Business news from Ukraine

KYIV. Oct 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan and Polish Minister of Infrastructure and Construction Andrzej Adamczyk have signed a memorandum of cooperation in the construction of the Via Carpatia international transport highway, the press service of the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry has reported.
“Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan and Minister of Infrastructure and Construction of the Republic of Poland [Andrzej Adamczyk] have signed a memorandum of understanding on further cooperation as part of the Via Carpatia project. The signing ceremony took place in Przemysl, Poland, on October 22, 2017,” reads a report posted on the ministry’s website on Sunday.
During the meeting the ministers discussed preparations for the construction of two new transport corridors – Via Carpatia and Go Highway. Omelyan noted that Via Carpatia will help integrate transport systems in Eastern Europe and the European Union.
“The corridor across the Carpathians is also a bridge between Europe and Asia. It helps use the transit potential of Poland, Ukraine and other partner countries. This is why the development of transport infrastructure is extremely important for ensuring stable transport services from Europe to Asia through Ukraine and Poland,” he said.

KYIV. Oct 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – An announcement about the search for an investor in PJSC Creativ (formerly part of the eponymous agro-industrial group) with a debt of UAH 19.389 billion has been published in the Holos Ukrainy newspaper.
According to the report, on June 6, 2016 the Kyiv Economic Court opened a case on the bankruptcy of PJSC Creativ.
Arbitration manager Vadym Kyzlenko has been appointed property administrator.
The investor’s proposals for Creativ should include confirmation of the possibility of renewing the solvency of the company with indication of the source of financing, a plan for restructuring and debt repayment, a plan to resume the economic activities of the company.
Proposals must be submitted by November 10, 2017.
The announcement also indicates contacts for submission of proposals.
As reported, until 2016 Creativ had been one of the largest producers of fat and oil goods in Ukraine. The group consisted of three sunflower processing plants with a total capacity of about 1.1 million tonnes of seeds per year, as well as four plants for production of modified fat and margarine with a total annual output of more than 200,000 tonnes of finished products (Kirovohrad region). It also had a soybean processing plant with a capacity of 270,000 tonnes per year. The company owned eight elevator complexes in Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, crop farms and a livestock complex.

ZAPORIZHIA. Oct 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Zaporizhia Automobile Plant (ZAZ), which reduced production of cars by more than 10 times, plans to restore the lost position and is developing an electric bus, which will be presented in 2018.
ZAZ Board Chairman Mykola Yevdokymenko said partners of the enterprise in Poland expressed interest in the electric bus. Now the company is developing it.
“The bus structure is filled with the element base: a battery, a drive gear, a control system, which should provide the required mileage,” he noted.
ZAZ said currently buses of two model series – A10 and A07 – on the Tata chassis are manufactured.
According to Yevdokymenko, the company is also working on the order for 100 electric pickup cars for Nova Poshta.
Currently only part of the production line at ZAZ is used, which makes only three or five car bodies per hour. The main flow is designed for production of 30 bodies per hour and 120,000 cars per year.
At the same time, the expert considers the fact that the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade is creating a medium-term program for automotive industry development in Ukraine as a reason for optimism.

KYIV. Oct 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine plans in 2021 to resume the construction of the third and fourth power units of Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant (NPP), Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said during an hour of questions to the government in parliament.
“I think we will probably be able to start the completion of the two blocks you are talking about from 2021. This is our plan, we are seriously and systematically working on it and will do everything to make nuclear power safe and capacities enough not only to provide ourselves with power but also export electricity, which will make the economy of our country more stable and developed,” he said.
Groysman noted the intention to realize the project of the Ukraine-EU energy bridge worth EUR243.5 million, which provides for the delivery of power from power unit No. 2 of Khmelnytsky NPP to the EU energy system. The funds received from the export of electricity from this unit are to be used to finance the construction of power units Nos.3 and 4 at Khmelnytsky NPP.
As reported, the Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2035 stipulates that nuclear power plants must provide 50% of the country’s electricity generation by 2035, the share of renewable sources should rise to 12.8%, the large hydropower sector to 6.7%. The remaining volumes will be produced by thermal power plants.

KYIV. Oct 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – National energy company Ukrenergo has announced a tender to build the Akvilon 330 kV substation with diversions of Kakhovska-Ostrovska, Kakhovska-Dzhankoi and Kakhovska-Titan power lines in Kherson region.
The company said in the ProZorro e-procurement system that the expected cost of construction is up to UAH 608.333 million (VAT not included), and the tender security is UAH 3.65 million.
The construction is to be completed by December 20, 2019.
Bids can be submitted until November 13, 2017. The auction is to be held on December 19, 2017.
Earlier, in summer, Ukrenergo annulled the similar tender seeking to revise the technical requirements for construction and assembly works and register ownership rights to land parcels where the substation will be built.

KYIV. Oct 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – KSG Agro has launched two modernized boiler houses working on pellets in schools in Dnipropetrovsk region, the press service of the agricultural holding has reported.
The investment in the project is UAH 1.5 million, the total capacity of the boiler houses is 1 MW.
The facilities are located in the villages of Trytuzne and Nadezhdivka.
Before modernization, the school boiler houses operated on natural gas and coal. According to calculations by KSG Agro, modernization will allow budget institutions to save up to 40% of funds used for heating.
Today the total amount of heat generation by the KSG Agro boiler houses is 5.25 MW.
It is planned that fuel for the five boiler houses, modernized by the holding, will be produced by an enterprise with a capacity of 2,400 tonnes per year in Novopokrovka. It is planned to put it into operation before the heating season. The pellet line of the enterprise has already been assembled and is now being tested.
KSG Agro, a vertically integrated holding, is engaged in production, storage, processing and sale of grains and oilseeds, as well as pig breeding.