Ministry of Economy and Trade has developed a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers “On Amendments to the Annex to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 957 of October 30, 2008”, which provides for an increase in the minimum wholesale and retail prices for certain types of alcoholic beverages.
According to information on the website of the Ministry of Economy, the current size of the minimum wholesale and retail prices for alcoholic beverages was established by the relevant Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution No. 748 in September 2018, except for retail prices for sparkling wines and carbonated wine drinks.
“The changes that have occurred in the socio-economic and tax spheres, in particular, the growth of the expenditure component of prices (raw materials, components, energy, labor costs, etc.), as well as the change of excise tax rates for alcoholic beverages on March 1, 2022, have led to the fact that the size of minimum prices does not correspond to the real costs of economic entities for the production and sale of alcoholic beverages and requires adjustment,” – noted in the explanatory note to the document.
The new resolution proposes to increase the size of minimum wholesale and retail prices for certain types of alcoholic beverages depending on the code of products from the UKTVED, including retail prices for vodka and liquor products to increase by 13%, whiskey, rum and gin – by 25%, cognac (brandy) – by 11-12%.
The rates for wine products, in particular, ordinary (non-sparkling) wines will be increased by 62%; for cider, perry, wines, vermouth and other fermented beverages (including mixtures of fermented beverages and mixtures based on fermented beverages), the actual strength of which is higher than 1.2% of volumetric units of ethyl alcohol, but not higher than 22% of volumetric units of ethyl alcohol – by 61-71%; for sparkling wines and carbonated wine drinks – by 28%.
Notes to the Decree will be supplemented with a new paragraph, according to which the minimum retail price for wine products (except for cider and perry (without added alcohol), fermented drinks obtained exclusively as a result of natural fermentation of fruit, berry and fruit-berry juices, with alcohol content not exceeding 8.5% of volume units (without added alcohol) in Tetra-Pak and Bag in box packaging will be determined as a derivative of the approved minimum price for the corresponding products in glass containers with a capacity of 0.7 liters, in other containers with a capacity of 0.7 liters.
All changes in the descriptions of goods and their grouping by codes according to UKTVED will be harmonized with the Tax Code of Ukraine.
The number of requests to rent apartments in Kiev in December 2022 increased by 3% compared to the pre-war level, the press service of the portal of new buildings LUN told Interfax-Ukraine.
Reportedly, the team iOS-application to rent apartments in Kiev bird has prepared updated statistics on the situation of demand and prices in the capital market.
According to the study, the median rent price of one-bedroom apartment in the capital continues to fall – up to 8,5 thousand UAH, which is 10.5% lower than in November. At the end of February last year it was 13 thousand UAH per month.
The median price of rent of one-bedroom apartments at the end of December was UAH 12 thousand, which is 14.2% lower than in the previous month. In February it was UAH 21.6 thousand.
For three-room apartments median price decrease was 9%. Now you can rent such apartment for the price of 20 thousand UAH. This is much lower than before the war prices, because in February 24, 2022 such housing would cost 46.1 thousand UAH per month.
Oil prices ended August with a decline and continued to fall on the first day of September.
At the end of last month, Brent fell by 12.3%, WTI – by 9.2%, and negative dynamics were noted for the third month in a row, which is the longest such period since the first half of 2020.
The price of November Brent futures on the London exchange ICE Futures at 8:10 Moscow time on Thursday is $95.18 per barrel, which is $0.46 (0.48) below the closing price of the previous session. According to the results of trading on Wednesday, these contracts fell in price by $2.2 (2.3%), to $95.64 per barrel.
The price of WTI oil futures for October on the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is currently $89.08 per barrel, which is $0.47 (0.52%) lower than the final value of the previous session. By the close of the market the day before, the value of these contracts decreased by $2.09 (2.3%), to $89.55 per barrel.
Pressure on the market is caused by fears of a downturn in the world economy against the background of tightening of monetary policy by the world’s largest central banks, as well as coronavirus restrictions in effect in China, according to the Bloomberg agency.
“Concerns about the state of the economy are a key reason for the decline in the oil market,” said WTRG Economics energy markets analyst James Williams, quoted by Market Watch.
