KYIV. March 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Odesa Port-Side Plant is resuming its operations after a two-month idle period, First Deputy Board Chairman Mykola Schurikov has said.
“Today we have started the launch of the plant! The tolling scheme is used now. We are working on all possible options,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
As reported, after two failures to privatize the plant at the end of December 2016 the plant decided to temporarily suspend operations due to high prices of natural gas and accumulated debts for its supplies.
The company said that it is looking for companies interested in leasing of its property complex for a long period of time.
In February 2017 the shareholders of the plant gave preliminary consent on the leasing of the plant’s property.
The shareholders also approved the debt restructuring to Naftogaz Ukrainy in equal parts during two years without interest accrued.
KYIV. March 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Sunflower processing at the enterprises of Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agricultural holdings, in the 2017 fiscal year (FY, July-June) could grow by 10%, to 3 million tonnes.
“Talking about expectations for the remaining half of the season, we forecast our full year crushing volume will be approximately 3 million tonnes and the crushing margin will likely to be in the range of $70-80 per tonne of oil squeezed by increase in competition,” Kernel founder and chairman Andriy Verevsky said during a conference call with investors.
“Export terminals are anticipated to transship around 5.4 million tonnes with the stable margins which we have at the moment, and farming should deliver strong annual results compared to the last year records,” he said.
“We are actively working today with M&A deals in terms of the farming division. We have got several companies in the pipeline in the negotiation process. I think we have a good chance to complete at least one of them in the 2017 financial year,” he said.
Kernel is the world’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, the leading manufacturer and supplier of agricultural products from the Black Sea region to the world markets.
KYIV. March 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The AIS Group, a leading Ukrainian automobile holding, and the official distributor of Ravon cars (made by General Motors Uzbekistan) Ukr-UzAuto have signed a strategic cooperation agreement.
AIS said in a press release on Thursday that under the agreement AIS has the right to open 15 Ravon dealer centers in the largest cities of Ukraine – Kyiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Zaporizhia, Lviv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Kryvy Rih and other cities.
AIS will sell Ravon cars in the retail dealer centers and service them.
The opening of first centers is scheduled for April 2017. The network will be launched in all cities where it is planned within one month.
The Ravon brand has replaced UZ-Daewoo. It was officially presented in Ukraine in August 2016.
KYIV. March 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Some 300 km of roads will be repaired in Kyiv in 2017, the Kyiv mayor, head of Kyiv City State Administration Vitali Klitschko has promised.
“Some 300 km will be repaired in Kyiv – this is our task,” he said on the air of 1+1 TV Channel.
According to the mayor, the matter concerns a complete replacement of the roadway with a guarantee of five years.
Klitschko said the planned volume of roadway reconstruction is unprecedented.
The mayor stressed the construction of a new sewer collector line will be completed and the construction of the Podilsko-Voskresensky bridge will be resumed by the end of 2017. The bridge is to be completed in three years.
KYIV. March 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – JKX Oil&Gas Plc plans capital investment of $660 million in development of the Rudenkivske field in Ukraine.
The full field development model for the Rudenkivske field includes the drilling of 135 wells over ten years and results in plateau production of approximately 110 million standard cubic feet per day (18,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day).
“The reconstruction of the Field Development Plan for Ukraine has revealed that using a modern, North American development approach for the Rudenkivske field could realize over $3 billion worth of gas sales at today’s prices,” the company said in a report on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Wednesday.
The Rudenkivske field is estimated to contain 2.8 trillion cubic feet of gas in place (2C).
“Using modern development and completion techniques could result in the production of as much as 600 billion cubic feet of gas over the field’s lifetime. Analogous fields to Rudenkivske’s structure and depositional environment in North America were identified and their experience and empirical data were used in the company’s planning,” the company said.
In addition, gas lift is currently being implemented at well NN16 to restore production and increase overall recovery on the field.
According to the report, Financing will continue to be a challenge for the company as well. Its development project in Ukraine is much bigger than its current market capitalization (GBP 51.41 million).
“We will have to be creative and aggressive in financing that development, and will be keeping shareholders informed in all cases and seeking their support and approval where appropriate,” JKX said.
As we obtain sources of financing for the Rudenkivske development, we will tighten our production targets and timing and keep you informed. Monetization of Russia, and perhaps Hungary, remain potential sources of funding for the core Ukrainian development plan,” the company said.
In Hungary, operations to sidetrack the Hn-2 well commenced in early December. In January, the sidetrack was successfully completed. Gas sales commenced in early February 2017 at an initial rate of 1.8 MMcfd, after a production and sales break in Hungary of more than three years. A reassessment of all of our Hungarian licenses is underway and a new Field Development Plan will be produced in the next few months.
In Russia, production remains stable with work-over and acid treatments required on a regular basis to combat harsh conditions in our 5,000m deep, high temperature, high pressure wells. The company will be replacing certain production strings with chrome tubing in 2017, at a cost of approximately $5 million. This will result in more stable production and an ability to increase production modestly by opening chokes due to better control of temperature-related string expansion.
For claims relating to 2010, amounting to approximately $10.6 million (including interest and penalties), Poltava Petroleum Company lost an appeal to the High Administrative Court of Ukraine and lost four appeals to the Supreme Court of Ukraine. It is currently engaged in appeal processes in the High Administrative Court and is considering the basis of a further appeal to the Supreme Court.
For claims related to 2015 of approximately $23.3 million, Poltava Petroleum Company is involved in proceedings in the Poltava District Administrative Court, which are temporarily suspended.
In respect of the company’s international arbitration against Ukraine to recover production related taxes, the tribunal ruled that Ukraine was found not to have violated its treaty obligations in respect of excessive levying of such taxes, but awarded the company damages of approximately $11.8 million plus interest and costs of $0.3 million in relation to subsidiary claims.
“While disappointed with the overall result, the conclusion of these proceedings presents an opportunity to draw a line under historical legal issues and engage with the Government of Ukraine to settle this award and the local tax issues and return focus to key operational matters. We have commenced this settlement process in earnest and in the meantime continue to defend our local legal cases,” JKX said.
KYIV. March 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending a $3 million loan to Ecosoft (Irpin, Kyiv region), the country’s leading producer of water purification equipment, in order to provide modern water treatment solutions for households and businesses in Ukraine, reads a bank press release.
“The investment will strengthen inclusion by providing customers with access to clean water at affordable rates. Inclusion is one of the six transition qualities defining the EBRD’s work. The bank believes that a well-functioning market economy should be competitive, inclusive, well-governed, green, resilient and integrated,” the report reads.
“A five-year loan will help the company to increase its production and storage capacity by purchasing additional injection moulding equipment. Ecosoft will also commission a new warehouse, improve its range of pitcher-type water filters and launch the production of reverse osmosis filtering membranes thus offering domestic customers an affordable high-tech alternative to imported water filters,” according to the document.
“The investment is supported by the European Union under the EU4Business Initiative which is designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the countries that will benefit from a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU (DCFTA),” the bank stated.
“Ecosoft has been known to us since 2012 through our advisory program for small businesses. We are pleased to witness the progress and the expansion of this high-tech company, which is now exporting its filters to over 40 countries around the world. Customers will be able enjoy better-quality drinking water while spending less on its treatment,” EBRD Director for Ukraine Sevki Acuner said.
Ecosoft has benefited from support through the EBRD Small Business Impact Fund, which, with financial support from the United States, has provided $2 million to moderate the risks of EBRD investment in Ukraine.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. To date, the bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost EUR12.2 billion through 377 projects since the start of its operations in the country in 1993.
