In 2023, the ports of the Danube Cluster almost doubled their cargo turnover to 32 million tons.
As the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported on Facebook on Wednesday, 14,031 thousand vessels were received and dispatched during this period,
Izmail port received/dispatched 9,324 thousand vessels, handling 20.26 million tons of cargo. The port of Reni handled 3,858 thousand vessels and 10.07 million tons of cargo, and the port of Ust-Dunaisk handled 849 vessels and 1.68 million tons of cargo.
Last year, the volume of grain transshipment in the ports of the Danube cluster almost doubled to 20 million tons (10.3 million tons in 2022). Also, the volume of transshipment of liquid bulk cargo increased significantly – 5.3 million tons (2.3 million tons), ferrous metals – 1.7 million tons (0.8 million tons), construction materials – 0.5 million tons (0.3 million tons), containers – 67,667 thousand TEU (9,321 thousand TEU). The volume of ore transshipment slightly decreased to 1.9 million tons (2.1 million tons).
Earlier it was reported that the cargo turnover of the seaports of the Danube region in January-November 2023 reached 29.4 million tons, which is more than twice the figure for the same period in 2022 (14.5 million tons).
The volume of transshipment in the ports of the Danube cluster in 2022 amounted to 16.49 million tons: 8.89 million tons at the port of Izmail, 6.82 million tons at the port of Reni and 0.785 thousand tons at the port of Ust-Dunaisk.
In 2023, Ukrainian clinics resumed their work taking into account the situation and challenges of wartime and opened new areas, in particular, those that take into account the needs for treatment of war injuries, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
This was announced by the heads of leading private clinics in Ukraine during a roundtable discussion at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
“In 2023, we regained our position in the market share for our usual services – childbirth and pregnancy. There, we have already successfully transformed into a multidisciplinary medical center, added new services and were able to develop in several new areas, such as obesity treatment, mammary and phlebology surgery, and pediatrics,” said Vadym Zukin, COO and co-owner of Leleka Multidisciplinary Medical Center.
At the same time, he called the clinic’s confirmation of Joint Commission International (JCI) international accreditation for 2024 the biggest achievement in 2023.
“In 2024, we plan to develop the services we already have in new areas, as well as launch several services unique to Ukraine, which we will be able to announce at the end of the year,” Zukin said, adding, “We can talk about our plans only thanks to our Armed Forces, our defenders who are currently protecting us at the front.”
In turn, Oleksandr Linchevsky, Chief Medical Officer of the Dobrobut medical network (Kyiv), reminded of the opening of a new multidisciplinary hospital on Bazhana Avenue in Kyiv with an area of more than 9,000 square meters in 2023. Last year, the Dobrobut Ophthalmology Clinic also started its work in the new hospital.
“This opening was planned from the very beginning, before the full-scale invasion, we planned to open it a year earlier. But even during the war, we were able to open this new hospital with new facilities, new services, new operating rooms. And, of course, it looks incredible,” he said.
Linchevsky also said that in 2023 Dobrobut opened a rehabilitation department in the medical center on Simi Idzykovskoho Street in the capital and plans to open similar departments in its outpatient departments.
In addition, Dobrobut launched a new Center for Somnology and a Center for Onco-Dermatology, which is headed by Professor Maria Kukushkina. Last year, the chain also opened another dental clinic, bringing the total number of Dobrobut dentists in Kyiv to three.
“We like the result of 2023, although we might have wanted to have some of it in 2022,” he said.
Commenting on Dobrobut’s development plans for 2024, Mr. Linchevsky said: “If we say we have nothing to improve, we will be deceiving ourselves.”
“Every comment, every criticism from patients is already a self-sufficient development plan. We just decide to implement this plan immediately or a little later. The war is full of uncertainties, so we will focus on solving operational issues and laying the foundations to realize our hopes and dreams as soon as possible. We have a lot to do every day,” he stated.
For his part, Vitaliy Girin, co-owner of the ADONIS Medical Group, said that in 2023, the group’s clinics provided medical care to more than 250 thousand people. In addition, more than 300 military personnel received rehabilitation assistance.
Mr. Girin also said that last year ADONIS opened two outpatient rehabilitation centers and a rehabilitation center in the left-bank part of Kyiv.
“Despite the blackouts and all the problems we have faced, we see that the number of our patients is gradually increasing,” he said.
At the same time, Girin noted that the pre-war years were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, so comparing the flow of patients with the pre-war period would not be correct. “The numbers are not very correct, but we have about 50% fewer patients,” he said.
“The most important achievement is that we were able to keep the team we have,” emphasized Girin.
Commenting on plans for 2024, he said that the most important task for ADONIS is to optimize business processes.
“We will implement new quality standards and introduce the latest technologies. We also want to focus on developing a culture of regular checkups, because health is in the hands of people themselves. They have already realized this, and no one is responsible for it but them,” he said.
For his part, Rostyslav Valikhnovskyi, director and founder of the Dr. Valikhnovskyi Clinic medical center, said that the clinic specializes in scheduled and urgent surgeries. In 2023, it expanded and developed a wide range of services for Ukrainian and foreign patients, and also actively provides the necessary surgical care to military personnel.
