KYIV June 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Refunds of value added tax (VAT) in the first half of 2017 will amount to about UAH 57.9 billion, which is 60.4%, or UAH 28.1 billion, up on the first half of 2016.
This forecast was given by Director of the Ukrainian State Fiscal Service’s corporate taxation department Olena Antipova.
VAT refunds in January-May amounted to UAH 47.9 billion with VAT reimbursement applications placed for UAH 48.1 billion, she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday. VAT refunds paid in April-May alone totaled UAH 21 billion with applications for UAH 19.8 billion.
Some 97% of the reimbursement in April-May was handled within 30 days due to the launch of the electronic tax register on April 1, 2017, she said.
KYIV. June 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – AVE Umwelt Ukraine LLC (Lviv) seeks to start construction of a waste recycling complex with a landfill in Zakarpattia region at the end of winter in 2018.
AVE Umwelt Ukraine Director General Lubomir Kopcik said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday that the complex will be built under European standards with the application of smart technologies. The complex will be located on a land parcel of 35 ha between Uzhgorod and Mukachevo.
“We have selected the land parcel that suits us. We have completed geological, geodesic works, all preparations works and a feasibility study. We are passing all the required procedures… If Lord willing, we want to start construction works after winter ends,” Kopcik said.
He said that waste will be sorted and recycled. The complex would have a bio mass composting department. The complex will press and dispose the waste that cannot be recycled. The landfill would be able to have 100,000 tonnes of waste.
“The basic cost of the facility with a smart technology is at least EUR 10 million. We are ready to attract the money and invest own money. We are in active dialog with European banks, which are ready to give funds for the smart technology with the economic effectiveness,” he said.
Kopcik said that the complex would be a first own waste recycling facility of the company in Ukraine.
As of June 20, 2017, AVE CEE Holding GmbH (99.99%, Austria) and Andelta A.S. (0.01%, Czechia) own the company.
KYIV. June 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s State Treasury Service has sent UAH 473.47 million of budget subsidies to farmers for April.
According to a Tuesday posting on the website of Ukraine’s Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry, a total of 668 farmers received subsidies for April. The budget subsidies in the amount of UAH 251.8 million will be transferred to the next month.
“The sum of subsidies farmers received this month doubled. In total, UAH 795 million has been sent to farmers. All funds are sent automatically. Farmers that did not use the assistance of the state could submit relevant document any time and receive assistance,” First Deputy Agricultural Policy and Food Minister Maksym Martyniuk said.
As reported, the ministry sent UAH 241.8 million of budget subsidies to farmers for March and UAH 79.8 million for February.
The government allocates UAH 4 billion for the subsidy system in agriculture in 2017.
KYIV. June 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has met with President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, the Ukrainian presidential press service has reported.
“Special attention was paid to the more aggressive attraction of foreign investment into the Ukrainian economy,” the press service said in the early hours of Wednesday.
The two officials praised the adoption of the strategic document of cooperation for 2017-2021 aimed to support the Ukrainian reforms.
The Ukrainian president thanked the World Bank’s head for the constant support of Ukraine. Since 2014, the World Bank’s portfolio in Ukraine has tripled, or grown almost by $4.425 billion. The main increase was due to budget support projects worth $2.25 billion.
New investment projects worth about $2.6 billion have been started.
What is more, Poroshenko informed Jim Yong Kim on the first results of the reforms in Ukraine, the “achievement of macroeconomic stability and a reassuring trend towards economic growth.”
KYIV. June 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Instances of the primary registration of electric vehicles (new and used ones) in Ukraine in January-May 2017 increased by 2.8 times year-over-year, to 958 cars, which corresponds to a 2% share in the primary market of passenger cars, the Ukrautoprom Association has said.
The structure of the market in terms of the age of cars has significantly changed: if a year ago the share of new electric cars in primary registration was almost 45%, nowadays it is only 18%.
According to the report, the Nissan Leaf model with 816 cars registered in Ukraine, including 124 new ones, is an absolute leader in the Ukrainian market of electric cars.
The second most popular model was the Ford Focus Electric: 37 cars (three new and 34 used cars) were registered in Ukraine over the period under review. The Tesla Model S and the BMW i3 (24 units each) ranked third. However, the BMW i3 is in the lead among new registered cars: 16 against 7 new Tesla cars.
KYIV. June 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Cub Energy Inc. (the United States) with assets in Ukraine has contracted to purchase a new nitrogen rejection unit for near $1.6 million to re-commence production on its wholly-owned Rusko-Komarivske (RK) field in western Ukraine.
The new unit is manufactured in the United States by Sep-Pro Systems Inc.
“The hiring of our new COO, Kerry Kendrick, resulted in a re-evaluation of the western Ukraine operations and we collectively believe the new NRU is the best option for Cub and its shareholders to resume production and cashflow at our wholly-owned RK field,” Cub Energy Chairman and CEO Mikhail Afendikov said.
Cub Energy said that the new unit is expected to be operational in Ukraine by year-end. The unit comes with manufacturer warranties on operational capabilities. Also, the unit will be skid mounted so it can be utilized on any of the company’s gas fields in the future.
The RK field production was suspended on April 1, 2016, upon the expiration of the company’s gas blending agreement. The natural gas from the existing RK wells contains nitrogen content that exceeds the allowable limit per the Ukraine Code of Gas Pipeline System.
The new unit is expected to cost approximately $1.6 million with half this amount due in the first 30 days. To fund the purchase, the company will utilize cash on hand and will borrow $1 million from an officer of the company. The loan will bear interest at a rate of 6% per annum and payable monthly. The company will also issue 2.2 million common shares to the lender as a loan bonus.
