PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) in 2018 increased its capital and operating expenses by 31.6% compared to 2017, to $443.4 million from $337 million.
According to a press release of the company, $348.8 million were capital investments, $94.6 million were operating costs.
In 2019, the company intends to invest more than $450 million.
At the same time, the press service clarifies that one of the key projects in 2018 is the construction of two new continuous casting machines worth about $144 million. Hot tests of one of the continuous casting machines will begin in February of this year. It is also planned to complete the reconstruction of small section mill No. 250-4 in spring, the volume of investments in it will be about $55 million.
KyivESKO LLC and JSC Commercial Industrial Bank on January 14, 2019 signed a first energy service contract in Ukraine for the amount of around UAH 3 million, using the factoring tool. The Ukrainian Association of Energy Service Companies wrote on its Facebook page that the contract was signed with the technical assistance of the UNDP project and the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving.
The tool allows borrowing without collateralized property, the association said. The guarantee for the loan would be money flows from energy service contracts, which KyivESKO LLC has.
In August 2018, specialists of the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving and experts of the UNDP project studied various models of using energy service mechanisms in European countries, in particular in Latvia, where two funds for the energy service purposes using the factoring tool were created with the help of the financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and public funds.
The implementation of the firsts factoring contract in the energy service area would allow other companies and financial institutions to use this experience, the association said.
KyivESKO LLC signed its first energy service contract in the housing sphere with Politekhnik housing and construction cooperative in Kyiv.
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Electricity generation in the united energy system of Ukraine in 2018 increased by 2.5% compared to 2017, to 159.351 billion kWh, the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry has told Interfax-Ukraine.
At that time, nuclear power plants (NPP) in the period reduced electricity generation by 1.4%, to 84.398 billion kWh, in particular, electricity generation at Zaporizhia NPP amounted to 35.924 billion kWh (4.1% more than in 2017), Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP to 18.329 billion kWh (2.4% more), Rivne NPP to 17.55 billion kWh (11.3% less), and Khmelnytsky NPP to 12.595 billion kWh (down by 5.9%).
Thermal power plants (TPP), as well as combined heat and power plants (CHPP) and cogeneration plants increased output by 5.3%, to 58.808 billion kWh. In particular, the generating companies of TPPs increased production by 6.3%, to 47.792 billion kWh, while CHPP and cogeneration plants by 1.2%, to 11.016 billion kWh.
Hydro power plants and hydroelectric pumped storage power plants raised production in 2018 by 13.6%, to 12.008 billion kWh, while block stations reduced by 1.9%, to 1.504 billion kWh.
Electricity production by alternative sources (wind power plants, solar plants, and biomass) in 2018 rose by 38.8%, to 2.633 billion kWh.
The share of NPPs in the structure of electricity generation was 53% (55.1% in 2017), that of TPP, CHPP and cogeneration plants – 36.9% (35.9%), hydro power plants and hydroelectric pumped storage power plants – 7.5% (6.8%), block stations – 0.9% (1%) and alternative sources – 1.7% (1.2%).
Electricity generation in Ukraine’s power grid in December 2018 rose by 7.2% year-over-year, to 15.871 billion kWh.
Heat generation last year rose by 0.3%, to 22.032 million gigacalories.
The State Fiscal Service of Ukraine plans to propose amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding the annulment of VAT on supplies of grain crops and oilseeds to the domestic and foreign markets. The authority said in a statement to the Ukroliyaprom association, a copy of which has been forwarded to Interfax-Ukraine, the fiscal service proposed abolishing taxation of transactions related to supplies of wheat, barley, soybeans, rapeseeds, sunflower seeds, soy, sunflower, rape and mustard oils on the customs area of the country and for exports.
The fiscal service said that during 2017 and the first half of 2018, companies exported these goods totaling more than UAH 500 billion.
“For 2017 and the first half of 2018, the amount of budget reimbursement of VAT only to the largest exporters of grain and oilseeds (1.4% of their total) was UAH 32.2 billion, or more than 2.2 times higher than the total VAT receipts from almost all economic entities, in the registration files of which one of the activities indicated the production of these products, as well as its sale,” the authority said.
The fiscal service assesses the negative effect of this at UAH 50 billion and indicates a high shadowing of the market in these segments. At the same time, the fiscal service recognizes that the tax administration of VAT in this area and the corresponding supervision and law enforcement measures are ineffective.
In turn, the agrarian associations expressed concern about this initiative, emphasizing that the abolition of VAT refunds could affect not only export, but also operations in the country itself.
“When selling products with VAT, a farmer sends the received funds from paying the tax to compensate to himself the VAT that he paid in the price to his counterparties for various materials: seeds, crop protection agents, fuel, electricity and fertilizers. The remainder is sent to the state. After the implementation of these initiatives, farmers will have to compensate for the VAT paid to their counterparties by increasing the cost of goods,” Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council Mykhailo Sokolov told Interfax-Ukraine.
“If these changes are made to the Tax Code of Ukraine, it will actually mean that UAH 50 billion of export VAT, which, after a long struggle, finally began to be returned in a timely and transparent manner and without corruption schemes, will be taken away from agricultural producers,” the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club’s press service reported, citing Director General of the association Taras Vysotsky.
