The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) has included Turkish Şişecam Group, which is the largest exporter in the Russian Federation in its industry, in the list of international sponsors of war, the press service of the NAPC reports.
The main areas of activity of the company are glass and chemical production. Şişecam Group is the world’s second largest producer of glassware, the fifth largest producer of glass containers and sheet glass, and a world leader in the production of soda ash and chromium-based chemicals.
Şişecam’s 2022 revenue increased to $3.6 billion and net profit to $740 million.
Since the start of Russian aggression in 2014, Sisecam Flat Glass has been producing architectural, construction and automotive glass in Russia at the Alabuga SEZ in the Republic of Tatarstan. In Russia, Şişecam’s consolidated production volumes of flat glass, glassware and glassware exceed 1.5 million tons per year, with total investments of $1.25 billion. The company provides jobs for 3,414 employees at its plants in Russia, thereby creating jobs and supporting the terrorist state’s economy.
In particular, Şişecam Group’s subsidiaries producing sheet glass, glassware and glass containers paid more than $11.2 million in taxes to the Russian Federation in 2022.
The NAPC release notes that there was no attempt to condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine from the company’s management.
Şişecam Group has two assets in Ukraine – Pivdenna Brewery LLC and Merefianska Sklana Kompaniya.
Japan’s financial, humanitarian and technical assistance to Ukraine has already exceeded 7.6bn dollars. Japan’s financial, humanitarian and technical assistance to Ukraine has already exceeded 7.6bn dollars, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk has said.
“Ukraine is grateful to all G7 countries, especially Japan, which is chairing the G7 this year, for its consistent position in support of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our state. We are grateful to Japan for its principled position in the UN structures, in particular, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Ukraine is grateful to Japan for its unprecedented decisions to provide non-lethal military assistance and for receiving Ukrainian evacuees. We are immensely grateful for Japan’s financial, humanitarian and technical assistance, which has already exceeded 7.6 billion dollars. The Ukrainian parliament speaker said in a statement at a press conference at the National Press Club of Japan on Thursday.
Stefanchuk also expressed gratitude to the Japanese side for consistent cooperation with Ukrainian and foreign partners to bring the aggressor to justice.
“The investigation of the UN International Court of Justice, the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, the International Center for the Punishment of the Crime of Aggression in The Hague, the Register of Damage Caused by Aggression and the Compensation Fund are the main tools on this path. Russia must be stopped. Criminals must realize that punishment is inevitable,” he stressed.
In addition, the head of the VR noted that Ukraine counts on Japan’s support not only during the war, but also in times of peace, as Ukraine will need assistance and investments for post-war reconstruction of the destroyed economy.
“We would also like to utilize Japan’s incredible experience in rebuilding after wars and natural disasters. Therefore, I am pleased to welcome Japanese government agencies and companies to Ukraine to work together,” the speaker added.
As reported, on September 6-10, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk is on a working visit to Japan. In Tokyo, the speaker will take part in the parliamentary summit of the G7 countries (G7). He has been invited as a special guest of the summit. The program of the visit includes a number of bilateral meetings and Stefanchuk’s speech before the participants of the G7 parliamentary summit.
The working visit of the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament takes place against the background of an active dialog with Japan on Ukraine’s support in countering the Russian aggressor (in 2023 Japan will chair the G7).
Among the main goals of the visit are to strengthen the assistance to Ukraine from the G7 countries, to complement the efforts of the President and the Government of Ukraine and to expand cooperation with the parliaments of the G7 countries.
In addition, the aim is to strengthen bilateral relations between Japan and Ukraine and expand cooperation.
The regions of Western Ukraine became the leader in terms of agricultural land prices in the summer of 2023, according to the data of the Opendatabot service.
According to the infographics of the resource, in June of this year, the most expensive agricultural land was in Lviv (139.4 thousand UAH/ha), Ivano-Frankivsk (84.391 thousand UAH/ha) and Kyiv (61.611 thousand UAH/ha) regions. The minimum price was recorded in Kharkiv region – 26.3 thousand UAH/ha.
In July, the leading regions in terms of land prices were Rivne (144.2 thousand UAH/ha), Ivano-Frankivsk (140.9 thousand UAH/ha) and Lviv (103.647 thousand UAH/ha) regions. During this period, the cheapest land was bought in Donetsk region – 19.08 thousand UAH/ha.
