The Business Activity Outlook Index (BAOI), calculated by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), fell to 48.6 in December from 49.8 in November, and continued to fall below the neutral level, as evidenced by the results of a survey of enterprises released on Tuesday conducted by the central bank.
“For the second month in a row, business expectations for their economic results were below neutral levels amid continuing quarantine restrictions. Surging energy prices, shortages of raw materials, higher production costs, a greater probability of an escalation of the armed conflict and an increase in COVID-19 cases worldwide weakened expectations in all of the surveyed sectors,” the National Bank said, commenting on the results of the December poll.
According to the study, services companies have been expecting weaker performance for two months running, the DI being 47.8 in December, down from 48.8 in November. Respondents expected a decrease in the number of new orders, while also expecting no change in the amount of services provided. At the same time, they expected an increase in the amount of services that are being provided.
The expectations of trading companies also worsened, moving below their neutral level, as the sector’s DI dropped to 49.6 in December, down from 50.0 in November. Respondents expected an increase in the stocks of goods for sale, while also expecting the amount of goods purchased for sale to be unchanged on the previous month. Trading companies said they intended to decrease their trade margins further. With a seasonal rise in demand, respondents remained upbeat about their trade turnover.
Construction companies reported the most pessimistic expectations of their performance, as the sector’s index dropped to 47.2 in December, down from 50.4 in November, dragged down by a seasonal decline in economic activity and narrowing investment demand. Respondents expected a drop in the number of new orders and, consequently, a drop in their purchases of raw materials and supplies.
Industrial companies were pessimistic about their performance and economic outlook for the first time in the last seven months, as the sector’s DI dropped to 49.0, down from 50.7 in November. Respondents expected a decrease in the number of new export orders.
According to the NBU, employment expectations worsened: only trading companies said they intended to hire more staff, while industrial, construction and services companies reported intentions to cut their workforces.
The monthly survey was conducted from December 6 to December 23, 2021. A total of 405 companies were polled. Of the companies polled, 44.7% are industrial companies, 28.6% services companies, 20.7% trading companies, and 5.9% construction companies; 33.3% of the respondents are large companies, 28.9% medium companies, and 37.8% small companies.
In January-October 2021, Ukrainian banks issued 8,700 mortgage loans in the amount of UAH 7 billion, which is twice as high as the figure over ten months of 2020 in the number of such loans and 2.5 times more in the volume, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said on Wednesday following a monthly survey of banks. According to it, lending in October decreased by 4.7% over the month in terms of the volume of mortgage loans (UAH 774 million) and increased by 2% in terms of the number – to 963 agreements.
The press service noted that the mortgage lending market remains concentrated: the five most active banks have concluded 90% of new deals.
Loans for the purchase of housing in the secondary real estate market are still overtaking the primary market: in October, their share exceeded 90% of all mortgage loans issued, both in terms of the number of contracts and in terms of the money volume, the press release says.
According to the survey, the average amount of a mortgage loan in October was lower than in September – UAH 803,900 versus UAH 858,100.
According to the NBU, in October the average effective rate of a mortgage loan in the secondary market decreased by 0.4 percentage points, to 13.5%, and in the primary market – by 2 percentage points, to 14.9%.
Sitronics Telecom Solutions Ukraine LLC (Kyiv) changed its name to Seeton Group LLC, rebranded and starts operating in the markets of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
According to a message of the Ukrainian system integrator, circulated on Thursday, the company will focus on priority sectors where the IT component is most in demand: telecommunications and banking, industry, energy, agro, retail – and will strengthen cooperation with the public sector.
The new strategy envisages both intensification of activities in Ukraine and expansion of presence in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
Earlier in the same year, Sitronics changed its owner, in connection with which it revised its development strategy and lines of business. Also, a full-fledged rebranding was carried out, during which the company changed its name to Seeton, changed its visual style and revised its philosophy: mission, values and principles of work.
Expanding its technological activities in system integration, Seeton develops IT consulting. The company is actively working in the field of information security, business intelligence, servers, data storage systems and directly in consulting, helping companies and organizations, based on analytics and forecasting, comprehensively solve problems and plan the implementation of IT projects.
“Now we are entering the international market and will be able to apply the experience of working in Ukraine in other countries that are also on the path of digitalization,” Bohdan Khoroschak, director of Seeton, quoted by the press service.
At the same time, it is noted that in the next few years Seeton intends to invest in the development of employee competencies, expansion of the team and intensive training of specialists on existing and new products.
The second area of investment is business development abroad. Seeton has already opened a representative office in Azerbaijan, where it is conducting new projects with its first clients, and is planning further development in the Caspian region and in the neighboring countries of Ukraine.
As reported, in October 2020, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine allowed relatives of owner of NEQSOL Holding Nasib Hasanov, who is a 100% beneficiary of the second largest Ukrainian mobile operator Vodafone Ukraine, to acquire 100% of Sitronics Telecom Solutions Ukraine LLC.
Sitronics Telecom Solutions Ukraine provides services in the Ukrainian market for technological solutions, structured cabling systems, networks and IT optimization expertise.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Icelandic Foreign Minister Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir signed an agreement on air services at the meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers Council in Stockholm.
“The agreement creates the possibility of regular direct flights between Ukraine and Iceland,” the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
The document defines the procedure for regulating international flights between the two countries and the procedure for the designation of airlines, establishes the conditions for granting permits for regular flights, provides for the mutual recognition of crew member certificates, and contains provisions for aviation security.
In addition, the agreement establishes a mechanism for the inspection of airlines to assess their compliance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Prices for construction and assembly work in Ukraine in October 2021 increased by 19.6% compared to October 2020, the State Statistics Service has reported.According to the statistics department, prices increased in all construction segments: in residential construction – by 16.1%, in non-residential – by 19.7%, in engineering – by 21.6%.Compared to the previous month, the cost of construction of residential, non-residential buildings and engineering structures increased by 1.8%, 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively.Since the beginning of the year, the rise in prices for construction work amounted to 17.7%, the service added.As reported, in 2020 prices for construction work in Ukraine increased by 3.7% compared to the previous year, while in 2019 – by 6%.The figures are given without taking into account the annexed territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the service notes.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking about “red lines” for business representatives, believes that they should not influence people’s votes, participate in elections and finance strikes. “You don’t need to influence people’s opinions because you have something. For example, you have control over a large number of people because of the presence of a large number of enterprises. You cannot tell them to vote for this or that person and pay or delay wages in connection with this. Another story: as a businessman, in principle, you should not take part in elections… Further: you have no right to finance strikes. You have no right to ‘pester’ the population, distribute money. It’s hard for the country,” Zelensky said at a marathon press conference on Friday, answering the question of which “red lines” business representatives should not cross.According to Zelensky, business representatives also have no right to bribe MPs.“Well, how can you buy people? It’s slavery,” he said.He also added that people need to see the real situation with who this or that businessman is.“If there is no influence it is cool. We have so rich people. Well, give jobs, develop. The state is very interested, because today it is very difficult to find international investments in the state, but there is domestic investment. We need to reinvest,” the president added.
