KYIV. April 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on Wednesday approved sending UAH 40 million to the fund for completion of construction of spent nuclear fuel storage facility two, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported.
Ukrainian Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Ostap Semerak said that EUR 105 million is required for the completion of spent nuclear fuel storage facility two, and the issue of collecting the funds will be discussed at the Donor Conference to take place in Kyiv on April 15, 2016.
The minister said that Ukraine will ask donors to send additional funds to the Nuclear Safety Account (NSA). Ukraine is also to contribute own funds to the project.
Semerak said that Ukraine’s total contribution to the completion of spent nuclear fuel storage facility two will be EUR 5 million. He urged the government to support sending of the rest of the sum – EUR 1.5 million or UAH 40 million.
The minister also said that on April 26 Ukraine seeks to sign an agreement on sending EUR 40 million by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to the NSA. The EBRD manages NSA.
The international conference to collect funds and send them to the Nuclear Safety Account (NSA) for the completion of the project to build a spent nuclear fuel storage facility two at Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) is to take place in Kyiv on April 25 and April 26.
Ukraine and Japan will co-chair the assembly. More than 20 countries, including G7 states, the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD), are invited to participate in the event.
KYIV. April 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises in March 2016 increased steel production by 28.1% compared to March 2015, to 2.173 million tonnes, remaining tenth in the ranking of the 66 world’s major manufacturers of these products, compiled by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).
A rise in steel production in March was recorded in the half of top ten countries: China, India, the United States, Turkey and Ukraine.
The top ten steel makers in March are as follows: China (70.65 million tonnes, a rise of 2.9%), Japan (8.648 million tonnes, a drop of 6.8%), India (8.059 million tonnes, a rise of 3.4%), the United States (6.748 million tonnes, a rise of 4.9%), Russia (6.012 million tonnes, a drop of 2%), South Korea (5.43 million tonnes, a drop of 8.4%), Germany (3.811 million tonnes, a drop of 1.6%), Turkey (2.173 million tonnes, a rise of 1.3%), Brazil (2.506 million tonnes, a drop of 9.5%), and Ukraine (2.173 million tonnes, a rise of 28.1%).
In general, in March 2016, the 66 countries produced 137.322 million tonnes of steel, which is 0.5% lower than in March 2015.
The top ten steel makers in January-March 2016 includes: China (192.01 million tonnes, a drop of 3.2%), Japan (25.77 million tonnes, a drop of 3.6%), India (22.913 million tonnes, a rise of 1.8%), the United States (19.628 million tonnes, a drop of 1.3%), Russia (17.224 million tonnes, a drop of 5.2%), South Korea (16.176 million tonnes, a drop of 4.3%), Germany (10.782 million tonnes, a drop of 2.5%), Turkey (7.697 million tonnes, a rise of 1.9%), Brazil (7.392 million tonnes, a drop of 12.3%), and Ukraine (6.082 million tonnes, a rise of 18%).
In general, in January-March 2016, the 66 countries produced 385.671 million tonnes of steel, which is 3.6% lower year-over-year.
As reported, in 2015, the top ten steel makers included China (803.83 million tonnes, a drop of 2.3%), Japan (105.152 million tonnes, a drop of 5%), India (89.582 million tonnes, an increase of 2.6%), the United States (78.916 million tonnes, a drop of 10.5%), Russia (71.114 million tonnes, a drop of 0.5%), South Korea (69.673 million tonnes, a drop of 2.6%), Germany (42.678 million tonnes, a drop of 0.6%), Brazil (33.245 million tonnes, a drop of 1.9%), Turkey (31.517 million tonnes, a drop of 7.4%), and Ukraine (22.933 million tonnes, a drop of 15.6%).
In 2015, the 66 countries produced 1.599 billion tonnes of steel, which is 2.9% lower than in 2014.
KYIV. April 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Kromberg&Schubert manufacturer of cable systems for cars, intends in three years to increase the number of employees at the second production site in Ukraine in Zhytomyr to 5,000 people (today the plant employs 900 workers).
According to the press service of Zhytomyr City Council, the leadership of the Ukrainian company reported this during the Doors Open Day on April 16.
The plant started operations in September 2015 in a test mode, which will last until June this year. Currently the plant is actively recruiting employees.
As reported, the overall investment in the new enterprise is estimated at EUR30 million. As of today, according to the press service, more than EUR10 million has been used.
Currently Kromberg&Schubert Ukraine LLC (Volyn region), established in 2005, operates in the country. Investment in the company amounted to EUR11.5 million. The company employs about 5,500 people.
The plant produces onboard cable systems for passenger cars. The plant’s capacity is about 1,000 sets of electric cables per day. The main consumers of its products are Daimler AG, BMW, and Volkswagen.
KYIV. April 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine, for the first time since joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in May 2008, is undergoing the review of its trade policy, within which Kyiv and the WTO Secretariat present their detailed reports on the state of practically all the sectors of the country’s economy, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has said.
“As expected, we can note interest in this event on the part of WTO members who pay serious attention to the transparency of Ukraine’s trade regime, as evidenced by the significant number of questions – 450!” reads a press release citing the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade and Trade Representative of Ukraine Natalia Mykolska.
According to the procedure, the opponent discussant of the Ukrainian delegation on the part of the WTO will be Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the WTO Remigi Winzap.
The review of trade policies of WTO members is one of the most important activities of the organization, because it is a significant element of transparency, reinforcing the principle of predictability of trade regimes, legislation and its implementation by WTO members.
KYIV. April 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Representatives of various Ukrainian business sectors have united to form the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs for protection and honestly promote their interests, as well as promote Ukrainian export growth, innovation and creating a favorable business environment.
“We want Ukrainian business to have a single voice identified by the society and the government and we want the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs to be this voice,” the president of the union, the co-founder and co-owner of Nova Poshta, Viacheslav Klimov, said. The comments were made at the presentation of newly-formed association in Kyiv.
The member of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs board, the founder of Baker Tilly Ukraine, Oleksandr Pochkun, said that entrepreneurs are uniting to pay the attention of society and politicians to the existing problems of business and together promote deregulation, reduce tax pressure, develop export potential and create an adequate legal framework for economic development.
Klimov gave assurances that the union is created as a non-political association and would not organize political parties or nominate representatives to public authorities. Members of the union can be representatives of business, whose owners who are not associated with oligarchic and political structures.
KYIV. April 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Electronic Payment System in January-March 2016 handled initial payments in the amount of UAH 4.862 trillion, which is 20.4% more than in the same period of 2015 (UAH 4.039 trillion), the press service of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has said.
According to the report, 71.257 million initial payments worth UAH 2.911 trillion were handled in file mode, while 282,000 payments for UAH 1.952 trillion in real time.
At the same time, banks and their branches handled the bulk of initial payments, namely 67.292 million, which accounts for 94% of their total number.
According to the central bank, an average 1.173 million initial payments for UAH 80 billion were processed per day. The average daily balance on the accounts of participants in the electronic payment system was UAH 55.75 billion, while the average daily cash circulation rate stood at 1.41.
According to the NBU, on April 1, 2016 participants in the electronic payment system were 244 establishments, of which 119 are banks, 97 are bank branches, 27 are the State Treasury Service and its bodies and one is the NBU.
