KYIV. Nov 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The participants of the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) unanimously supported Ukraine’s application to join the agreement, Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Maksym Nefyodov wrote on his Facebook page.
“This is the diplomatic victory of Ukraine – to join the agreement under the WTO [World Trade Organization], which opens mutual access to the public procurement markets,” he wrote.
He said that joining GPA is beneficial for Ukraine, as the Ukrainian market has been opened for foreign companies for many years, while the markets of other countries were closed for Ukrainian companies. He said that Ukraine does not require changing legislation to receive access to tenders abroad.
Organizations of industrialists, entrepreneurs, employers of Ukraine, scientific institutions, civil society activists, who have formed the Anti-Crisis Council of NGOs, are ready to introduce their fundamental document ‒ the anti-crisis program of joint actions of the government and businesses ‒ to the European community. It will be presented to participants in an international conference entitled “The European Parliament is the Civil Society of Ukraine” in Brussels in early December.
A year ago, business organizations and associations, having realized the depth of the social crisis in the country, decided to combine their efforts to implement effective anti-crisis measures for industrial development and create a favorable business and investment climate. The said program covers all areas of social and economic development in the country, its cooperation with international partners, demands of society, existing resources and competitive advantages. The program is a public document and is being constantly updated simultaneously with developments of the situation and in line with new proposals that come from the business community.
The entrepreneurial community is convinced that the most important task today is to pursue a modern industrial policy. Nowadays Ukraine has seen signs of de-industrialization, when large factories and even entire industries, such as the titan of the aerospace industry, Pivdenmash, and transport engineering enterprises, are on the verge of closure. For example, the State Rail Transport Administration, also known as Ukrzaliznytsia, is facing the following problem: 92% of its locomotives and 83% of its passenger cars are old. At the same time, the domestic transport engineering sector has posted a decline in production at about 80%. Isn’t that time to launch large-scale state-supported programs for the modernization of railway rolling stock, support unique, skilled personnel, strengthen the positions of the domestic market and to gradually enter new markets?
The anti-crisis program of joint actions of the government and businesses features the creation of favorable conditions for small- and medium-sized businesses, which are key to economic stability. Industrialists demand resumption of issuing loans to the real economy at affordable rates, reduction in the administrative and fiscal burden on businesses, and the quick adoption of high-quality tax reform. They also insist on the rapid search for new markets to sell Ukrainian products and lifting of restrictions on imports and exports.
Separate sections are devoted to preparation for successful entry to the EU market as of January 1, 2016, which requires the development and launch of programs for adaptation of technical regulations and standards of Ukraine to EU requirements.
The anti-crisis program stresses that every effort must be made to combat corruption. Every corrupt official should be made liable ‒ regardless of status, position, political affiliation, as all are equal before the law. At the same time, the public and the business community should facilitate the rejection of corruption.
The anti-crisis program of joint actions of the government and businesses calls on the authorities to a productive partnership with the business community. Only by joining hands it is possible to overcome the crisis and achieve sustainable economic development, the industrialists and entrepreneurs emphasize.
The Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) has supported a proposal put forward by the Council of Exporters and Investors under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to coordinate efforts in expanding export opportunities for Ukrainian producers. This was discussed at a bilateral working meeting of the heads of the two organizations in Kyiv.
As was noted by Executive Secretary of the Council and Ambassador-at-Large Oleksandr Danyleiko, boosting exports of Ukrainian products is critical for economic growth, and therefore efforts by the government, the public and the business community should be doubled to help national businesses in the most efficient way possible.
He offered wide-range cooperation with the ULIE as a powerful association of industrialists and entrepreneurs that has visible results in promoting national exports and cooperation on a wide range of issues. This includes providing businesses with information about the needs and tenders of foreign partners, conditions of doing business abroad, assistance in concluding contracts as well. Representatives of the Council are also interested in conducting joint activities, using the platform of the actively working Center for Export Support, which was opened under the ULIE.
“We receive much information from our embassies as for business activity of foreign partners but we are not sure if all of it reaches Ukrainian businessmen. We need real guidance per sectors and practical steps. We look forward to your support in this,” Oleksandr Danyleiko said.
“The export policy is crucial today because the domestic market is at the stage of “freezing” amid the population’s falling solvency. We’ll have to work in both directions, as negative trends are seen everywhere: exports have fallen by 35% amid an 18% decline in domestic industrial production,” ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh said.
According to him, exports promotion means addressing a number of domestic problems: the adoption of state programs for industrial development, support of small- and medium-sized businesses, qualitative upgrading of fiscal policy and the creation of a favorable business and investment climate. In addition, the state should work on compliance with the requirements of product quality and technical regulations of the EU, the possibility of diversifying exports from the eastern to western markets or the markets of third countries and so on. These proposals are articulated in a constantly updated anti-crisis program of joint actions of the government and businesses, sent to the country’s leaders and key ministries, including the Foreign Ministry.
