The top 100 largest state-owned companies in Ukraine in 2017 saw net profit rise by 38.5% compared to 2016, to UAH 44.4 billion, while 88.5% of this amount was the profit of Naftogaz, according to data released by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. “The main factor of the growth of Naftogaz Ukrainy’s profit in 2017 was the victory in arbitration proceedings against Gazprom, due to which Naftogaz received the largest net profit for 20 years,” the ministry said, noting that in 2017 the net profit of Naftogaz increased to UAH 39.3 billion against UAH 17.8 billion in 2016.
The enterprises of state-regulated industries have become the most profitable in the list of the top 100 companies, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Maksym Nefyodov said.
“At the same time, most companies remain extremely inefficient, as before. We have only one way out – to continue the corporate governance reform of those strategic state-owned companies that must remain in state ownership and hold a transparent privatization of other companies under the law adopted this year,” he said.
According to the ministry’s report, the total value of the assets of state-owned companies in 2017 compared to 2016 increased by 5% and amounted to more than UAH 1.509 trillion.
The State Automobile Roads Agency, also known as Ukravtodor, opened bids of contractors participating in a tender to build two-level traffic interchanges on M-05 Kyiv-Odesa and M-06 Kyiv-Chop highways. The press service of the agency reported that the tender to build two-level traffic interchanges was held as part of the implementation of the project of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) entitled “Pan-European Corridors Project/European road of Ukraine II, Improvement of traffic condition of the roads at approaches to Kyiv.” The tender for the work was held for the contracts, the financing of which will be carried out through a loan: lot No. 1 is construction of two-level interchanges on the M-05 highway, turn to the village of Chabany and turn to Boyarka and M-06 highway – completion of the alignment near the village of Stoyanka; Lot No. 2 is construction of two-level transport interchanges on the M-06 highway – turn tot eh village of Chaiky and turn to the village of Bilohorodka.
Seven companies submitted their bids: Fermak Insaat Taahhut A.S. (Turkey), China Road and Bridge Corporation (China), СП PBDiM Sp. z o. o. (Poland) and Ukrainian-Polish Company with foreign investments UPS LLC (Ukraine), JSC Euro-Asian Construction Corporation EVRASCON (Azerbaijan), Sinohydro Corporation Ltd. (China), Alke Insaat Sanaye ve Ticaret A.S. (Azerbaijan), Kauno Tiltai LLC (Lithuania).
AZERBAIJAN, BUILD INTERCHANGES, CHINA, COMPANIES, LITHUANIA, POLAND, TENDER, TURKEY
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko says that the reforms implemented in Ukraine are aimed at improving the investment climate. “We are resolutely implementing reforms to improve the investment climate significantly. The evaluation of the World Bank can be more trustworthy than the words of the president. In the Doing Business rating, Ukraine got from the 137th place, before my presidential term, to the 76th place – last year. No country has shown such dynamics. And we do everything possible to get to the top 50 shortly,” Poroshenko said in an interview with the German Handelsblatt business newspaper, quoted by the presidential press service on Monday.
According to Poroshenko, there was a thorough reform of the tax industry in Ukraine, reform in the education, medical and pension sectors, as well as energy sector in terms of state procurement and privatization, which the IMF did not initially believe in. Ukraine also carried out a revolutionary reform of the banking sector. “All these are very unpopular, yet required steps,” he said.
The president added that following the results of the competition for obtaining licenses for the use of 4G communications by mobile operators, Ukraine got UAH 8 billion instead of the expected UAH 5 billion.
“The most important thing is the opinion of investors, and many influential companies have come or returned to Ukraine,” the president said.
