At a meeting on Monday, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy, Housing and Utilities approved draft law No. 11146 on the siting, design and construction of Khmelnytsky NPP Units 3 and 4 (Kh3/X4).
According to the explanatory note to the draft law, the construction of the units based on the VVER-1000 reactor provides for the purchase of nuclear fuel, technologies, equipment, facilities, special non-nuclear materials and related services by NNEGC Energoatom from Westinghouse (USA).
The construction of X3/X4 will increase annual electricity production by 16.2 billion kWh and electricity supply by 15.4 billion kWh.
According to the Minister of Energy of Ukraine, Herman Galushchenko, the third unit can be connected to the grid in three years after the start of its completion, and the fourth unit in four years.
He clarified that the construction of X3/X4 is planned to be financed mostly by loans, and to a lesser extent by NNEGC’s own funds.
In his turn, Energoatom’s Chairman Petro Kotin reminded that the third unit will not be constructed from scratch, and the equipment for the construction part of the third unit is 80% ready.
“Today, the practical readiness for equipment installation is very high. As soon as the law you approved is signed, we will be able to start installing the equipment the next day,” he said.
Kotin clarified that a large number of specialists from the occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP who left the plant’s territory will take part in the construction of the units.
“By the end of the year, if everything goes well with the law, we plan to increase the number of people to 2,000 directly at the unit, most of them will be from ZNPP,” he said.
As reported, in July 2023, the Bulgarian parliament delegated the country’s energy minister to hold talks with the head of the Ukrainian Energy Ministry on the possibility of selling equipment intended for the Belene NPP to Kyiv. Bulgaria abandoned the project in 2012.
Earlier, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that the construction of Khmelnytsky NPP units 3-4 would add 2.2 GW to the power system to compensate for the loss of power capacity due to the war.
The Turkish company Anadolu Isuzu will supply new low-floor buses to Mykolaivpastans for a total of EUR 4.5 million as part of the Urban Public Transport of Ukraine project funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The announcement of the award of the contract based on the results of the tender was published in an annex to the Official Journal of the EU, which AllTransUA refers to.
The number of buses is not specified, however, as reported, in July 2023, the Chernihiv Automobile Plant of the Etalon Corporation stated that it had offered 55 buses for this amount, while two Turkish companies offered 26 and 28 units, respectively.
As reported, the terms of the tender provide for the supply of diesel-powered buses with a length of 8.2 m to 10.5 m, including basic and consumable spare parts, equipment and tools for maintenance and repair, and related services.
The buses must have a passenger capacity of at least 60 people, including at least 24 seats (plus one wheelchair space).
The first batch of buses should be delivered no later than five months from the date of receipt of the advance payment by the supplier, and the contract should be completed in 12 months.
Mykolaivpastrans announced the tender on April 5, 2023, as part of the resumption of cooperation with the EIB under the Urban Public Transport of Ukraine project.
In turn, in April this year, Kyivpastrans signed a contract with the same Turkish company for the supply of 12-meter fully low-floor buses for EUR 18.595 million (approximately up to 85 units) with EIB funding.
Ukrainian bus manufacturers have repeatedly noted that they are either unable to participate in EIB tenders due to the conditions or prefer foreign bidders.
The AM Best rating agency has revised its outlook for the global reinsurance industry sector from stable to positive, citing expectations of high reinsurer profitability, according to the AM Best website.
Despite the slowdown in reinsurance rate growth, underwriting discipline remains strong and profitability remains high enough to cover higher loss activity, as evidenced by the recently published Best’s Segment Outlook.
At the same time, it is emphasized that AM Best’s outlook for the global reinsurance market is positive for the first time in several years.
“Demand for insurance coverage remains strong due to increasing activity in natural catastrophe losses and general economic uncertainty,” said Carlos Wong-Fupui, senior director of AM Best. “We have also taken into account expectations of a slower decline in interest rates than originally anticipated, which is likely to support strong earnings in the short term.”
It is also noted that the reinsurance portfolios of the largest players continue to expand due to a combination of higher reinsurance rates and increased demand. Although the loss ratios in the first quarter of 2024 were affected by large losses, in particular the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the insurance margin and annual return on capital remain high.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in more than 100 countries and has regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Kenyan President William Ruto the creation of hubs for Ukrainian grain in African ports.
