The situation on the European energy market is unable to influence the certification of the Nord Stream 2 operating company as an independent network operator, German Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr said in an interview with Interfax.”The conclusion of the certification process is required for the pipeline to begin commercial operations, irrespective of the situation on the European energy market. We expect Gazprom to continue to fulfil all contractual obligations towards Europe, particularly in relation to gas transit through Ukraine,” von Geyr said.As reported earlier, the German Federal Network Agency started to process the application from the Nord Stream 2 operating company as an independent operator on September 8. The processing has been suspended as Bundesnetzagentur decided that a subject of its regulation could be only a German subsidiary of the Swiss-based Nord Stream 2 AG, which should be the owner and operator of the German part of the pipeline. The Polish company PGNiG and the Ukrainian opponents of the Project, Naftogaz and Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, have received access to the certification process. The application processing deadline has been moved to the middle of 2022, which means Europe cannot count on gas supply through the new pipeline in the winter season of 2021/22.”The certification process for Nord Stream 2 is being conducted by the independent German regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, in strict accordance with the provisions of the European Gas Directive. Interested parties can raise their views within that legal framework and have their voices heard. Politically, we have made a commitment that this pipeline must not be used to exert pressure on Ukraine. That is why we are campaigning to see reliable, long-term, contractually agreed gas supplies and transit agreements for Ukraine,” von Geyr said.
Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for 1 rub, in 01.10.2021-30.10.2021)
Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for €1, in 01.10.2021-30.10.2021)
Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for $1, in 01.10.2021-39.10.2021)
Ukrainian enterprises in January-October this year increased their consumption of rolled metal by 19.42% compared to the same period last year, to 4.324 million tonnes. According to a press release of the Ukrmetalurgprom association on Tuesday, during this period 969,700 tonnes were imported, or 22.43% of the domestic market for rolled metal consumption.
“In January-October 2021, the capacity of the domestic market amounted to 4.324 million tonnes of rolled metal, of which 969,700 tonnes, or 22.43%, accounted for imports. In January-October 2020, the capacity of the domestic market was 3.621 million tonnes, of which 1.028 million tonnes, or 28.38%, were imported. Thus, in ten months of 2021, there is an increase in the capacity of the domestic market for rolled metal products by 19.42% compared to January-October 2020, with a simultaneous decrease in the import share by 5.96%,” the press release states.
At the same time, the structure of imports in January-October 2021 is characterized by a significant domination of flat products over long products (54.66% and 42.28%, respectively); in the same period of 2020, a domination of flat products over long products was practically comparable with 2021 (56.38% and 42.44%, respectively).
According to Ukrmetalurgprom, in January-October-2021, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises produced 15.99 million tonnes of rolled metal (105.4% compared to January-October 2020), of which, according to the information of V.S.K. Group LLC, about 12.63 million tonnes, or 79%, were exported. Over ten months of 2020, the share of exports was 82.9% (12.58 million tonnes with total production of 15.17 million tonnes of rolled metal).
The share of semi-finished products in export supplies accounted for 46.17% over ten months of 2021, which is lower than the indicator for the same period in 2020 (51.03%). The share of flat-rolled products in export supplies in January-October 2021 is noticeably higher than in January-October 2020 (37.86% and 32.08%, respectively). The share of long products in export supplies is slightly inferior to the indicator for the same period last year (15.98% in 2021 versus 16.88% in 2020).
According to V.S.K. Group, the main export markets of Ukrainian metal products in January-October 2021 were the European Union (36.5%), other European countries (20.1%) and NAFTA countries (9.7%).
Among metallurgical importers over ten months of 2021, the CIS ranks first (35.4%), the second is the countries of Asia (21.6%) and the third is the EU-27 (20.5%).
The share of illegal tobacco products in the Ukrainian market over the past five years has increased 18 times – from 1% in 2016 to 18.1% in August 2021 and reached a historical peak, its growth was caused by the increase in excise tax, which the government plans increase by 2025 to the EU level – EUR 90 for 1,000 cigarettes.Such data were released in a joint statement by the CEOs of the largest tobacco companies, adopted during a conference in Kyiv on Monday. The event was attended by Philip Morris Ukraine CEO Kostas Salvaras, BAT Ukraine CEO Kakhaber Benidze, JTI Ukraine CEO Paul Holloway and Imperial Tobacco Ukraine CEO Rastislav Cernak.“A year ago, when JTI launched information campaign on the illegal tobacco market, its share amounted to 6.9% of the Ukrainian market. A year later, this figure reached 18.1% – almost 300% growth in 12 months. This is more than UAH 14.4 billion of lost revenue to the budget of Ukraine,” Holloway said with reference to the preliminary results of the Kantar Ukraine research institute.According to industry representatives, the illegal tobacco market in Ukraine began to grow back in 2014, but this year it crossed a dangerous border: tax-free cigarettes have become readily available. This poses a problem for legal cigarette manufacturers losing market share to illegal cigarette manufacturers and smugglers.In addition, the total legal cigarette market is now estimated at 32.7 billion units, which is 18% less than in 2020, and over 40% less than its volume in 2018.To reduce the growth rate of the illegal tobacco market, the largest manufacturers propose to extend the period for reaching the European level of excise tax of EUR 90 per 1,000 cigarettes in Ukraine by five years – from 2025 to 2030, whereas now it is EUR 48.4 per 1,000 cigarettes.“There was an unprecedented rise in prices for any category of consumer goods, which significantly outstripped inflation, and became the main factor in the reduction of the legal market for tobacco products and the growth of illegal trade […] We propose to expand the schedule for increasing excise taxes on tobacco products until 2030, providing for an annual increase in rates at the level of 10% [instead of current 20%]. This will stabilize the situation in the tobacco market,” Cernak said.He also proposed to “freeze” the increase in the excise tax on heated tobacco products for three years, until 2024.“This approach will give the consumer more time to adjust to higher prices and deprive the illegal market of the potential for growth,” Cernak said in a statement.The unpredictability of regulation of the tobacco industry in Ukraine affects not only business income, but also its future investments, the Philip Morris Ukraine CEO said.“Three of our companies [from those present at the conference] are ready to consider the possibility of localizing production of tobacco-containing products for electric heating in Ukraine, if the state creates the appropriate conditions,” Salvaras said.According to the calculations of market participants, the localization in Ukraine of production of such products with reduced harm from smoking can bring the country more than UAH 6 billion of investments and about UAH 4 billion of additional income tax in three years.As reported with reference to the Kantar Ukraine study in May this year, in January-May, the share of counterfeits in the domestic cigarette market increased by 3.1 percentage points compared to the data for 2020, to 5.1%, the share of tobacco products marked as intended for export and illegally sold in Ukraine increased by 4.8 p.p., up to 7.6%. At the same time, the share of smuggled cigarettes decreased by 0.5 p.p., to 1.7%.
