In 2023, excise tax revenues from alcoholic beverages produced in Ukraine and imported into the country’s customs territory amounted to UAH 10.1 billion, which is 20.7% higher than in 2022 and almost 2 times higher than the revenue figure of UAH 5.2 billion planned by the Ministry of Finance.
According to Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, in a Telegram message on Monday, the Ministry of Finance’s revenue targets were met in all months from January to December 2023 without exception.
Hetmantsev noted that excise tax revenues from alcoholic beverages in 2023 were almost 12% (UAH 1 billion) higher than in pre-war 2021, when they amounted to UAH 9.0 billion. At the same time, the excise tax rate increased by only 5% – from UAH 126.96 to UAH 133.31 per 1 liter of 100% alcohol from March 1, 2022.
According to him, sales volumes of vodka and alcoholic beverages in the domestic market, according to 2-RS reports, amounted to 20.6 million dal in January-November 2023, which is 26% or 4.3 million dal more than in the corresponding period of 2022.
At the same time, revenue from the sale of alcoholic beverages through cash registers almost doubled by the end of 2023 – UAH 13.9 billion in December against UAH 7.5 billion in January.
As reported, last week, the head of the Verkhovna Rada’s Financial Committee said that the Ukrainian authorities failed to solve the problem of the illegal tobacco market, despite exceeding the plan for state budget revenues in 2023 by UAH 9.7 billion. He initiated open committee hearings on the illegal tobacco market, to which he invited business, the public and government agencies. The date of the hearings has not yet been determined.
State-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) offers professional market participants through the OpenMarket platform (SE SETAM) to purchase at a Dutch auction (with a price reduction) the rights to claim a loan portfolio of more than 80 thousand consumer loans at a starting price of UAH 501.4 million.
“This portfolio includes more than 80 thousand unsecured consumer loans granted to individuals, which were recognized as uncollectible and written off against provisions. The portfolio for sale excludes loans for which the debtors are mobilized servicemen – according to information available to PrivatBank,” the press service of the state bank informs.
It is noted that the rights of claim on such a portfolio include only the loan principal and accrued interest.
The sale will be carried out by gradually reducing the starting price of the lot, while the minimum selling price, according to the published terms, is 2.1% of the initial price – UAH 10.53 million.
According to the state bank, only financial institutions that have a valid license to lend money or provide factoring services and meet the bank’s requirements will be allowed to participate in the auction. Applications for participation can be submitted until February 2, and the auction itself will take place on the 23rd of the same month.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of November 1, 2023, PrivatBank ranked 1st in terms of assets (UAH 804.14 billion) among 63 banks operating in the country, and 2nd in terms of the number of branches (1131).
Since January 2024, the land market has been open to legal entities, but it has not undergone significant changes. Mostly, companies that owned a significant number of land plots sell land rather than buy it. In total, since the beginning of the year, companies have sold more than 200 hectares of land, according to the State Land Cadastre.
Since January 2024, the land market has been open to legal entities. From now on, companies have the right to officially purchase up to 10 thousand hectares of land. Despite expectations, businesses have started selling the land they already own rather than buying new land. Companies have already sold 207 hectares of land in the first two weeks of 2024.
Currently, the State Land Cadastre tracks 281 Ukrainian companies, each of which owns land plots of more than 100 hectares.
Which companies in Ukraine own the most land?
The largest amount of land in Ukraine is currently owned by SVITANOK Agricultural Company: more than 5 thousand hectares. The second place is taken by Druzhkivka Ore Mining: 3.3 thousand hectares. ZEMLETRADE closes the top three with 3.1 thousand hectares.
Out of the top 10 companies that own the largest amount of land in the country, only Zemletrade has sold 20 hectares since the land market was opened. Other businesses have not yet conducted any land transactions.
Since the beginning of the year, two companies have already left the SLC’s attention and, accordingly, the top landowners. These businesses have sold off their land bank so that they have less than 100 hectares of land. We are talking about Dolyna and Ekor Garden CTS. As of January 1, 2024, these companies owned 388 and 120 hectares of land, respectively.
The Italian Ministry of Business and Production, the Tuscany region and the municipality of Pembino have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group to develop the metallurgical sector in the region.
According to official information from the Italian Ministry, the memorandum was signed with Metinvest Adria SpA, Metinvest B.V., Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche SpA, to ensure conditions for the restart of the steel plant in Piombino.
It is specified that this is “a decisive step for the restart of the Pembino site, which will play an increasingly central role in the national steel industry plan.”
