LVIV. July 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Lviv City Council and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed an agreement to prepare a loan of EUR 20 million to modernize solid household waste treatment infrastructure in the city.
EBRD Director for Ukraine Sevki Acuner told reporters on Friday that along with the EUR 20 million loan a grant of EUR 11 million will be provided.
He said that the loan agreement will be signed no later than October 2017 and first funds will arrive at the end of the year.
This project is important for Lviv, as it would help the city to solve current problems with waste, he said. On the other hand, it will be a first step in the long process of changing approaches to waste treatment, he said.
According to the agreement, the funds will be sent to improve the waste collection and sorting system, primary steps to reclaim the Hrybovychi landfill and building a first stage of the waste recycling plant in Lviv.
KYIV. July 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Three Ukrainian ice cream producers are completing the verification procedure for obtaining the right to export products to the countries of the European Union.
“Currently three enterprises from the Ice Cream and Frozen Foods association of Ukrainian producers are completing inspection to get the right to export products to European markets. These are Kharkiv-based Khladprom, Laska (Kirovohrad region) and Lasunka (Ternopil region),” president of the association Ihor Bartkovsky said at a press conference.
According to him, starting from 2015 some 44 dairy enterprises has worked on getting the right to gain access to the EU market.
“Only 16 enterprises passed verification, and today they have an appropriate permission to supply products,” he said.
According to the president of the association, Ukraine in 2016 exported 4,500 tonnes of ice cream.
“Today, with our capacities and modern technological lines, we can export up to 7,000 tonnes of products to the markets of the EU and other countries,” he said.
KYIV. July 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The net profit of the 94 largest state companies of Ukraine in January-September 2016 increased by 20 times compared to 2015, to UAH 40 billion.
According to a report posted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade on the activities of the 94 largest state-owned companies during this period, the structure of the portfolio of these enterprises for January-September 2016 did not change. The largest portfolio assets are concentrated in the oil and gas sector (NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy), transport (PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia) and electric power (Energoatom).
The net profit of the largest state-owned companies is due to the growth of profits in the oil and gas sector and energy, the ministry explained. The figure in the oil and gas industry amounted to UAH 25.5 billion, which is 120 times higher than in the same period of the previous year. The growth in net income was shown by all sectors of the portfolio, except for chemical and coal industries, in which this figure fell by 38%, to UAH 7.5 billion, and by 18%, to UAH 3.9 billion, respectively.
“This growth can be explained by reforming the price policy of Naftogaz, whose net profit increased by 108 times compared with the same period in 2015,” the ministry said.
According to the agency, for the first nine months of 2015 Naftogaz posted a net profit of UAH 234 million, while in January-September 2016 some UAH 25.5 billion.
KYIV. July 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed the law on the Energy Efficiency Fund, aimed at supporting the implementation of energy efficiency in the multi-storey housing sector of the country and attracting EUR 100 million from the European Union for its work, in Kyiv on July 20.
“The need for the creation of the fund was understood tens of years ago, but it is important that now, when we create it, it is approved by all our international partners, international financial organizations. I am confident that the results of our practical activities will be available in the near future,” Poroshenko said during the events dedicated to the signing the law of Ukraine on the Energy Efficiency Fund in Kyiv.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law on the Energy Efficiency Fund on June 8.
Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Services Hennadiy Zubko stressed this law will enable Ukrainian households to save up to 50% of energy while implementing thermo-modernization measures.
KYIV. July 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, will be providing up to $15 million to the Emerging Europe Growth Fund III (EEGF III, Delaware, the United States) launched by Horizon Capital Advisors, LLC for investment mostly in Ukraine.
Earlier, on June 5, the IFC board approved the project to invest up to $20 million in EEGF III.
As reported, U.S.-based Overseas Private Investment Corporation in June 2016 reported the disbursement of up to $37.5 million to EEGF III fund, launched by Horizon Capital, for up to 10 years.
The fund with a declared volume of $150 million will focus on medium-sized fast-growing, export-oriented companies in Ukraine and Moldova with the potential to become local or regional market leaders. It is assumed that the fund will make investment by buying a minority stake in such companies. At the same time, if necessary, it is also possible to provide seed capital for start-ups, acquire businesses or participate in privatization.
Along with IFC and OPIC, the co-investors in the fund are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Dutch Development Bank and Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF).
Horizon Capital was established in 2006. It manages private equity funds Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF, established in 1994 with a capital of $150 million), Emerging Europe Growth Fund, L.P. (EEGF, established in 2006 with a capital of $132 million) and EEGF II (EEGF, established in 2008 with $370 million capital).
The funds are invested in projects in Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus.
KYIV. July 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Mobile ID electronic identification technology could be introduced by mobile operators by the end of 2017, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said.
“I think that this year we would expand the possibilities of Mobile ID. We are working on the issue. I think that this year we would make the relevant decisions,” he said at a government meeting on Wednesday.
Earlier Groysman called on all mobile operators to create the identical system that would be clear for users. He said that the government is ready to support the idea in the legal field – to form a package of legislative initiatives for the implementation of mobile identification.
Using Mobile ID mobile communications users would be able to sign documents in the electronic form, pay for services and receive access to protected e-documents using their mobile phones.
Mobile ID provides for the creation of an infrastructure for interaction between mobile operators’ networks, key certification centers and various electronic interaction portals with citizens, providing mobile phone owners with special SIM cards with built-in identification algorithms. Since 2000, similar services have been introduced in most EU countries, as well as in Moldova, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Kazakhstan.