The ULIE president informed his partners that a memorandum is to be signed in Brussels in early December on cooperation between the ULIE and BUSINESSEUROPE, which is the most powerful European business association, which includes national associations from 40 European countries.
“After this, we could more closely work in particular with those sectoral national associations that are most interesting to Ukrainian producers,” Anatoliy Kinakh said.
Vice President of the ULIE, Chair of the Center for Export Support at the ULIE Denys Krasnikov said that suggestions of some foreign business associations that are ready for sectoral partnerships with the Ukrainian side were collected at the U.S.-Ukraine Business Forum and the forum entitled “Ukraine-Canada: A Look into the Future.” Canadians alone have submitted more than 150 requests.
In order to better coordinate joint work, Executive Secretary of the Exporters Council Oleksandr Danyleiko suggested that the ULIE should finalize the concept of the organization, and invited Anatoliy Kinakh to join the Council.
The Council of Exporters and Investors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is a permanent platform that includes more than 60 representatives of sectoral unions and associations, leading Ukrainian enterprises and companies that actually represent the full range of export-oriented industries of Ukraine (primarily metalworking, engineering, chemical, agriculture, and services). It also involves the leaders of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine and the companies that implement large investment projects in Ukraine.
KYIV. Nov 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – State postal services enterprise Ukrposhta doubled its profit in January-September 2015 year-over-year, to UAH 30 million, the company said in a press release on Wednesday.
Its total revenue grew by 10.2%, to UAH 3.19 billion.
Ukrposhta said that the growth was thanks to the optimization of logistics processes for mail transportation and the introduction of new services, including parcels from abroad. Despite the rise in the prices of fuel and lubricants, general expenses on their purchase were cut by 12% compared to the target.
“Mileage and expenses on the use of transport are now limited and under control at Ukrposhta,” the company said.
Ukrposhta is a national postal operator, according to a cabinet resolution of January 10, 2002. It is managed by the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine.
KYIV. Nov 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Shareholders in PZU Ukraine insurance company (Kyiv) at a general meeting on November 11, 2015 decided to increase the company’s charter capital by 80.74% via an additional issue of 1.45 million shares worth UAH 14.496 million.
The company said that the face value of each share is UAH 10.
The placement value equals to their market value: UAH 137.39 per share. The market value was defined by the appraiser – Vedanta-Expert consulting firm – as of October 6, 2015 and was approved by the supervisory board of the company.
The insurer said that the placement of new shares could result in an increase in the stakes of the shareholders: Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen S.A. – 89.9678% of the charter capital (1.615 million shares) and PZU Ukraine Life Insurance (Kyiv) – 10.0297% of the charter capital (180,038 shares).
The company said that 30% of the funds from the placement of new shares will be used to increase the charter capital to develop the insurance product sales chain. The remaining 70% will be used to improve, develop and design new IT technologies aimed at increasing labor and operation efficiency.
Hryvnias will be used to pay for the shares. The conversion of the securities is not foreseen.
The company is now allowed to use the funds received from the placement of shares to pay for them and cover losses.
As reported, the charter capital of the company before the additional issue of shares is UAH 17.954 million.
PZU Ukraine has been working in the Ukrainian insurance market since 1993. It provides a full range of services in conventional insurance. The company has over 100 regional offices across Ukraine. Its services are sold through around 2,000 universal agents.
PZU Ukraine is part of Poland-based PZU insurance group.
KYIV. Nov 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Odesa Port-Side Plant and Austria’s Antra Gmbh have agreed to load the plant by over 50% under a tolling scheme in November, Director of Antra GmbH Eugen Hinrichs-Schramm said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
“We buy gas in Austria, Hungary and Slovakia… we will cover more than the half of the plant’s need for gas,” he said.
The director of Antra said that his company will export Odesa Port-Side Plant’s products, however he refused to disclose the concrete buyers.
Hinrichs-Schramm said that 10% of Antra belongs to him and 90% belongs to Switzerland’s Universal Exports Holding AG.
“No founder [of Universal Exports] is a government member or politician,” he said.
Deputy Director General of Odesa Port-Side Plant Mykola Schurikov said that the plant has started to receive gas under the contract with Antra on November 10. The contract is in effect until the end of November but it could be extended.
Schurikov said that along with gas supplies, the plant received raw materials from Antra under a contract with national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy (at the price of $275 per 1,000 cubic meters) and is loaded almost by 100% in general.
“With a full loading the plant consumes 115 million cubic meters of gas a month,” he said.
He said that the plant cannot supply gas in the reverse mode due to restrictions of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on advance payments abroad.
