In January-September of this year, Ukraine reduced pig iron exports in physical terms by 1.6% compared to the same period last year, to 1 million 60,091 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), pig iron exports in monetary terms amounted to $405.961 million in the period under review (down 26.3%).
At the same time, exports were carried out mainly to Poland (56.92% of supplies in monetary terms), Spain (22.05%) and the United States (6.51%).
In the first nine months of 2023, Ukraine imported 78 tons of pig iron worth $129 thousand from Germany (49.61%) and Brazil (50.39%), while no pig iron was imported in June and July. In the same period last year, 15 tons of pig iron were imported from Germany for $25 thousand.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of processed pig iron by 59% in physical terms compared to the previous year – to 1 million 325.275 thousand tons, and by 61.1% in monetary terms – to $638.774 million.
In 2022, Ukraine imported 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand, while in 2021 it imported 185 tons of pig iron worth $226 thousand.
Exports were made mainly to the United States (38.47% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (32.91%), and Turkey (8.12%), while imports were made from Germany (100%).
In 2022-2023 marketing year (MY), the planted area and production of high-oleic sunflower in Ukraine were the lowest in recent years.
According to the analytical agency UkrAgroConsult, in 2023-2024 MY the planted area is expected to increase slightly, but the production figures will remain extremely low.
“Before the war, the processing of high oleic sunflower reached almost 500 thsd tonnes, which is a good result for such a niche segment. Unfortunately, due to the war, Ukraine has lost both the results gained over the years and its share in the global high-oleic oil market,” the analysts stated.
They noted that high oleic oil remains an export-oriented commodity and almost all of it is exported.
The key issues remain the war, instability in the grain corridor and the ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine to Eastern Europe, which will affect the market of high-oleic sunflower, the experts emphasized.
However, according to analysts, the main factor limiting the expansion of the area under high-oleic sunflower in Ukraine is the unstable margin for agricultural producers.
“Sometimes low or no premium entails selling high-oleic seeds at the price of conventional raw materials, which does not always cover the cost of production. This leads to the refusal of agricultural producers to grow this type of sunflower or to reduce the area,” UkrAgroConsult emphasized.
The analysts reminded that before the war, the crushers encouraged farmers to grow high oleic sunflower: they offered to enter into forward agreements, provided seeds for growing with the subsequent purchase of raw materials with a premium.
“Starting from 2023-2024 MY, Ukraine will see a gradual resumption of high-oleic sunflower processing and oil refining, but it is still far from reaching the pre-war levels,” UkrAgroConsult summarized.
PJSC Ukrnafta is waiting for applications from potential partners for the joint development of 21 fields by January 10, 2024, the company’s press service reports.
According to the company, these are 10 fields in the west and 11 in the east of Ukraine.
It is specified that Ukrnafta plans to fully unlock the potential of its fields with sufficient reserves but low production rates, so it expects its partners to be ready to invest funds and technologies in exploration and production.
“If we talk about 2P reserves, i.e. proven and probable reserves, it is more than 12 million tons of oil and more than 31 billion cubic meters of gas,” said the company’s director Sergiy Koretsky.
According to the press release, Ukrnafta has already prepared draft contracts based on the best international practices. Preference is given to Product Sharing Agreements. The company’s contribution will be the field and the right to use the existing production infrastructure, while the partner’s contribution will be a field development plan to intensify production and finance the relevant works.
The algorithm for applying and selecting potential investors is as follows: candidates declare their interest, go through compliance procedures, get access to the Virtual Data Room with detailed information about the fields, and submit proposals for development plans and terms of cooperation.
Ukrnafta then evaluates the proposals, negotiates and selects the winners separately for each field. The parties then agree on the final text of the production sharing agreement, followed by the Cabinet of Ministers, after which the development plan is implemented.
Profits will be distributed according to the agreed terms.
As reported, Ukrnafta, which has been fully controlled by the state since the end of 2022, has a strategic goal to double oil and natural gas production to 3 million tons and 2 billion cubic meters by 2027, respectively. In 2023, the company plans to increase oil production by 5.8% (by 0.077 million tons) compared to last year to 1.447 million tons, and gas production by 0.3% (by 0.003 million cubic meters) to 1.04 billion cubic meters.
The State Enterprise “SETAM” (Ministry of Justice) has sold property worth over UAH 21 billion at the OpenMarket electronic auction. Since 2014, more than 81,000 successful auctions have been held.
Due to competition at the auctions, sellers received an additional UAH 2 billion. The average price increase for sold lots is 11.4%.
The auction user base is one of the largest in Ukraine. Today it includes more than 98 thousand participants, and new ones are added every day. Most lots (66.9% of the total) were sold at online auctions by the State Enforcement Service and private executors.
Among the categories of property sold, real estate and vehicles were the most popular.
“The new billion in sales proves that our auction is intuitive and convenient for buyers. And we continue to improve it, engage new partners and actively work with the existing ones: the State Enforcement Service, private executors, banks and others. Currently, the site has more than 1,000 active auctions and new ones appear every day,” said Oleksandr Mamro, CEO of SE SETAM.
The OpenMarket auction (SE SETAM of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine) is a simple and effective means of selling and purchasing property via the Internet. The online auction has been operating throughout Ukraine since 2014. The total amount of sales since its launch is UAH 21 billion.
Global digital communications operator VEON (office in the Netherlands) announced the completion of its exit from Russia and the sale of its Russian asset to Vimpelcom. The terms of the deal do not provide for the possibility of repurchase, i.e. the completion of operations in the Russian market is complete and final for VEON
As Kyivstar President Alexander Komarov comments, “after a long series of legal procedures, our 100% shareholder VEON puts an end to its relationship with the Russian telecom market. This will mean strengthening the company’s development strategy in six other markets, including Ukraine”. In particular, in the next three years, VEON plans to invest 600 million dollars in Ukraine, which will be used to restore the telecom network and develop digital services and new mobile technologies.
Oleksandr Komarov emphasized that Kyivstar has been operating as usual, and since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion has already invested UAH 8.2 billion in the development of the country’s telecom market, paid UAH 15.2 billion in taxes to the state, and provided support to state bodies, military, security and law enforcement agencies in the amount of more than UAH 1.4 billion, including bonuses and services without additional payment in the amount of UAH 577 million.
In addition, Kyivstar is now preparing the network to operate in conditions of possible power outages, for which it has invested UAH 988 mln. By the end of 2023, 110 thousand new batteries will be installed at Kyivstar’s base stations.
Background on Kyivstar
Kyivstar is Ukraine’s largest electronic communications operator, serving 24.1 million mobile subscribers and over 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers as of June 2023. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, services for cyber defense, digital TV, and others. Kyivstar helps subscribers, society and the country to overcome the difficulties of wartime. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the company has allocated more than UAH 1.4 billion of assistance to the state, military, society and subscribers. The only shareholder of Kyivstar is the international VEON Group. The Group’s shares are freely traded on the NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam) stock exchanges. Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for over 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.
