KYIV. June 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrtiutiun Association of Cigarette Manufacturers considers the automated system of control over turnover of excisable goods proposed by the government to be imperfect and complicating the work of legal producers.
According to an association press release, the draft law provides for an onerous mechanism for providing excise bills by business entities at each of the supply chains with filling in 15 points manually.
Manufacturers of cigarettes also consider the term of introduction of the automated system from April 1, 2018 to be unreasonably optimistic.
At the same time, the association noted the system proposed by the government will not create additional obstacles for illegal trafficking in excisable goods in comparison with the existing mechanisms.
“The wording of the bill approved by the government is a “pig in a poke” for manufacturers of excisable goods, since the functioning of the system will be determined by Cabinet acts, which does not allow understanding the mechanism of its work. It is logical to assume that all the provisions of the first draft of the bill, which were not perceived by the business community and were excluded, will appear in by-laws,” association CEO Valentyna Khomenko said.
KYIV. June 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Naftogaz Ukrainy on June 12 signed an agreement with PricewaterhouseCoopers Polska Sp. Z o.o. (Poland), which won a tender to manage the department for natural gas transportation, according to data in the ProZorro system.
As reported, Naftogaz Ukrainy expects that the services will provide an effective separation of the gas transportation function from Naftogaz Ukrainy Group in accordance with the unbundling plan approved by Cabinet resolution No. 496 of July 1, 2016.
The term of rendering services is till December 31, 2017.
PwC in the course of trading expressed its readiness to become an adviser for UAH 10.785 million, while Boston Consulting Group Sp. Z o.o. for UAH 10.8 million (including VAT). Thus, with the expected cost of services being UAH 24.409 million, PwC reduced the offer by 2.3 times from the initial price.
KYIV. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in June 2017 improved its forecast for corn yield in Ukraine in the 2017/2018 marketing year (MY, July-June) by 500,000 tonnes compared to the May forecast, to 28.5 million tonnes.
According to a report on the website of the U.S. department, the forecast for corn exports was also raised by 500,000 tonnes, to 20.5 million tonnes.
The USDA maintained the forecast for wheat exports from Ukraine in the 2017/2018 MY at the level of 14.5 million tonnes with the yield being 25 million tonnes, which corresponds to the figures published in May.
In general, the U.S. agency improved the forecast for grain production in Ukraine by 500,000 tonnes, to 62.29 million tonnes, exports by 500,000 tonnes, to 38.81 million tonnes due to the growth of corn figures.
As reported, Ukraine since the beginning of the 2016/2017 MY and as of June 8, 2017 had exported 41.667 million tonnes of grain.
Grain harvest in Ukraine in 2016, according to the State Statistics Service, amounted to about 66 million tonnes.
KYIV. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Canada’s Earth Alive Clean Technologies has gained registration in Ukraine for the sale of its organic and patent-pending biofertilizer, Soil Activator®.
“The registration process was challenging, but Ukraine is a strategic starting point for Earth Alive in Eastern Europe. It has enormous potential for agricultural growth, and actively seeks to expand its productivity in sustainable ways,” the company said in a press release citing Director of Business Affairs for Earth Alive Miguel Monroy.
According to the report, Ukraine has 32.5 million hectares in arable crops, which benefit from the country’s rich soil resources. The main crops are wheat, sunflower and corn, and a significant 800,000 hectares are dedicated to fruit and vegetable production.
Earth Alive’s Chief Agronomist Simon Neufeld said that Soil Activator® has a proven track record of increasing production and economic returns in a broad range of field and horticultural crops, including corn. Ukraine is perfectly positioned to benefit from Soil Activator® as the country seeks to expand its agricultural output while protecting its soil and water resources, he said.
Initial commercialization and distribution in Ukraine is underway, and product has been shipped to the region. Farm applications have already begun for the current growing season, including on-farm commercial tests in corn by a very large Ukrainian agroindustrial company.
“Registration in Ukraine gives Earth Alive new visibility in the European market, and begins the company’s expansion in this dynamic region,” Chief Executive Officer Michael K. Warren said.
Earth Alive aims to be a key player in world markets of environmentally sustainable industrial solutions. The company works with the latest innovations in microbial technology to formulate and patent innovative products that can tackle the most difficult industrial challenges, once only reserved to environmentally harmful chemicals and additives.
ASTANA. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kazakhstan is holding talks with Ukraine’s Fuhrlaender Windtechnology (FWT, Kramatorsk, Donetsk region) to arrange expansion of a wind farm project in Ereymentau to 300 MW, charge d’affaires of Ukraine ad interim in Kazakhstan Volodymyr Dzhydzhora has said.
“They [Fuhrlaender Windtechnology] are holding talks with Kazakh partners to expand this project to 300MW production… There is the decision. It should be put on paper,” he told reporters last week in Astana.
The diplomat said that during the first business project the Ukrainian company installed a wind farm with a capacity of 45 MW in Ereymentau. A total of 22 WTU2.0 wind turbines with a capacity of 2.05 MW each were installed.
Fuhrlaender Windtechnology is the only Ukrainian producer of modern wind turbines. It is engaged in construction of wind farms. The company produces turbines at the site of Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant. During the period from 2010 to the present time Fuhrlaender Windtechnology has built (using its own equipment) seven wind farms in Ukraine and one wind farm in Kazakhstan.
KYIV. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Sugar exports from Ukraine since early 2016/17 agricultural year (September-August) totaled 732,000 tonnes, the Ukrtsukor national association of sugar producers has reported.
The association said in a press release that in May Ukrainian companies exported 48,400 tonnes of sugar (33% down on April).
“In May sugar exports almost halved compared to April, as the global price fell. According to our estimates, further supplies of sugar this agri-year will be small,” Head of the analytical department of the association Ruslana Butylo.
Largest batches in May were shipped to Togo (15,000 tonnes), Turkey (8,800 tonnes) and Gambia (8,000).
The association said that sugar beets were sowed on 310,000 ha in 2017 (6% more than a year ago).
Ukrtsukor anticipates that sugar production in 2017/18 agri-year will be left unchanged compared to the previous year, being some 2 million tonnes. Bad weather in April and May could affect the sugar beets yield.
Exports of sugar in the new season could be some 500 tonnes with the domestic market consumption of 1.5 million tonnes.