Ivano-Frankivsk region was the leader in terms of the cost of agricultural land in August, although prices were lower – 111.5 thousand UAH/ha. Lviv (91.987 thousand UAH/ha) and Khmelnytsky (53.019 thousand UAH/ha) regions were in the TOP-3. Zaporizhzhia region became the anti-leader in the last month of summer – 26.57 thousand UAH/ha.
The average cost of agricultural land in Ukraine in June amounted to 39.86 thousand UAH/ha, in July – 44.9 thousand UAH/ha, in August – 39.85 thousand UAH/ha.
At the same time, the area of land sold during the summer decreased from 14.9 thou hectares in June to 13.4 thou hectares in July and 10.45 thou hectares in August.
According to the report, the average cost per hectare for the entire period of work on the land market is about 37 thousand UAH/ha. In the first month after the resumption of work in May 2022, prices reached 43 thousand UAH/ha.
As reported, the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), with the support of the USAID AGRO Program, is conducting a study of the land market in Ukraine. During the last analysis, analysts identified two systemic problems: the low level of price registration in the State Register of Rights and the underestimation of land prices during transactions.
“Since the beginning of 2023, the share of transactions with a registered price has amounted to only 18.8% of all sales transactions, while in 2022 this figure was 34.4%, and in 2021 – 55.0%. At the same time, in 60% of cases where the price of the land plot was indicated, it was at the lowest possible level, i.e. at the level of the normative monetary value (NMV). The ratio between purchase and sale prices and lease prices at electronic land auctions at 1:4.5 indicates that the registered prices of purchase and sale transactions are twice lower than the market prices,” the study says.
Source: https://opendatabot.ua/open/land
Primary registrations of new buses (including minibuses) in Ukraine in August increased by 97.2%, or 103 units, compared to July this year – up to 209 units, according to the statistics of the association “Ukravtoprom”.
At the same time, compared to August last year, when 59 buses were registered, the demand increased more than 2.5 times.
As reported, in July-2023 the registration of new buses decreased by 17.2% compared to June.
The position of the leader last month (as in July) was retained by Citroen buses with registration of 72 units, which is by 20 vehicles more than a month earlier (in August-2023 – one bus), the second place is held by Ataman buses produced by JSC “Cherkassy Bus” with registration of 52 vehicles against 23 in July-2023 and 17 – in August last year.
The third place was held by Ukrainian “Etalon” with registration of 51 buses against 8 in July, and another Ukrainian manufacturer – ZAZ – moved up to the fourth line, 11 buses of this brand were registered (in July – one).
Next are Ford (8 buses), the same number of registered buses “Bogdan”, which were not registered neither in July this year, nor in August last year.
Volkswagen (3) JAC (2) Iveco and MAN buses (one each) were registered in August in insignificant volumes.
Thus, in January-August 2023 the total primary registrations of new buses of all classes in Ukraine amounted to 1094 units. – Almost 2.4 times more than in the same period of 2022.
As market experts noted earlier, the bus market is “gradually reviving” (except for the extra large class).
Fertility in Ukraine as of 31.07.2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Ukraine has begun exporting grain through Croatian seaports, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko said during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia Andrej Plenkovic at the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Bucharest.
“Ukrainian grain has already been exported through Croatian ports. Thank you for this opportunity. This trade route, although niche, is already popular. We are ready to develop it by expanding the capabilities of the transportation corridor. We believe that this logistics route will play an important role in bilateral trade between our countries even after the war,” the press service of the Ministry of Economy and Trade quoted her as saying.
According to the report, the parties discussed bilateral trade and exports of Ukrainian grain through Croatian ports. They also discussed the importance of jointly resolving the issue of export restrictions for Ukrainian exports. The meeting also touched upon the issues of demining, war crimes investigation, and opening new trade routes for Ukrainian grain exports.
The parties raised the issue of accelerating the localization of demining equipment production to start its production at the facilities of domestic enterprises.
“One of the most important tasks for Ukraine in the near future is to demine the territories and return potentially contaminated land to use. Both post-war recovery and further development of the national economy depend on the speed of this process. That is why we are grateful to all partners who help Ukraine resolve this issue,” Svyrydenko emphasized.
Plenkovic offered to assist Ukraine in investigating war crimes. This includes sharing Croatia’s experience and expertise in establishing special prosecutors and special police to investigate crimes committed during the war.
As reported, the main routes for exporting Ukrainian agricultural products after the shelling of port infrastructure on the Black Sea remain land transport and seaports on the Danube.
In May 2023, the European Commission banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the European Commission extended the ban until September 15, 2023.
