Megatex LLC (Konstantynivka, Donetsk region), the manufacturer of batteries from used batteries, has asked President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to help solve the problem of legalizing the purchase of recyclable materials.
“We produce accumulator batteries from used batteries, and now when buying recyclable materials (any), a company engaged in cashing money flows is at the end of some link, while the plants recycling this raw material take the punishment from the tax service and prosecutor’s offices. If this is brought to the legal business, the government will receive UAH 4-5 billion of additional receipts,” Head of the company Yuriy Shapran said during a meeting between the president and business representatives of Khmelnytsky region on Wednesday, June 3.
In his opinion, a solution of this problem could be a tax of 3-4%, which the processor would pay for the supplier of raw materials.
“If buyers of recyclable materials pay a tax of about 3-4% for the supplier, then this money will go to the budget. Today, I can frankly say this, this is the cost of the services of cashing companies and it will be easier for business to work, it will not spend time on all these troubles with the law,” Shapran said.
He said that in this case there will be no avoidance of identifying a supplier, which the EU is opposed to.
“We identify him (the supplier), but we pay this tax for him and then he is free, he is honest. The company paid the tax for him and it will not require any additional taxes afterwards,” Shapran said.
In addition, he considers it necessary to cancel the payment of a 5% import duty on recyclable materials for the production of batteries.
“We import raw materials from abroad, and we have a 5% duty, while there is no any duty on other raw materials. We have very low margin, so it is very difficult,” the head of the company said.
He also said that the company is ready to work, it has prospects and more and more foreign partners (it exports 75% of its products), and it is also ready to increase production volumes.
“There were problems under the previous government authority, namely Vesta plant in Dnipro, where former MP Dzenzersky [Denys Dzenzersky, MP of the seventh convocation] worked completely off the books. They were bankrupt, but they worked and the tax service did not come there, while we were unprofitable for four years,” Shapran said.
“That is, there are two problems, namely, to legalize the purchase of recyclable materials and remove the import duty on raw materials,” he said, providing Zelensky with the prepared materials.
Since 1993, Megatex LLC has been producing various lead alloys and is engaged in the production and maintenance of accumulator batteries, their purchase and recycling.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in April 2020 bought $723.3 million, while sold $44.5 million in the interbank foreign exchange market, while in March it spent $2.2 billion on supporting the hryvnia. According to the NBU, in the period from April 27 to April 30, the regulator bought $115.5 million at a single rate in the interbank market, which is four times more than a week earlier. This week, the central bank was only buying currency.
Most of all, in March the National Bank bought in the interbank market from April 6 to April 10 ($327.7 million), and only that week it sold foreign currency ($44.5 million).
In general, since the beginning of the year, the central bank bought $2.069 billion for reserves and sold $2.793 billion.
This week, the national currency rate in the interbank market strengthened and reached UAH 26.945/$1 on Wednesday, after which it slightly weakened on Thursday to UAH 26.955/$1. Starting from April 2, the hryvnia exchange rate did not fall below the level of UAH 27.5/$1, stabilizing after a rapid fall in March.
Ukrainian farmers under the government-funded program to support acquisition of Ukrainian machinery and equipment bought it for the amount of over UAH 5.77 billion in 2019, which is 31.2% more than in 2018, Secretary of the National Committee for Industrial Development Olena Salikhova has said.
“At the same time, the amount of compensation [25% of the cost] for the purchased equipment according to the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, in fact in 2019 amounted to UAH 640 million (applications submitted by farmers in September were satisfied), while applications filed in October-November for the amount of UAH 563 million were not compensated, but the equipment was purchased,” she said during a Thursday working meeting with Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Taras Vysotsky with agricultural associations devoted to support programs for 2020.
In turn, Vysotsky said that this program was underfunded due to the fact that the budget provided for these purposes less funds (UAH 682 million) than the demand for this program.
“Farmers bought a lot more equipment under the program than there were funds in the budget, so we can discuss the possibility of considering this compensation in 2020. Our position is to complete all the programs,” the deputy minister said.
He said that in the fourth quarter, when there was no money left for compensation, farmers purchased equipment for UAH 2 billion, which means compensation for another UAH 500 million.
JSC Kovalska Reinforced Concrete Structures Plant, part of Kovalska Industrial and Construction Group, has received permission to purchase Energy Product LLC, one of the largest manufacturers of aerated concrete in Ukraine, and intends to complete the deal by late September this year, the press service of group has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“This transaction is one of the largest in Ukraine in the construction market. We, as the market leaders, are interested in diversifying our business lines, expanding our regions and developing new types of construction materials. The aerated concrete market has a high development potential. This asset will allow us to further satisfy the needs of clients in assortment. According to the group’s strategy, we plan to continue expansion in the southern and western regions,” Serhiy Pylypenko, the director general of Kovalska Group, said.
Energy Product LLC (Nova Kakhovka) was established in 2013 and is the fourth largest producer of aerated concrete in Ukraine. The plant’s capacity is 450-500 cubic meters of aerated concrete per year.
Kovalska Industrial and Construction Group has been operating in the construction market of Ukraine since 1956. The company is the leading manufacturer of construction materials, the developer and builder of Ukraine.
The supervisory board of Kniazha Life Vienna Insurance Group (Kyiv) on July 9 approved the acquisition of government domestic loan bonds for the amount of UAH 56 million by the company, which is 13.24% of the cost of its assets (UAH 422.896 million), according to information in the database of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market.
The company saw UAH 360.4 million in net profit in 2018, which is 12.5% more than a year ago. Its assets grew by 10.9%, to UAH 422.9 million.
Retained profit totaled UAH 83.149 million, while a year ago it was UAH 67.225 million. Net worth grew by 26.5%, to UAH 123.9 million. Total bills receivable fell by 17%, to UAH 3.185 million.
Noncurrent liabilities expanded to UAH 53.081 million, while current remained unchanged at UAH 33.551 million.
PrJSC Kniazha Life VIG was established in 1999 and specializes in life insurance.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) under the Ukraine Public Transport Framework project to improve public transport infrastructure signed four loan agreements worth EUR 38 million in total with trolleybus utilities of Mariupol, Kryvy Rih, Kharkiv, and Zhytomyr in January-November 2018 against municipal guarantees.
In particular, it signed a EUR 13 million agreement with municipally owned Mariupol Tram and Trolleybus Administration in July, while agreements worth at EUR 8 million each was signed in September with municipally owned Urban Trolleybus (Kryvy Rih) and municipally owned Trolleybus Depot No. 2 (Kharkiv). Late in November, the EBRD signed an agreement with municipally owned Zhytomyr Tram and Trolleybus Administration to the tune of EUR 9 million.
Under the project, the loans are additionally backed by EBRD loans from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and grants from the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P).
According to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, in the case of Kryvy Rih, the city provided a guarantee for EUR 10 million, as the bank gives its municipal enterprise an additional EUR 2 million loan from the Clean Technology Fund. CTF loans for Mariupol and Kharkiv also accounted to EUR 2 million.
The loans are issued for 12 years with repayment in equal parts every six months after a two-year grace period.
Kryvy Rih’s interest rate on principal debt is set at 5.75% and is pegged to the rate of 6-month Euribor rate with the possibility of lowering. It depends on the city’s rating and the borrower’s compliance with the required financial ratios. At the same time, the rate for a CTF loan is only 0.75%.
