KYIV. July 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Kyiv-based Raiffeisen Bank Aval have decided to allocate $60 million on a parity basis under a farmers lending project for the purchase of plant protection products from the Ukrainian subsidiary of German-based Bayer AG.
The IFC reported that its board of directors approved the project on June 29, 2015 and the IFC’s contribution under the project will amount to $30 million.
The proposed project is similar to a program organized by the IFC, Raiffeisen Bank Aval and Bayer in 2011.
The purpose of the project is to boost the productivity and efficiency of agribusinesses in Ukraine by improving access to finance for the purchase of seeds and crop protection products. The program is expected to engage about 20,000 small and medium-sized farms.
The previous program covered more than 11,300 farms.
KYIV. July 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Austrian financial institutions will be able to assist in the further implementation of Zaporizhia-based Zaporizhstal metallurgical mill’s investment projects, in particular in the construction of a converter shop at the mill.
An Austrian delegation including Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Austria to Ukraine Hermine Poppeller and Defense Attaché Colonel Erich Simbürger visited Zaporizhstal on July 3, 2015, the enterprise said in a press release.
The guests were informed about an environmental project, namely a hydrochloric acid etching line in cold rolling shop No. 1, which was implemented in partnership with Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG. During the visit, Poppeller and Zaporizhstal’s management discussed promising areas of potential cooperation, which include the construction of a converter shop.
Poppeller said praised Zaporizhstal’s modernization program and spoke about the possible support of investment projects by Austrian financial institutions in the future.
“Ukraine can become competitive on the European market thanks to such enterprises as Zaporizhstal. Of course, we will help implement the following investment projects, but it depends on the situation in Ukraine and in Europe,” the ambassador said.
Zaporizhstal General Director Rostislav Shurma said in turn that the mill has already gained successful experience in large-scale joint investment projects with Austrian and other European partners and suppliers.
“To date, the implementation of new projects is constrained by the extremely difficult political and economic situation in the country,” the press release quoted him as saying.
Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine and its products are well known and in demand by consumers in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
It produces high-quality hot-rolled steel coils, hot-rolled sheets, cold-rolled sheets, cold-rolled carbon and low-alloy steel coils, steel straps, roll-formed sections, and other products.
The plant’s principal clients are producers of welded pipes, automobiles, other transport vehicles, agricultural machinery, and household appliances.
KYIV. June 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian government has allocated UAH 80.5 million as part of compulsory financing, through Japanese credit funds, for the reconstruction of Bortnychi aeration station in Kyiv.
The Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Services said that the Cabinet of Ministers made the corresponding resolution at a meeting on June 4.
The funds will be allocated at the expense of the State Fund for Environmental Protection as of January 1, 2015.
According to the ministry, UAH 80.019 million will be spent on the construction of the first stage of the starting complex at the station, another UAH 480,800 will be used to pay for already executed works, updating documents, and the development of working documentation for the first stage of the fifth launch complex of the object.
As reported, on February 11, 2015 representatives of PJSC Kyivvodokanal (Kyiv) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said the signing of a loan agreement between the government of Ukraine and Japan as part of the reconstruction of Bortnychi aeration station is expected in early summer 2015.
KYIV. June 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of Metinvest international vertically integrated mining and steel group, in January-March 2015 saw EBITDA worth $341 billion, which is 61% down compared to the same period in 2014 ($878 million).
According to the company’s unaudited consolidated financial statements in line with IFRS, which were posted on the Irish Stock Exchange, in the first quarter of 2015 its consolidated EBITDA dropped due to the decrease in the mining division’s EBITDA by $668 million, to $106 million, which was partially offset by the increase of $116 million in the steel division’s EBITDA, to $253 million.
KYIV. June 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine (earlier Kyivcement, Kyiv), part of Germany’s Dyckerhoff AG, plans to create branches of Volyn-Cement (Zdolbuniv, Rivne region) and Yugcement (Olshanske, Mykolaiv region).
The company said that the decision was made on June 2 by the company’s supervisory board.
“The economically autonomous structural subdivisions of the public joint-stock company have been created with the purpose of expanding sales markets, boosting sales in other regions of Ukraine,” reads the report.
According to the report, divisions Volyn-Cement branch of Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine and Yugcement branch of Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine will be located in Zdolbuniv and Olshanske. They are registered at the addresses of the two plants of Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine.
Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine was founded in 1994 via privatization of Kyivinzhcement. The company sells and packages cement made by Volyn-Cement.
Dyckerhoff AG is a member of Buzzi Unicem, which unites cement, concrete, sand and crushed stone producers. Dyckerhoff AG’s core business is the production of cement made at its enterprises in Germany, the United States, Luxemburg, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.
KYIV. June 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and Lithuania are mulling the possible ways of organizing supplies of freight and passenger cars, and diesel and electric trains made by public joint-stock company Kriukov Car Building Works (KCBW, Poltava region) for Lithuanian railways, including the setting up of joint production.
The Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine said in a press release that the issue was discussed at the 16th meeting of the intergovernmental commission for trade, economic and research cooperation, as part of international transport week on June 2 in Odesa.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarsky headed the Ukrainian delegation and Lithuanian Economy Minister Evaldas Gustas headed the Lithuanian delegation.
According to the press release, the parties also agreed to continue active work on the promotion of the Viking train project to the Turkish market, taking into account the development of two possible routes: by the Black Sea or via Romania and Bulgaria.
The sides also expressed their mutual interest in the development of container shipments using the Viking train.
“In the context of the readiness of Azerbaijan to join the project in the near term [this] was assessed as a good prospect to attract freight shipments from the Central Asia and China via the TRACECA transport corridor,” reads the press release.
There is an ongoing agreement to electrify the IX-B international transport corridor to increase the economic attractiveness of the train.
The Ukrainian delegation said at the meeting that in 2016-2017 the Korosten-Ovruch- Slovechne section will be electrified, which is part of the IX-B corridor. Lithuania plans to finish electrification in early 2016.
