Ruslan Gashev, Head of the Export Credit Agency (ECA), announced at the Summit of Exporters held by Forbes Ukraine in Kyiv that in 2022 it supported 35 exporters for UAH 3.18 billion and is ready to increase export support up to UAH 18 billion this year.
He pointed out that the agency is capable of such volume of activities without increasing the nominal capital.
Gashev also announced that in the nearest future the number of Ukrainian banks-partners to ECA under the program of portfolio credit insurance will increase from six to seven.
According to the head of the agency, the ECA may also become a tool of activity in Ukraine for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) from the World Bank Group and the U.S. Corporation for International Development Finance (DFC), which do not have their own representative offices in Ukraine.
“Even in those projects where MIGA and DFC risk insurance will be involved, we can be their ‘hands’ because they do not have their own offices in Ukraine,” Gashev explained.
He clarified that this issue has already been discussed with the DFC, and the ECA has sent its proposal, while the Ministry of Economy is still working with MIGA without the agency’s participation.
The head of ECA also supported the initiative contained in the draft law “On Amendments to the Law on Financial Mechanisms to Encourage Export Activities in relation to Investment Insurance against Military Risks in Ukraine” (#9015) to expand the ECA’s mandate to insure investments in Ukraine.
“When we approach our foreign partners, especially such structures as MIGA and DFC, to insure Ukrainian and foreign investments in Ukraine, we also have to think about how to use the tools we have in the country,” Gashev said.
He stressed that we are talking about insurance not only of foreign investments, but also domestic ones. According to him, the document has not been introduced at the meeting of the Profile Committee, but it is being worked on.
Since the beginning of the year (as of March 13) ECA has supported export from Ukraine in the amount of 242.35 million UAH (11 agreements). Banks financed UAH 43.5 million. Exports were made to France, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Switzerland, and the USA. The leaders among the branches according to the results of two months of 2023 are furniture industry, the second place is taken by toys and further by rubber, rubber and rubber goods.
Ukrainian enterprises in January reduced exports of aluminum and its products by 33.7% compared to January 2022 – to $6.776 million, lead and its products by 41.4% – to $1.633 million, nickel and nickel products – $3 thousand, whereas in January 2022 it was $397 thousand.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products for 2022 fell 42.7% from 2021 to $96.972 million ($6.330 million in December), lead and aluminum products fell 68.7% to $11.970 million ($1.396 million) and nickel and aluminum products fell 73.9% to $1.268 million ($0.1 million).
Export of Ukraine by countries in Jan-Nov 2022
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Ukraine exported 9.1 million tons of goods in February 2023 compared to 7.89 million tons in January, in monetary terms it rose to $3.32 billion from $3.1 billion, wrote Deputy Minister of Economy – Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka in Facebook.
“But less than the peak military September (9.6 million tons) and, of course, still a long way to 12.8 million tons in February 2022 … Since September there is a trend of slow decline in the value of exports: 4.1 – 3.8 – 3.8 – 3.48 – 3.1 – 3.32 billion dollars. The reasons are clear – the slowdown of the grain corridor and the price correction on the world market,” he added.
He said the value of imports in February was $5.03 billion.
“However, this is good news, because imports in war conditions is the reliability of supply of everything we need: fuel, pharmacy, generators and everything we need to endure. It is also fertilizers for the sowing season,” noted Kachka, without specifying the data for January.
He recalled that in general 2022 set a clear strategy in trade: to ensure security of supply in imports, restore logistics capabilities for exports and reduce the trade deficit through services.
The Ukrainian trade representative pointed out that last year merchandise exports totaled $44.1 billion and imports $55.2 billion, services exports $9.1 billion and imports $3.0 billion.
Kachka specified that the top ten most exported goods in February 2023 in descending order of value formed corn (code 1005) – $699.3 million, sunflower oil (1512) – $419.3 million, wheat (1001) – $322, 9 million, soybeans (1201) – $128.69 million, iron ore (2601) – $125.5 million, insulated wires (8544) – $82.9 million, sunflower meal (2306) – $75.4 million, pig iron (7201) – $65.03 million, poultry (0207) – $58.76 million and sunflower seeds (1206) – $58.69 million.
In the second ten, seamless pipes (7304) – $56.88 million, barley (1003) – $43.9 million, semi-finished iron products (7207) – $36.1 million, sugar (1701) – $34.1 million, ferroalloys (7202) – $33, 6 million, furniture (9403) – $32.38 million, rapeseed (1205) – $32.37 million, lumber (4407) – $31.4 million, soybean meal (2304) – $28.9 million and seating furniture (9401) – $24.9 million.
Finally in the third top ten are electric water heaters (8516) – $24.3 million, soybean oil (1507) – $24.1 million, plywood (4408) – $19.9 million, drugs (3004) – $19.1 million, hot rolled steel (7208) – $16.04 million joinery products (4418) – $15.8 million, juices (2009) – $15.5 million, confectionery, bakery products (1905) – $13.7 million, crates and boxes (4415) – $13.1 million and confectionery sugar products (1704) – $12.9 million.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced collaboration with three major Ukrainian agricultural holdings to develop their grain export and storage infrastructure for a total project investment of $44 million.
According to CNN’s website, the three companies are large Ukrainian agricultural producers Kernel, Nibulon and Grain Alliance.
It is specified that the cooperation with the companies will help increase Ukraine’s capacity to ship over 3 million tons of grain to foreign markets per year. Investments will be used to develop the infrastructure of agricultural products storage and expansion of elevators.
“This announcement is part of a deliberate effort by the Biden administration to develop Ukraine’s economy and mitigate the global food security crisis that escalated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the publication specified in the report.
As earlier reported, before the war Kernel was the world’s number one producer and exporter of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and was the largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine. The company was also engaged in cultivation and sale of other agricultural products.
In FY2022 (July-2021 – June-2022), the holding posted a net loss of $41 mln versus $506 mln net profit in the previous FY. Its revenue decreased by 5% to $5.332 bln, and EBITDA decreased by 3.7 times to $220 mln.
Nibulon, one of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, on April 15, 2022 received the permit from Izmail city council (Odessa region) for the construction of the terminal for handling grain cargoes on the land plot with the total area of 20 hectares.
“Nibulon” was established in 1991. Before Russian military invasion grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and complexes to receive the crops, the capacities for one-time storage of 2,25 mln. tons of agroindustrial complex products, fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and also owned Nikolaev shipyard.
“Nibulon” before the war worked 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries.
The grain trader exported maximum 5.64 million tons of agricultural products in 2021, reaching record volumes of deliveries to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Grain Alliance Agro Holding in spring 2022 purchased a grain logistics hub near the border of Ukraine and Slovakia to deliver agricultural products by land bypassing Ukrainian ports, the throughput capacity of which was significantly reduced due to the full-scale Russian military invasion. The transshipment capacity of the grain terminal in Černá nad Tysou (Slovakia) will be up to 400,000 tons per year.
Before the war, Grain Alliance farmed 57,000 hectares in Kyiv, Poltava, Chernigov and Cherkassy regions, grew more than 300,000 tons of grains and oilseeds a year, and owned more than a thousand head of cattle.
Agroholding has six granaries in Ukraine with a total capacity of over 260 thousand tons.
The founders of Harvest Moon East LLC (Baryshevka village, Kyiv region) and BZK Grain Alliance (Sweden) established a joint company, Grain Alliance, in 2009.
