Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

LEADER OF UKRAINIAN AUTO MARKET TOYOTA RAISES SALES BY 26% IN 2017

The sales of new Toyota cars, which in 2017, as well as a year earlier, became the leader of the Ukrainian car market, grew by 26% compared to 2016, to 9,696 units with the growth of the car market as a whole by 25%, to 82,300 cars, according to the Ukrautoprom association.
According to the report, during the year Toyota was in the lead in the nine out of twelve months, and three months this position had been held by Renault, which over the year ranked second with 8,671 registered cars and an increase of 36%.
Volkswagen, as in the previous year, ranked third. It sold 6,525 cars, and the sales growth was 30%.
The fourth and fifth positions were held by Skoda with 5,675 cars sold (37% up) and KIA (5,320 cars, 34% more).
Thus, the five leaders of the market did not change compared to last year.

POKROVSKY GOK TO INVEST MORE THAN UAH 247 MLN IN COMPANY DEVELOPMENT IN 2018

PJSC Pokrovsky ore mining and processing enterprise (Pokrovsky GOK, Dnipropetrovsk region) intends in 2018 to invest more than UAH 247 million in the program of production and technical development, while the plan for 2017 was UAH 350 million.
Board chairman of the company Serhiy Shuvayev said the strategic goal for 2018 is to maintain the plant’s capacity for extraction and production of concentrate.
“Shevchenkivsky quarry has almost finished its work, therefore we need to compensate for this by increasing ore extraction at other divisions, and the year of 2018 will be preparatory to increasing the productivity plan at Pivnichny and Chkalovsky No. 2 quarries,” he said.
According to him, it is planned to overhaul mining equipment.
According to him, the specialists of the plant came to the conclusion that independent charge would allow to not only compensate for the lost volumes of ore, but also increase the productivity of the factory, increase manganese content in concentrate. Due to the increased competitiveness of the plant’s products, Pokrovsky GOK hopes to obtain additional income.

GERMAN COMPANIES CREATE 2,000 JOBS IN UKRAINE IN 2017 – UKRAINIAN FM

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said that in 2017 German companies created 2,000 new jobs in Ukraine.
“In 2017, according to our approximate calculations, German companies created at least 2,000 jobs in Ukraine,” Klimkin said at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Kyiv on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian foreign minister noted that the German automobile industry alone has created more than 30,000 jobs in Ukraine.

ENERGY MINISTRY ANNOUNCES TENDER TO SELECT INDEPENDENT MEMBERS OF UKRENERGO’S SUPERVISORY BOARD

Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry has announced a tender to select independent members of Ukrenergo’s supervisory board.
According to an announcement on the ministry’s website, applications and documents for the tender can be submitted before March 2, 2018.
The ministry seeks to create the supervisory board consisting of seven members with the following qualification: business strategy and development, regulatory policy on the competitive power market, operations effectiveness, finances and audit, power lines management, risk management, compliance and corporate governance.
As reported, Energy and Coal Industry Ministry resumed the selection of four independent members of the supervisory board of national energy company Ukrenergo in its resolution No. 752 dated December 18, 2017. The tender commission was to draw up and approve the requirements to the candidates to these posts.
The regulation on the principles of formation of the Ukrenergo supervisory board provides that, in general, the council should consist of seven persons. Applicants for four independent candidates should not hold positions in state or local government bodies, nor should they have any material interests with the enterprise and its management. At the same time, it is planned to form the supervisory board from persons with different competence to ensure the widest possible variety of experience and professional skills. If there are two candidates with the same competence and skills, the candidate with experience in companies – system operators of electric power transmission from ENTSO-E will be given preference.
Ukrenergo operates trunk and interstate power grids, as well as performs the centralized dispatching of the united energy system in the country. The company is a state-owned enterprise, it is subordinate to the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.

PBC SIGNS AGREEMENT ON BROADCASTING OF 2018 WINTER OLYMPICS, 2020 SUMMER OLYMPICS IN UKRAINE

PJSC National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (PBC) has signed a sublicense agreement on the purchase of rights to broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Ukraine with the Discovery Communications media company, whose portfolio includes Eurosport TV channels.
“This will allow the public customer to broadcast the Olympics almost throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. The course of the competition will be broadcast in the SD and HD Simulkast format on the website of the UA:First television channel,” the PBC’s press service reported on Wednesday.
According to Anna Pak Burdin, Discovery Networks North-East Europe managing director, UA:First will broadcast important meetings and final stages of the main competitions, and those who want to follow each competition in full will have access to Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, and more than 4000 hours of broadcasting in Eurosport Player.
“The agreement with PBC is not just a contract. It is an opportunity to join the international holiday and feel like a part of the multi-thousand audience of the Olympics, see the flag of Ukraine and the national team in national uniforms, cheer for your athletes and get incredible emotions,” she said.
President of the National Olympic Committee and Olympic champion Serhiy Bubka, in turn, said that thanks to television broadcasts, Ukrainians would be able to see the competition “of the strongest athletes and cheer for their compatriots.”

JAPAN SIMPLIFIES VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR UKRAINIANS

The decision of the Japanese authorities to simplify visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens (holders of ordinary passports) for short-term visits to this country has come into effect.
So, on January 1, 2018, the Japanese authorities expanded the circle of applicants entitled to multiple-entry visas for short-term stay with business purposes and cultural and scientific figures, and the validity of visas was increased from three to five years maximum.
In addition to the existing single-entry visas, multiple-entry visas (with a validity of three years and a maximum stay of 30 days) for a short stay with various purposes, including for tourism, have been introduced.
In addition, in the case of an independent travel payment, the applicant is no longer required to provide documents from the guarantor.
As reported, the Japanese government’s foreign minister, Kazuyuki Nakane, during a visit to Ukraine on November 9, 2017, announced the decision of the Japanese authorities to simplify visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens from January 1, 2018 for short-term visits to Japan. According to him, simplification of visa requirements will help improve the conditions for tourists, entrepreneurs, citizens who revisit Japan, and will ensure further strengthening of contacts between people of the two countries.