Nestle, one of the world’s largest producers of food, will invest UAH 700 million in the reconstruction and modernization of Mivina factory in Kharkiv. Nestle CEO for Ukraine and Moldova Ansgar Bornemann and Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Yulia Svetlychna said this during a press briefing in Kharkiv.
“The company began preparations for the modernization of Mivina factory in 2015. The final project plan was approved in early 2018. The main goal is to develop the factory, improve working conditions and increase the competitiveness of products,” the Nestle official said.
According to him, the project will be implemented in two stages by transforming the existing logistics center into a production facility with the subsequent development of all necessary infrastructure and transferring production lines to new premises.
“Reconstruction will help not only modernize the enterprise but also improve the technology of production. Updating the recipe for Mivina products, in particular reducing fat content in products, will allow meeting the criteria for assessing the nutrition foundation of Nestle products, which are based on dietary recommendations of the World Health Organization,” Bornemann noted. The head of the Kharkiv administration, in turn, reported that almost half of the products produced at the Kharkiv factory are exported to 17 countries in Europe and the world.
The company plans to complete all the stages of reconstruction and commission the updated enterprises by 2021.
Indian pharmaceutical companies producing Ayurvedic drugs will visit Ukraine in mid-April. According to the Embassy of India in Ukraine, a delegation of Ayurvedic companies will hold a number of meetings in the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Verkhovna Rada. The embassy also informs that representatives of the Indian Ministry of AYUSH at the seminar “Ayurveda – the science of healing life by nature” held in Kyiv in late March raised the issue of the possibility of bilateral partnership between India and Ukraine to promote trade in Ayurvedic drugs, educational courses and Ayurvedic doctors in Ukraine.
The embassy notes that the activity of manufacturers of Ayurvedic medicines in India is regulated by the law on medicinal and cosmetic means. At present, there are 278,000 Ayurvedic specialists, over 200 Ayurvedic educational institutions and 112 Ayurvedic training institutions in India. Every year, 15,000 people graduate from such institutions. In addition, there are 7,439 private companies that produce Ayurvedic medicines and more than 20 companies that have an international GMP certificate in India.
As reported, India intends to support the development and promotion of traditional Indian medicine around the world. At present, the state integrates the infrastructure of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy) into the Indian health system.
The sowing of spring crops has started in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Policy Maksym Martyniuk said on his Facebook page. According to his data, as of April 2 Kherson region had sowed 4,000 hectares with barley and 300 hectares with peas. Mykolaiv region sowed barley on 600 hectares. The area under crops for the harvest of 2018 will be 27.2 million hectares, which corresponds to the indicator of 2017.
As of March 30, Ukrainian agrarians are 100% provided with seeds (638,000 tonnes), 91% with plant protection agents (27,400 tonnes), and 81% with fuel (326,000 tonnes). Martyniuk noted, despite the increase in import duties on fertilizers from Russia (from 36.03% to 42.96%), prices for most types of fertilizers (including ammonium nitrate) over the last week did not increase, but even slightly decreased.
The volume of trade between Ukraine and Belarus in January-February 2018 reached $370 million, Ambassador of Belarus to Ukraine Igor Sokol has said.
“The growth of Ukrainian exports to Belarus outpaces the growth of Belarusian exports to Ukraine: if Belarus’ exports to Ukraine grow by 20-25%, then Ukrainian exports rise by 40-50%,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv.
According to the official, the growth of trade turnover between Ukraine and Belarus in 2017 was 20% and reached $4.6 billion.
Ukraine in the past year in terms of commodity turnover and exports ranked second among all trade partners of Belarus, in imports it ranked fifth.
“In turn, Belarus ranked fourth in the rating of the largest export markets of Ukraine. Belarusian exports increased by 18%, imports from Ukraine by almost 24%,” he added.
Sokol announced that the Made in Belarus exhibition of Belarusian producers will take place in the International Exhibition Center (Kyiv) on April 10-14, 2018. It is planned to present the achievements of 53 leading Belarusian companies in the sphere of machine building, petrochemistry, agriculture, food and light industry. Within the framework of the exhibition the “Belarus-Ukraine: Prospects of Cooperation” conference will be held.
Sadovaya Group, a producer of steam coal, in its report for 2016 posted a loss of $18.07 million, which is 2.1 times ($20.724 million) less than in 2015.
According to the document posted on the website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the company’s revenue in 2016 was only $8,900 against $1.04 million a year earlier.
“Due to the difficult financial situation and the inability to resume the operation of subsidiaries located in the temporarily uncontrolled territory of Ukraine, in 2016 Sadovaya Group received heavy losses and is forced to postpone the audit of the report for 2016 until the end of hostilities,” the document says.
As reported, the assets of Sadovaya Group are located in the temporarily occupied areas of Donbas.
Sadovaya Group was founded in 1995. In December 2010, Sadovaya Group holding company held an initial placement of 25% of shares on the WSE and raised PLN 92.6 million ($31.9 million in dollar terms).
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) intends to transfer to the national budget part of profit in the amount of UAH 34.9 billion by the end of 2018, which is UAH 15.65 billion less than provided by the law on the national budget for 2018 (UAH 50.55 billion), NBU Council Head Bohdan Danylyshyn has said.
“The Council in accordance with Article 9 of the law of Ukraine on the National Bank of Ukraine has filed to the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers information on part of profit for 2018 to be distributed, which is to be transferred to the national budget of Ukraine in 2019, in the amount of UAH 34.9 billion,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to the NBU balance sheet, its liabilities as of January 1, 2018 amounted to UAH 817.59 billion, of which cash in circulation and funds of banks stood at UAH 401.54 billion, general and other reserves at UAH 54.71 billion, reserves for revaluation of assets and liabilities some UAH 153.69 billion.
In 2017 the NBU sent UAH 44.38 billion to the national budget, another UAH 15.07 billion out of the UAH 59.45 billion profit for 2016 was used for formation of general reserves.
