The Ministry of Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine is considering issuing licenses in the near future to import additional 50,000 tonnes of raw sugar, the ministry said on its website on Thursday.
“The cost of sugar produced from imported raw material is about UAH 20 per kilogram. Accordingly, after the import in the coming weeks, the price situation will level out and sugar will become more affordable for Ukrainians. Meanwhile, the parliament is considering the possibility of a temporary zeroing of duties on imports of white sugar to Ukraine, which will also contribute to the saturation of the domestic market with sugar,” the ministry’s press service said, citing Deputy Economy Minister Taras Vysotsky.
He said that in February-March, 40,000 tonnes of sugar were also imported under the established tariff quota with a zero duty rate in accordance with the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
According to the Economy Ministry, imports of additional raw sugar will provide the processing industries with a sufficient amount of raw materials, which will saturate the market and lead to a decrease in the retail price.
As reported, on April 5, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) launched an investigation into the grounds of anticompetitive concerted actions on the primary sugar market against the Astarta Group and Radekhiv Sugar LLC (Lviv region), which during September-November 2020, equally increased the wholesale selling prices for this product by an average of 48%.
Prices for construction and assembly work in Ukraine in February 2021 increased by 12% compared to February 2020, the State Statistics Service has said.
According to it, prices increased in all construction segments: construction of buildings saw an increase of 7.4%, of which residential – by 6.8%, and non-residential – by 7.9%; engineering construction increased in price by 19%. The prices for the construction of complex industrial facilities increased the most – by 41.2%.
Compared to the previous month, prices for construction of residential buildings increased by 0.9%, non-residential buildings by 2%, and engineering structures by 4.5%.
As reported, in 2020, prices for construction work in Ukraine increased by 3.7% compared to the previous year, while in 2019 – by 6%.
Prices for construction and installation work in Ukraine in January 2021 increased by 10.6% compared to January 2020, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to the statistics department, prices increased in all construction segments: in residential construction the growth was 6.6%, in non-residential construction – 7.1%, in engineering – 16.6%.
Compared to the previous month, the cost of construction of residential buildings increased by 2.8%, non-residential – by 3.5%, engineering structures – by 4.3%.
As reported, in 2020, prices for construction work increased by 3.7% compared to the previous year, while in 2019 – by 6%.
The figures are given without taking into account the annexed territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the State Statistics Service notes.
Prices in the primary housing market in Ukraine in July-September 2020 grew by 7.7% compared to the same period in 2019, in the secondary market – by 10.6%, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to the service, the largest increase in prices in the primary housing market in the third quarter was seen for one-room apartments (by 9.3%) and three-room apartments (8.1%), while two-room apartments had risen in price by 5.9%.
In the secondary market, prices for one-room apartments (by 11.9%) and two-room (11.2%) increased the most, while prices for three-room apartments rose by 8.5%.
At the same time, according to the State Statistics Service, in the reporting period, the growth in housing prices slowed down in the primary market and accelerated in the secondary market. In particular, in the primary market housing prices increased 1.2% compared to the second quarter of 2020: (by 2% for three-room apartments, by 1.6% for one-room apartments and by 0.5% for two-room apartments). At the same time, in the second quarter compared to the first, growth accelerated by 1.8%.
On the secondary housing market in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the second, prices rose by 2.4% (by 3.1% for two-room apartments, by 2.6% – for three-room apartments, by 1.1% – for one-room apartments) , while compared with the first quarter they grew by 1.5%.
The figures are given without taking into account the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Prices for apples in Ukraine are now the highest in the last three years, so the average wholesale prices for apples in Ukraine range within UAH 11-13/kg, the Ukrainian Horticultural Association has reported.
According to a report on the association’s website, the season of local apples is gaining momentum in Ukraine. Ukrainian producers are actively engaged in harvesting autumn varieties of apples, respectively, the supply on the market is increasing every day. Today, the average wholesale prices for apples in Ukraine fluctuate within the range of UAH 11-13/kg. For comparison, at the beginning of September, apple producers were selling their products at 15-20% higher prices.
“Today, prices for apples in Ukraine are the highest, at least in the last three years. In the same period of 2019, local apples were sold on average UAH 1-1.5 cheaper than today, and at the end of September 2018, Ukrainian gardeners were shipping dessert apples at an average of UAH 7-8 per kg,” the union noted.
The price situation that has developed today, according to the association, was significantly influenced by the record high prices for apples at the beginning of the season: in mid-July, Ukrainian gardeners sold the first consignments of apples for UAH 20-22/kg. Another factor that affected the price situation on the apple market is the delay in the apple season by an average of 7-10 days due to unfavorable weather conditions in the country.
“Also, we note that in April and May in Ukraine several waves of frosts were recorded at once, which affected the gross yield of early varieties. Of course, losses in the segment of apples are not as significant as in the segment of apricots and cherries, nevertheless, Ukrainian producers from the central and western regions reported that crop losses reach 20-30%,” the report says.
The cost of staying in three- and four-star hotels in Odesa has decreased by half compared to the same period in 2019 and averages UAH 650 per day ($24), founder of Ribas Hotels Group Artur Lupashko has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“Today, the average price in three- and four-star hotels is UAH 650 per day ($24) in Odesa. This is an unprecedented low rate over the past 20 years. In the same period last year, such a room cost at least twice as much and was three times more expensive in 2013,” Lupashko said.
According to his estimates, the expected decline in gross income and net profit of hotels will be 20-40% in 2020 compared to the indicators in 2019.
“The positive dynamics can continue in cottage-type hotels and recreation centers, which have been in high demand since April and have increased in price in some cases up to 50%. Some of them have already been booked for the whole summer by guests who, as a rule, spent the summer in Cyprus, Spain, Italy,” he said.
However, hotels do not count on guests from other countries in 2020.
“The vast majority of Belarusian tourists were in the resort budget hotels. According to information available today, guests from Belarus will not be allowed to Ukraine this year. Most likely, these may be guests from Moldova and Turkey in the second half of the year. However, the share of such tourists will be minimal and will not have significant influence on the market,” the expert said.
Ribas Hotels Group collaborates (management and booking) with 25 hotel and restaurant complex facilities (beach and ski hotels, hostels and recreation centers), two of which are its own. The company’s portfolio includes Wall Street Hotel business hotel, Bortoli city mini-hotel (all are located in Odesa), Richard hotel complex (Hrybivka), Kyparys park hotel (Yuzhne), Seazone mini-hotel (Karolino-Buhaz), a chain of youth hostels Friday and others.
The total number of rooms of the chain was 1,234 rooms in various forms of cooperation at the beginning of 2020.
Ribas Hotels Group provides integrated management, exclusive booking, franchising and design services.
Ribas Hotels Group LLC was established in 2017. According to the unified register of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, director and owner of a 100% stake in charter capital of the company is Lupashko.