“Held a meeting with the President of Kenya William Ruto. Thank you for participation in the Peace Summit and a principled position of support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” – wrote Zelensky in his Telegram channel on Sunday night.
The Ukrainian head of state noted that at the meeting they discussed food security issues, which are very important for both countries, the development of Ukrainian-Kenyan relations and projects in the field of agricultural exports.
In addition, the parties considered the possible participation of Kenya in the creation of hubs for Ukrainian grain in African ports.
AFRICA, hubs, President of Kenya, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, UKRAINIAN GRAIN
The leading wholesale companies earned more than UAH 535 billion in 2023, according to the Opendatabot Index. The rating includes companies that trade in tobacco products, agricultural products, metal, pharmaceuticals, and food. Such giants as Philip Morris Sales and Distribution, Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK Trading and West Petrol Market dropped out of the ranking.
The total revenue of the top 10 wholesale companies amounted to UAH 535.34 billion in 2023. Earnings of the top 10 businesses in the Opendatabot Index increased by 17% compared to last year’s leaders.
For the third year in a row, Kernel Trade has been at the top of the ranking despite a 9% decrease in revenue to UAH 62.06 billion. This company, a part of Andriy Verevsky’s Kernel Group, is engaged in the wholesale of grain and sunflower oil. At the same time, the company’s net profit decreased by 15% to UAH 4.37 billion.
It is worth noting that at the end of April this year, the company changed its business line in the registers from wholesale trade to oil production.
Okko Express, a newcomer to the market established in September 2022, moved up to second place. Its revenue in 2023 amounted to UAH 61.89 billion, and its net profit reached UAH 1.15 billion. This fuel trading company ousted another UIG Group company, Okko Business Partner, from its position.
Tedis Ukraine, a member of the Kaufman family group, is in third place. Its revenue decreased by 5% to UAH 61.53 billion, and the company suffered a loss of UAH 539 million. The company is engaged in the wholesale trade of tobacco products.
The fourth place went to Badm, a company specializing in the wholesale of pharmaceuticals owned by Oleksandr Dytiatkovsky and Oleksandr Sukhodolsky. The company increased its revenue by 29% to UAH 56.73 billion, and its profit doubled to UAH 3.89 billion in 2023.
Another pharmaceutical company, Optima Pharm, held the fifth place in the ranking with revenue of UAH 56.73 billion. This is 28% more than in 2022. The owner of the company, which managed to increase its profits by 1.7 times last year, is Andriy Gubsky.
Yuriy Kosyuk’s MHP moved from 4th to 6th place in the Index, despite a 12% increase in revenue to UAH 50.65 billion. However, the company suffered a loss of UAH 1 billion in 2023.
Among the new entrants to the Opendatabot 2024 Index is DL Solution, established in August 2022 and owned by Israeli citizen Ari Weber. The company’s main activity is the wholesale of tobacco products. The company was ranked 7th with revenues of UAH 50.65 billion and net profit of UAH 61.36 million.
VOG Resource, a part of the Continuum group of Sergey Lagur and Stepan Ivakhiv, was ranked eighth, trading in fuel. The company increased its revenue by 30% to UAH 50.13 billion and showed the highest increase in net profit among competitors – 7 times to UAH 275 million.
Fozzy Commerce showed the largest revenue growth, rising to 9th place, increasing its revenue 7 times to UAH 41.85 billion. At the same time, the company’s net profit decreased by 10 times compared to the previous year. The company is part of Vladimir Kostelman’s Fozzy Group.
Rinat Akhmetov’s Metinvest-SMC closes the rating with a revenue of UAH 40.71 billion, up 36% from the first year of full-scale operations. Last year, the company, which wholesales metal and steel structures, made a profit of UAH 881.55 million, up almost a third from 2022.
Who dropped out of the ranking?
Three companies engaged in fuel wholesale dropped out of the top 10 list: Okko Business Partner, DTEK Trading, and West Petroleum Market. Philip Morris Sales and Distribution also left the ranking, despite a 36% increase in revenue in 2023.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/index-wholesale-trade-2024
