The portfolio of government domestic loan bonds held by non-residents as of July 4 reached a new historical record high of UAH 60.12 billion at face value, including an increase of UAH 2.71 billion following the results of primary auctions conducted on July 2.
According to data released by the National Bank, the entire increase was traditionally provided by hryvnia securities, by UAH 3.91 billion, which total UAH 58.21 billion in the portfolio held by non-residents.
Such an inflow of funds from non-residents allowed the National Bank to buy out $52 million in the market after primary auctions on July 3, although the hryvnia exchange rate strengthened and for the first time since April 2018 it overcame the level of UAH 26/$1.
A week earlier, the portfolio of government bonds owned by non-residents grew by UAH 4.79 billion, but then a small part of it (UAH 390 million) was secured by equities in U.S. dollars.
In general, since the beginning of 2019 the portfolio of government bonds owned by non-residents has increased by UAH 53.77 billion, or 9.5 times.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has decided to approve the attraction of a loan in the amount of EUR 149 million by national energy company Ukrenergo for the project to modernize power lines from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Finance Ministry of Ukraine reported on Thursday. According to the report of the ministry, the project foresees the replacement of transformer equipment and reconstruction of 12 substations with the installation of automated process management systems.
The project would allow the company to increase effectiveness and reliability of electricity transmission in western, northern, southern and central regions of Ukraine, modernize the key power transmission facilities, which is the condition for harmonization of the Ukrainian power grid with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), the ministry said.
Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS) operator JSC Ukrtransgaz (UTG) has addressed the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB) with a request to revise current modernization loan agreements for Ukraine’s section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline. UTG said in its press release that one of the reasons for which it is unable to implement the loan program was the operator’s failure to meet the financial stability requirements outlined in the loan agreements with the EBRD and EIB (due to tariffs for its services which have been set too low since the end of last year).
The company added that reliability and effectiveness of the Ukrainian section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline could be improved with a significantly smaller amount of assets (than it is envisaged in the loan agreements).
“For this reason the company is asking the EBRD to reduce the amount of its loan as long as a EUR 125 million investment (instead of EUR 300 million) is sufficient for the achievement of its primary goals,” reads the statement.
UTG also asked the financial institutions to hold consultations with the Ukrainian government in order to determine the extent of liability on the loan agreements for UTG and a new GTS operator as well as the mechanism for use of funds and loan servicing after the completion of the unbundling process in Ukraine.
As reported, UTG signed a EUR 300 million loan agreement with the EBRD and EIB (EUR 150 million from each) for the modernization of Ukraine’s section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline. Ukrtransgaz will also invest EUR 166 million of its own funds in the project.
Ukrtransgaz, a 100% subsidiary of Naftogaz Ukrainy, operates Ukraine’s system of trunk gas pipelines and 12 underground gas storage facilities.
GAS PIPELINE, LOAN, MODERNIZATION, REVISE, UKRTRANSGAZ, URENGOY-POMARY-UZHGOROD
NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy has completed repayments under the loan agreements worth $500 million received under the World Bank’s guarantees and state guarantees, the press service of the company has reported.
According to Naftogaz, within the framework of these loan agreements, which were signed on December 30, 2016, the company managed to purchase about 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the European direction over two years.
“In general, since 2014, Naftogaz has redeemed the state-guaranteed loan debt amounting to about $3.2 billion in a timely manner and in full. Naftogaz’s loan portfolio has decreased by 6.6 times since 2014 and is a record low,” Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev said.
The company noted the important role of further cooperation with the creditors and noted that this year the company plans to pump 3 billion cubic meters of gas more into underground gas storage facilities (20 billion cubic meters) compared to the previous year.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided a loan of EUR 3 million to the Ukrainian woodworking company Zunami to finance the investment program, EBRD Senior Adviser for External Affairs Anton Usov has said.
“As a result of the project, the company will introduce new methods of waste management, which will allow reducing the volume of oak raw materials needed for production of lamella by 23%, or 3,000 tonnes per year,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
According to Usov, the loan funds will be supplemented by means of technical cooperation of the European Union in the amount of up to EUR 70,000 under the EU4Business program and a stimulating grant of more than $170,000 from the Global Environment Facility under the FINTECC program.
Zunami LLC (Volyn region) was founded in 2001. The company is engaged in a full cycle of wood processing. Its capacity is 2 million square meters per year. Zunami produces wooden flooring and solid biofuel – oak shavings pellets.
Wizz Air will raise frequency of flights from Lviv airport to Slovakia, Poland, Germany from Oct 20
KYIV. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air from October 20 will increase the frequency of flights from Lviv International Airport to Bratislava (Slovakia), Wroclaw, Gdansk (Poland), Berlin and Dortmund (Germany) for the winter of 2019/2020 season.
According to the airport’s Facebook page, in particular, such plans are linked to the popularity of these airline destinations from/to Lviv, the average monthly workload of which in 2019 is 83%.
Thus, the number of flights to Bratislava will increase from two to five flights a week. They will be performed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
The number of flights to Wroclaw will rise from three to five flights. They will be performed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Flights to Gdansk and Berlin will be carried out twice as often – four times a week (on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays).
The number of flights in the direction of Dortmund will grow from two to three per week (on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays).
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) organizes a syndicated loan of EUR116 million for the manufacturer of sheet materials based on wood Kronospan UA (Novovolynsk, Volyn region), which is part of Kronospan Group, for the construction of a new plant, according to a bank press release.
“The EBRD will be the lender of the record for the amount of EUR116 million, while EUR50 million out of the total will be syndicated to commercial banks Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich under an A/B loan structure,” the report says.
“The funds will finance investments in new production facilities in compliance with relevant EU standards and regulations. The company plans to expand its production in Ukraine with the construction of a new facility in Novovolynsk, western Ukraine,” it reads.
“Specialized energy efficient equipment, including a 45 MW biomass boiler energy plant, a new transformer unit and a new precipitator filter will provide an alternative power supply solution, cut energy losses and help reduce dust emissions. High value-added products manufactured at these facilities are expected to lead to oriented strand board (OSB) imports substitution and more exports from Ukraine to the EU single market and other countries,” according to the document.
Kronospan was created in Austria in 1897. Currently it is the leading European manufacturer of wood-based sheet materials, operating in 21 countries. Total sales exceed EUR2.7 billion per year.
