The volume of cargo transportation in containers in Ukraine in January-May 2024 reached the highest value for the last seven years and exceeded the pre-war indicators, follows from the analytical note of “Ukrzaliznytsya” (UZ), prepared for the meeting on the topic of intermodal transportation.
“In the first five months of 2024, the volume of cargo transportation in containers increased by 60% compared to the same period of 2023 and amounted to 116.129 thousand TEU (20-foot containers). The indicator is the highest for the last seven years and exceeds the volume of transportation for the same period in 2021 by 10%,” the document says.
It is indicated that in 2021, about 16% of the volume transported in containers accounted for transit, which is now virtually absent.
The main nomenclature in containers remains grain cargoes – 39%, as well as ferrous metals – 15%; cakes – 7%; oil – 6%; synthetic resins – 4%; sugar – 3%, chemicals – 2%.
During the period, about 25% of cargo in containers was transported in the import direction, 61% – in the export direction, 14% – in the domestic direction.
Since March 2023, UZ has been offering users of transportation services a new intermodal service that combines the transportation of container trains, contrailer trains and combined transport trains.
As of June 12, 2024, UZ transported 412 intermodal trains: 72 intermodal trains in the direction of Polish and Romanian ports and 340 such trains in the direction of Ukrainian ports.
It is also reported about changes in the terms of service provision. According to them, operators of intermodal train can postpone the date of its departure in one day, and operators staying outside Ukraine will be able to use UZ fitting platforms at domestic rates.
Strokes in Ukraine have grown younger by 10-15 years during the war, Health Minister Viktor Lyashko has stated.
“I can now go into the discussion and show the figures of the growth of strokes, to which leads exactly stressful situations in which we are. We can already today confirm the studies of the past years that the country where there is a war, strokes are getting 10-15 years younger,” he told the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024) in Berlin on Tuesday.
Lyashko noted that “a completely different age group gets such diseases.”
Due to weather conditions as of Wednesday morning 237 settlements in Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernihiv regions and Kyiv remain without power supply, another 490 settlements are without power due to other reasons, including military operations, NEC Ukrenergo reported in Telegram.
According to the Ministry of Energy, the most settlements – 117 – without light in Kyiv region, another 46 – in Chernihiv region, 42 – in Khmelnytskyi, 14 – in Cherkasy, 13 – in Zhytomyr region and 5 – in Sumy region. In total, according to his information, without light 38 thousand subscribers.
According to Ukrenergo, the process of connecting consumers in Sumy region, where one of the energy facilities was damaged during a night drone attack, is ongoing. According to the Ministry of Energy, the Russian Federation attacked by drones a substation of the oblenergo in the border territory of Sumy region, as a result of which 1,016 subscribers in 14 settlements were de-energized.
At the same time, as Ukrenergo notes, it managed to promptly restore power supply to consumers in Kherson, who were de-energized due to the shutdown of several power facilities in the region during the air alert. Damage to buildings and equipment of one of them was discovered during the inspection.
In general, there is still a deficit in the energy system, as a result of which hourly shutdown schedules, as announced earlier, will be applied from 15:00 to 23:00.
At the same time, a record volume of imports from Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Moldova is scheduled for today – 29,796 MWh with a maximum capacity in some hours up to 1,689 MW, which corresponds to the maximum possible value. The last record was recorded on Saturday – 29,100 MWh.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide EUR140 million to support municipalities in Ukraine, EBRD Vice President for Policy and Partnerships Mark Bowman said.
“We need to support Ukraine, in particular the environmental infrastructure during the war and lay a strong foundation for its green recovery. This is a really important part of Ukraine’s European integration. I was very surprised by the super commitments that Ukraine has made on its way to the EU,” he said on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on Tuesday.
Bowman recalled that the EBRD has been supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war and has invested more than EUR4 billion in support of Ukraine. In addition, investments in energy efficiency projects, water supply, water drainage, public transportation in Ukraine continue to receive about EUR160 million.
“We are ready to provide additional funding of EUR140 mln to support municipalities that face serious problems and are in a difficult situation. They need to cope with the devastation. These difficulties are big,” the EBRD representative emphasized.
Bowman also recalled that the EBRD has developed the Green Cities program. This project started in 2016 and seven Ukrainian cities joined it. They continue to work even in conditions of war. In particular, two participants of this program have introduced war plans and continue to implement them.
In addition, the EBRD this week announced a EUR55 million investment in a joint venture with Goldback Solar Investment to build and operate new renewable energy facilities, predominantly solar, on 522 MHz.
The number of insurance companies in Ukraine in May 2024 decreased by one company and as of the end of the month there are 83 risk insurers in the market, 12 specialize in life insurance, one – with a special status (“Export Credit Agency”), according to the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
In general, the number of participants in the country’s non-banking financial market in May decreased from 1,045 (as of April 30, 2024) to 1,014 (as of May 31, 2024).
The number of banks remained unchanged – 63.
According to the NBU, 26 financial companies, one risk insurer and two pawnshops were forcibly removed from the register. At the same time, one collection company and two credit unions were excluded on the applicant’s initiative. At the same time, one collection company was included in the register.
During May, eight financial companies, one insurer and one pawnshop had all their licenses revoked forcibly, while another 18 financial companies, one pawnshop and two credit unions had their licenses revoked voluntarily.
As of May 31, 2024, 555 financial companies (581 in April), 83 non-life insurers (84), 12 life insurers (the number has not changed), one insurer with special status, 119 pawnshops (121), 125 credit unions (127), five lessors, 40 insurance brokers and 74 collection companies (the number has not changed) were operating in the market of non-banking financial services.
The State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine carried out the debut sale of the nationalized plant: at the repeated auction in the system “Prozorro.Sales” was sold for 103.11 million UAH plant for the production of meat casing PJSC “PentoPak” (Boryspil), said the head of the SPF Vitaly Koval.
“The buyer has 20 days to pay the cost of the lot. In addition to the proposed cost, the investor has already paid a guarantee fee of UAH 20.375 million”, – he said in Telegram.
The head of the FGI reminded that “PentoPak” was confiscated from the family of Russian-Greek oligarch Savvidi, and the funds from its sale will go to the restoration of our state in the Fund for the elimination of the consequences of Russian aggression.
The buyer was Lonikos LLC (Kiev), whose director is Larisa Ashkinazi.
According to the Opendatabot, the main activity of the company is renting and operating its own or leased real estate. Also “Lonikos” is engaged in non-specialized wholesale trade and activities of intermediaries specializing in trade in other goods.
As reported, on May 31, after the first fruitless auction scheduled on “Prozorro.Sales”, the plant was put up for a second auction at a halved price – for UAH 101.87 million.
The FGI reported that the plant provides a full cycle of production of packaging for meat processing products. “PentoPak” produces multi-layer synthetic shrink casing, using advanced technologies. The company’s customers include well-known Ukrainian brands such as Rud, Globino, Meat Guild, as well as customers from more than 30 countries.
The enterprise has preserved 193 jobs, has no debts on wages and to the budget. The company plans to modernize production and enter new markets of packaging materials for the dairy industry, fish processing and animal feed packaging.
Earlier, in February 2024, the SACS decided to confiscate Savvidi’s property and transfer 100% of PentoPak shares to the State Property Fund, as the oligarch has close ties with the Russian leadership and supports the occupation authorities in the temporarily seized territories of Ukraine.