It is also reported that the purpose of the industrial project is to develop, construct, own, operate, and maintain an environmentally sustainable plant for the production of finished steel products derived from the processing of ferrous metals into hot-rolled coils for further processing, which will be built in Pembino on an area of approximately 260 hectares. The project will be financed through external financing and government grants.
The Pembino steel complex is one of the main steel processing centers in Italy and Europe, and the Ministry of Business and the Made in Italy project aim to support the resumption of rail production and simultaneously launch the production of hot-rolled coils in order to restore operations, preserve employment and reduce imports of steel products to Italy from non-EU countries. This has renewed interest in the feasibility of the integrated industrial development project presented by Metinvest Adria S.p.A., Metinvest B.V. and Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.P.A., the ministry said in a statement.
The signatories to the agreement undertake to immediately conduct an agreed feasibility study aimed at determining the conditions for stable and long-term operation of the hub, as well as increasing the industrial and production potential of the territory, giving preference to solutions that are most compatible with the urban environment.
When fully operational, the project will employ about 1,500 direct and indirect workers and will have a significant economic impact on other related industries at the regional and national level, the information says.
The Ministry of Business and Made in Italy will coordinate a working group involving all competent national and local institutions to stimulate the creation of manufacturing plants.
Potential investors: Ministry of the Environment and Land and Sea Protection, Tuscany Region, Municipality of Piombino, Port, System Authority, State Property Agency.
The Protocol defines the conditions for concluding a Program Agreement within four months in accordance with Article 252 bis of the Consolidated Environmental Law.
Italian Minister of Business and Production Adolfo Urso said that “the agreement marks a decisive step towards the restart of the Pembino complex, which will play an increasingly central role in the context of the national steel industry plan, together with Taranto, Terni and the steel mills of northern Italy.”
Eugenio Giani, President of the Tuscany region, added that “the memorandum of understanding is the first and necessary signal of the investment proposed by Metinvest and Danieli, as well as a concrete sign of cooperation between the institutions to guarantee the future of steel production in Italy.”
“Tuscany is a land open to foreign investment, and the Pembino region has been favored by metallurgy since the Etruscan times. The Metinvest-Danieli project will have the support of the Tuscany region. (…) We hope that another investment project of JSW Steel Italy can also be realized, given the interdependencies and possible complementarities between the production of flat products (by Metinvest) and long products (by Jsw). We have guaranteed significant investment in the port and infrastructure, an opportunity that the Metinvest-Danieli duo has clearly recognized, and we will work over the next 4 months to reach a binding programmatic agreement with a timeframe for all,” explained Giani.
Pombino Mayor Francesco Ferrari said that “this agreement is a real opportunity for a restart that will return Pombino to the center of the national and international steel industry.”
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest B.V., said: “The agreement with the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy marks a significant step towards creating one of the greenest and cleanest plants in Europe.
“This project, with a capacity of about 3 million tons of steel, will play a crucial role in Italy’s transition to green technology by introducing sustainable and environmentally friendly industrial methods. In addition, it will help to increase the utilization of our iron ore mining and processing facilities in Ukraine, leading to their modernization to produce high-quality pellets. Pembino is a cutting-edge project that, once completed, will become a real example of how cooperation between foreign industrial groups and Italian institutions can yield positive results,” Ryzhenkov emphasized.
Danieli Group President Gianpietro Benedetti said that “this agreement is the first important result that will lead to the creation of a plant that will be one of the first fully digital and will have an important positive impact on employment.”
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are located primarily in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Benchmark oil prices are declining on Monday morning after production resumed at Libya’s largest field.
Quotations of March futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:11 a.m. amounted to $78.23 per barrel, which is $0.33 (0.42%) below the level at the close of the previous trading. On Friday, these contracts fell by $0.54 (0.7%) to $78.56 per barrel.
Prices for February futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) decreased by $0.25 (0.34%) to $73.16 per barrel. As a result of the previous trading, the price of these contracts fell by $0.67 (0.9%) to $73.41 per barrel. February contracts will expire at the close of the market on Monday. Futures for March, which are traded more actively, are cheaper by $0.31 (0.42%) to $72.94 per barrel.
Last week, Brent rose by 0.3%, WTI by 1%.
On Sunday, the Libyan National Oil Corporation announced the lifting of the force majeure regime and the full resumption of production at the Ash Sharara field, which has a capacity of 300 thousand barrels per day.
The force majeure regime was in effect since January 7 due to protests that led to the suspension of supplies from the field to the Zawiya export terminal.
Export of important goods from Ukraine in jan-oct 2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
