The pharmaceutical group of companies Yuria-Pharm is considering the possibility of localizing vaccine production in Ukraine.
Director General of Yuria-Pharm pharmaceutical corporation Dmytro Derkach told Interfax-Ukraine that the company is actively working on the issue of providing the Ukrainian population with vaccines, including the vaccine against COVID-19.
“Five years ago, construction began on a new plant in Cherkasy with a total area of more than 25,000 square meters, which provides for high-tech aseptic production and production of biotechnological products. The workshops of the new production site have been launched starting in 2020,” he said.
According to Derkach, the construction of the new facility became possible “thanks to the principle that the company has adhered to since its inception: to reinvest over 80% of profits in new directions, which is more than $25 million per year, and also thanks to a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD ) obtained in 2020.
He said that a prerequisite for the development of the production of biotechnological products was the developments of its own Biotech R&D, in particular, a technological platform for the development and pilot production of recombinant protein products, monoclonal antibodies. In addition, a hardware and methodological base was established to ensure quality control of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, both of our own production and solutions of contract partners.
Yuria-Pharm is also testing its own platform for the development of RNA-based drugs as an effective, modern, safe and fast drug development method, which, in particular, has been used by companies that have become pioneers in the development of an RNA vaccine against COVID-19.
“We are now actively working on the issue of finding partners for the transfer of technology for the production of vaccines from COVID-19 to our new production site. We have selected a pool of companies for this, including from the United States and China, whose development is in the late stages, in particular in the third phase of clinical trials. We are negotiating with them to select a potential candidate for technology transfer and provide them with our production facilities,” Derkach said.
The director general of the group clarified: “We are not developing our own vaccine, since at present there are more than 130 companies in the world at various stages of developing a vaccine against COVID-19, so we are looking for a candidate among them.”
But at the same time, he believes that the pharmaceutical industry of Ukraine should be potentially ready for the transfer and industrial production of vaccines, the development of which will eventually be offered by domestic research institutes.
The group of companies Yuria-Pharm is included in the list of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Ukraine. The main areas of activity are the development (R&D,) production, marketing and distribution of drugs and medical products.
Yuria-Pharm LLC is a member of the Association of Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU).
Ocean Shipyard (Mykolaiv) will increase production volumes and intend to take a leading position in the industry, the plant’s owner Vasyl Kapatsyna has said.
“Last year, we finally defended the legal right to Ocean Shipyard. We revived production and diversified our activities in order to maintain the main profile of the enterprise, jobs and modernize technologies. Today I set new tasks for the Ocean Shipyard’s team, namely, increasing production volumes and return of the leading position in the industry,” Kapatsyna said on Facebook.
According to him, a new governing agency has been created at Ocean Shipyard, a supervisory board, which is entrusted with the tasks of strategic planning, the development of international relations, raising investments, as well as partnership programs. Viktor Tsoklan was appointed as head of the supervisory board. In the near future, the supervisory board will focus on development strategies, foreign economic activity, and ensuring public-private partnerships in the defense industry.
“I am also pleased to say that Serhiy Hursky, a shipbuilder of a new generation, has been appointed as Director General of Ocean Shipyard. I believe that the experience and energy of Serhiy Vasyliovych will return Ocean Shipyard to leading positions. I remain the main investor of Ocean Shipyard, the largest shipbuilding enterprise in Ukraine,” Kapatsyna said.
Mykolaiv Shipyard Ocean PJSC (until April 2011 – Vadan Yards Ocean, until December 2008 – Damen Shipyards Okean, until February 2001 – Shipyard Ocean) specialized in the production and repair of container ships, tankers, tugs, barges with a displacement of up to 350,000 tonnes.
KAPATSYNA, MYKOLAIV, OCEAN SHIPYARD, PRODUCTION, SHIPBUILDING
DTEK Pavlohradvuhillia plans to invest almost UAH 30 billion in production by 2030, which will ensure the production of 141 million tonnes of coal, according to a press release from DTEK Energy, citing a press conference by DTEK Pavlohradvuhillia CEO Serhiy Voronin in Pavlohrad (Dnipropetrovsk region) on March 11.
