Lakshmi Mittal, the chairman and CEO of the world’s largest steelmaking company ArcelorMittal, says that the economic situation in Ukraine has stabilized, which now allows Ukraine’s largest steelmaker РJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih to operate successfully and continue to make investments in its economy.
“At present, the situation in Ukraine is stable. And our enterprise ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has been operating smoothly,” Mittal told Interfax-Ukraine at the General Assembly of the World Steel Association (Worldsteel), which opened in Tokyo on Monday. At the same time, he was unable to comment when asked about his estimate of a decent wage for steelworkers in Kryvyi Rih who have been trying to have it raised up to EUR 1,000 a month and which currently is about a half of that figure.
“I have no idea about a wage for steelworkers in Kryvyi Rih. All this depends on the companies involved and the situation within them,” Mittal said. He refrained from any comments regarding his company’s capabilities and timeframes for raising wages for steelworkers employed by ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.
As was reported earlier, employees of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih held a press conference on March 27, 2018 to make public their demands to their management, in particular, about raising wages up to EUR 1,000 a month from April 1, securing the safety conditions at work, and preventing any ungrounded cutting of jobs there.
A total of contracts for the amount of around UAH 6 billion were signed at the tenth international economic forum “Innovations. Investments. Kharkiv Initiatives!”, Chairperson of the Kharkiv Regional Administration Yulia Svitlychna has said. PJSC Donbasenergo and JSC Turboatom signed a contract to produce equipment for Sloviansk thermal power plant (TPP) at the forum.
“This is a modernization of the 800 MW medium pressure cylinder of the turbine under the import substitution program to replace the Russian-made turbine. The contract was signed for the amount of UAH 250 million,” the press service of the Kharkiv Regional Administration said. Turboatom also signed a memorandum with Siemens (Germany) on joint participation in modernization programs for steam turbines for heat and nuclear power plants. The cost of the contract is up to UAH 2 billion. The plant also signed a cooperation agreement with the Chinese company Dongfang Electric Machinery (for the joint manufacture of power equipment for thermal, hydroelectric, nuclear power plants for the amount of UAH 1.68 million). In addition, during the forum a contract was signed between the Bogdan Motors Automobile Corporation and the state-owned enterprise Electrotyazhmash to supply traction engines for trolleybuses worth up to UAH 150 million.
CONTRACTS, FORUM, INNOVATIONS, INVESTMENTS, KHARKIV INITIATIVES
Kivshovavta Agro LLC (Kyiv region) belonged to Japan’s Kivshovavta is launching a silo with a storage capacity of 16,000 tonnes in the village of Kivshovata, Kyiv region, the company’s press service has reported. The press service said that with the launch of the silo the storage facilities of the company will be around 30,000 tonnes. Investment in the first and second stages of the silo totaled some UAH 60 million, and over UAH 100 million were sent to buy grain from other producers.
“The first stage of the silo was completed before 2017. In the past year it was reconstructed and expanded,” the company said.
Kivshovavta Agro seeks to boost land bank four times in coming five years, to 10,000 ha and build one more silo. Kivshovavta Agro LLC was founded in 2009. Its owner – SDGs Corporation – bought the company in Q4 2016. Kivshovavta Agro is the only enterprise of SDGs Corporation in Ukraine. The company plants wheat, sunflower, corn, soybeans. Its land bank is 2,500 ha.
Dragon Capital Investments Limited, a member of the Dragon Capital group of companies, has acquired Eco Tower, a 17,000 sq m business centre in the city of Zaporizhia.
The company acquired the business centre from Conwert Group (Austria), the buyer said in a statement on its website.
The deal value is not disclosed.
“I am very pleased to mark our first real estate acquisition in eastern Ukraine. This investment illustrates our confidence in the stability and business potential not only of Kyiv and Kyiv region, but also of key economic regional hubs of the country, of which one is Zaporizhia,” CEO of Dragon Capital Tomas Fiala has said.
Eco Tower is the largest Class A business centre built in 2011. Its building has 19 floors and two levels of underground parking for 92 cars. It is located at 160 Soborny Avenue in the centre of the city.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine in the near future might submit a draft resolution on compensation of investments in the port industry to the Cabinet of Ministers for consideration, Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Kistion has said. “We are talking about compensation of investments in the port industry of Ukraine, legalization of objects of port infrastructure that are not registered for objective reasons, both public and private,” he said at the Ukrainian Ports Forum 2018 in Odesa. In addition, the official expressed confidence that the ministry will soon complete the development of a new methodology for calculating port dues, as well as preparation of other legislative acts that will promote the development and modernization of seaports and will further provide opportunities to reduce port rates. At the same time, Kistion noted that since the beginning of the year the government has reduced port rates by 20%.
Capital investments in Ukraine in January-March 2018 increased by 37.4%, while in January-March 2017 by 21.4%, the State Statistics Service has reported.
Capital investments in Ukraine in 2017 increased by 22.1%, in the first nine months of the year by 20.7% and in the first half of the previous year by 22.5%.
According to the service, in the first quarter of 2018 some UAH 89 billion of capital investments were used (excluding the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbas), which is 37.4% more than the volume of capital investments for the corresponding period of 2017.
In terms of regions, the largest increase in capital investments in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 was recorded in Donetsk (2.3 times), Chernihiv (2 times) Zhytomyr (64.6%), Zakarpattia (49.9%), Cherkasy (47%), Ivano-Frankivsk (44.6%), Rivne (53.3%), Cherkasy (47%), Sumy (39.6%), Vinnytsia (37.3%), Volyn (36.7%), Poltava (26.4%), Dnipropetrovsk (21.3%), Ternopil (20.6%), Kirovohrad regions (16.5%), and Kyiv city (61.1%).
According to statistics, capital investments during the reporting period decreased in Luhansk (by 23.9%) and in Chernivtsi regions (by 0.5%).
In terms of sectors, the highest growth of capital investments in the first quarter of this year was recorded in information and telecommunications (2 times), financial and insurance activities (80.2%), transport, warehousing, postal and courier activities (69.3%), operations with real estate (59.1%), state administration, defense and compulsory social insurance (56%), education (50.8%), wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (49.9%), industry (46.3%), information and telecommunications (2 times), professional, scientific and technical activities (23.7%), scientific achievements and developments (25.5%), in the sphere of art, sports and entertainment (14.7%), and agriculture (10.2%).