“We opened a clinic in Ivano-Frankivsk. It is a full-fledged building according to modern standards, even newer than the one in Kyiv. This clinic helps us a lot during the war to provide services to those patients who have left for western Ukraine but need highly specialized surgical services,” he said.
In addition, Valikhnovsky announced the construction of a second building in Kyiv with an area of about 2,500 square meters. At the same time, changes were made to this project to expand the area of bomb shelters and increase the bed capacity by 35 beds.
In addition, the Dr. Valikhnovsky Clinic has launched the Valikhnovsky Academy educational project, in which 150 surgeons from different countries with many years of practice experience and their own electronic patient record, which stores medical data in English, are mentored by mentors. This makes it possible to transfer this data to any medical center in the world if necessary.
Commenting on plans for 2024, Valikhnovsky emphasized his intention to build another clinic in Kyiv and western Ukraine.
“Currently, we are looking for a building in the capital of 5-6 thousand square meters, which we can reconstruct, or a land plot for construction. The second part is a clinic in the western region of the country,” he said.
For her part, Oleksandra Zborovska, a senior researcher at the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odesa), said that the clinic did not stop working in 2023. She called the main achievements the retention of the scientific and staff, the continuation of medical services and research.
According to Zborovska, the number of patients has fully returned to the pre-war level, but there are more serious patients in their structure. “The number of severe cases is increasing,” she stated.
Zborovska also said that the clinic has treated about 1,500 victims of war trauma, both military and civilians.
She also recalled that the institute had opened a new seven-story building with the most modern ophthalmic equipment.
In addition, the institute’s staff, who treat eye injuries, have spoken at major international conferences to present their unique experience.
“The breakthrough that we were able to realize based on our experience in creating new projects not only in practical but also in scientific terms is very important for us,” she said.
ADONIS, DOBROBUT, FILATOV INSTITUTE, Linchevsky, ZBOROVSKA, ГИРИН, Зукін, Лелека
Despite the war, Ukraine is reviving large agricultural exhibitions that have a significant impact on the industry and serve as a platform for experience exchange, SEEDS writes.
One of the largest international exhibitions in Ukraine, Agrovesna, is also returning to the capital. Traditionally, in the spring, before the start of field work, the participants of this exhibition demonstrate modern technologies in various industries: grain farming, animal husbandry, and fruit and vegetable production at the Kyiv Exhibition Center.
Due to the risks of wartime and security concerns, the exhibition was not held last year, but times are changing rapidly and this year’s Agrovesna will be held in Kyiv!
This outstanding agricultural event will take place at the International Exhibition Center of Kyiv on February 14-16. It is important that interest in such large-scale events in Ukraine is slowly but surely recovering, exhibition director Sergiy Vysotsky told SEEDS.
“It would be a bit presumptuous to say that everything has recovered, but we can confidently say that interest in exhibitions is recovering. The process is gradual, but the vector of movement is quite stable. We see that this is a need for both our economy and its individual industries. Of course, it is not at the level it was before the full-scale invasion, but both people and companies are interested in exhibitions. And, God willing, everything will gradually recover,” hopes Sergey Vysotsky.
“It has already become a tradition to hold the International Conference of Sapienza Agri-Media Agency every year as part of Agrovesna, dedicated to various topics of increasing the profits of agricultural business. After a short break, we are returning with a new topic. This year, on the first day of Agrovesna, our agency, with the participation of agricultural associations and farmers’ unions, is holding a Conference on Sustainable Agribusiness. Starting at 12:00, participants will be able to learn more about sustainable and profitable agricultural technologies. You will learn about new niches that are developing in Ukraine despite the war, find out more about agricultural business support programs and ways to harmoniously develop agricultural business in line with the EU’s policy. Together with the participants, we will also formulate a conference resolution with the best practices and plans for sustainable agricultural development in Ukraine,” says Kateryna Zvereva, founder of the agro-media agency Sapienza, International Consultant to the UN FAO.
“This will be the first Agrovesna since the beginning of the war. The last one had to be canceled for quite good reasons, reminded Serhiy Vysotsky.
“Last year, we canceled Agrovesna because the situation was very difficult, both in terms of security and energy. Frequent power outages forced us to look for new resources. We found them, but they were quite expensive. Now the situation is stable, and we are more prepared in terms of security – we have a bomb shelter right on the territory of the IEC. It is comfortable and has a high level of protection. In addition, we see that the tension that we had last year is gone. We are doing everything to make our exhibitors and visitors feel comfortable and safe,” says Sergey Vysotsky.
As part of AGROWESNA, an international conference will be held on February 14 at 12:00 in Kyiv IEC: SUSTAINABLE AGRIBUSINESS: “TRADITIONS.NICHES.ECO-PRACTICES.TECHNOLOGIES”.
PARTICIPATION IS FREE OF CHARGE WITH PRIOR REGISTRATION
The conference is organized by Sapienza.media agro-media agency with the support of the Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association (UFPA).
