Business news from Ukraine

WOG TO INCREASE NUMBER OF GAS FILLING MODULES BY 67% IN 2017

KYIV. Jan 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – WOG intends to increase the number of gas filling units at its fuel filling stations by 67% (160), to 400 in the current year, company CEO Serhiy Koretsky has said at a press conference in Kyiv.

“We plan to increase the number of gas units in our network to 400 objects. Today their number is about 240. We see that gas is one of the products, which has been growing in Ukraine for three years,” he said.

According to Koretsky, WOG plans in 2017 to purchase the first mobile laboratory for autogas quality control.

According to the CEO, WOG plans this year to increase the fuel filling station network from 550 to 600 units.

“In 2017 it is planned to open about ten new complexes of new formats – a large complex with an expanded menu WOG Cafe and WOG Market,” he said.

As reported, WOG intends in 2017 to expand the network of chargers for electric vehicles at its fuel stations to 300.

KHARKIV TRACTOR PLANT STARTS PRODUCING TRACTORS, SEEKS TO MAKE 150 UNITS A MONTH BY LATE FEB – OWNER

DAVOS. Jan 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kharkiv Tractor Plant that resumed operations on January 6, 2017 after a many-month idle period, would soon produce the first tractor and by the end of February the plant seeks to produce 150 tractors a month, owner and President of DCH Group Oleksandr Yaroslavsky has said.

“We are making the first tractor soon and reach 100 tractors a month. By the end of February it would be 150 [tractors a month],” he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the “Ukrainian Breakfast” in Davos organized the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

Yaroslavsky said that the plant would mainly sell tractors in Iran and Turkey.

As for the plans to produce tractors in 2017, he said that it is planned to make around 2,000 tractors, taking into account 150 a month.

“My dream is to produce 3,500-4,000 tractors a year, but the plant was idle for 10 months. We have $8 million of loss. Everything is destroyed, links are broken and we are restoring everything in 24 hours,” he said.

He said that today over 3,000 people work at the enterprise, but more employees will be hired.

“We are hiring [the staff]. We have money and wages will be paid,” he said.

Yaroslavsky also said that relations with suppliers of spare parts and materials are to be restored. He said that the plant does not intend to look for new suppliers.

“We should simply restore links. These are 2,000 adjacent companies, including many foreign ones,” he said.

Asked about suppliers from Russia, he said that he will act in pursuance to Ukrainian law.

Commenting on the earlier announced possibility of producing goods for the defense and industrial complex, Yaroslavsky said that these products can be made only if there are orders.

“When we have orders, we will produce for the defense and industrial complex,” he said.

COMPANIES FROM NORWAY, POLAND, FRANCE READY TO FIGHT FOR CONCESSION OF KYIV’S HEAT PIPELINES – KYIV MAYOR

DAVOS. Jan 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyiv City is holding talks with three companies from Norway, Poland and France on the possibility of taking the city’s heat pipelines to concession, Kyiv City Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.

The management term for the pipelines by Kyivenergo controlled by DTEK private energy holding expires this year.

“We are holding talks with three companies: Norway, Poland and France. They are ready to participate in open tender to take Kyivenergo’s heat pipelines into concession,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of “the Ukrainian Breakfast” organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Davos on Thursday.

Klitschko said that these are western companies that have submitted bids and have large experience in managing energy companies.

As reported, referring to DTEK’s CEO Maksym Tymchenko, it is likely that the holding jointly with potential western partners will participate in the tender to take Kyiv’s heat pipelines to concession if the regulatory environment improves.

Kyiv is preparing to the tender with participation of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the Word Bank Group.

EBRD READY TO HELP KYIV TO BUILD BIG ORBITAL ROAD – KYIV MAYOR

DAVOS. Jan 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to help Kyiv City to implement the bid orbital road construction project, Kyiv City Mayor Vitali Klitschko has told reporters, commenting on the results of his meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“One of the key tasks we see for ourselves is building the orbital road that could lift the environment situation and unload transport infrastructure. Today Kyiv is suffocating over transport. We have understanding with the EBRD in the issue. They are ready [to help],” he said on the sidelines of “the Ukrainian Breakfast” organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Davos on Thursday.

