The Association of Woodworking Enterprises of Ukraine public union asks the government not to impose licensing and quotas on the export of fuel wood from Ukraine, as this may upset the balance in the industry and lead to attempts to manually control the work of enterprises.
The negative impact on wood processing of the possible introduction of licensing or export quotas was reported on the association’s website on Friday.
It is clarified that the organization asks the Cabinet of Ministers not to adopt the relevant changes to Decree No. 1424 of December 29, 2021 regarding exported fuel wood in the form of logs, logs, brushwood, branches, knots, wood chips or cod, sawdust, cod, shavings, debris and wood waste and scrap, agglomerated or non-agglomerated, fuel briquettes and pellets.
“While the Ukrainian economy needs to be supported like never before, the Cabinet of Ministers may adopt changes to the legislation that will actually lead to an increase in the number of corruption schemes, pressure on woodworking enterprises and a decrease in the investment attractiveness of Ukraine,” the association emphasizes.
In addition, it is noted that the adoption of this document may lead to the fact that, under the guise of providing the domestic market with fuel lumber, the process of manual control over enterprises engaged in the corresponding production will begin to be set up.
Reportedly, the activities of the industry are already controlled by authorities, including when commissioning the necessary equipment, hiring workers, obtaining environmental permits, etc. The introduction of wood processing licensing will allow these departments to openly demand funds from exporting enterprises.
“We ask the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine not to accept this document, to hold additional discussions on this issue with representatives of business and the public in order to make effective decisions for the industry and the country’s economy as a whole,” the association quotes its head Pavel Vasiliev.
JSC “Energy Company of Ukraine” is ready for any developments in the electricity market, in particular, to stop exports, said Vitaliy Butenko, General Director of the company.
“The situation in the energy sector of Ukraine today remains quite difficult in the context of the war. The company is ready for any scenario, including the cessation of exports,” Butenko said in a comment to the Energoreforma Internet portal on her request.
At the same time, he noted that the strategy of ECU JSC is primarily aimed at working in the domestic market.
“At the same time, we took advantage of the opportunity to export electricity, which made it possible for the state to earn additional profit. For 1.5 months, the income of three state-owned companies from the export activities of ECU amounted to almost UAH 2 billion, and the state’s share in electricity exports to Romania and Slovakia in September reached about 44%,” Butenko emphasized.
Regarding the loan in the amount of UAH 500 million, provided to the company NAEK by Energoatom, Butenko noted that its repayment does not depend on the presence or absence of exports.
“In accordance with our obligations to SE NAEK Energoatom, the state energy trader will repay the loan by the end of this year,” the head of ECU stressed.
As reported, a source of Energy Reform in the government said that from October 10 to October 15, a decision could be made to stop electricity exports to Europe, currently carried out at a capacity of 300 MW. The reason for this is the shortage of power generating capacities, associated, in particular, with the shutdown of all six units of ZNPP, the repair of 1.5 units at other NPPs and the possible withdrawal of another unit for repair, which leads to excess coal consumption, as well as a large number of TPP units in repair.
JSC “Energy Company of Ukraine” (JSC “EKU”), 100% of whose shares belong to the state, on August 17 for the first time entered the export of electricity in the Romanian and Slovak directions, from October 1 it began to export electricity to Poland.
Receipts from ECU by the state-owned NPC Ukrenergo (as a fee for the cross-section and transmission of electricity), SE Guaranteed Buyer (as part of the PSO for the population) and NNEGC Energoatom (payment for electricity) from August 19 to 13 September amounted to almost UAH 1.542 billion.
Earlier, Butenko said that state investments in ECU start-up capital, provided to him in August by NNEGC Energoatom in the form of repayable financial assistance in the amount of UAH 500 million, would be returned by the end of 2022.
According to ECU estimates, these investments can bring UAH 8.2 billion in income to state-owned companies by the end of the year.
JSC “ECU” is a diversified energy supply company that carries out operations for the purchase, sale, supply and market optimization of energy consumption for commercial customers. While the company supplies for export, however, it plans to work also in the domestic market. 100% of the company’s shares belong to the state, the powers to manage them are exercised by the Ministry of Economy.
Revenue from the export of dairy products from Ukraine in September reached a record since the beginning of the year – $35.9 million, which is 9.2% more than in August 2022, and 2.45 times more than in September 2021.
According to the website of the Association of Milk Producers, such growth was facilitated by high export prices for dairy products and the preferential regime introduced by the EU for the export and transit of Ukrainian goods.
It is specified that in September Ukraine exported 4,900 tonnes of milk powder (more by 51% compared to August 2022) in the amount of $15.8 million (more by 39.8%), 1,100 tonnes of cheese (up 8.9%) worth $5.08 million (up 3.7%), as well as 327 tonnes of fermented milk products (up 19.6%).
At the same time, foreign supplies of butter in September decreased to 1,960 tonnes (down 8.25% compared to August) for a total of $11.3 million (down 5.7%), milk and whole cream – to 2,650 tonnes (down 25.7%) for $1.37 million (down 28.1%).
According to the union, whey exports fell to 1,960 tonnes in September due to problems with its delivery to the largest buyers in China and Malaysia, caused by Russian aggression.
The association clarified that the total import of dairy products to Ukraine in September decreased by 19% compared to August due to the cheap hryvnia. In general, dairy products worth $16.3 million were imported to Ukraine during the month.
It also underlined that a seasonal reduction in dairy exports should be expected in October, but its figures will still be high compared to last year.
Ukraine in January-August 2022 exported 20.2 million tons of main grain crops, which is a quarter less than in the same period in 2021, while foreign exchange earnings from their supplies decreased by 18% to $5.22 billion.
