KYIV. June 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian businessman, owner and president of DCH Group Oleksandr Yaroslavsky is ready to purchase another other Ukrainian bank if his bid to acquire Prominvestbank (PIB) fails.
“I will expand my presence in the financial segment. If I am unsuccessful with PIB, I’ll look at other banking institutions. I have acquired several large industrial assets, and now I need a bank to use as a financial instrument to control them,” Yaroslavsky said in an interview appearing in the Biznes (Business) magazine.
PIB was established in 1992. Russia’s VEB owns 99.7% of its shares.
According to Ukraine’s National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), over the first quarter of 2017 bank assets decreased by 22.9% to UAH 25.61 billion, with the bank falling from Ukraine 11th to 13th biggest bank among Ukraine’s largest 90 banks.
The NBU in April received documents from two citizens offering to take part in the purchase of PIB, according to the NBU regulator, who did not identify the citizens.
Media have reported that potential buyers are: founder of MosCityGroup Pavlo Fuks [Russia’s Otkritie Bank is preparing to file a bankruptcy case against him] and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine member Maksym Mykytas.
Yaroslavsky in late May also announced his intention to purchase Prominvestbank.
“On May 12, 2017, DCH directed the offer of purchasing Prominvestbank (PIB), Ukrainian subsidiary of VEB, to Vnesheconombank (VEB, Russia),” DCH Group’s website said on May 19, 2017.
The Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency learned from the NBU’s press service that, as of now, Yaroslavsky has not submitted paperwork to complete the deal.
KYIV. June 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – A new longwall face with coal with coal deposits of around 500,000 tonnes has been launched at state-owned enterprise Pivdennodonbaske colliery group 1 (Vuhledar, Donetsk region). It would allow the coalmine to produce 800 tonnes of coal a day, Head of Donetsk Regional Military and Civilian Administration Pavlo Zhebrivsky has said.
He said on his Facebook page that the face is 250 meters long and 0.72 meters thick.
He said that mining operations at the coalmine were carried out in May 2017. The equipment was removed from the abandoned face. The cost of works was UAH 39.2 million, including a UAH 30 million loan provided by Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry.
KYIV. June 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and Kazakhstan plan to expand cooperation in the aircraft building area and drawing up an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in aviation industry for signing.
Plans to develop cooperation in the aviation industry between the two countries were discussed at the 13th meeting of the joint interstate Ukrainian-Kazakh commission on economic cooperation in Astana with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Services Hennadiy Zubko, the press service of the deputy prime minister reported on Friday.
According to Zubko, following the meeting, the parties reached an agreement to finalize the draft agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the government of Kazakhstan on industrial cooperation in aircraft building and prepare it for signing.
The parties also decided to intensify the interaction between state-owned companies Ukrspecexport and Kazakhstan Aviation Industry LLC to create a service center for maintenance of Antonov aircraft on the basis of the aviation technical center in Astana, he said.
The deputy prime minister said that the cooperation plans also include preparation of an action plan to provide airlines and interested structures of Kazakhstan with regional jet passenger aircraft An-148 and An-158, as well as services for air transportation of super-heavy and bulky cargo.
At the meeting, the sides also discussed the possibilities of expanding cooperation in the field of aircraft engine building: Ukraine confirmed its readiness to supply new TV3-117VMA-SBM1V helicopter engine to Kazakhstan, as well as carrying out overhaul of TV3-117 engines of the D-36 engine family for Kazakh customers, Zubko said.
The meeting participants also considered the potential of the bilateral partnership in the field of exploration and use of outer space: “An agreement was reached to support cooperation within the framework of the Ukrainian-Kazakh working group on the creation of a space-based missile system using a light launch vehicle,” the official said.
According to Zubko, Ukraine also considers shipbuilding as one of the promising areas of cooperation between the two countries: this is designing, building and equipping Kazakhstan’s ships and boats. Ukraine is ready to offer a concept and supply equipment for the organization of protection of the sea line of Kazakhstan, he said.
KYIV. June 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The consumer confidence index in Ukraine grew by 3.2 points in May 2017, to 58. It is the highest since July 2014, GfK Ukraine reported last week.
“In May 2017, Index of Current Personal Financial Standing, Index of Expected Changes in Personal Financial Standing and Index of Economic Expectations reached their maximum indicators over the past two years,” the company said.
While Index of Expectations of Changes in Unemployment fell by 6.7 points, and reached its minimum level in the past two years – 135.7.
“This result indicates, that in citizens’ perception, the situation in the economy is improving and the crisis peak passed,” GfK Ukraine said.
According to the study, Index of Expectations of the Country’s Economic Development Over the Next Year increased by 10.8 points and equals 56.1.
Meanwhile, Index of Inflationary Expectations reached 181.1, which is 2.8 points lower than in April.
Index of the Current Situation (ICS) increased by 1 point to the level of 51.2. The components of this index have changed as follows: Index of Current Personal Financial Standing equaled 47.7, which is 4.7 points higher than the indicator in April; and Index of Propensity to Consume decreased by 2.7 points reached the indicator of 54.7
The expectations of Ukrainians regarding the hryvnia’s exchange rate in the coming three months rather worsened: Index of Devaluation Expectations increased by 2.6 points and reached the level of 142.7.
GfK Ukraine has been performing selective household surveys to determine consumer sentiment in Ukraine since 2000. During the survey the company polled 1,000 people at the age of over 16 years.
The Ukrainian government will soon consider proposals developed by industrialists for the state support of domestic producers in Ukraine and the formation of the country’s own base of raw materials.
A respective order was issued by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman after talks with business associations of the light industry and the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) at a forum in Chernihiv. Currently, the Cabinet has recently put forth a motion at the request of the business community to introduce 36-month installment payment of import VAT on equipment that is not produced in Ukraine. This was reported by the ULIE. The light industry is one of the sectors that can most rapidly and effectively modernize and introduce innovations.
It now accounts for 1% of GDP, although there was a period when its share was 11-12% of GDP. Its potential is enormous, the country still possesses powerful production facilities, technology, industrial tradition, all this can be used for the noticeable recovery of the industry and related industrial sectors. “One can forget about the industrial development of Ukraine while producers are trying to find out where to get used equipment without going into huge debt and how to solve problems with connecting to the power grids and so on. We must immediately introduce a critical import mechanism, the minimum customs rate, simultaneously expanding exports. There will be no sustainable growth without a state program for industrial development in general and the light industry in particular,” ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh has said.
Industrialists suggested that the government should consider that imports of equipment and components that are not produced in Ukraine could be exempt from VAT. They estimate this measure will greatly stimulate the industry, while the country’s economy may see a 6-8% GDP growth. Entrepreneurs see the lack of raw materials in Ukraine as a huge challenge. On the average, imported raw materials account for 70%, which lowers the competitiveness of domestic products because this increases costs. The government has decided to make efforts to develop the country’s own resource base. Manufacturers will also benefit from a reduction in the multiplier used to calculate tax rates on land of technical areas and buffer zones for industrial enterprises.
