In January-October of this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased exports of ferrous scrap by 3.89 times compared to the same period last year, up to 146.927 thousand tons.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), in monetary terms, exports of scrap metal amounted to $42.088 million in the period under review (up 2.9 times).
At the same time, the export of scrap metal has been growing since March: in January, about 8.28 thousand tons of scrap were exported, in February – 16.5 thousand tons, in March – 15.45 thousand tons, in April – about 16 thousand tons. tons, in April – about 16.19 thousand tons, in May – 21.003 thousand tons, in June – 14.6 thousand tons, in July – 9.567 thousand tons, in August – 15.849 thousand tons, in September – 13.7 thousand tons, in October – 15.796 thousand tons.
Scrap metal was exported to Poland (87.39%), Greece (6.42%) and Bulgaria (2.59%).
In the first two months of the year, the country did not import scrap metal; in March-October, it imported 898 tons of scrap worth $333 thousand (51.95% from Slovakia, 22.82% from Poland, 8.41% from Estonia).
Earlier, Ukrmetallurgprom President Oleksandr Kalenkov stated in an article on the Interfax-Ukraine website that scrap metal is exported through the European Union, which has a preferential export duty of EUR3 per ton, and from there the raw materials are redirected to real customers. Exporting raw materials directly to customers would cost EUR180 in export duty, and the Ukrainian budget has already lost UAH 350 million.
According to him, the State Bureau of Investigation has already taken an interest in such export schemes.
The head of Ukrmetallurgprom called for a temporary ban on the export of ferrous scrap to provide steelmakers with strategically important raw materials in the ongoing war.
“If the scrap metal remains in the country, more than 500,000 people will be employed and the country will receive millions in foreign exchange earnings from steel exports. At the same time, the military will also benefit, as steelmakers do a lot to help the military by purchasing equipment and vehicles for them and even producing bulletproof vests. No one benefits from scrap exports. That is why the government should be proactive and temporarily ban exports until the situation stabilizes and ceases to threaten national economic security,” Kalenkov said.
He clarified that a ton of scrap metal processed into steel brings in 10 times more to the budget than the EU export duty, which is about $300 per ton.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of ferrous scrap by 11.5 times compared to the previous year to 53,557 thousand tons, while in monetary terms it decreased by 12.4 times to $19.271 million. At the same time, last year the country reduced imports of scrap metal in physical terms by 12.6 times to 1,824 thousand tons. tons, compared to the previous year – to $19.271 million tons, in monetary terms by 12.9 times – to $3.488 million. Imports of scrap metal in 2022 were mainly from Turkey (78.92% of supplies in monetary terms), the Russian Federation (13.25%) and Cyprus (5.08%); exports – to Turkey (38.97%), Poland (34.25%) and Greece (10.12%).
In January-October of this year, Ukraine’s steelmaking companies reduced their earnings from ferrous metal exports by 45.7% year-on-year to $2 billion 255.514 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Wednesday, ferrous metals accounted for 7.56% of total export revenues during this period, while the share was 11.26% in the first ten months of 2022.
In October, revenues from exports of ferrous metals amounted to $175.871 million, while in the previous month – $258.675 million.
At the same time, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 43.4% to $1 billion 103.047 million over 10 months of this year. In October, the country imported products worth $124.012 million.
In addition, in January-October, Ukraine reduced exports of metal products by 16.3% year-on-year to $756.184 million. In October, exports were worth $62.852 million.
At the same time, imports of steel products increased by 35.5% to $723.032 million over the same period. In October, Ukraine received $117.868 million worth of these products.
As reported earlier, in 2022, Ukraine’s steelmaking companies reduced revenues from ferrous metal exports by 67.5% compared to 2021, to $4 billion 533.088 million. During this period, ferrous metals accounted for 10.26% of total revenues from exports of goods, compared to 20.49% in 2021. At the same time, last year Ukraine reduced imports of similar products by 38.3% to $954.387 million.
In addition, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of metal products by 18.6% to $1 billion 52.512 million. Imports of metal products fell by 42.9% to $643.162 million over the year.
The shortage of professional staff at construction sites in Ukraine is up to 50% in both technical and labor specialties, while salaries are showing positive dynamics, according to a survey of developers conducted by Interfax-Ukraine.
