Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest Internet provider by subscribers, continues to secure its Home Internet service in case of power outages. In 2023, the company invested more than UAH 200 million to provide uninterruptible power supplies for Home Internet. It will invest an additional UAH 50-70 million by the end of February 2024. The provider also continues to actively launch GPON Internet in different cities of Ukraine.
Kyivstar employees started connecting the Home Internet network to uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) in October 2022 and will continue to do so to provide 700 thousand subscribers with Internet access even in the event of a power outage. This modernization will allow the Home Internet network to operate in the absence of power for up to 5 hours.
In total, the service users will be provided with equipment for uninterrupted operation in 44 cities of Ukraine. In total, the provider plans to cover more than 22.3 thousand addresses where UPS will be installed. 180 specialists are involved in the process of installing, checking and testing equipment throughout Ukraine.
Kyivstar also started connecting the Internet using GPON technology at the end of 2023. In 2024, the company plans to partially modernize and replace existing technologies with GPON in some cities. This connection technology is more energy efficient.
“In the context of short- and medium-term outages, GPON can provide consumers with Internet access for longer, including because we build lines from base stations with mobile diesel generators. And as long as we have the human resources and the ability to supply fuel and components to keep the generator running at the base station, users connected via GPON technology will have the Internet signal,” commented Sergiy Sukhoruk, Head of Fixed Line Communications.
About Kyivstar
Kyivstar is Ukraine’s largest electronic communications operator, serving more than 24 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers as of September 2023. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc. Kyivstar helps subscribers, society and the country to overcome the challenges of wartime. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the company has allocated more than UAH 1.4 billion in aid for the humanitarian needs of the Armed Forces, society and subscribers. Kyivstar’s sole shareholder is the international VEON Group (headquartered in the Netherlands). The Group’s shares are listed on NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam). Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, GPON, Home Internet, INVESTMENTS, KYIVSTAR
The NOVA Group, which includes the largest logistics operator Nova Poshta, invested UAH 5.3 billion in Ukraine in 2023, which is 2.5 times higher than the investment budget for 2022 (UAH 2.1 billion), the group said in a statement on Thursday.
“The level of Nova Poshta’s faith in the future of Ukraine in 2024 is even higher: this year it is planned to increase the amount of investments to UAH 7 billion,” the release said.
According to the release, last year NOVA also increased its tax payments by one and a half times to UAH 10.7 billion. It is specified that, in particular, Nova Poshta paid UAH 8.7 billion in taxes, and NovaPay paid UAH 1.2 billion.
The report indicates that last year, the largest amount of capital investment – UAH 2.4 billion – was directed to the construction of new sorting terminals and automation of those already in operation. It is noted that this allows the company to ensure an uninterrupted delivery process in the face of constant growth in cargo volumes and not lose speed: today the company delivers 1040 parcels every minute, and on peak loading days – 1400.
Another major expense item, according to the release, is the development of the network of branches and post offices for the purpose of walking distance accessibility, in which UAH 1.1 billion was invested. As a result, Nova Poshta’s network in Ukraine already includes more than 27 thousand service points.
Also, the investment budget of UAH 1.2 billion was used to automate workplaces and repair branches to make them convenient and barrier-free for different groups of consumers and employees.
It is specified that in 2023, UAH 233 million was spent on the renewal of the fleet of transport and BDF containers, UAH 338 million on IT and R&D, and UAH 17 million on the development of the fulfillment business.
In the first half of 2023, Naftogazvydobuvannya, the main production asset of DTEK Oil&Gas, increased investments in gas production development by 35% to almost UAH 1 billion amid a decline in financial performance compared to the same period of the previous year.
According to the company’s report on the stock exchange, the company continued to invest in development despite a 66% decrease in DTEK Oil&Gas’ net profit (to UAH 2.38 billion) and a 31.5% decrease in revenue (to UAH 13.11 billion) in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year.
It is noted that the funds were used to increase the drilling and exploration program to return to production growth in the medium term.
The company also reported that it paid more than UAH 5 billion in taxes to the state budget, including more than UAH 2.2 billion in rent for the use of subsoil, part of which (5%) is directed to local budgets.
DTEK Oil&Gas explained the decline in financial performance by the fall in gas prices in the 2023 market.
“In the first half of 2023, the main production asset of DTEK Oil&Gas increased its investments in gas production development by 35%. Last year, due to problems with gas sales, we were forced to reduce our drilling program. This year, the company is focusing on increasing the volume of drilling operations. In the next 2-3 years, this will allow us to return to the growth dynamics to further strengthen Ukraine’s energy security,” the company commented.
“DTEK Oil&Gas is the largest private gas producer in Ukraine. Its portfolio of assets includes Naftogazvydobuvannya and Naftogazrazrabotka, which are engaged in exploration and production of hydrocarbons in three license areas in Poltava and Kharkiv regions.
As reported, DTEK Oil&Gas increased its net profit by 70.6% to UAH 11.46 billion in 2022, with revenue growing 2.2 times to UAH 36.00 billion.
Aid to Ukraine is very different from other humanitarian projects and should largely be aimed at helping to develop private businesses and stimulating investment, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said at Ukraine Recovery Conference in London on Wednesday.
“When providing the assistance to Ukraine, we must make sure that local businesses will benefit. Therefore, we announced a donation of EUR 25 million to provide more insurances and guarantee mechanisms so that companies are willing to invest,” she said.
Huitfeldt said this is part of the Norwegian program worth EUR 7 billion for Ukraine.
