KYIV. July 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and ambassadors of Arab countries accredited in Ukraine have discussed the prospects of stepping up cooperation in different areas and the possibilities of investing into the Ukrainian economy.
“Today I met heads of diplomatic institutions of Arab countries in Ukraine… I am thankful to ambassadors of Arab countries for their deep interest in the course of reforms and the possibility of investing in the Ukrainian economy,” Groysman wrote on his Twitter page late on Tuesday.
He said that the possibility of enhanced cooperation in trade, education, infrastructure and agriculture was discussed.
KYIV. July 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Cement production in Ukraine in January-May 2016 increased by 10.5% year-over-year, to 3.19 million tonnes, CEO of Ukrcement cement producers’ association Roman Skilsky has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Taking into account growth the sector showed in the five months of this year – if it is a real trend reflecting the stir up in the construction sector, by the end of the year the cement sector could produce more than 9 million tonnes of cement,” he said.
Cement production in Ukraine would grow by 10% in 2016 compared to 2015, taking into account the seasonal specific of the sector under the condition that the sector will operate well, Skilsky said.
He said that in January-March 2016 exports of Ukrainian cement reached 62,700 tonnes. This is 71% up year-over-year. The share of exports of total cement production in the first quarter of 2016 (1.529 million) was 4.1%.
Skilsky said that these exports figures do not reflect the potential of the Ukrainian cement sector. They are linked to the introduction of various restrictions by key exports markets.
“The trend could have been upward if not for two things happened. First, Moldova introduced quotas for several types of industrial products, including cement, from May 13. Last year we exported around 140,000 tonnes of cement to this country. Now the quota is 500 tonnes, or nothing. Secondly, Belarus early suspended the certificates for batch production of Ukrainian cement [for three years] and introduce certification of cement batches,” he said.
“As a result, we expect that exports to Belarus and Moldova would considerably fall. These were the largest exports markets for Ukraine. Taking into account imports of clinker from Russia, we would see the negative impact on the entire exports-imports balance of Ukraine by the end of the year for 2532 commodity group (various types of cement and clinker),” he said.
Skilsky said that the sector intends to focus on development thanks to the domestic market, at least, until Ukrainian producers will have a chance to export to European countries.
Ukrcement unites Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine, Heidelbergcement Ukraine, Ivano-Frankivskcement, Eurocement-Ukraine, Podilsky Cement, Mykolaivcement and Cement LLC (part of CRH Group).
KYIV. July 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The introduction of European standards for cement production in Ukraine would help to restrict opportunities for producing and spreading counterfeit products on the market, CEO of Ukrcement cement producers’ association Roman Skilsky has said.
“We declare that from January 1, 2017 we, as the sector, could switch to production and testing of cement under new standards. We believe that the new standards would help to cut off, or at least narrow the opportunities for companies producing counterfeit products,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the sector producing construction materials on the basis of cement are to switch to European standards.
“It is important to understand if the state has a strategy for this switch, in particular, for the revision of construction requirements, taking into account new standards,” he said.
Skilsky said that large construction materials retail chains in Ukraine permit sales of counterfeit cement in their stores. The most obvious sign of counterfeit products is wrong labeling of packages with cement.
“The wrong labeling is a first signal of counterfeit products in the package. First, buyers should be attentive when there is no information about the manufacturer on the package. There are such cases everywhere, even in large chains,” he said.
He said that after the recent monitoring of the packaged cement market finished late 2015, Epicenter and Nova Linia retail chains took measures to remove wrongly labeled products from their stores. Representatives of other retail chains did not contact the association to settle the issue.
“Today we do not name these companies. We plan to continue monitoring of retail channels, establish dialog and finally bring the packaged cement market to the legal environment… the results of the future monitoring, including violations, will be published in mass media,” he said.
Skilsky said that according to GfK research company, the share of counterfeit products on the Ukrainian packaged cement market is 50%.
KYIV. July 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ovostar Union, a leading producer of eggs and egg products in Ukraine, produced 670 million eggs in January-June 2016, and this was 16% up year-over-year, the company has said in a report.
Eggs sales in H1 2016 grew by 12%, to 474 million and exports – by 48%, to 145 million.
The exports share of total sales was 31%.
The group said that average egg selling price during the six months of 2016 increased by 6% to UAH 1.27 per egg compared to UAH 1.20 per egg in the same period previous year.
As at June 30, 2016 the company’s total flock has increased by 21% year-over-year to 7.2 million hens, while the laying hen flocks increased by 27% year-over-year to 5.9 million hens.
In H1 2016, the volume of eggs processed increased by 23% year-over-year to 199 million units.
With increasing demand on liquid egg products from the EU market during the first half of 2016, sales volume of liquid egg products increased by 64% year-over-year to 4,398 tonnes (the share of export in total volume of liquid egg products sold amounted to 30%).
The sales volume of dry egg products remained the same year-over-year and amounted to 925 tonnes, while the export share in total volume of dry egg products sold equaled to 58%. The average selling price of liquid egg products increased by 17% year-over-year to 28.99 UAH/kg; the average selling price of dry egg products increased by 24% year-over-year to 125.90 UAH/kg.
KYIV. July 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant (OPCP) saw a 2.8-fold rise in net profit in April-June 2016 year-over-year, amounting to UAH 174.712 million.
The company has said in a report, its net sales revenue decreased by 43.6% or UAH 1.122 billion, to UAH 1.454 billion, and gross profit – by 76.8% or UAH 318.485 million, to UAH 94.969 million.
In January-June 2016, the plant saw UAH 243.937 million in net loss compared to UAH 151.953 million of net profit year-over-year. Net revenue in H1 2016 fell by 45.3% or UAH 2.628 billion, to UAH 3.172 billion and gross profit – by 81.5% or UAH 869.117 million, to UAH 194.904 million.
State-owned OPCP produces chemical products and transships ammonia to vessels.
KYIV. July 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Profit of Raiffeisen Bank Aval (Kyiv) totaled UAH 1.456 billion in January-June 2016, while its loss stood at UAH 1.04 billion in H1 2015, the bank has said in a quarterly report.
The bank said that its profit in Q2 2016 amounted to UAH 772.9 million (a rise of 13.1% compared to Q1 2016).
Total assets grew by 4% in H1 2016, to UAH 53.289 billion, including a decline of almost 1.8% in credits and debts if clients, being UAH 24.825 billion.
Total liabilities grew by 1.3% compared to early 2016, to UAH 45.566 billion.
Charter capital did not change, being UAH 6.155 billion, while net worth grew by 23.2% compared to the beginning of 2016, amounting to UAH 7.723 billion.
Raiffeisen bank Aval was founded in 1992.
The bank ranked fifth among 109 operating banks as of April 1, 2016, in terms of assets worth UAH 52.583 billion, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