“The need for people on construction sites is only increasing as the construction market is gradually recovering, work is ongoing, and construction volumes are increasing. But the war continues, as does mobilization into the Armed Forces, so this certainly affects the labor market. In general, we can state that the level of workers employed in construction is about 40% of the pre-war level,” said Dmitry Novikov, Marketing Director of City One Development.
According to him, the most sought-after specialties include welders, operators of tower cranes and specialized construction equipment, and high-rise mountaineers. In addition, there is a shortage of ordinary construction workers and general laborers, Novikov noted.
According to Olga Pylypenko, Executive Director of Kovalska Group, more than 70% of the group’s vacancies are for workers, most of them concrete workers, reinforcing steelworkers and electricians.
“Today, the number of workers is already about 50%. Given the overall drop in demand, this labor force is in a fragile balance that can be upset if construction volumes increase,” she explained.
The lack of labor at Intergal-Bud’s construction sites was felt again in the fall after the start of the full-scale war, said its commercial director, Anna Laevska.
“At the beginning of the full-scale war, we felt a shortage of workers at construction sites, but the situation was resolved quickly enough. And until May 2023, there was practically no labor shortage. But in the last few months, we have been noticing a shortage of construction workers. We observe a shortage of all specialists,” the expert said.
According to her, the company’s construction volumes allow it to increase its staff by a third, but due to the shortage of personnel, it has to restructure its teams.
According to the Greenville Group, the staffing situation has somewhat leveled off compared to last year, but the group also experienced a labor shortage and began to re-staff construction teams.
“Currently, the shortage is 40% – all of them are highly qualified specialists. Among the scarce specialties on the market are electricians, crane operators, monolithic workers, handymen, and facade workers,” said Natalia Dubyk, project manager of the Greenville group of companies.
At the same time, Alliance Novobud managed to increase its staff at construction sites by expanding the types of work performed by its own labor force. In addition, the company noted an increase in female demand for construction jobs.
“Construction is mostly a male sphere, but amid the difficult situation with the search for workers and the overall economic situation in the country, there is some growth in interest in working on construction sites from women. Most often, these are painting professions related to interior decoration,” said Oleksandra Kachan, HR Director at Alliance Novobud.
The interviewed developers noted the positive dynamics of changes in the salaries of builders. Thus, Intergal-Bud and the Greenville Group of Companies estimated the salary growth in October 2023 at 15-20% compared to spring, and Kovalska Group – up to 25%. In general, developers expect further salary growth next year, provided the economic situation is stable.
At the same time, City One Development expects the shortage of personnel in the construction sector to increase after the war ends.
“Even after the specialists who are currently serving in the army return to work, it will still not be able to cover the shortage of personnel and compensate for the demand for professional construction specialists,” Novikov said.
A similar opinion was expressed by Oleksandr Nasikovsky, co-founder and managing partner of DIM Group. According to him, encouraging Ukrainians to get technical education should become a priority of government policy.
“The deepening deficit in certain highly skilled professions is due, in particular, to the low demand for technical education from young people. Today, there is an acute shortage of monolithic workers, crane operators, painters, and electricians. Encouraging Ukrainians to master construction specialties should be a priority for both the government and private businesses. The vocational education system must undergo radical changes. It will be useful to involve private players who are ready to create a kind of corporate training institutions and facilitate the acquisition of various professions by those who are willing,” the expert said.
The net profit of solvent banks in January-September 2023 reached UAH 109.9 billion, while in the same period of 222 this figure was only UAH 7.4 billion, the press service of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reports.
“The main factor in the sector’s profitability remains the growth of interest income, primarily from highly liquid assets,” the regulator emphasized.
According to the NBU, operating income of financial institutions increased by 17.9% over the first nine months of the year, while net interest income increased by 38.7%. “Despite the increase in interest expenses due to higher interest rates on deposits, interest income grew more significantly,” the central bank said.
It is indicated that net fee and commission income in January-September increased by 5.4% year-on-year, but at the same time, its growth rate gradually slowed down due to a weak increase in payment card transactions.
The share of interest income in 9M2017 increased to 67.9% from 59.2% last year, while commission income decreased to 21.6% from 23.4%, and income from foreign exchange operations decreased to 7.3% from 14.5% due to the stability of the hryvnia exchange rate.
