In 2023, Ukrposhta increased the number of shipments by 40% and transported 15 million parcels with Ukrzaliznytsia, Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery and Minister of Community, Territorial and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook on Friday.
“The company is showing steady results. In 2023, Ukrposhta increased the number of shipments by 40%. It delivered 63.6 million units of humanitarian aid. In cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia, it transported 15 million parcels,” the statement said.
According to the Vice Prime Minister, thanks to the established air service with the United States, more than 1 million Ukrainian goods shipped through Ukrposhta are successfully sold on American marketplaces.
By 2024, the company plans to automate the parcel sorting process and process 100% of shipments using robotic sorting lines, Kubrakov said.
“Ukrposhta has 27 thousand branches in Ukraine, 1.8 thousand mobile branches. The company employs 40 thousand people.
The volume of currency purchases by the Ukrainian population in January 2023 exceeded the volume of its sales by $1 billion 103.2 million compared to $1 billion 26.2 million in December and $621.8 million in November, which was a new record since October 2012, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said.
According to its website, such a result in January was once again provided by the cash currency segment, where its net purchase increased to $885.2m from $807.5m in December and $375-380m in November-October, while the balance of purchase and sale of non-cash currency remained at the level of the previous month – $218.0m.
As reported, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), which has held the official hryvnia exchange rate at $36.5686 UAH/$1 since the end of July 2022, has switched to a regime of managed exchange rate flexibility since October 3. Since late November, under the pressure of increased demand in the market, an obvious trend towards weakening of the national currency has been formed. Despite the increase in the National Bank’s interventions to $3.55 billion, the dollar on the interbank in December rose in price by 4.5%, or UAH 1.65 – to UAH 38.002/$1, and on the cash market due to the jump of about UAH in the last days of the year, its growth in December amounted to 5.3%, or about UAH 2 – to about $39.40 UAH/$1.
At the same time, at the end of January, the official hryvnia exchange rate strengthened to 37.5627 UAH/$1, while in the cash market – to 38.20 UAH/$1, and the spread between them narrowed again.
According to the NBU, after the exchange rate hike in late December, the first ten days of the month net purchase of currency on the non-cash market amounted to $10-30 mln, but after the exchange rate stabilized and the spread narrowed, the volume of net purchases fell significantly.
At the same time, in the cash market net purchase volumes, which averaged $40.5 mln per day in the first ten-day period of January, decreased to $34 mln in the middle of the month, but in the last ten-day period grew to $48.4 mln.
According to some market participants, a new factor in the cash market, as it already happened at the end of last year, may be the adoption of the bill on mobilization, which provides for the arrest of accounts of those who do not appear at the TCC on summons.
According to the National Bank, in general, the volume of non-cash currency sales by households in January decreased to $276.7 million from $311.7 million in December, while the volume of purchases – to $494.7 million from $530.3 million.
In the cash market in January, purchases fell to $1 billion 890.9 million from $2 billion 65.9 million, as did sales to $1 billion 5.8 million from $1 billion 258.4 million.
As reported, in total for 2022, according to official statistics, the population bought $880.1 million more currency than sold, including net purchase of cash currency amounted to $1.01 billion. For 2023, net purchase of currency by the population reached $4 billion 792.8 million, including cash – $3 billion 632.1 million.
In the non-cash foreign exchange market, the purchase of currency by bank customers in January decreased more significantly – to $5.06 billion from $7.06 billion in December, while sales – not so significantly: to $4.17 billion from $4.91 billion.
As a result, net purchases fell to $0.88 billion in January from $2.15 billion in December, back to May-June 2023 levels.
As for the volume of transactions between banks, after December’s all-time record of $5.99bn, it fell to $4.34bn in January, still significantly higher than before the exchange rate liberalization.
On February 1, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine announced a tender for voluntary insurance of motor vehicles (CASCO), according to the Prozorro e-procurement system.
The total expected cost is UAH 103,917 thousand.
The last day for accepting bids is February 9.
insurance of motor vehicles (CASCO), Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, Prozorro
Ukraine produced about 1.8 million tons of sugar in 2023 and early 2024, with the average wholesale price at 23-24 UAH/kg in early 2024, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky said at a meeting on the development of the sugar industry.
