Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for $1, IN 01.12.2023-31.12.2023)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The work of the non-governmental National Association for Humanitarian Demining has been launched in Ukraine, its head Meri Hakobyan said on Monday during the presentation of the association.
“The key mission of the association will be to promote the rapid and professional clearance of Ukraine’s territories of explosive hazards with the involvement of all interested stakeholders, including mine clearance equipment manufacturers, accredited demining operators, and government agencies,” she said.
Among the main directions of Hakobyan’s activity she singled out joining efforts and communication with state authorities on humanitarian demining, development of recommendations on improvement of normative-legal support in the sphere of humanitarian demining, assistance in improving the quality of professional training of industry specialists, development, discussion and making proposals on reasonable types of classifiers, standards, operational reliability and safety of demining, raising public awareness,
The primary task of the Association will be the preparation of the state professional standard of the new profession “Humanitarian Demining Deminer”, as well as the creation of a system and methodology for training such deminers, preparation of amendments to the law of Ukraine on “Mine Action” and communication with the media.
As Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravaynyy emphasized, the National Association for Humanitarian Demining is an initiative coming from business and civil society and may become a precondition for the formation of a demining market in the state.
In particular, he said, there are currently 32 humanitarian demining operators in the country, of which about 20 are Ukrainian in the status of Limited Liability Companies.
“This shows that the Ukrainian business goes into the sphere of demining, is ready to invest resources, money, to develop in this direction and develop the market,” – said the Deputy Minister.
In turn, the Ambassador of Japan in Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda said that one of the priorities of the Japanese government is precisely the provision of assistance to Ukraine in the field of humanitarian demining.
“We have been working with the Cambodian demining center for 25 years. We have developed many methodologies and will share our own developments and technologies with Ukraine … Japan will support the entire Ukrainian demining sector until the last mine in Ukraine is cleared,” he said.
He recalled that the Japanese government has already transferred to Ukraine 30 special tractors, dozens of wagons and pickup trucks to locate mines and another 22 special mine clearance vehicles will be transferred in June this year.
Ruslan Beregulya, head of the Main Directorate of Mine Action of the Defense Ministry, said that 950 people have been affected by explosive objects since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Of these, 289 have died and 661 have been injured or maimed.
The list includes the largest businesses with an impeccable business reputation.
The Opendatabot Index is an analytical tool that allows to assess the real situation and geography of Ukrainian business. The Index is based on data from state registers, Opendatabot registers, financial statements of companies, information on relations with Russia, sanctions lists and other analytical tools of Opendatabot.
The Opendatabot 2024 Index takes into account both financial indicators (financial statements of companies for 2023) and business reputation of businesses. In particular, the list excludes sanctioned companies or businesses with owners from the Russian Federation. The Index also includes companies associated with public figures, MPs or politicians who are required to declare their income.
It is worth noting that this year’s list does not include municipal and state-owned enterprises.
“Built on the financial statements and revenue of companies, the Opendatabot Index gives a complete picture of what happened to Ukrainian business in 2023,” comments Oleksiy Ivankin, founder of Opendatabot.
The index reflects the view of Ukrainian companies from the perspective of current state registers, so it may differ from the view created in the public information space.
The weight and share of the industry and region are calculated based on the top companies and their turnover. This approach makes it possible to understand and assess the impact of a region on the economy of the whole country, the financial capacity of industries and the position of the largest players in each industry.
For a more detailed analysis of each specific industry, you can use the classifier of economic activities from Opendatabot.
According to Metinvest Group’s annual report, in 2023 Metinvest’s revenue decreased by 11% to $7.397 bln by 2022, mainly due to lower steel, iron ore and coking coal selling prices, which were in line with global rates. Also, sales volumes of pig iron, slabs, flat and tubular products were affected by the war from the suspension of production at Mariupol steel mills. At the same time, Metinvest increased shipments of other products in its portfolio (primarily billets by 6%, long products by 28%, pellets by 70% and coking coal concentrate by 32%), as well as steel and coke resales on the back of higher production at Zaporizhstal.