In terms of crops, 15.1 million tons of corn for $3.8 billion, 4.1 million tons of wheat for $1.2 billion and 0.8 million tons of barley for $0.2 billion were sold abroad in eight months of 2022, according to the website National Research Center “Institute of Agrarian Economics” on Tuesday.
The leading position in the ranking of the main importers of Ukrainian grains was retained by China, whose share in the total grain exports over this period amounted to 14.4% ($749 million). Significant parts of Ukrainian grain exports also fell on Romania (13.9%), Turkey (9.6%), Egypt (7.7%), Spain (7.0%), Poland (6.8%), the Netherlands (4.3%), Iran (3.1%) and Hungary (3.0%).
Together, the above countries bring almost 70% of the income from all exports of grain crops from Ukraine.
As reported with reference to the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club (UCAB) association, Ukraine exported 6.9 million tons of agricultural products in September 2022 (+ 52% compared to August 2022) due to the resumption of shipping with food cargo from the three Black Sea ports of the country to under the Istanbul Grain Agreements. In terms of crops, 4.4 million tons of grain crops were supplied to foreign markets, of which 2.16 million tons of corn, 1.8 million tons of wheat and 440 thousand tons of barley.
Earlier, the association reported that in August Ukraine exported 4.6 million tons of agricultural products, in July – 3.0 million tons, in June – 2.7 million tons. According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine, in May agricultural exports amounted to 1.74 million tons, in April – 0.96 million tons, in March – 0.33 million tons.
Prior to the full-scale Russian military invasion, Ukraine exported an average of 5-6 million tons of agricultural products per month, mainly through its maritime infrastructure in the Black Sea.
From the beginning of the 2022/2023 marketing year (MY, began on July 1-2022) and until September 30, Ukraine exported 8.58 million tons of grain crops, of which 4.78 million tons of corn (55.7% of total supplies), 3, 0 million tons of wheat (35%) and 762 thousand tons of barley (8%).
As reported on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Friday, since the beginning of the current marketing year, the rate of grain exports is 40.2% lower than the same period of the last marketing year (14.36 million tons were exported from July 1 to September 30, 2021).
According to the agency, from the beginning of 2022/2023 MY and until September 30, 2022, Ukraine exported 3 million tons of wheat (2.97 times less compared to the same date in 2021/2022 MY), 762 thousand tons of barley (4.96 times less), 3.4 thousand tons of rye (12.5 times less) and 23.9 thousand tons of flour (34.6% less). At the same time, the pace of corn exports exceeded last year’s volumes – 4.78 million tons were exported, which is 3.34 times higher than in 2021/2022 MY.
It is specified that in general, since the beginning of September, 4.28 million grains and leguminous crops have been exported, including 1.75 million tons of wheat, 2.08 million tons of corn, 432 thousand tons of barley, 11.8 thousand tons of flour and 3 .4 thousand tons of rye. In addition, the ministry announced the volume of exports for the last reporting period on September 26-30, during which 1.07 million tons of grain were sent abroad, including 398 thousand tons of wheat, 543 thousand tons of corn, 127 thousand tons of barley, 1.9 thousand tons of flour and 1.3 thousand tons of rye.
Thus, according to the data of the ministry, for four days on September 26-30, the record average daily volumes of grain since the beginning of the war were delivered to foreign markets – 267.5 thousand tons / day, while for the reporting period of September 21-26 – 126 thousand tons daily , for September 9-21 – an average of 132.5 thousand tons daily, August 31-September 9 – 147.8 thousand tons daily, and August 26-31 – 110 thousand tons / day. Thus, the average daily export rates over the past 4 days have jumped 2.12 times compared to the previous period on September 21-26 due to the intensification of transportation of agricultural products through the seaports of Ukraine.
As reported, in the 2021/2022 marketing year, Ukraine exported 48.51 million tons of grains and legumes, which is 8.4% higher than the previous marketing year, despite the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation and difficulties with the export of agricultural products due to the blockade of Ukrainian seaports. 18.74 million tons of wheat were delivered to foreign markets (12.6% more than in 2020/2021MY), 23.54 million tons of corn (+1.9%), 5.75 million tons of barley (+35.9%) , 70.9 thousand tons of flour (-44.1%).
In 2020/2021 MY, the country exported 44.72 million tons of grain and leguminous crops: 16.64 million tons of wheat, 23.08 million tons of corn, 4.23 million tons of barley, 126.9 thousand tons of flour and 18.4 thousand . tons of rye.
In 2019/2020 MY, Ukraine exported 56.72 million tons of grain and leguminous crops.
Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe will increase by 40% to 11.5 billion cubic meters in 2022, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.
“In 2022, our export will reach 22 billion cubic meters, of which 11.5 billion cubic meters will be supplied to consumers in Europe. In 2021, 8.2 billion cubic meters was supplied to Europe. This means a 40% increase in the supplies in 2022,” Aliyev said at the ceremony for putting into commercial operation the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) in Sofia on Saturday.
In accordance with the agreements with the European Union, Azerbaijan plans to at least double its gas export to Europe by 2027.
For that purpose, Baku has begun consultations with its partners on the issue of expansion of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) to 32 billion cubic meters of gas a year and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to 20 billion cubic meters of gas a year, Aliyev said.
“We have already begun consultations with our partners on the expansion of the TANAP from 16 billion cubic meters to 32 billion cubic meters and the TAP from 10 billion cubic meters to 20 billion cubic meters. Because without it it will be difficult to ensure additional supplies,” the president said.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan has the capabilities to increase the gas export volumes by starting extraction at some other gas deposits.
