Business news from Ukraine

WIZZ AIR TO INCREASE PASSENGER TRAFFIC ON KYIV ROUTES BY 64% IN 2017

KYIV. Jan 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air has put 750,000 tickets for Kyiv routes up for sale for 2017, which is 64% more in comparison with the previous year, according to a press release from the company.

According to its data, in 2016 Wizz Air transported to/from Ukraine more than 418,000 passengers.

As reported, in 2017 the Wizz Air fleet in Kyiv will be replenished with the second Airbus A320 aircraft. Wizz Air in Ukraine carries out flights on 16 low-cost routes from Kyiv to eight countries. In particular, flights from Kyiv to Copenhagen and Nuremberg, which will be open from August. In addition, from August the frequency of flights to Budapest (up to daily), Dortmund, Munich and Bratislava (up to four per week) and to Cologne and Hamburg (to three per week) will be increased.

Formerly, Wizz Air Ukraine, a subsidiary of Wizz Air, operated in Ukraine, but its activity was suspended for several reasons, mostly commercial.

U.S. ABOLISHES DUTIES ON DRY CARBAMIDE FROM UKRAINE

KYIV. Jan 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The United States from December 20, 2016 cancelled anti-dumping duties on dry carbamide from Ukraine, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine has said.

“The U.S. Department of Commerce decided from December 20, 2016 abolish measures in relation to the Ukrainian goods,” a statement reads.

Anti-dumping duties on dry carbamide were introduced in 1987, first on goods originated in the USSR, then on goods from all the countries that withdrew from the union.

DCH GROUP LAUNCHES KHARKIV TRACTOR PLANT ON JAN 6

KYIV. Jan 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – DCH Group of businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky has officially announced that Kharkiv Tractor Plant started operating on January 6, the press service of the group has reported.

“Today is the joyful day in the history of Kharkiv Tractor Plant: we have a chance of starting the processes required for the launch of production,” the press service said citing Yaroslavsky.

He also thanked Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Head of Kharkiv Regional Administration Yulia Slitlychna for participation in deciding the fate of the enterprise.

“I am thankful to the Ukrainian president for help in unblocking operation of the plant and the governor of Kharkiv region for consistent support of our efforts in this direction,” he said.

DCH said that employees of the plant involved in the preparation of production facilities for their launch headed by Director General Andriy Koval went working on January 6.

“I as investor in the Kharkiv Tractor Plant aim at providing for rhythmic production process despite all accumulated problems. We are sending workers to the workshops, mobilizing engineers and start launching production. We would have to recover market channels, restore technological potential and economic ties and modernize production facilities. This is a serious scope of work. From the first minute of this day we have started solving these tasks,” Yaroslavsky said.

CAR MARKET IN UKRAINE 39% UP IN 2016 – AUTO-CONSULTING

KYIV. Jan 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The sales of new passenger cars in Ukraine in 2016 increased by 39% compared with 2015, to 64.478 units, AUTO-Consulting has said.

At the same time, in December car sales rose by 33% over the same month of 2015, which became a new record high in sales for the past three years.

At the same time, according to data released by the Ukrautoprom Association, last year 65,562 passenger cars were sold, which is 41% higher than a year earlier, and in December sales increased by 40%, to 7,601 cars.

According to AUTO-Consulting, the leader of the new car market with a market share of 11.76% was Toyota, which managed to increase sales by 58%, to 7,583 units.

Renault dealers ranked second, they managed to increase sales by 51%. Brand number three became Volkswagen, whose sales grew by 2.2 times.

Skoda significantly improved its performance, going ahead of five brands at once and ranking fourth in Ukraine.

Kia demonstrated a similar breakthrough with the rise in sales being 91%. Ford increased sales in Ukraine by nearly 37%, but as a result kept the sixth place in the market.

 

ARCELORMITTAL KRYVYI RIH, KERNEL, CARGILL, METINVEST STEEL MILLS ARE LARGEST RECIPIENTS OF VAT REFUNDS IN 2016

KYIV. Jan 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The largest recipient of VAT refunds in 2016 was ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, which received UAH 8.03 billion, the State Treasury Service has said.

According to its data, it is followed by the exporters of oil and other agricultural products Kernel-Trade with UAH 6.8 billion and JSC Cargill with UAH 3.69 billion, as well as two steel plants from Metinvest Group of Rinat Akhmetov: Mariupol-based Illich steel mill with UAH 3.77 billion and Azovstal with UAH 3.46 billion.

The second five largest recipients of VAT refunds for last year includes three other representatives of the mining and metallurgical complex: Poltava GOK with UAH 2.77 billion, Dniprovsky steel combine from ISD Corporation with UAH 2.74 billion and Zaporizhstal integrated into Metinvest with UAH 2.31 billion.

The top ten recipients of VAT refunds in 2016 also includes two agricultural exporters: Suntrade with UAH 2.19 billion and Nibulon with UAH 2.11 billion.

UKRPOSHTA SEEKS TO HOLD TENDER TO EQUIP TRUCK FLEET WITH GPS SYSTEM

KYIV. Jan 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian state-run postal enterprise Ukrposhta intends to hold a meeting on January 17 with participation of Ukrainian and international companies providing vehicle monitoring system installation services to discuss the details of the future tender to buy the service.

“Our company has one of the largest truck fleet in the country – 3,600 vehicles. It is planned to install the full-featured vehicle monitoring system on the trucks [on the basis of existing GPS devices],” Ukrposhta said on its Facebook page.

Ukrposhta seeks to monitor the routes of trucks, achieve money saving and provide for reliability of transportation and improvement of services.

The company intends to discuss technical requirements drawn up by its specialists, the optimal commercial model, factors that could influence the price, the conditions and requirements of the tender to be held in the ProZorro e-procurement system.