experience of world leaders in the field of cyber defense and information technologies, primarily Israel.
According to a press release, in four years Ukrenergo intends to implement 30 projects in order to enhance the security of information infrastructure and minimize the negative impact of cybersecurity incidents on the company’s work.
In particular, the matter concerns the creation of a secure transport network of the enterprise for secure interaction with the outside world, the organization of secure basic infrastructure and data processing centers, as well as setting up an operational security center and organizing professional training for personnel.
The draft concept was reviewed and received positive feedback from the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection.
As reported, in June 2017 the computer networks of the Cabinet of Ministers, dozens of state and private large banks and companies in Ukraine became the victims of a massive virus attack, which in some cases led to the cessation of their operations.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) in January and February 2019 carried over 1 million passengers, which is 9% more than a year ago.
The airline said in a press release that over the period UIA serviced 8,930 flights, which is the same as in January and February 2018.
The seat occupancy rate grew by 1 percentage points (p.p.), to 74%.
The on-time performance result for UIA in February 2019 was 85% compared with 77% in February 2018.
The airline carried 2,800 tonnes of cargo and mail, which is 2% more than a year ago.
Ukraine International Airlines was founded in 1992. It connects Ukraine with more than 80 cities and key points in Europe, Asia, America, Africa, the Middle East and the CIS countries and provides connection with the routes of partner airlines in more than 3,000 cities of the world. UIA performs more than 1,100 regular flights a week.
The fleet consists of 41 airplanes of different modifications. One of the ultimate beneficiaries of the company is businessman Ihor Kolomoisky.
JSC Turboatom (Kharkiv), the largest manufacturer of turbine equipment in Ukraine, 75.2% shares of which belong to the state, tentatively saw UAH 764.235 million in net profit in 2018, which is 7.6% more than in 2017.
Thus, Turboatom’s net profit target being UAH 763.166 million was slightly exceeded.
According to an agenda of the general meeting of the company’s shareholders scheduled for April 17, 2019 and posted in the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, retained earnings as of January 1, 2019 totaled UAH 3.629 billion.
The issue of distributing net profit for 2018 and the approval of annual dividends was put on the agenda of the meeting.
The draft minutes of the meeting has several options for profit distribution, in particular, to send 90% of net profit to pay dividends (UAH 687.75 million) and 10% to cover expenses foreseen in the financial plan for 2019 or to send 80% and 20%, 75% and 25% and 50% each respectively.
According to the report, in 2018, Turboatom increased current liabilities by 11%, to UAH 1.715 billion and noncurrent liabilities fell by 17.8%, to UAH 253.07 million.
Total receivables remained almost unchanged, being UAH 1.457 billion. Assets grew by 4.6%, to UAH 7.555 billion. Net worth as of early 2019 accounted for UAH 5.587 billion, including UAH 105.62 million of the charter capital.
The financial plan of Turboatom for 2019 foresees net profit to be UAH 798.3 million and net revenue UAH 2.737 billion.
Turboatom is the sole producer of turbine equipment in Ukraine for hydro, heat and nuclear electricity stations. The enterprise supplies its products to 45 countries in Europe, Asia, Americas and Africa.