A record number of electric cars – more than 37 thousand – were imported to Ukraine in 2023. This is 4 times more than in 2021. The most popular electric car brands are Volkswagen, Tesla, and Nissan. And Lviv region is the leader in the number of registrations of such cars.
A record 37,953 electric cars were imported to Ukraine in 2023. This is 4 times more than in 2021, when 8,996 electric cars were imported.
In total, electric cars accounted for 10% of the total number of cars imported to Ukraine in 2023. For comparison, in 2021, the share of electric cars was only 1.2%.
The largest number of imported electric vehicles was registered in Lviv region – 5,133 cars. Kyiv is in second place with 4,913 electric vehicles, and Odesa region is in third place with 3,412 electric cars registered there.
The most popular electric car brands in Ukraine in 2023 were Volkswagen, Tesla, Nissan, Renault, and Honda.
Nissan Leaf has been the most popular electric car model for 4 years in a row. More than 5 thousand of these cars were imported to Ukraine last year. Volkswagen ID.4 is in second place in terms of demand – 3,770 cars. Tesla Model 3 rounds out the top three with 3,291 electric cars.
The oldest electric car imported to Ukraine in 2023 was a Citroen Saxo made in 2000.
Record number of electric cars imported to Ukraine in 2023 – Opendatabot
Astarta Agro Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, processed 2.7 million tons of sugar beet grown by itself and its agricultural partners at its five sugar factories in 2023-2024 and produced 377.5 thousand tons of sugar.
“The processing season of 2023, which lasted 130 days, was the best in terms of processed raw materials and produced sugar over the past five years,” the agroholding’s press service reported on Facebook.
Summing up the results of the harvesting campaign, Astarta reported that its structural units harvested 200 thousand tons of corn with a yield of 10.35 tons/ha, up 16.2% year-on-year, and 2.2 million tons of sugar beet with a yield of 57.61 tons/ha (+2.6%).
“Longer harvesting periods were caused by several factors: difficult weather conditions: heavy and prolonged precipitation in October-November 2023 caused a delay in harvesting and logistical difficulties in delivering raw materials to processing plants, and thus disrupted the rhythm of some sugar factories. Another important factor was the increase in the yield of late crops: the yields of corn and sugar beet were the highest in the history of the holding’s crops,” Astarta said, adding that it continues to prepare for the spring sowing season.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
In the third quarter of 2023, the agricultural holding earned EUR1.24 million in net profit, down 27.7 times compared to the same period in 2022. Astarta’s revenue decreased by 14.4% to EUR104.75 million, gross profit by 2.7 times to EUR26.96 million, operating profit by 7.6 times to EUR6.79 million, and EBITDA by 42.7% to EUR97.25 million.
Due to significantly better performance in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year, in the first nine months of 2023, net profit decreased by 9.8% to EUR 55.97 million, while revenue increased by 14.8% to EUR 392.00 million. The company’s gross profit increased by 3.0% to EUR 151.91 million, while operating profit decreased by 15.9% to EUR 79.91 million and EBITDA by 10.8% to EUR 116.63 million.
In 2023, Ukraine’s ports handled 62 million tons, including 56.3 million tons for export, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to the administration, imports amounted to 5.3 million tons. At the same time, the Ukrainian sea corridor has already exported 18 million tons of cargo to 32 countries, 12.7 million tons of which are agricultural products.
“By the end of 2023, about 62 million tons of cargo were transshipped by Ukrainian ports in wartime. Among the leaders in terms of cargo nomenclature are grains – 45.5 million tons and liquid bulk – 6.3 million tons. An undoubted achievement of 2023 was the launch of the temporary sea corridor announced by the Ukrainian Navy, which made it possible to unblock the ports of Greater Odesa. On August 16, 2023, the first vessel used the temporary corridor. According to the results of 2023, 400 vessels exported 12.8 million tons of cargo,” the statement said.
Last year, the Danube ports transshipped 32 million tons of cargo, which exceeds the record figures of 2022, the USPA said in a statement.
The cargo turnover of the port of Izmail more than doubled and reached 20.2 million tons (in 2022 – 8.8 million tons). The cargo turnover of the port of Reni reached 10 million tons (6.8 million tons), and that of the port of Ust-Dunaisk – 1.7 million tons (785 thousand tons).
The cargo turnover of the port of Odesa also increased and reached 8.41 million tons (7.69 million tons in 2022), while the cargo turnover of the port of Pivdennyi decreased to 10.08 million tons (15.28 million tons), and the port of Chornomorsk – 11.41 million tons (11.76 million tons).
“I am very grateful to the business, the team of the Ministry of Development (Communities, Infrastructure Territories) and the employees of USPA for effective cooperation, which has led to a number of technical and technological measures: 23 transshipment points have been launched and 15 investment projects are being implemented, which all helped to achieve such record-breaking results. Despite the fact that a lot has already been done, in 2024 we will continue to work together to further increase cargo turnover and improve the work of the Danube cluster ports,” Yuriy Lytvyn, Head of USPA, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Earlier it was reported that the new Ukrainian sea corridor created by the Ukrainian Navy in August 2023 ensured the export of almost 15 million tons of products, including 10 million tons of agricultural products.
