Enterprises comprising Ukraine’s rocket and space industry boosted production by 12.7% in the first six months of 2018 compared to the same period last year, to UAH 1.58 billion.
Sales of the enterprises in the first six months of 2018 increased by 12.3%, to UAH 1.57 billion, while the total volume of gross output amounted to UAH 2.11 billion, the press service of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) has said.
The agency said exports to the EU, United States and other countries amounted to UAH 877.4 million, or 90.1% of all exports.
During the period, five Ukrainian space enterprises posted profits: open join-stock company Kharton had UAH 2.99 million in net profit, state-owned Yuzhny machine-building plant named after Oleksandr Makarov (Yuzhmash, or Pivdenmash) reported about UAH 130,000 in net profit, while the net profit of production association Kyivprylad was UAH 20,000. State-owned Scientific and Research Technological Institute of Instrument Making and state-run Ukrkosmos were also in the black, the press service said.
The average number of full-time employees of the industry as of the end of the second quarter of 2018 (July 1, 2018) was 16,745 people, 0.3% less than in the first quarter.
“The main reason for the reduction in the number of staff remains relatively low wages due to the underloaded capacity of enterprises and the transfer of some of them for a shorter workweek, or other forms of optimization of labor costs,” the report says. The nominal average monthly salary in the industry grew by 8.1% compared to the beginning of the year and amounted to UAH 8,223.1 in the first half of the year, the SSAU said.
As reported, at the present time there are 26 enterprises and organizations of the rocket and space industry in the management of the SSAU.
In 2018, the state budget for the rocket and space industry envisages UAH 2.03 billion in the state budget, which is 30% less than in 2017. Of the total financing of the sector through the general fund, some UAH 1.55 billion (79%) should be spent on servicing of debt obligations on earlier borrowed loans for the implementation of international projects, in particular, for servicing a loan raised under the project “Creation of the National Satellite Communication System.” In 2017, some 61.5% of the industry budget (UAH 1.5 billion) was allocated from the national budget for these purposes.
For the first time over the years, there is no provision for financing a national targeted research and engineering space program in the 2018 state budget.
Also, the country’s budget for 2018 envisaged no funding for defense state programs and projects implemented by space industry enterprises under the SSAU. The budget of the industry in 2017 allocated UAH 941.2 million (32.3% of the total sum) under such programs.