“In general, the situation on the domestic sugar market is stable. The product is sufficient for the domestic needs of Ukrainians and to ensure the necessary export volumes,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food quoted him as saying on Facebook.
Vysotsky reminded that Ukraine needs up to 1 million tons of sugar annually for domestic needs. According to the memorandum of understanding, the maximum volume of sugar exports in the 2023/2024 marketing year should be up to 650 thousand tons.
The meeting, which was attended by representatives of the industry association and leading sugar producers, also discussed the planning of sown areas for 2024 and the expansion of the geography of sugar exports.
As reported, in November 2023, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine (Ukrtsukor) signed a memorandum of understanding in which they agreed to regulate sugar exports based on the preliminary balance of supply and demand in the 2023/2024 marketing year.
The average insurance premium for compulsory motor third party liability insurance (MTPL) in 2023 increased by 16.9% to UAH 1,141 thousand, according to the website of the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU).
It is noted that in 2024, the insurance premium is expected to grow by another 6.7% to UAH 1,217 thousand.
In addition, the MTIBU also forecasts a 7.7% increase in the number of MTPL insurance contracts in 2024 (in 2023, 7.6 million insurance contracts were concluded (+6.77%) compared to 2022). The total amount of insurance premiums amounted to UAH 8,750.4 million, which is 24.87% more than in 2022.
In 2023, insurance companies paid UAH 3.8 billion to victims of road accidents, which is 38.9% more than in 2022, and settled 127,837 thousand claims for insurance compensation (+15.56%). The insured event frequency ratio is 1.67, which is 8.4% more than in 2022, but less than the “pre-war” figure of 1.92 in 2021.
More than 69% of issued insurance policies in 2023 are electronic and only 31% are presented in paper form.
Over the past year, 42,158 thousand claims were settled under the direct claims settlement system (DSS) and UAH 796 million of insurance indemnity was paid. The average time to settle a loss in the DDS system is 32 days, which is almost half as long as in the general settlement system.
The MTIBU Victims’ Protection Fund amounts to UAH 3,320.28 million, accumulated through paid premiums and contributions from insurers of the Bureau’s members.
In 2023, the number of complaints against insurers from victims and policyholders decreased by 54%.
Over the past year, 1.6 million international insurance contracts were concluded, and the total amount of accrued premiums under them amounted to UAH 5.207 billion (+27.3% compared to 2022).
The number of settled claims under international insurance contracts “Green Card” in 2023 amounted to 15.122 thousand, the total amount of compensation amounted to EUR 46.66 million.
The largest number of road accidents caused by Ukrainian drivers occurred in Poland – 31%, Germany – 19%, Romania – 7%, Czech Republic – 7% and Italy – 4%.
The NOVA Group, which includes the largest logistics operator Nova Poshta, invested UAH 5.3 billion in Ukraine in 2023, which is 2.5 times higher than the investment budget for 2022 (UAH 2.1 billion), the group said in a statement on Thursday.
“The level of Nova Poshta’s faith in the future of Ukraine in 2024 is even higher: this year it is planned to increase the amount of investments to UAH 7 billion,” the release said.
According to the release, last year NOVA also increased its tax payments by one and a half times to UAH 10.7 billion. It is specified that, in particular, Nova Poshta paid UAH 8.7 billion in taxes, and NovaPay paid UAH 1.2 billion.
The report indicates that last year, the largest amount of capital investment – UAH 2.4 billion – was directed to the construction of new sorting terminals and automation of those already in operation. It is noted that this allows the company to ensure an uninterrupted delivery process in the face of constant growth in cargo volumes and not lose speed: today the company delivers 1040 parcels every minute, and on peak loading days – 1400.
Another major expense item, according to the release, is the development of the network of branches and post offices for the purpose of walking distance accessibility, in which UAH 1.1 billion was invested. As a result, Nova Poshta’s network in Ukraine already includes more than 27 thousand service points.
Also, the investment budget of UAH 1.2 billion was used to automate workplaces and repair branches to make them convenient and barrier-free for different groups of consumers and employees.
It is specified that in 2023, UAH 233 million was spent on the renewal of the fleet of transport and BDF containers, UAH 338 million on IT and R&D, and UAH 17 million on the development of the fulfillment business.
