Initial registrations of new passenger cars in Ukraine in 2023 increased by 60.6% compared to 2022, to almost 61 thousand, the Ukravtoprom association reported on its Telegram channel on Tuesday.
Toyota took the lead with 10197 cars (+47%), Renault took second place with 5790 (+46%), and Volkswagen took third place with 5627 (2.5 times more).
The top ten also includes Skoda – 4938 cars (+75%); BMW – 4128 (+139%); Hyundai – 2945 (+29%); Mercedes-Benz – 2543 (+52%); Suzuki – 2396 (+192%); Mazda – 2252 (+ 237%) and Nissan – 1975 (+75%).
According to the association, the bestseller of the year was the Renault Duster compact crossover – 5445 cars of this model joined the fleet.
At the same time, in December, Ukrainians purchased 5.9 thousand new passenger cars, which is 53% more than in the same month in 2022 and 9% more than in November 2023. Toyota (972), Renault (678), and Skoda (600) are in the top three.
For its part, the AUTO-Consulting information and analytical group reports on its website that in 2023, more than 65 thousand new passenger cars were sold in Ukraine, which exceeded the result of 2022 by 62.4%.
At the same time, Toyota also took the lead with a 54% increase in sales to 10.74 thousand cars and a market share of 16.5% (against 17.4% a year earlier), and Volkswagen took the second position (against the third in 2022) with a 2.3-fold increase in sales to 7.09 thousand cars and an increase in market share by 2.2 percentage points to 10.9%.
Renault came in third with 5.83 thousand cars sold (up 45.2%).
According to experts, 6 thousand new cars were sold in December, which is slightly (0.5%) less than in November.
“The consequences of the border blockade were felt, but still, compared to December, the market grew by 45%,” the report states.
At the same time, Toyota was definitely in the lead with sales of more than 1 thousand new cars and 17% of the Ukrainian car market, Volkswagen finished second, but, as AUTO-Consulting notes, both official dealers and suppliers of electric vehicles from the Chinese market worked for this result.
The most popular model in December was the Renault Duster, which managed to bypass the Volkswagen ID.4 electric car, which had been leading the way throughout the fall.
As a result, Renault increased its sales by 40% overall, taking third place in the month’s ranking.
Experts also note the success of the Audi brand, whose dealers managed to outperform competitors among premium brands and take 7th place in the market (against 12th in November 2023).
In general, AUTO-Consulting believes that despite the difficulties at the Polish border, which made it difficult to supply cars in the planned volumes, 2023 was “the year of renewal of the Ukrainian car market and growth of its potential.”
“The recovery of the car market was even better than the trend of 2014-2016. The result is similar to 2016, when 64.5 thousand cars were sold. However, it took seven long years to reach 103.6 thousand cars (as in pre-war 2021),” says Oleg Omelnytsky, director of AUTO-Consulting, on his Facebook page.
He noted that in the last two months of last year, a very high share of electric vehicles in the market was recorded – almost 20% (compared to 10% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2021).
“In addition, the share of so-called “gray” dealers has increased significantly – 21%. The last time I remember this was in the 90s and early 2000s,” he wrote.
As reported, according to Ukravtoprom, in 2022, Ukrainians registered 37.9 thousand new passenger cars, 63% less than a year earlier, and according to AUTO-Consulting, sales decreased by 61.5% to 40.08 thousand units.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, as one of the major shareholders of Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works, has initiated an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to change the company’s type from PJSC to PrJSC, approve the 2015-2022 reports, distribute profits and make decisions on other important issues.
According to the company’s official announcement in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the extraordinary general meeting of Zaporizhstal shareholders to be held remotely is scheduled for January 29, 2024.
The agenda includes 18 items, including the approval of the appointment of KPMG Audit as the auditor for 2020-2022, approval of the company’s annual reports and balance sheets for the period from 2015 to 2022,
The meeting will also consider the distribution of profits or approval of the procedure for covering losses based on the results of operations in 2015-2022. At the same time, it is proposed to leave the net profit of UAH 1 billion 804 million 967,874 thousand received by the company based on the results of 2015, profit for 2016 in the amount of UAH 4 billion 690 million 82,987 thousand, profit for 2017 in the amount of UAH 3 billion 348 million 548,937 thousand, profit for 2018 in the amount of UAH 4 billion 719 million 208,550 thousand and profit for 2021 in the amount of UAH 16 billion 809 million 158,412 thousand undistributed.
