KYIV. Feb 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Lauffer Group plans to launch over 12 new outlets of own retail chain in Kharkiv and 20 in Odesa in 2016, and total investment will reach UAH 14 million.
The company said in a press release on Monday that this year the existing facilities of the branded outlets under the Saltovsky trademark in Kharkiv will be reconstructed and investment will total over UAH 4 million.
Head of Retail Business at Lauffer Group Oleksandr Moshurovsky said that new Zefir stores in Odesa and Kharkiv sell a wide range of food (up to 800 items).
In 2015, around UAH 4.25 million was invested in opening of shops: nine in Odesa, five in Kharkiv and 12 in Dnipropetrovsk. Investment into one shop was from UAH 250,000 to UAH 400,000.
Lauffer is one of the largest Ukrainian business groups in the sector of processing agricultural products and food production, which has been operating in Ukraine for 14 years. It includes about 100 enterprises specializing in production of flour, bakery goods, fat, canned food and so on.
KYIV. Feb 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian state concern Ukroboronprom are satisfied with new agreements reached with Germany’s Deutz AG to supply engines for new Ukrainian armored vehicles: a batch of DEUTZ BF 4M 1013 FC 190 hp engines will be shipped by German partners to Ukraine at the special price, the press service of the concern reported on Monday.
According to the report, after complicated and long negotiations between Ukroboronprom and Deutz AG the sides reached an agreement to supply a batch of engines at the price that allows Ukraine to save around UAH 25 million (EUR 862,000, the official NBU’s exchange rate as of February 8 UAH 29.0277/EUR 1). Other details of the contract are not disclosed.
The press service said that these engines will be installed on BTR-3, BTR-4 and armored vehicles Dozor-B.
KYIV. Feb 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Andriy Pyvovarsky expects that the full commercial operation of a new container train on the so-called New Silk Road will start in March, he said this in the parliament during “an hour of questions to the government.”
Pyvovarsky noted the train should come back to Ukraine by the end of February. Then “all logistically weak points” will be worked on, a relevant regulatory document will be signed, which will make it possible to run the train in commercial use.
“A final protocol will be signed in Baku somewhere on February 20, which will settle all the technical problems, bottlenecks, and we can say that from March the train will start running as usual,” the minister said.
According to him, the main operator of this route will be Lisky transport service center (part of PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia). The company must do everything possible to make the route commercially successful.
KYIV. Feb 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company State Food-Grain Corporation in H1 2015/16 agricultural year (July 2015-June 2016) exported around 1.5 million tonnes of grain, the company’s press service has reported, referring to the director of the logistics department Dmytro Shmokarev.
“The result was achieved thanks to the centralized work of the foreign economic department and purchase and logistics department and thanks to new rules introduced,” he said.
Among key changes in logistics is the creation of the transport and shipping servicing department that allows both shipping products using own forces and provide services to bailors.
“In the period since November 2015 over 100,000 tonnes of grain has been shipped using this,” he said.
The electronic document turnover system is being introduced in the corporation.
Shmokarev’s division also worked to return dispatch bonuses worth over $500,000 for the previous periods.
In August 2010, the government decided to create the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine. The corporation has a chain of branches, comprised of grain storage facilities, flourmills, fodder factories and a cereals factory. The 53 subdivisions of the corporation can store a total of 3.75 million tonnes of grain, which includes the grain handling capacities of Odesa and Mykolaiv ports of around 2.5 million tonnes of grain cargo per year.
KYIV. Feb 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine could resume electricity exports to Belarus and Moldova in March, Energy and Coal Industry Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn has said.
“He held talks with Lithuania, Belarus and Moldova… I’m sure that it will resume electricity exports from April, maybe even from March,” he said at a meeting of the profile parliamentary committee.
Earlier Deputy Energy and Coal Industry Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Svetelik said that Ukraine could resume exports of electricity to Belarus and Moldova from April 2016.
At present Ukrainian exports electricity only from the Burshtyn Energy Island.
KYIV. Feb 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine saw a 31.4% rise in imports of aluminum ore and concentrate (bauxites) in kind year-on-year in January 2016, to 444,329 tonnes.
According to customs statistics made public by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, during this period imports of bauxites in monetary terms increased by 39.8%, to $20.071 million.
Imports mainly originated from Guinea (52.91% of supply in terms of money), Guyana (32.6%) and Brazil (14.48%).
In January this year, Ukraine did not re-export aluminum ore and concentrate.
As reported, in 2015 Ukraine reduced imports of aluminum ore and concentrate in kind by 12.7%, to 4.338 million tonnes, in money terms – by 14.8%, to $181.075 million.
Imports mainly originated from Guinea (62.96% of supply in terms of money) and Guyana (30.37%).
In 2015, Ukraine decreased re-exports of aluminum ore and concentrate by 91.9%, to 463 tonnes and by 92.6% in money terms, to $79,000. The ore was mainly re-exported to Russia (64.1%), Germany (12.82%) and the Netherlands (8.97%).
Bauxite is aluminum ore used as raw material in the production of alumina and aluminum. It is also used as flux in ferrous metallurgy.
Ukraine’s Mykolaiv alumina plant, part of UC Russian Aluminum (RUSAL), imports bauxite to produce alumina.
UC RUSAL was founded in 2007 as a result of a merger of aluminum and alumina assets by OAO RUSAL, SUAL and Swiss-based trader Glencore. RUSAL’s assets in Ukraine include Mykolaiv alumina plant and a stake in Zaporizhia aluminum plant (ZAIK), which halted production of aluminum and alumina.
