Alstom (France), a manufacturer of rolling stock and infrastructure, is interested in subway modernization projects in Ukraine, Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge has told reporters in Kyiv.
“We know that the subway in Ukraine should be modernized. So far we have not conducted any negotiations on this, but in principle this could be a project for cooperation,” he noted.
According to the Alstom CEO, first of all, the company is interested in cooperation with large cities.
“First of all, we are interested in Kyiv, because the larger the metro network in the city, the more interesting cooperation with it is. But so far we have not met with the local authorities, only at the government level,” the expert said.
Alstom is one of the world’s leaders (along with Siemens and Bombardier) in the production of power equipment and railway transport. The company’s revenue in the 2017-2018 fiscal year grew by 8.8%, to EUR7.95 billion.
PJSC Agrarian Fund will provide UAH 2.5 billion for advance payments to buy grain from farmers under the spring forward campaign 2019, the press service of the company has reported.
According to a posting on the company’s website, Agrarian Fund plans to buy 710,000 tonnes of grain, including 500,000 tonnes of wheat, 100,000 tonnes of corn, 50,000 tonnes of barley, 30,000 tonnes of rye, 10,000 tonnes of buckwheat, 10,000 tonnes of millet and 10,000 tonnes of yellow peas.
The advance payment does not exceed 65% of the cost of delivery under the contract. The forward contract is subject to the signing of contracts for the supply of mineral fertilizers worth no more than an advance payment. “Thus, the agricultural producer can now not only purchase mineral fertilizers of domestic production, but also exchange them for agricultural products,” the Agrarian Fund said.
According to the company’s data, the interest rate for using prepayment funds without taking into account exchange rate fluctuations will be from 23% to 25%, and taking into account the exchange rate fluctuations it will be 15%.
PJSC Agrarian Fund was established in spring 2013 by a government decree. Its charter capital is UAH 5 billion. The company currently estimates its share on the domestic grain market at 20% and on the domestic flour market at 13%.
Up to 300 MW of wind power capacities could be introduced in Ukraine in 2019, which is at least twice more than in 2018, Board Chairman of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA) Andriy Konechenkov has said.
He said that currently wind farms are being built by Wind Parks of Ukraine LLC in Mykolaiv and Donetsk regions (about 50 MW). The DTEK Group in Zaporizhia region is building the first phase of the Prymorska Wind Farm (expected to be completed in the first half of the year), as well as the Orlovka Wind Farm. In Kherson region, Windkraft Ukraine is completing the construction of a 70 MW Overianivka Wind Farm, and the company is starting construction of a 163 MW Myrne Wind Farm, the head of the UWEA said.
According to the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation of Ukraine (NCER), in 2018, 67.7 MW of wind farms were installed. In particular, the statistics of last year included the second stage of the Novotroyitske Wind Farm with a total capacity of 40.15 MW, built in 2017, but which obtained a feed-in tariff as early as 2018.
Some plants built last year were not taken into account by the NCER, since they obtained or will obtain a feed-in tariff this year, the UWEA said. For example, last year in Odesa region (the first project in wind power in this region), Turkey’s Guris Holding Co. built the Ovid Wind plant with a capacity of 32.4 MW. Due to the problems associated with obtaining different licenses, the launch is expected by the end of March.
According to the calculations of the association, the total number of projects currently under construction in Ukraine is 893 MW (those that have already received funding and for which contracts have been signed for the supply of wind turbines), including the Syvash Wind Farm project for 250 MW. Most of them will be implemented before the end of 2020, the head of UWEA said.
In addition, projects for the construction of a wind farm on 3.33 GW, in different regions are in the development stage. “Almost all of them are registered on the website of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, that is, they are undergoing an environmental impact assessment procedure, which indicates the beginning of the investment process. Among them, by the way, there are a lot of small plants – 9, 13, 30, 60 MW each. These wind farms will not have negative impact on the operation of the power grid, as it is almost distributed generation,” Konechenkov said.
The further development of wind energy will depend on the final version of the law on green auctions, which is expected to be adopted in March, in particular, from the state-allocated quotas for the construction of renewable energy facilities.
The Epicenter K Group, developing the agricultural business, plans to invest around EUR 5 million in purchase of 100 grain trucks.
According to the press service of the company, Epicenter will purchase the first 10 grain trucks by the end of February. The approximate cost of one truck is EUR 45,000.
“We are thinking about the alternative to the railway. This season we are exporting grain by grain trucks from the Hnivan and Nemyriv silos (Vinnytsia region). The difference in corn trucking from Nemyriv to the port compared to the railway is $ 2 per tonne, and this is a good bargaining price for corn. In addition, it gives us efficiency in work and ensures the implementation of contracts,” Deputy Head for Agriculture of the Silo Division of the Epicenter K Svitlana Nykytiuk said.
At the same time, according to her, the company plans to complete the construction of railway lines to silos in Vapniarka and Vendychany (Vinnnytsia region).
“At other facilities, there is a railway connection, except for our silo in Kyiv region. The automobile logistics is more interesting there than the railway one,” Nykytiuk said.
The company plans to increase the silo storage capacity to 750,000 or 1 million tonnes. In particular, in 2018, the company began the reconstruction of the Vinnnytsia and Zakupne silos and the construction of two new silo complexes in Vinnnytsia region with a total capacity of 500,000 tonnes. Investments amounted to UAH 800 million, and the launch is scheduled for July 2019.
In addition, Epicenter will increase the capacity of the Hnivan grain collecting station (by 60,000 tonnes), the Nemyriv silo (by 28,000 tonnes) and the Pererobnyk silo in Kyiv region (by 105,000 tonnes). In addition, Epicenter will build a second phase of a silo at Vapniarka.