“Despite the decline in the generation of TPPs, we see clear prospects for the development and full-fledged operation of our enterprises as part of DTEK Energy, at least for the next 10 years. Until 2030, manoeuvring generation will remain the most important link in the Ukrainian energy system, and it needs our coal,” Voronin said.
According to him, the company will allocate UAH 30 billion of investments for the purchase and overhaul of mining equipment and for the implementation of projects to improve the culture of production and the level of safety.
Coal will be mined at six mines of the association, the remaining four will be closed due to exhaustion of reserves.
“We are concentrating coal production at six mines. Four mines will be closed due to the end of effective coal reserves, two this year, two in a few years. The closure of mines due to the completion of reserves is a natural process, since the term of any mine is not infinite,” the CEO said.
One of the priority tasks of DTEK Pavlohradvuhillia is the development of digitalization projects.
Kernel, the world leader in sunflower oil production, will invest an additional $63 million in 2021 fiscal year (started on July 1, 2020) in the implementation of an investment program for the construction of cogeneration heat and power plants its six oil crushing plants.
According to the company’s H1 FY2021 financial report, taking into account these funds, the total investment in the program since its inception in FY2018 reached $169 million. Three plants have already been already constructed and completing the precommissioning works, and three remaining facilities are to be commissioned in FY2022.
Kernel said that more than 50% of energy is already received from renewable sources, and their contribution to EBITDA in H1 FY2021 amounted to $10 million.
The company also recalled the goal announced in FY2020 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% over the next five years in the oilseeds segment.
The decrease in vodka production in 2020 by 6.7% compared to 2019, to 44.5 million liters (in terms of pure alcohol) with an increase in its consumption and alcohol production by 36%, to 9.3 million decaliters, indicates the growth of the illegal alcohol market, Head of the State Fiscal Service Vadym Melnyk has said at a meeting with business representatives. According to him, in 2013-2020 production of vodka decreased by 2.5 times, alcohol – 2.8 times, and the excise tax on these products increased threefold.
Melnyk recalled that in order to combat illegal excisable goods, the service launched the Alcohol operation on February 1, 2021, during which law enforcement officers seized 226 tonnes of alcohol, 134 tonnes of alcoholic drinks, 547,000 packs of tobacco products and more than 8,000 excise duty stamps.
He clarified that for the period from February 1 to February 25, 2021, the Fiscal Service identified 53 websites with offers of illegal alcohol, 21 Internet ads were removed from websites. The courts are considering 12 petitions to restrict access to almost a hundred websites, one court decision was received with an appeal to the provider to stop illegal trade.
The head of the service noted the prevalence of online sales of illegal alcohol and its transportation through delivery services. He informed about the plans of the State Fiscal Service to work out a solution to reduce transportation of illegal excisable goods, without restricting the activities of carriers.
According to Melnyk, most of the seized alcohol was produced under the brands of the producers Prime, Lubotinn, Oleksandriya and Zlatogor.
In addition, he noted the facts of repeated confiscation of the previously seized products with the same excise stamps, as well as cases of theft of illegal products from storage sites and their incomplete utilization.
South Korean Hyundai Corporation is preparing to start negotiations on the possible localization of high-tech production in Ukraine.
“Hyundai also plans to begin detailed negotiations on the possibility of investing in Ukraine and transferring technologies to localize the production of complex technologies,” said Eun Soo Choi, Vice President of the Commercial Transport and Energy Division of Hundai Corporation, during the All-Ukrainian Forum “Ukraine 30. Infrastructure” on Monday.
He also stated that Hyundai Corporation is inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and representatives of the Ukrainian government to visit Hyundai’s facility in Korea.
The South Korean Hyundai Corporation will allocate $2 million in grant funds for the development of a pre-feasibility study for the construction of a high-speed European-gauge railway network (1,435 mm).