Overall, net operating profit before provisions increased by 23.9% to UAH 139 billion.
Another factor behind the sharp increase in profit was a 17-fold reduction in provisioning to UAH 5.7 billion. At the same time, the regulator reminded that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, banks have formed UAH 104 billion of additional loan provisions.
In general, the sector’s return on equity as of October 1, 2023 amounted to 56.9% compared to 4.3% in 2022.
“The income tax accrued for the first nine months exceeded the corresponding annual figure for the historically most profitable year of 2021,” the NBU said. According to it, it amounted to UAH 19 billion against UAH 4.3 billion in the first nine months of last year.
It is reported that as of October 1 this year, only six banks out of 63 solvent banks made a loss, which in total amounted to UAH 155 million.
According to the NBU, preliminary results of the sustainability assessment show that banks generally adequately assess credit risks. However, possible adjustments to the valuation of assets and provisions by individual financial institutions may affect annual profitability, the regulator said.
According to the NBU, in September, the net profit of banks increased to UAH 14.8 billion from UAH 11.9 billion in August and almost reached the record figure of UAH 15.5 billion in July, while last September banks ended with a net loss of UAH 1.06 billion.
Nova Posta Group opened five Nova Post branches in Germany in October and plans to launch 13 more by the end of the year, according to a press release on Wednesday.
“By the end of the year we will open 13 more branches in Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Hanover, Bremen other cities. Our customers can already receive parcels from Ukraine in 7.7 thousand service points. Also in the near future we will provide an opportunity to receive parcels in partner post offices”, – said Sergey Simonov, CEO of Nova Post in Germany.
As reported, the first branch of Nova Post in Germany was opened in Berlin on June 30, 2023. There are already 7 Nova Post branches in German cities: in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Dresden, Frankfurt am Main and Cologne. Also, courier delivery is available to customers.
“Nova Posta already operates in Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Germany, Moldova and Romania.
In the network of “Nova Posta” in Ukraine at the beginning of July this year included more than 10 thousand offices and more than 14 thousand post offices.
The Group includes Ukrainian and foreign companies, including Nova Posta, NP Logistics, NovaPay payment system and Nova Posta Global.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” will plant more than 5.5 thousand hectares of new forests in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, said Yuriy Bolokhovets, CEO of the state enterprise.
“We have started the largest planting of new forests in the history of Ukraine in the South. This fall, we will create more than 5.5 thousand hectares in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions! This figure is incredible. Every year, no more than 200-300 hectares of new forest were planted in the regions. The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has increased the planting area twenty times,” he wrote on Facebook.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” intends to plant mixed forests that are more resilient and resistant to climate change. For planting, the company has selected petiolate oak, maples, pines, ash, and shrubs. The company will supply more than 800 thousand seedlings with a closed root system to the region.
According to the company’s CEO, the area of forests in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions does not exceed 140 thousand hectares. They are mainly for recreational purposes, with only sanitary felling (firewood). The income from timber sales, particularly in the form of firewood, would not even be enough for southern forestry enterprises to pay their salaries. Forestry in the region was chronically subsidized: staff worked on a quarter and half-time basis, there were no fuel and lubricants, no cultivators.
Mr. Bolokhovets named the lack of qualified personnel as one of the main problems of the industry. The Southern Forestry Office currently has more than 400 vacancies: forest master, forester, assistant, etc.
The reform in the industry has enabled the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” to optimize its work and make a profit, which has made it possible to find investments for the development of the southern region.
“Local foresters finally received salaries, equipment, fuel, and planting material. We have started working with communities – in the last two months alone, 1.7 thousand hectares have been transferred for planting. Finally, we have money, equipment, and land,” said the CEO.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” intends to make the development program for the southern region a long-term one.
As reported, the state specialized economic enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is one of the largest forest users in Europe and the largest forest user in Ukraine. It is managed by the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine. The company manages 6.6 million hectares of state forest land.
In 2016, Ukraine launched a forestry reform. It has already introduced the sale of unprocessed timber at electronic auctions. Since 2021, an interactive map of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
The industry has implemented the Forest in a Smartphone project, which contains a list of logging tickets for timber harvesting and allows you to check the legality of logging on the agency’s online map.
On June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber.
