The leading supplier of telecomm and IT solutions ZTE has opened a long-term credit line to public joint-stock company Ukrtelecom to finance projects, foreseeing the provision of $10 million at the first phase, the public joint-stock company has said in a press release. “In the current conditions, we see a great interest of global business in the national infrastructure ICT [Information and Communication Technology] operator. This is a line which will be used for projects with a payback period of no more than five years,” the press service said, citing Uktelecom’s Director Yuriy Kurmaz as saying.
According to the company, the funds raised will be used to expand the coverage of Internet access in settlements, upgrade the access network and other elements of the company’s infrastructure.
The funds will be available from June 2018. During this time, the company’s specialists will prepare a roadmap and project calculations that are planned to be implemented in this cooperation, the press service said.
“We are starting a new stage of long-term cooperation between ZTE and Ukrtelecom. From now on it will not only be in the sphere of supply of equipment for consumers, but also at the level of important infrastructural solutions necessary for the development of the Ukrtelecom network,” said Director of ZTE Ukraine LLC Mingxi Huang said.
Kyiv authorities formally renamed international airport Zhuliany “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv International Airport”. The airport is widely known as ‘Zhuliany’ after the surrounding neighborhood of the same name. Igor Sikorsky was born in Kyiv. During World War I, he designed and constructed bombers for Russia’s military. After the communists came to power and threatened him and his family, Sikorsky emigrated to the USA. There, he gained renown for designing and manufacturing fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.
The Kyiv international airport (Zhuliany) serviced 130,800 passengers in February 2018, which is 51.6% more than in February 2017, the airport’s press service has reported.
The press service said that the number of passengers on international flights was 124,900 and on domestic flights – 5,900.
The number of flights in February 2018 was 1,648, which is 20.5% more than a year ago, including 1,356 international flights and 292 domestic flights.
The most popular international destinations in February-2018 remained similar to January: Dubai (the UAE), Minsk (Belarus), Ankara (Turkey), Budapest (Hungary), Warsaw (Poland), Memmingen (Germany), Rome (Italy); and domestic – Odesa, Zaporizhia and Lviv.
AUTHORITIES, IGOR SIKORSKY, INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, KYIV, ZHULIANY
The volume of construction work in Ukraine in February 2018 decreased by 2.2% compared to February 2017, while the decrease in January 2018 from January 2017 was 1%. According to the State Statistics Service, the data are given without taking into account the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and Sevastopol and certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to the authority, the volume of construction work in February 2018 grew by 2.8% compared with the previous month, while in January 2018 it plunged by 74% compared with December 2017.
According to the report, in February 2018 the growth in the volume of construction was observed nonresidential construction (2.4%), while the figure in construction of residential buildings fell by 0.3%. The decrease of 6.8% was recorded in construction of engineering facilities.
In February 2018, the volume of construction of residential buildings fell by 1.6% compared with January 2018, and it grew by 1.6% in construction of nonresidential buildings and by 7.3% in construction of engineering facilities.
In January-February 2018, construction work fell in 10 regions, in particular in Luhansk region by 83%, to UAH 33.3 million, Odesa region by 39%, to UAH 584.6 million and Sumy region by 19.5%, to UAH 85 million. The largest growth in the volume of construction works in January and February 2018 was seen in Zakarpattia region by 93.8%, to UAH 124.7 млн million and Chernivtsi region by 71.9%, to UAH 168 million.
Fuhrlander Windtechnology LLC (Kramatorsk, Donetsk region) is studying the organization of production of blades for wind turbines in Kramatorsk, Deputy Director for Commercial Issues of Fuhrlander Windtechnology Yuriy Shevchenko told reporters during his visit to Kramatorsk organized by Ecoaction and Germanwatch on March 22. “Yesterday, with investors and engineers from Germany we discussed the issue of production of blade. They looked where and how it can be done. The blades are that expensive components of wind turbines, which are not produced in Ukraine,” he said.
Shevchenko said that the cost of organizing this production is from EUR 6 million to EUR 50 million, depending on the output volume and other factors.
Today towers, nacelles and hubs made in Ukraine are used in Fuhrlander Windtechnology’s wind turbines. The largest components that are imported are blades, bearings, generators and gear boxes.
Fuhrlander Windtechnology is the only manufacturer of modern wind power plants in Ukraine. It is engaged in construction of wind farms. The company produces goods on the site in Kramatorsk.
Since 2010 to the present, Furlender Windtechnology has built (equipped with its turbines) Novoazovsky, Ochakivsky, Kerch, Krasnodonsky and Lutuhynsky wind farms. The company also built a wind farm Ereymentau (Kazakhstan). The beneficiaries of Fuhrlander Windtechnology LLC are the co-owner of the ISD corporation Oleh Mkrtchan and the Verkhovna Rada deputy Maksym Yefymov (the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction).
DONETSK REGION, FUHRLANDER STUDYING, KRAMATORSK, PRODUCTION, WIND TURBINE
State-owned enterprise Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv) is ready to allow Ireland’s low cost airline Ryanair to use currently mothballed Terminal F as soon as the airline starts servicing 15 flights a day from the airport. An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that Boryspil airport Pavlo Riabikin gave this information at a press conference in the airport last week devoted to the arrival of Ryanair to Ukraine.
“As soon as the frequency of their flights reaches 15 a day, we will open this terminal,” he said. He said that now it is planned to service Ryanair’s flights in Terminal D. A year ago Riabikin said that the Boryspil airport could de-mothball of Terminal F if there were enough flights of low cost airlines in the country.
“One of the KPI [key performance indicators] in my contract is the resumption of activities of Terminals F and B. We have already prepared a plan for the resumption of activities of Terminal F for servicing low-cost carriers. As soon as we understand there are 15 low-cost carriers, we will open Terminal F for them, otherwise it will be a loss-making terminal. The terminal is likely to open for the summer navigation of 2018, but flights must be provided for this,” he then said.
Earlier, former head of the airport Yevhen Dykhne noted Terminal F is the demonstration of state mismanagement: when it was being built, it did not fit into the airport development strategy at that time. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, $40 million was invested in Terminal F in 2009-2014. It had been the base for Ukraine International Airlines since 2010 to 2013. The airport mothballed Terminal F in 2013.
