KYIV. June 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has cancelled the registration of foreign investment and simplified the procedure for issuing permission to employ foreigners, as well as the procedure for issuing temporary residence permits.
Some 239 deputies voted in favor of the draft law in its second reading on Tuesday.
The bill cancels registration of foreign investment, replacing it with formal notification for state statistics purposes.
It also spells out the basic aspects of applying for permission to hire foreigners and persons without Ukrainian citizenship. The changes are expected to simplify procedures for attracting foreign managers and qualified foreign workers, who are necessary during the first stages of setting up subsidiary operations in Ukraine.
In addition, the adopted bill changes procedures for issuing temporary residence permits, giving foreigner investors the right to reside in Ukraine, as well as foreigners working at (and not necessarily for) Ukrainian enterprises. Deputies expect the new law will make it easier to reside in Ukraine while monitoring enterprise activities.
According to Samopomich Party faction deputy Serhiy Kiral, the legislation applies specifically to four categories of highly-paid IT specialists – graduates of the world’s top 110 universities, as well as artists. According to Kiral, there are currently 9,000 such [foreign] employees in Ukraine today.
Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction deputy Viktor Pynzenyk said the current law obliges foreign employees to receive work permits each year.
‘The [new] law provides permission for three years, and ensures that low-qualified workers are not hired. The law also establishes minimum salary requirements,” he said.
Pynzenyk said the new law would not revolutionize the country’s investment climate, but should be viewed as a small step on the path to creating a more favorable climate for foreign investment in Ukraine.
KYIV. June 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Swedish furniture and home goods chain IKEA could enter the Ukrainian market, the head of PrJSC Mandarin Plaza’s board, Oleksandr Chernytsky, has said.
According to him, IKEA is considering the possibility of becoming a tenant in one of the country’s largest sales and amusement centers, Yuzhny, with an area of 450,000 square meters. Construction of the facility is planned to begin at the end of 2017 at 9 Hlushkova Street in Kyiv’s Holosiyivsky district.
“IKEA is also looking in our direction. The probability they will come here is high,” Chernytsky said, adding that renters of space at the trade center will include other well-known international operators, “whom Ukraine has long been waiting for,” he said.
Businessman Vahif Aliev, according to Chernytsky, has purchased rights to a land plot with the Liodovy [Ice Skating Rink] Stadium at 9 Hlushkova Street in Holosiyivsky district for construction of Ukraine’s largest shopping mall and sports complex.
The Liodovy Stadium, which was Ukraine’s first outdoor sports complex with skating tracks, was built in 1975.
Aliev is an investor and owner in a number of Kyiv shopping malls, such as Lavina Mall, Blockbuster Mall and Ocean Mall.
PrJSC Mandarin Plaza was created in 2000. It develops, builds and manages shopping and office complexes.
According to the national state register, the sole stakeholder of the enterprise is limited stock company Stadis AB (100% Malmo, Sweden). Aliev is listed as the ultimate beneficiary.
Mandarin Plaza’s charter capital as of May 29, 2017, was UAH 21.7 million.
KYIV. June 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The market of soft drinks (mineral water, sweet carbonated water, cold tea and energy drinks) in Ukraine from April 2016 to March 2017 had grown by 4.7% in liters and by 15.25% in monetary terms.
According to marketing research by Nielsen, a year earlier sales in the category of non-alcoholic beverages increased by 26.17% in monetary terms, while the fall in natural terms amounted to 4.16%.
The main reason for the positive dynamics of soft drinks sales was a slowdown in the growth of prices in the Ukrainian market compared to last year. The increase in prices was 10.08% per liter in 2017 against 31.65% a year earlier.
According to Nielsen, the category of energy drinks became the leader in growth among all non-alcoholic beverages, which increased sales by 16.9% due to developing inexpensive brands. In the category of energy and sweet carbonated beverages, sales of private brands in liters increased by 22% and 32.8%, respectively.
At the same time, the share of mineral water sales fell by 8.5%, cold tea by 6.5%.
Nielsen also noted changes in trade channels – sales are growing in supermarkets, hypermarkets, minimarkets, while traditional retail channels are falling both in natural and monetary terms.
