Austria’s voestalpine AG will invest about €1.5 billion in the construction of two electric arc furnaces, the steelmaker said in a statement.
Construction will start in 2024. The facilities will be commissioned in Linz and Donavitz, Austria, in 2027.
The new equipment will replace two blast furnaces and will run on green electricity, which could allow the company to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 30%. Voestalpine plans to replace two more blast furnaces after 2030.
The combined capacity of the two new electric furnaces is about 2.5 million tons of steel per year.
Voestalpine shares are down 0.5 percent in trading in Vienna on Wednesday.
The total area of residential buildings, which are issued permits for construction works (new construction) in 2022 decreased by 1.9 times compared with 2021 – up to 6.67 million square meters, said the State Statistics Service (Derzhstat).
According to statistics agency, in January-December 2022, the total area of new construction of apartment buildings was 6 million 528.5 thousand square meters (98% of the total volume). The number of apartments in apartment buildings declared at the beginning of construction was 85 thousand, which is 41% less than last year.
In Kiev last year, the total area of new housing construction decreased by 70% to 878.3 thousand square meters. m, in the Kiev region – by 33% – to 1.86 million square meters. m.
According to State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, in Lviv region the volume of new construction decreased only by 8% compared to the previous year and amounted to 1.01 million square meters. This is the smallest drop among all the regions.
In Khmelnytsky region the volume of new construction was decreased by 40% to 330.8 thousand m2 , in Odessa region – “minus” 70%, to 265.3 thousand m2 , in Kharkiv region – decreased by 69%, to 214.3 thousand m2 , in Ternopil region – “minus” 20%, to 258.7 thousand m2 , in Ivano-Frankivsk region – decreased by 16%, to 204.4 thousand m2.
At the same time, the volume of new construction in the Volyn region amounted to 425.1 thousand square meters in 2022, which is 2.3 times more than last year. The volume increase against the previous year was also recorded in the Rivne region – “plus” 13%, up to 194 thousand square meters.
In other regions of Ukraine the volume of new construction last year showed a drop to the previous year and was less than 200 thousand square meters.
Gosstat reminds that the figures do not include the temporarily occupied territory of the Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
After a long break, the construction of the subway to Vynohradar has been resumed in Kiev.
As the head of the Kyiv subway Viktor Brahinsky said on the air of TSN, the contractor has resumed the construction of a new subway station in Kyiv – Vinohradar: first the consolidation of already built tunnels will be completed, and then will begin construction of the second tunnel from Mostitskaya station to Syrets station.
According to Brahinsky, there is no clear timeline for the completion of the work yet, because the pace of construction is affected by the current situation in the country.
“Of course, the pace of construction is affected by the current situation, because construction crews and everyone involved in the construction during the air alert must be safe. In addition, the unstable power supply slows down the work process. But despite the difficulties arising from the war, the Kiev city authorities and the subway are making every effort to ensure that this project will continue,” – said the head of the subway.
Previously, the capital authorities had promised the citizens to open the first station at the end of 2021, but it did not meet the deadline, and then the war began. According to the previously published project, the Kyiv subway is going to build four new stations from “Syrets” terminus: “Mostitskaya”, “Prospekt Pravda”, “Vinogradar” and “Marshala Grechko Street”.
Cyprus T.A.S. Overseas Investments Limited from Sergiy Tigipko’s TAS Group intends to acquire over 25% in Austrian TransAnt GmbH (Linz), a joint venture (JV) established by Austrian ÖBB Rail Cargo Group and voestalpine Stahl GmbH to produce innovative and cost-effective railway freight cars.
According to a message of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) on its website, the agency has already provided T.A.S. Overseas Investments Limited with appropriate authorization based on its application and applications from TransAnt and voestalpine Stahl.
In addition, the Cypriot Competition Authority also announced that it had received a notification in connection with the proposed acquisition by TAS Overseas Investments Limited of a share in a charter capital of TransAnt GmbH on January 24 this year.
TransAnt GmbH is a joint venture established at the end of 2020 between Rail Cargo Austria Aktiengesellschaft and voestalpine Stahl GmbH with the aim of operating in the rail freight sector. At this stage, TransAnt is not engaged in commercial activities. However, after the completion of this transaction, it is expected to be actively engaged in production, development, supply, sale and lease of “flex” wagons and superstructures for the transport of goods in the industrial sector.
Rail Cargo Group originally announced plans for parity ownership in the JV with voestalpine, but currently holds a 19.8% share, according to the Austrian register, while voestalpine holds 80.2%.
In this regard, the AMCU classifies TransAnt GmbH and voestalpine Stahl GmbH and their related companies as a single business entity – VAS Group. It is a global steel and technology group operating in the automotive, consumer, aerospace, oil and gas, and rail industries, which is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange and has no ultimate beneficial owners.
TAS Group was founded in 1998 by businessman Sergiy Tigipko. Its business interests cover the financial sector (banking and insurance segments) and pharmacy, as well as industry, real estate, and venture projects.
The Kiev City Council has approved changes to the Program of Social and Economic Development of Kiev in 2021-2023, directing the balance of unused subventions from the state budget in the amount of 256,4 million UAH for building Podolsky Bridge across the Dnieper.
According to the press service of the Kyiv City Council, the corresponding decision at the meeting on February 9 was supported by 75 deputies.
According to the message, unused means of subvention were intended for maintenance and development of highways.
In addition, 23.1 mln UAH of unused subvention for social and economic development of certain territories were aimed at capital construction and repair of infrastructure objects of the capital, including 5.4 mln UAH for reconstruction of the stadium of special school № 10.
Also 17.7 million UAH were sent for capital repairs: 5.2 million UAH for the square near the theater named after Ivan Franko, 6.9 million UAH and 3.7 million UAH for repairs of two kindergartens and one school in Darnitsky district, 1.9 million UAH for the repair of schools in Solomensky district of the capital.
The construction of a building technology campus of Kingspan, an Irish manufacturer of energy-efficient insulation technology, is scheduled to start in 2024, and the company has already started looking for a site in the Lviv region because of its proximity to the border, according to a UkraineInvest press release on Thursday.
According to it, the campus will include six production areas, including the production of insulation materials and district heating solutions. The campus will produce construction products with high added value. The project includes a green, low-carbon manufacturing facility.
Kingspan is reportedly investing more than EUR200 million in the construction. Construction will take about five years. The implementation of the project will create 600-800 new jobs.
Kingspan was founded in 1965 in Ireland, specialized in production of building solutions for building envelopes (roofs, walls, facades), as well as protective walls, cold doors, high-tech solid urethane and solid phenolic thermal insulation for roofs, walls, floors and pipelines. It operates 200 production facilities around the world. The company came to Ukraine in 2005.
In April 2022, Kingspan announced the completion of its exit from the Russian business. Russia accounted for less than 1% of the company’s global operations. It also donated $750,000 to UNICEF to set up five Blue Dot centers to help refugees on the Ukrainian border.
UkraineInvest, the Investment Attraction and Support Office of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, provides organizational and advisory support for investors to prepare projects for implementation.