The loss of UAH 4 billion 332 million 801,906 thousand in 2019, as well as the loss for 2020 in the amount of UAH 3 billion 678 million 76,402 thousand and the loss for 2022 in the amount of UAH 4 billion 864 million 684,828 thousand shall be covered by deferred income.
The shareholders will also approve the approval of major transactions, approve Premium Standard Appraisal LLC as a valuation entity to value the company’s property and the market value of the company’s shares, and approve the CEO’s order to approve the market value of 1 ordinary registered share of the company determined by appraisers as of the last business day preceding the day of posting the notice of the general meeting of shareholders at which the decision was made that became the basis for the mandatory share buyback.
The meeting also intends to approve a two-tier management structure, eliminating the audit committee as a controlling body. The shareholders will renew the composition of the supervisory board, which is proposed to elect Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Yulia Dankova, Svitlana Romanova and Oleksandr Myronenko as representatives of the shareholder Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands), and Ruslan Bogdanov and Pavlo Osiyuk as independent directors.
The shareholders also plan to change the company’s type from PJSC to PrJSC, adopt a new version of the charter, and confirm the powers of CEO Roman Slobodianiuk in changing the company’s type.
After registration of the amendments to the revised charter with the change of the company’s type, the powers of the supervisory board members will be terminated and it is proposed to introduce Ryzhenkov, Dankova, Romanova as representatives of the shareholder Metinvest B.V. and Bogdanov and Osiyuk as independent directors.
“Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine, whose products are widely known and in demand in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
According to the NDU data for the third quarter of 2023, Kyiv Securities Group LLC owns 24.5003% of Zaporizhstal shares, Midland Capital Management LLC (both Kyiv, registered at the same address) owns 11.2224%, Global Steel Investments Limited (UK) owns 12.3466%, and Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) owns 47.0032%.
Earlier it was reported that Metinvest Group’s effective shareholding in Zaporizhstal remains at 49.9%.
“Zaporizhstal is in the process of integration into Metinvest Group, whose major shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%).
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In 2023, Ukraine exported 67.5 million tons of agricultural products, which is 15% more than last year, while export earnings decreased by 8% to $21.9 billion compared to 2022, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB).
The business association noted that 2023 was one of the most difficult years in the history of Ukraine’s independence, including in terms of exports.
Among the main obstacles to agricultural exports, the UCAB called the Russian side’s inhibition of the grain corridor, which had been operating since July 2022, and then its termination and blocking of any sea exports. The destruction of the infrastructure of seaports and river ports on the Danube by Russian troops had a significant impact on the export of agricultural products. The agricultural sector was also affected by the ban on exports and transit by neighboring European countries, as well as the blocking of checkpoints on the western border.
The UCAB noted that despite these restrictions, exports of agricultural products increased in physical terms in 2023. Export revenue decreased due to falling prices for almost all types of agricultural products compared to 2022, which was the year of the highest food prices in the world.
The business association warned that the current level of exports is not enough to export the 2023 harvest. If the export volume remains as of the end of 2023, there are risks that Ukraine will have significant carry-over stocks (primarily of grain crops) by the beginning of the next harvest, the UCAB explained.
“Such a situation in the context of low prices on the Ukrainian market for grains and oilseeds, expensive export logistics will further complicate the activities of Ukrainian farmers due to lack of working capital. That is why it is necessary to increase export volumes through all possible channels in order to export the entire harvest before the start of the new season,” summarized UCAB analyst Svitlana Lytvyn.
Despite the fact that Kyiv, like other cities, can only help those units that are formed and registered on the territory of the community, the capital’s authorities find opportunities to help other units of the Armed Forces and will increase this assistance, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Kyiv TV channel, the press service of the Kyiv City State Administration reports.
“Kyiv has allocated 7 billion hryvnias to help our military. This is 10 percent of the capital’s budget. Although initially the amount was planned to be much less – 100 million. We receive requests from our defenders almost every day. And we have never left them unanswered or without help. We have delivered 170 vehicles of various types to various units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It includes bulletproof vests, helmets, first aid kits, communications equipment, medical equipment… UAH 1 billion 550 million was allocated from the city budget for drones alone. Because we understand that our future depends on the strength of our military,” Klitschko emphasized.
He noted that at almost every meeting, the Kyiv City Council makes changes to the budget to increase assistance to the Ukrainian army. The city also allocated a lot of money for the construction of fortifications.
Klitschko added that helping the defenders is also a social component.