LVIV. June 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The French firm Egis has proposed building an incineration plant for Lviv in the territory of combined heat and power plant No. 2 (CHPP-2), the manager of the project for the development of a waste treatment strategy for Lviv, Christopher Round, has said.
“We examined three sites and came to the conclusion that the best option would be a site in the territory of CHPP-2,” Round said at a press conference, explaining that the location and the developed infrastructure played in favor of this site.
According to him, the company plans in August this year to start designing the enterprise. During this time it will also study Lviv waste morphology to determine the best technology for waste treatment. It is expected that the implementation of the project will begin in 2018.
At the same time, Deputy Mayor of Lviv Serhiy Babak added the final decision on the technology will be made after studying waste morphology and the estimated cost of the plant.
As for the reclamation of the former waste landfill of Lviv, French experts plan to start its recultivation in the current year.
As reported, Lviv City Council and Egis signed a memorandum of cooperation to develop a waste treatment strategy for Lviv.
KYIV. June 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – MHP S.A., one of the leading agro-industrial companies in Ukraine, focusing on the production of poultry and cultivation of grain, posted $57 million in net profit in the first quarter of 2017 against $56 million in net loss in the first quarter of 2016.
MHP’s revenue of $279 million, increased by 27% year-on-year (Q1 2016: 220 million), while export revenue amounted to $164 million, 59% of total revenue (Q1 2016: $115 million, 52% of total revenue), the company said in an update on the London Stock Exchange on May 23.
Operating profit of $74 million, increased by 3%; operating margin was 27% compared with 33% in Q1 2016, gross profit was 8% up to $86 million from January-March 2016.
Adjusted EBITDA margin declined to 33% (Q1 2016: 41%) mainly driven by significant IAS 41 effect in Q1 2016 compared to Q1 2017 related to increased stocks of poultry meat in Q1 2016 and higher sales volumes of grains in Q1 2017
January through March 2017, EBITDA grew by 2%, to $93 million.
MHP’s net debt amounted to $1.063 billion against $1.225 billion in the same period of 2016.
MHP reported that in May 2017 it successfully completed a new eurobond issue of $500 million 7.75% Senior Notes due 2024. $254 million of the proceeds from the new issue were used to repurchase $245 million of the company’s 8.25% Senior Notes due 2020. The balance from $500 million will be used to repay certain other debt, to finance the expansion and diversification of MHP’s poultry and grain business and to improve liquidity.
MHP also shared its outlook for 2017.
“With a strong start of export sales of chicken meat in Q1 2017, in 2017 MHP plans to export around 220,000 tonnes of poultry to the countries of the MENA, the EU, Africa and CIS with a market targeting approach,” it said in the statement.
Several months ago MHP started the construction of Phase 2 of the Vinnytsia complex – Line 1 of 130,000 tonnes total capacity, which is going to be launched in the middle of 2018. Expected production is at around 40,000 tonnes in 2018.
In addition, construction of an alternative energy project at the Vinnytsia complex has already started.
Having completed the company’s spring sowing campaign and taking into account weather conditions in general, MHP’s outlook for the 2017 harvest of crops is positive.
“We are confident that, with our vertically integrated business model, we will continue to deliver strong financial results, supported by a significant and growing share of hard currency revenues from exports of chicken, oils and grain,” the company said in the statement.
As was reported, MHP in January-March 2017 sold 123,931 tonnes of chicken meat, which was 15% up year-over-year.
MHP (Myronivsky Hliboproduct) is the largest poultry producer in Ukraine. It is also engaged in production of grains, sunflower oil, and meat.
MHP’s net profit in 2016 was $69 million against $113 million in net loss in 2015. Its revenue grew by 7%, to $1.135 billion.
KYIV. May 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has said that Ukraine ranks 56th in the Global Innovation Index, but has potential to climb the ratings.
“I have information that we occupy the 56th place in the Global Innovation Index today. I can say for sure that this does not correspond to our real capabilities. Changing of the system, increasing funding will take us to the big leagues,” he said during the meeting with scientists on the occasion of the Day of Science in Kyiv on Friday.
The premier said that upon the condition of changing the system of scientific research on the principles of transparency, the Cabinet is ready to consider the possibility of substantially increasing government spending on science.