Klitschko said that the second round of talks with the EBRD on the project would be held soon in Kyiv.

He said that it is early to speak about concrete details of the future big orbital road, in particular, it will pass across the Dnipro River or a tunnel.

“We are looking for options to solve it,” he said.

He also recalled that earlier he made arrangements with German investors regarding the completion of the Podilsko-Voskresensky Bridge. He said that the essential task is to launch the bridge in 2020.

Klitschko said that he will meet President of Azerbaijan’s Socar, a large player on the Kyiv market.

He said that if meetings in Davos in the previous years were mainly of the political character, now two thirds of them are devoted to projects to be realized.

The mayor believes that criticizing him that he went to Davos is unfair. He recalled that two years ago he met the SAP managing director here and in four months Kyiv joined the SmartCity international system.

“Each trip should have a concrete result. I have something to say what I have done. I do not want to run ahead, but this year it will be the same,” he said.

He said the fact that the city managed to halve its foreign debt in two years when up to UAH 2 million every day was sent to service is a positive factor in negotiations.

UKRAINE INCREASES PROCESSING OF GRAPES BY 31% IN 2016 – STATISTICS

KYIV. Jan 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine in 2016 processed 253,860 tonnes of grapes for wine materials (excluding the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol), which is 30.8% more than in 2015.

According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, companies of Mykolaiv region boosted grapes processing by 2.3 times, to 101,770 tonnes, Odesa region – by 6.4%, to 121,450 tonnes, and cut it in Kherson region by 10.6%, to 25,720 tonnes and Zakarpattia region – by 25.7%, to 4,920 tonnes.

Companies in 2016 increased production of wine materials by 18%, to 16.64 million decaliters (dal).

Production of wine materials in Mykolaiv region soared by 2.23 times, to 7,140 dal, while in Odesa region it fell by 13.2%, to 7,400 dal, Kherson region by 11%, to 1,760 dal and Zakarpattia region by 14.8%, to 340 dal.

Some 15.4% more wine materials for sparkling wine was made in 2016, 73% more for wine aging and production of table wine, and 0.7% less other types of wine materials.

Wine material for production of cognac fell by 35.1%, for fortified wine – by 45.4%, and 128,500 dal of spirit was used to fortify them (19.8% less than in 2015).

JAPAN TO PROVIDE EQUIPMENT FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING TO UKRAINE – MINISTRY

KYIV. Jan 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Japanese Ambassador Shigeki Sumi has said that Japan is ready to start the cooperation program with Ukraine to develop public broadcasting and supply technical equipment, the press service of Ukraine’s Information Policy Ministry reported on Thursday.

“After studying your address we have decided that Japan would provide technical equipment to develop public broadcasting in Ukraine,” Shigeki Sumi said at a meeting with Ukrainian Information Policy Minister Yuriy Stets on January 17.

The ambassador said that under the two and a half year program, starting this month, a group of experts would arrive to Ukraine from Japan. The group is ready to train public broadcasting specialists how to provide important information to citizens in the emergency situations. Japanese experts will also share experience of creating educational television programs with Ukrainian colleagues.

The ambassador also said that under a request of the ministry a possibility of launching the website of national information agency Ukrinform in Japanese has been found. This will be one of the ways to have access to information about Ukraine to Japanese.

Stets, in turn, said that the Information Policy Ministry will help to broadcast information about Japanese culture in Ukraine. 2017 year was announced the year of Japan in Ukraine.

“Ukrainians know a lot about assistance of the European Union and few about assistance of Japan. This is what we are ready to undertake – to promote spreading information about our friendly country Japan,” he said.

The ministry recalled that at the previous meeting of the minister and the ambassador the sides discussed Japan’s assistance in providing technical equipment for the multimedia platform of foreign broadcasting, but the sides decided to provide equipment to public broadcasting aiming at ensuring the efficiency of the reform.