“OPEC expresses concerns about demand prospects, and sometimes representatives of the cartel raise the question of reducing quotas. The possibility of a recession now occupies an important place in OPEC’s thinking,” the expert notes.
Oil prices are rising on Wednesday, recovering slightly after the collapse the day before.
The cost of October futures for Brent on London’s ICE Futures is $100.01 per barrel by 8:06 a.m. on Wednesday, which is $0.7 (0.7%) higher than at the close of the previous session. As a result of trading on Tuesday, these contracts fell by $5.78 (5.5%) to $99.31 per barrel.
October Brent futures expire at the close of the session on Wednesday. More actively traded November contracts added $0.94 (0.96%) in price, trading at $98.78 per barrel.
The price of futures for WTI oil for October in the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $92.51 per barrel by this time, which is $0.87 (0.95%) higher than the final value of the previous session. By the close of the market the day before, the cost of these contracts decreased by $5.37 (5.54%) to $91.64 per barrel.
Experts from the OPEC+ technical committee have raised their estimate of the oil surplus in 2022 from 0.8 million bpd to 0.9 million bpd, according to reports prepared for the meeting of the technical committee scheduled for August 31, which Interfax has read.
Based on the reporting, experts downgraded their estimate of oil demand growth in 2022 under the baseline scenario from 3.4 million b/d to 3.1 million b/d, to 100 million b/d; growth in supply – from 5.8 million b/d to 5.6 million b/d to 100.9 million b/d.
Traders, meanwhile, are waiting for the US Department of Energy’s weekly report on commercial stocks of oil, gasoline and distillates in the country, which will be released later on Wednesday.
Experts on average expect oil inventories to fall 1.9 million barrels, gasoline more than 1.3 million barrels and distillates nearly 1.2 million barrels, according to a S&P Global Commodity Insights survey.
The focus of traders remains the situation in Libya, as well as the upcoming OPEC + meeting, which is expected to discuss the possibility of cutting production.
The cost of October futures for Brent oil on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:15 quarter on Tuesday is $104.28 per barrel, which is $0.81 (0.77%) lower than the closing price of the previous session. As a result of trading on Monday, these contracts rose by $4.1 (4.1%) to $105.09 per barrel.
The price of futures for WTI oil for October in the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $96.76 per barrel by this time, which is $0.25 (0.26%) lower than the final value of the previous session. By the close of the market the day before, the cost of these contracts increased by $3.95 (4.2%) to $97.01 per barrel.
Over the weekend, clashes between two armed groups took place in Tripoli, as a result of which more than 30 people were killed, Bloomberg reported. This raised fears that Libya is waiting for another full-scale conflict, as a result of which oil supplies to the world market will be reduced. State oil company National Oil Corp., however, said on Monday that the country’s oil production remains at 1.2 million bpd.
“A new wave of Libyan production cut fears, coupled with uncertainty about the upcoming OPEC+ meeting, provided support for the oil market on Monday,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategist at ING Groep NV. “However, without major supply disruptions or interventions OPEC+, we can hardly expect a significant rise in prices in the short term.”
Most oil extraction plants in Ukraine stopped working due to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, but in April-May, the plants in the western, central and southern regions of the country began to resume operations due to an increase in sunflower processing margins up to $200/tonne.
“Currently, processors are actively buying sunflower against the backdrop of disappointing production forecasts for the next season… Some plants provide processing services at a price of $80-150/tonne, while others buy sunflower at UAH 15,000-16,500/tonne, receiving a processing margin of up to $200/tonne,” according to the website of the electronic grain exchange GrainTrade.
According to its data, the resumption of the work of Ukrainian oil extraction plants in the western, central and even southern regions of the country is caused by a sharp reduction in the price of sunflower due to difficulties with its export from Ukraine due to the blockade of the country’s seaports by Russian ships.
GrainTrade notes that the price of sunflower will continue to grow, as it is under pressure from its significant stocks from producers and processors, as well as difficulties with the export of oil products – sunflower meal and cake.
“Now it is difficult for processors to sell meal and cake to European consumers due to the increase in logistics costs and falling prices in the EU amid an increase in the supply of Ukrainian products. At the same time, producers are in no hurry to sell sunflower seeds at low prices, expecting an increase in production costs in the new season,” the grain exchange said.