A significant factor supporting iron ore sales in H2 2023 was the opening of the Black Sea corridor for sales to distant markets.
Also, Metinvest’s revenue in Ukraine grew by 14% to $2.628 bln mainly due to a recovery in demand for iron ore and coking coal, as well as for flat and long products.
In turn, the group has had to make profound changes to its business operations as it continues to strive for adaptability and resilience.
“We have adjusted our supply chain and are strengthening relationships with our suppliers and customers to withstand the current conditions. At the beginning of 2023, the company experienced significant challenges, particularly due to power outages. However, by implementing the necessary changes to respond to this crisis, we were able to achieve a gradual recovery of production,” states the CEO.
He emphasized that the resumption of Ukrainian commercial shipping in the Black Sea later in 2023 was an important moment for Metinvest, allowing to increase capacity utilization. “We are cautiously optimistic about this undoubtedly positive development, while recognizing the ongoing military threats,” the top manager added.
According to him, these developments have directly impacted the group’s financial performance, improving the situation and allowing us to focus on operational efficiency, flexibility and strategic planning for future growth.
“Metinvest remains committed to servicing its debt obligations, having repaid the remaining principal amount of the group’s 2023 bonds redeemed last year on time and in full, while maintaining its deleveraging approach, Ryzhenkov said.
“Although Metinvest has focused its investments in 2023 mainly on maintaining its assets, I firmly believe that we must start preparing for the future. Our ambitions have not diminished; we have laid the foundation for Steel Dream, our visionary vision for rebuilding Ukraine. Despite the war, our commitment to a green transformation strategy also remains unchanged. This vision embodies our determination not only to dream, but also to plan a pilot project on low-carbon steel technology in Italy,” summarized the CEO.
“Metinvest consists of mining and metallurgical enterprises located in Ukraine, Europe and the United States. Its major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), jointly managing it.
COKING COAL, IRON ORE, METINVEST, PIG IRON, REVENUE, ROLLED PRODUCTS, slabs, STEEL
In 2023, Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group sold 48% of its steel and mining products in the European Union (EU), compared to 49% in 2022.
According to the Group’s annual report, in 2023, Metinvest sold 35% of its total products in Ukraine (28% in 2022), 2% (7%) in MENA, 1% (3%) in the CIS, 7% (4%) in Asia, 6% (6%) in North America and 1% (3%) in other regions for a total of $7.397 billion ($8.288 billion).
At the same time, the share of the company’s steel segment’s revenue in the EU last year was 50% (49% in 2022), it sold 38% of its steel products in Ukraine (30%), 3% (10%) in MENA, 1% (4%) in the CIS, no supplies in Asia in 2023 or 2022, 7% (6%) in North America, and 1% (1%) in other regions for a total of $4.846 billion ($5.716 billion).
In addition, the company’s share of iron ore sales in the EU in 2023 was 44% (51%), in Ukraine – 30% (22%), in MENA – 0% (2%), in Asia – 20% (13%), in North America – 5% (6%), and in other regions – 1% (7%) for a total of $2.551 billion ($2.572 billion).
Demand and prices for Ukrainian sunflower oil are growing on the global market, with prices rising by $30-38 per tonne over the past week, APK-Inform news agency reported based on its own monitoring.
“The Ukrainian export market of sunflower oil was dominated by the price growth amid similar trends in the global vegetable oil market. Thus, the demand prices for Ukrainian sunflower oil in the ports reached the maximum since the beginning of the season-2023/2024 and as of March 18, they are mainly fixed in the range of $780-795/ton CPT port. This is $30-38/ton higher than the prices of the previous week,” the analysts said.
In addition, last week the exports of sunflower oil increased to 156 thsd tonnes. This is 9% higher than the previous week, according to APK-Inform.
