KYIV. Jan 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian mining enterprises in 2016 significantly increased shipments of iron ore to Japan, Serbia, South Korea and Slovakia, while reducing shipments to China, Poland and Turkey, according to a press release from state enterprise Ukrpromzovnishekspertyza, with reference to analyst Dmytro Zheltiakov.
“Exports of Ukrainian iron ore in December 2016 fell by 22,000 tonnes, thus reaching 3.223 million tonnes. Since the beginning of 2016 a total of 39.2 million tonnes have been exported, which is 6.5 million tonnes less than in 2015,” the company press service said.
Zheltiakov said over the past year shipments to Japan (by 535,000 tonnes), Serbia (by 567,000 tonnes), South Korea (431,000 tonnes) and Slovakia (409,000 tonnes) rose most of all. The largest fall was recorded in exports to China (by 7.695 million tonnes), Poland (600,000 tonnes) and Turkey (633,000 tonnes).
As for the cost variables, in December prices of Ukrainian suppliers in foreign markets increased by 15-20%. According to the company experts, in January 2017 minor price fluctuations are likely to occur, following the stabilization of price indices in China. Prices in the domestic market of Ukraine, following the worldwide growing trend, should also show growth.
KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyiv City Council is considering a draft decision to introduce the e-system for pre-threshold procurement, the press service of Kyiv City Administration has reported.
“Despite legislative restrictions the city intends to carry out procurement for goods the cost of which exceeds UAH 3,000,” Head of the Kyiv Administration department Volodymyr Bondarenko said.
He said that in 2016 Kyiv conducted 47,120 tenders in the ProZorro e-procurement system for UAH 11.77 billion. The average decrease of the price by bidders was 15.78%.
“The city managed to save UAH 532 million thanks to transparency of procurement and creating competition,” he said.
Among the key customers for procurement at Kyiv City Administration via the e-procurement system in 2015 were the healthcare department with agencies and organizations under its management (38% of total procurement), the transport infrastructure department (9%) and the social policy department (7%).
HELSINKI. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Finland which spends five times less than Ukraine on heating its housing sector, will provide Kyiv with the technical solutions to improve energy efficiency, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development and Construction, Housing and Utilities Hennadiy Zubko told Interfax-Ukraine.
“We will work on the memorandum in two areas: the first is the development of renewable energy and the second area is the introduction of the best technical solutions to save energy,” he commented on the signing of the memorandum between Ukraine and Finland on cooperation in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy (‘green energy’).
Zubko clarified that these modern technical solutions will be used in the framework of the Energy Efficiency Fund, which is being created.
According to him, the two governments will establish two working groups, which in addition to technical solutions will also be engaged in the issues related to standards, which Ukraine needs to improve its energy efficiency. The first such working group will arrive in Ukraine already on February 7-8, the deputy prime minister said.
He recalled Ukraine and Finland established a very close relationship within the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) program, which implements municipal projects in Ukraine on heating system modernization and energy efficiency, in particular, the insulation of schools, kindergartens and the modernization of public utilities. According to Zubko, the loan portfolio of NEFCO in Ukraine totals EUR 44 million, which are supported by EUR 16 million grant funds.
KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kernel, a large Ukrainian agrarian group, is mulling opportunities of buying an oilseed crushing plant in Ukraine with an annual capacity of around 1 million tonnes of sunflower seeds and expanding its land bank by 200,000-250,000 ha, the founder and Board Chairman of Kernel Andriy Verevsky has said.
“We are studying the possibility of consolidating oilseed crushing facilities in Ukraine. We are interested in acquiring a medium-sized enterprise with an annual capacity of around 1 million tonnes of sunflower seeds. We assess the acquisition at some $200 million. At present we are far from the deal, as our assessments considerably differ the assessments of sellers. It is hard for me to predict when potential sellers will give their consent to sell their business. I think that it will take no more than a couple of years,” he said at the phone conferences with investors devoted to the possible placement of eurobonds.
Verevsky said that Kernel seeks to boost its land bank by 200,000-250,000 ha and assesses the investment at $150 million. He said that last year was favorable for farmers. Assessments of potential sellers today are high for Kernel.
Kernel is considering assets of Mriya agroholding among potential deals.
As for the possible placement of bonds, Verevsky said that the preliminary issue is $300 million. It could be expanded to $500 million. The company seeks to refinance current banking credits.
“The goal of the deal is to refinance bank credits and extend the term of paying on liabilities. Now we have renewable credit lines for three years. We would like to have the longer term,” he said.
If the above-mentioned plans are implemented, total investment in coming three years will be near $470 million, taking into account planned investment of some $120 million in Illichivsk seaport. If the company requires additional funds to expand working capital, it is able to finance it thanks to credit lines and operating flow, Verevsky said.
As reported, last week Kernel announced a roadshow for investors in the United States and Europe regarding a possible issue of eurobonds.
The eurobonds are to be issued in accordance with the 144A and Reg S rules, i.e. they will be available to U.S. investors with a maturity of five years and a fixed coupon rate.
Other details of the securities are not reported.
KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company AvtoKrAZ (Kremenchuk, Poltava region) will receive around UAH 2 billion as a government order to produce vehicles in 2017, Head of Poltava Regional Administration Valeriy Holovko has said.
“I brought this news from Kyiv where a serious meeting headed by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman was held,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Holovko said that in the past years this is the first meeting where the officials were looking for the ways to support and develop the sector, not simply discussing the problems of engineers.
“As for government orders for PJSC AvtoKrAZ, this is support not only one enterprise, but 7,000 workers of suppliers, and taking into account adjacent sectors these are 100,000 Ukrainians who will receive guaranteed jobs and salaries,” he said.
He recalled that AvtoKrAZ produces not only military vehicles, but also high-quality vehicles for housing and utilities services and specialized vehicles. They can be used to upgrade the fleet of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, law enforcement agencies and municipal housing maintenance companies.
After the meeting Groysman set a task to draw up a technological map of the needs of state-run agencies in purchase of vehicles and the facilities of producers. It is intended to have economic benefits in saving budget funds and creating new jobs.
KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrenergo is launching a “single window” through which it will be possible to apply for the connection of new “green” energy facilities to the company’s network, company acting director Vsevolod Kovalchuk has said.
“We hope that the principle of “single window” will be applied to regional power companies, which are the operators of distribution systems,” he said at a meeting with market representatives in Kyiv.
The full operation of the “single window” will start on April 1. Now it is running in a test mode. In the same period, Ukrenergo plans to launch an online map with information on the technical capability of connecting “green energy” objects to all substations of the company and the estimated value of such connection.
As reported, Ukrenergo operates the trunk and interstate power grids, as well as the centralized dispatching of the country’s united energy system. The company is state-owned and managed by the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.