“The city provides financial assistance to veterans and families of heroes – 800 million hryvnias in 2023 alone. We also constantly purchase medical equipment for military hospitals and rehabilitation centers. We also allocate funds for the purchase of apartments for the families of our defenders… Kyiv has also been paying 30 thousand hryvnias to those mobilized since December 1 to provide financial incentives to new recruits. And it will continue to do so next year,” Klitschko emphasized.
“For the next year, we have preliminarily planned UAH 1 billion in the budget to help the army. But I can assure you that we will continue to increase our assistance, despite the fact that the military personal income tax (PIT) has been taken away from us. This means losses for the capital’s budget of about UAH 7 billion. This is despite the fact that Kyiv still pays 60 percent of personal income tax to the state budget (other cities pay 40 percent). But I repeat: we will do everything to effectively help our defenders,” Klitschko emphasized.
Effective January 1, 2024, the minimum wage in Ukraine increased to UAH 7.1 thousand.
In particular, according to the law “On the State Budget for 2024”, which came into force on January 1, the minimum wage increased from UAH 6.7 thousand to UAH 7.1 thousand, and the hourly minimum wage increased to UAH 42.6.
Also, as of January 1, the overall subsistence level increased from UAH 2,589 to UAH 2,920. For children under six years of age, the subsistence minimum is now UAH 2,563, for children from six to eighteen years of age – UAH 3,196, for able-bodied persons – UAH 3,023, and for persons who have lost their ability to work – UAH 2,361.
Interfax-Ukraine news agency has announced that it has signed a license agreement with Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), becoming its official representative in the Ukrainian market. This step symbolizes a new stage in the development of the Ukrainian business environment, as it opens up access to global resources for verifying and analyzing business information.
The main product of D&B available through Interfax-Ukraine is D&B Hoovers, an online database that allows users to search and verify information about companies around the world. This tool will become an indispensable assistant for those seeking to expand their business horizons.
Also in the arsenal of products are Business Information Reports, which offer an extended investigation of the activities of any company in the world.
Users of D&B and Interfax-Ukraine services will be able to check foreign partners and counterparties, build corporate relationships, minimize risks in terms of payments and contract performance, and search for potential clients and partners around the world. D&B also conducts investigations, aggregates data on counterparty payments, analyzes business statistics and calculates various indices, including fraud, bankruptcy, payment discipline, and financial stability.
D&B’s business assessment ratings are considered a global benchmark for making decisions on cooperation. Due to the volume of orders and the well-established business procedure, D&B’s services are affordable, and access to information has a user-friendly interface that simplifies data processing.
Oleksandr Martynenko, CEO of Interfax-Ukraine, said that cooperation with Dun & Bradstreet is an important step in the agency’s development.
“We are proud to open the gateway to the global information services market for our clients. Our goal is to provide Ukrainian companies with up-to-date and accurate information that will help them grow and prosper in a globally competitive environment. The cooperation between Interfax-Ukraine and Dun & Bradstreet opens up new opportunities for Ukrainian companies seeking to expand their business internationally,” he emphasized.
In his turn, Maksym Urakin, Deputy CEO of Interfax-Ukraine and Head of the Business Unit D&B-Interfax-Ukraine, emphasized the strategic importance of the partnership between Interfax-Ukraine and Dun & Bradstreet for Ukrainian business.
“Now, having access to D&B’s global network of information, Ukrainian entrepreneurs will be able to significantly improve their competitiveness and reduce risks when searching for and screening partners around the world using the most advanced tools for business intelligence and strategic planning,” said Urakin.
This cooperation, in his opinion, is also evidence of the growing interest of global corporations in the Ukrainian market, emphasizing the potential and opportunities that, despite the war, are opening up for investors in the context of business globalization and the prospects for rebuilding Ukraine.
Interfax-Ukraine, as the official representative of D&B in Ukraine, is ready to provide a full range of D&B services and products, including detailed business intelligence and analytics that will be useful to anyone seeking to make informed and balanced business decisions.
The company invites interested parties to discuss cooperation opportunities and demonstrate the system at their convenience, emphasizing its openness to new partnerships and readiness to support the development of the Ukrainian business environment in accordance with international standards.
“Interfax-Ukraine is an independent Ukrainian news agency that has been operating in the Ukrainian political and economic information market since 1992 and has gained a reputation as the most authoritative and competent provider of timely and objective information. The editorial office (headquarters) is located in Kyiv. “Interfax-Ukraine is not a part of any foreign media holdings. The owner of Interfax-Ukraine is Oleksandr Martynenko.
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