Pharmaceutical company PJSC Farmak (Kyiv) is exploring opportunities of exporting active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs, substances). The company may ship the first batches of APIs as early as late in 2019, Head of Farmak’s API Department Vasyl Kushniruk said during a press tour to the town of Shostka in Sumy region, where the company has an APIs production facility. “There are no sales today, but we plan to start selling in October this year and ship first tonnes of the substances,” he said.
If necessary, Farmak may triple API output, he said. “We have premises where we are ready to deploy lines to produce APIs if there is a sales market. Over a year we can triple our planned capacity,” he said. “Before last year, the company was not involved in sales of substances and we didn’t plan to sell them, but we have already got several requests that showed that there is demand for the purchase of substances, in particular, in the European market, and we are studying this issue,” he said.
Farmak’s investment in the organization of production of APIs in Shostka in 2010-2017 amounted to $40 million.
Farmak started producing APIs at the Svema industrial park in Shostka in 2015. The production meets environmental and GMP standards. In 2018, emissions of pollutants into the air by the API production department in Shostka amounted to only 1.9 tonnes per year, which is within the established limits. Of these emissions, 99% are those from the boiler house.
Farmak’s API production facility in Shostka is equipped with modern equipment and the latest air and water purification systems with a purity level of 95-99%. Its equipment was supplied by such well-known European brands as MVB and GEA. Thanks to modern sewage treatment plants of famous brands, the company’s impact on the environment is minimum.
In 2017, Farmak produced about 80 tonnes of APIs.
As was reported, PJSC Farmak opened a new production site for tablet production in December 2018, investment in amounted to EUR 20 million. The site will allow Farmak to double the capacity for the production of solid dosage forms, to 3 billion units per year.
By 2023, Farmak plans to increase exports to 40%. Currently, the share of Farmak’s exports is more than 25% of total sales.
PJSC Farmak is among Ukraine’s top three pharmaceutical producers and is a member of the Association Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU).
PJSC Farmak’s beneficiary is Chairperson of PJSC Farmak’s supervisory board Filia Zhebrovska. She owns 80% of the company’s shares.
In 2017, Farmak increased sales in the country’s retail pharmaceutical market by 21% in monetary terms. Its net profit grew by 29.9%, to UAH 839.09 million.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has permitted the manufacturer of blood-derived products Biopharma Plasma LLC (Kyiv region) to sell donor blood preparations outside of the country for the indefinite period of time. The government approved the resolution at a meeting on Tuesday. The implementation of the resolution will contribute to an increase in the volume of production of medicines and the expansion of the export potential of Ukraine.
As reported, at the end of 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers issued Biopharma Plasma a license to export 32 names of medicines and medical products outside Ukraine in 2018.
Biopharma is among the ten largest Ukrainian drug manufactures. Biopharma produces more than 20 immunobiological preparations of blood, as well as drugs obtained by recombinant DNA technology and probiotics.
According to the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, shares in Biopharma Plasma belong to Niobera Investments Limited (Cyprus). The holder of a majority stake and the beneficiary (the holder) of the majority stake of the shareholder Niobera Investments Limited is Kostiantyn Yefymenko. Another beneficiary of Niobera Investments Limited is Vasyl Khmelnytsky.
BIOPHARMA, DONOR BLOOD, EXPORT, INDEFINITE PERIOD, PREPARATIONS
The European Union has called on Ukraine to lift the moratorium on the export of round timber, as well as introduce administrative and institutional reforms and ensure the functioning of an efficient and transparent administrative system. “The EU encouraged Ukraine to continue fighting vested interests in order to improve the business and investment climate and eliminate swiftly trade irritants, such as the wood export ban,” according to the statement following a meeting of the Council of the Ukraine-EU Association, held in Brussels.
“Particular focus should be on effective and timely implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, and to further facilitate trade and eliminate technical barriers to trade, including as regards customs procedures, technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary systems as well as food safety reform, public procurement and the protection of intellectual property rights,” the report says.
“The Ukrainian side reaffirmed its commitments to technical regulation reform, notably the need to speed up adoption of sectoral and horizontal legislation, including in the area of market surveillance,” it says.
The EU pointed out that “Ukraine shall comply with all prerequisites set out in the AA/DCFTA including incorporating the relevant EU acquis into its legislation, making the administrative and institutional reforms and providing the efficient, effective and transparent administrative system, which are indispensable prior to starting ACAA [Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products] negotiations,” it said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in December reviewed upwards the forecast for export of corn from Ukraine in 2018/19 agricultural year (July-June) by 1 million tonnes compared with the September forecast, to 28 million tonnes.
According to a posting on the website of the USDA, the forecast for corn harvest for 2018 is increased by 1.5 million tonnes, to 35 million tonnes.
Corn production in in Ukraine increased thanks to larger crops harvested, and if the forecast volumes are harvested the harvest forecast this month would exceed the previous record hit in 2016/17 agri-year by almost 20%, the department said.
USDA retained its forecast for export of wheat from Ukraine in 2018/19 agri-year at 16.5 million tonnes and the harvest forecast – at 25 million tonnes.
In general, USDA revised upwards the forecast for grain harvest in Ukraine by 1.5 million tonnes, to 68.7 million tonnes and grain exports – by 1 million tonnes, to 49.2 million tonnes.
Ukraine in January-November 2018 increased exports of poultry by 22.2%, to 303,890 tonnes, the State Fiscal Service reported on its website.
At the same time, according to the service, in monetary terms exports of these products increased by 32.8%, to $471.98 million.
Imports of poultry meat and offal for the 11 months of 2018 grew by 13.8%, to 121,670 tonnes, in monetary terms by 10.7%, to $48.42 million.
According to the service, export of pork in January-November 2018 decreased by 2.8 times compared with the corresponding period of 2017, to 1,650 tonnes. This product was delivered in the amount worth $3.55 million against $9.99 million in the 11 months of 2017.
During this period, imports of pork to Ukraine increased by 5.1 times, to 26,340 tonnes. Pork was imported to the country for $48.22 million against $9.15 million in January-November 2017.
Ukraine as of November 26, 2018 fully used 10 quotas for duty free exports of food under a Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement with the European Union (EU), particular, quotas for honey, cereals, malt and wheat gluten, preserved tomatoes, grape and apple juices, wheat and corn, butter and poultry.
According to a posting on the website of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), Ukraine also almost fully used quotas for starch (95%) and garlic (96%).
The UCAB reminded that from October 1, 2018 the second year of additional quotas for five groups of goods began, and two groups have been already closed (honey and preserved tomatoes).
“Before the end of the year, additional quotas for grain will be in effect, of which the volume for wheat and corn has already been used, and only 23% is used for barley,” the UCAB said.
As reported, in January-October 2018, exports of agricultural products from Ukraine amounted to $14.8 billion, which is $165 million more than a year earlier.
In addition to quotas for Ukraine, quotas on duty free import of goods from EU countries to Ukraine are still in effect. These include quotas for the following groups of goods – sugar, poultry meat (primary and secondary quotas) and pork (primary and secondary quotas).
