KYIV. Oct 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Artyomsol state enterprise is holding talks with private joint-stock company Ukrainian Danube Navigation (Izmail, Odesa region) on the provision of services to ship salt to the Danube countries.
The state enterprise said in a press release on Tuesday that the necessity to optimize transport logistics appeared due to the growth in exports of Artyomsol’s products, including to the European Union.
“We understand that today there are external problems with a shortage of rolling stock and we’re working on alternative options to supply our products. We supply [our products] via Izmail seaport under FOB conditions. We’re discussing cooperation with PrJSC Ukrainian Danube Navigation to work out transportation of our salt to the European Union countries under CIF conditions,” acting director of Artyomsol Andriy Zhuravlev said.
The press service said that the economic calculations showed that cooperation with Ukrainian Danube Navigation is a more beneficial way of dispatching cargo as it cuts logistics expenses and protects consumers from failures due to the absence of rolling stock.
The start of cooperation with Ukrainian Danube Navigation will boost supplies to the countries where Artyomsol is working now (Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria) and will allow the company to enter the new markets of Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and find direct access to the river ports of Austria and south Germany.
Artyomsol is the largest enterprise engaged in the production and sale of salt (NaCl) in Central and Eastern Europe.
Representatives of the European business community are interested in the prompt adaptation of the Ukrainian economy to EU standards and regulations. Thus, representatives of the Confederation of European Business, BUSINESSEUROPE, — the most powerful structure to support and protect the interests of businesses which operates in 34 European countries, have already expressed their readiness to help Ukraine prepare for closer integration into the European market. This was discussed at a recent meeting of a BUSINESSEUROPE delegation with Ukrainian industrialists and entrepreneurs.
In particular, they said that Ukrainian exporters should comply with safety and product quality requirements. What is more, they discussed the need to create equal terms of competition for domestic and European manufacturers and establish clear mechanisms for interaction between the Ukrainian and European business environments.
“We have already achieved the first positive results of mutual and systemic cooperation through the Brussels-based office of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE), including personal meetings of business representatives at all levels,” BUSINESSEUROPE’s Director General Markus J. Beyrer said.
The sides discussed priority directions of interaction between business organizations. Ukrainian industrialists are interested in deeper communication in various sectors, namely banking, the IT sector, energy efficiency and energy saving, and small- and medium-sized businesses. Ukraine needs the experience of new EU members, East European countries and the Baltic States in adapting to European standards. It is very important, according to participants, that the sides conduct joint monitoring of the mutual obligations undertaken by Ukraine and the EU as part of the Association Agreement and the evaluation of the effectiveness of EU programs aimed at supporting Ukrainian businesses, including small-and medium-sized ones.
The parties also pointed out the need to involve Ukraine in the implementation of joint EU investment and infrastructure projects, as well as cooperation in the high tech sector. Markus Beyrer and ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh decided to put these issues on the priority list for cooperation, which will be solved by separate ad hoc groups of the organizations, specialized associations of Ukrainian businesses that are members of the Anti-Crisis Council of NGOs.
The ULIE and BUSINESSEUROPE agreed to sign a memorandum of cooperation. The memorandum will be signed in Brussels in December 2015, and it is in December that the Belgian capital will host the large-scale conference “The European Parliament is the Civil Society of Ukraine.” At the conference, Ukrainian and European civil society organizations, together with representatives of the European Parliament, will have the opportunity to discuss the implementation by both parties of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, and “synchronize their watches” pending the launch of the free trade zone on January 1, 2016.
The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has hosted the first meeting of the “Transformation of Ukraine” National Forum, which was attended by representatives of the European Union, NGOs, civil society activists, entrepreneurs, the youth, the clergy, and representatives of the international community.
The creation of the forum was predetermined by the depth of the current challenges Ukraine faces, namely the need to preserve its statehood, carry out effective reforms, and ensure the modern, democratic and competitive development of the country, along with successful European integration.
The Supervisory Board of the Forum includes head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski, President of the Foundation European Centre for Entrepreneurship Jerzy Kwiecinski, President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) Anatoliy Kinakh, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) Patriarch Filaret, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Patriarch Sviatoslav, and others.