She also noted the importance of a sound legal system, commitment to fighting corruption and burden-sharing when it comes to investment risk, and cited the decentralization reform as positive.
Earlier at the conference, Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis announced the signing on that day of an agreement to launch an experimental military insurance scheme. He said the EU is also working on a pilot project for export credit guarantee schemes to Ukraine.
Ukraine after the war will be very interesting for private investors to develop renewable energy sources, said Harry Boyd Carpenter, managing director for climate strategy and implementation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“There’s also going to be a huge wave of investment in renewable energy. Ukraine does have a success story because before the war there was an extraordinary boom in RE – 5 GW of privately financed renewable energy. And that’s the template for Ukraine in the future,” Carpenter said during a discussion on Ukraine’s transition from coal to clean energy ahead of the London Recovery Conference (URC2023), scheduled for June 21-22.
At the same time, according to him, Ukraine will also receive public sector money, but it should be spent primarily on the development of nuclear energy, as well as on construction and reconstruction of networks, to ensure, among other things, the work of decentralized system of renewable energy.
At the same time, the top manager of the EBRD called the commitment of Ukraine to abandon coal in power generation extremely important, noting that this course determines the further development of not only energy, but also the economy and the whole country.
He noted that the contours of the energy sector of Ukraine in the future are quite clear – it will be built on nuclear and renewable energy, and the country has huge resources in all these areas.
At the same time, Carpenter noted that RES used to develop under conditions of “imperfect market and tariffs”, calling it a difficult transition period, but expressed his belief that in the future their development will be based on three fundamental pillars that will remove these problems.
“The first will be a commitment to a green future (…). The second is market reforms. We need a well-functioning, transparent, clearly delineated market. And the third will be integration with the European energy system, which is already in full swing,” the EBRD top manager pointed out.
Besides, Carpenter assured that EBRD intends to continue to support Ukraine financially.
“We will provide Ukraine with EUR3 billion of support. And we are already halfway there. Much of this has come in the form of liquidity support for the energy sector – Naftogaz and Ukrenergo,” the banker emphasized.
Announcing URC2023 on June, 19 First vice-premier Yulia Sviridenko announced the goals in 10 years to show the new Ukraine and to reach over 100 GW of new green power generation capacity, to produce 40 million tons of “green” steel and to bring GDP to $1 trillion per year from $161 billion in 2022.
As reported, at the end of December 2022, NEC Ukrenergo, inter alia, attracted EUR300 million of credit funds from the EBRD to purchase equipment to restore substations subjected to massive Russian missile strikes, as well as to replenish working capital.
NJSC Naftogaz attracted a EUR300 million loan from the EBRD at the end of last year, and later, in early 2023, it received a grant of nearly EUR200 million for the purchase of gas.
According to the president of the bank, Odile Renaud-Basso, the EBRD in 2022 increased the amount of investment in projects in Ukraine to EUR1.7 billion compared to approximately EUR1 billion that it invested annually before. It plans to invest EUR3bn in Ukraine during 2022-2023.
A five-year period of rebuilding Ukraine after the war will require additional investment of about $50 billion a year thanks to inflows of foreign capital, including private capital, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) laid out this scenario in its Regional Economic Outlook report published on Tuesday.
“For a rapid recovery, foreign capital inflows need to reach $50 billion a year within five years,” the bank pointed out, citing lessons from history.
It noted that a quick recovery is not the norm: historically, most economies that emerge from armed conflict do not experience a long-term quiet period for 25 years afterward, nor do they recover to prewar per capita income levels even in the long run.
At the same time, the report says, 29 percent of economies do reach prewar per capita GDP levels within five years.
“For Ukraine to recover within five years, its economy would have to grow at a rate of 14% per year for the entire period. This would raise average GDP to $225 billion from about $150 billion in 2022 at constant prices,” the EBRD stressed.
In the meantime, the bank has kept Ukraine’s GDP growth forecast for 2023 and 2024 at 1% and 3%, respectively.
The bank added that the main common feature of the periods of stable extremely high economic growth is a high investment-to-GDP ratio. He reminded that before the war the moderate levels of investment in Ukraine were mainly financed by domestic savings: capital inflows were only 3% of GDP per year in 2010-21, while foreign direct investment tends to fall substantially after a war and takes a long time to recover.
This is why the report cites the example of Central and Southeast Europe in the 2000s, where domestic savings were low, but foreign financing helped sustain the investment boom.
In the case of Ukraine, doubling the level of investment (as part of GDP) would require a significant increase in the country’s absorptive capacity, as well as the governance structure needed to develop complex projects and contracts, the EBRD notes.
“In this scenario, the difference between the required level of investment and available domestic savings would probably need to be covered by external financing (net capital inflows) of 20 percent of GDP, or $50 billion per year,” the report summarizes.
The bank draws attention to the importance of private investment, as the private sector provides much-needed technological expertise, management know-how and a focus on economic efficiency.
“In addition to energy-efficient industrial capital and agricultural machinery, the private sector can make an important contribution to the rehabilitation of housing, as well as transport, energy and municipal infrastructure, provided that individual individuals and entities have adequate access to financing,” the report said.
The EBRD reminded that it had committed to invest EUR3 billion in Ukraine in 2022-2023, supporting the real economy, and is ready to play a key role in the recovery when circumstances permit.
As reported, Ukraine’s international financing to cover the state budget deficit is expected to rise to $42.5 billion in 2023, up from $32 billion in 2022.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, direct investment in the country was $51.1 billion at the end of 2022, and peaked at $65.7 billion at the end of 2021.