As was announced by one of the forum’s initiators — head of the Anti-Crisis Council of NGOs and ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh, the forum will become an effective system to support reforms in Ukraine as it employs the mechanisms of Europe’s best practices.
“We must do everything to strengthen democracy along with the rule of law and ensure European standards of living for Ukrainian citizens. We call for the full implementation of the Agreement on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU as of January 1, 2016,” the participants of the first meeting of the National Forum said in a joint statement.
The main tasks of the permanently functioning platform will be to establish productive communication between the authorities and society; clarify the causes of changes and reforms to the public; monitor the implementation of legal and administrative decisions and their impact on the daily life of the public; and monitor and report about possible threats to the reform process in the country.
An ad hoc permanent working group will be created to analyze and evaluate ongoing and future programs and strategies for Ukraine’s development, as proposed by the government, the President of Ukraine, and other national and international partners.
The so-called sectoral forums, which will deal with issues of a particular industry, were also founded as part of the “Transformation of Ukraine” initiative, and they will be held both at national and regional levels. They will tackle such issues as the business climate, agriculture, energy, decentralization and regional development, the development of civil society, education and science, social problems, and culture. Each sectoral forum will have both national and international coordinators. Currently, there is an initiative to create an Assembly of Coordinators to ensure the horizontal coordination of their work.
“Transformation of Ukraine” members have already appealed to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko to support the Forum and join its work together with government officials.
The next meeting of the National Forum will take place in Kyiv in November 2015. You can find more details on the forum at nftu.org.ua.
KYIV. Oct 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Cabinet of Ministers has adjusted the estimated cost of building the first stage of a subway in Dnipropetrovsk.
According to Cabinet decree No. 1055-r dated October 7, 2015, the total estimated cost of construction is UAH 5.618 billion as of September 20, 2013, while government resolution No. 571-r of June 25, 2012 previously declared that the cost as of April 20, 2012 was UAH 4.489 billion meaning that the estimated cost increased by UAH 1.1 billion.
In addition, the length of a two-track line will increase from 11.82 km to 13.16 km, the operational length will remain unchanged at 11.1 km.
New order No. 1055-r renders previous decree No. 571-r as invalid.
As of January 1, 2013, work worth UAH 522.639 million had been carried out.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada in September 2014 ratified a financial agreement between Ukraine and the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the completion of work to build a subway in Dnipropetrovsk.
KYIV. Oct 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will consider providing EUR 11.6 million to Carpathian Wind LLC (Lviv, under the control of businessman Zinoviy Kozytsky) to build a wind farm with a capacity of 9.9 MW near Stary Sambir (Lviv region).
EBRD said on its website that the bank’s board will consider the project on November 25, 2015.
Under the project, the bank could provide EUR 8.5 million of its own funds and EUR 3.1 million issued by Clean Technology Fund (CTF). The cost of the project is EUR 17.9 million.
As reported, Kozytsky’s Eco-Optima built and operates a wind power plant near Stary Sambir with a capacity of around 13 MW. The EBRD’s funds were also used to build this plant.
ZAPORIZHIA. Oct 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Zaporizhia iron and steel works (Zaporizhstal), belonging to Metinvest Group, intends in 2015 to increase net profit by 2.2 times compared to 2014, to $150 million from $69 million.
Company CEO Rostyslav Shurma reported that in the first nine months of the current year the plant posted a profit of $118 million. The steel mill intends to gain another $32 million in the fourth quarter.
The CEO also said that EBITDA is expected to reach $300 million. In the first nine months EBITDA amounted to $250 million.
“We hope to earn $50 million EBITDA in the fourth quarter,” the director stated.
The Zaporizhstal head added that the profitability of the enterprise in 2014 amounted to 25%, in 2015 it is expected to reach 19%. The expected debt to EBITDA ratio this year is 0.4.
“The company has virtually no debts,” the CEO said.
Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises of Ukraine, whose steel products are well known and are in demand in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
