Welcome to Ukraine Business Insight
Published in London and written by International and Ukraine-based writers and market experts, UBI is the only international English language publication covering trade and investment with Ukraine.
Lead commentators and practitioners provide incisive insight into the realities of the market and its changing dynamics, alert readers to new opportunities as they arise, as well as any potential threats to business, with analytic comment on the wider implications for business in the country.
We are pro-free markets, adhering to international best practice and social responsibility, but with no party allegiance.
Electrolux to start production in Ukraine
The Swedish company Electrolux plans to start manufacturing washing machines in Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, in October 2010. “Electrolux has bought a factory which was owned by Antonio Merloni and now plans to produce washing-machines under the Electrolux and Zanussi brands,” said .....
‘One-stop’ investment centres proposed
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has proposed that the Verhovna Rada put in force the principle of “one window”, to simplify the establishment of new investment projects. A first step has been the new bill №7032 which has recently been registered in the Parliament. At its proposal, it was announced that, “This bill is going to simplify the process of investing in Ukraine,....
Akhmetov buys metallurgical works
Ukraine’s Anti-monopoly Committee had granted permission to the Dutch company Metinvest BV, (which is controlled by Ukraine’s richest businessman, Rinat Akhmetov) to consolidate more than 50% of the shares in Mariupol metallurgical complex under the name of Illicha and the company ‘Illich steel’. This new stage....
Poltavaoblenergo to be sold
The State Property Fund of Ukraine plans to sell 16.24% shares of Poltavaoblenergo during September. The head of the Fund Oleksandr Ryabchenko said that the establishment had not yet decided whether the energy company would be sold as a whole, or in packets of shares which would divide the organisation into....
Hrivna strengthened
The National Bank of Ukraine reports strengthening of the exchange rate for the national currency – the Hrivna. Since the beginning of July the Hrivna has increased 0.16% to Hr 7.8925 to the dollar on the interbank market and exchange offices it is up 0.24% to Hr 7.8953 per dollar. “From the beginning of July we have seen the value ...
Gas pipeline reconstruction planned
The Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine has initiated an investment project for reconstruction of the gas pipeline Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhgorod which connects the gas deposits of western Siberia (Russian Federation) with the western part of Ukraine in Uzhgorod city. The fuel is then transported to....
Lviv Coal Company to be sold
The regional department of the State Property Fund of Ukraine has announced the date for a competition to sell 37.578% of shares in the Lviv Coal Company. It is planned that the new co-owner will be named by approximately September 16th. The starting price to bid for the state shareholding is Hr 80.992 m (US$10.25 m).
The official valuation/funding of the company is Hr 305.610 m (US$38.7m). In 2009 the reported....
Rail-Air connection mooted
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has been given a target date of December 1st to produce a feasibility study for extension of the branch rail line from Kyiv’s Darnitsa metro station to the country’s largest international airport, Borispol.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov, said that the new air terminal D will be in operation this year enabling passenger traffic to increase to 8 million people per year (in 2009 the airport served 5.795 m passengers). This growth in traffic ....
Grain exports to be banned?
Are Ukrainian grain exports to go the way of Russia, which has banned exports following poor harvests?
Ukrainian farmers expect grain exports by fall by 10 to 11% this year compared to earlier forecasts. This set back is on top of the problem faced by the local agricultural sector from the failure of government to repay Value-added tax (VAT) which has so far cost grain producers about Hvr 12 bn (US$1.5 bn).
Agribus to get S$25 m
The committee of directors the European Bank for Reconstruction and development (EBRD) approved a loan of US$25 m to one of the biggest Ukrainian agro-holding groups Mriya (Ternopil region, in western Ukraine).
28% growth in external trade
The Ukraine Ministry of Economics reports that the latest data from the State Customs Service of Ukraine and State Statistics Committee of Ukraine shows a rapid increase in the country’s volume of external trade for goods and services. Turnover in foreign trade averaged US$56 bn during....
IMF approves US$15.2 bn stand-by loan
The consensus view would appear to be that while the IMF Executive Board approval of US$15.2 bn 29-month stand-by arrangement (agreed earlier in July) is undoubtedly a good thing for the country, the main benefit has already occurred in forcing compliance with the loan conditions.
An initial disbursement of USD 1.9 bn is available.....
Increased summer schedule at UIA
Ukraine International Airlines has expanded its scheduled flights on the London Gatwick/ Kiev Boryspil route with additional afternoon services on Fridays and Sundays over summer. With nine flights per week, UIA now has the greatest choice of service on the London-Kiev route.rnrnThe full schedule
Nadra Ukraine seeking investors
The national joint-stock company ‘Nadra Ukraine’ has announced a competition to attract investors in geological subsurface area investigations in cooperation with industrial mining research companies. Several companies are reported to be interested in investing in the Shatravinsk oilfield....
Russian/Ukrainian Space cooperation revived
The Russian government is inviting Ukrainian cooperation in its Space technology programme, and is currently reported to be seeking to attract Ukrainian specialists to assemble and test the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. “Ukrainian specialists will take part in assembling and testing the....
$50 m loan expands agro-production
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has signed an agreement with one of the biggest Ukrainian agroholding companies, Mironovskiy Hleboproduct, (MHP is producer of the well-known brand Nasha Ryaba) to provide a loan of US$50 m. The funds will be used for ....
Taruta invests in nanotechnology
Ukraine has opened its first nanotechnology company. The intention is to start production of innovative new products for medicine, veterinary science and agriculture next year. But the biggest obstacle to success is forecast to be achieving the higher prices such products will require, compared to lower cost, less sophisticated alternatives.
Well-known Ukrainian businessman Sergey Taruta and the academic,....
$200 m loans for Lukoil-Odessa refinery
The Cyprus-registered company SLB Invest Limited has opened a credit facility of US$200 m for the establishment of the Lukoil-Odessa refinery. This facility is in place for just under a year and will be used for supplement and replenishment existing capital reserves. The first tranche of US$4.8 m has ....
Rental legislation clarified
Ukraine’s Verhovna Rada has adopted bill №4681 which clarifies the procedure for state registration of the property rents. Registration of the lease should be - at most - 14 days from the date of application. The fee for this....
Vanco court action suspended
The court case between Vanсo International Ltd and the Ukraine government has been suspended with arbitration underway in Stokholm for the next three months and the process of negotiation now underway. In October 2007 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, led by Viktor Yanukovich and Vanco International (Bermuda Islands), signed an agreement....
Nemiroff purchase fails
The Polish alcohol holding company Central European Distribution Corporation (CEDC) officially announced its decision not to buy Nemiroff, which owns one of the most popular alcohol brands in Ukraine. At the beginning of the year the CEDC announced....
Operating licence regulations to be slashed
Ukraine President, Viktor Yanukovich, has promised to halve the number of permissions required to be obtained by investors to open a business in Ukraine. “This year we plan to reduce the number of licences which create barriers to the establishment of new companies by around 50%,” said Yanukovich. He added that ....
Hotels fail to attract investors
The Ukrainian authorities have promised to support planned investment in hotel construction ahead of the Euro 2012 soccer tournament. But experts at a recent conference in Kyiv say that the market is not attractive to investors right now owing to declining occupancy rates, the high cost of borrowing money and an ‘irresponsible’ approach from international chains. It is forecast that this situation will not change for three to five years.
RosUkrEnegro wins court claim
Last month the Stockholm arbitration tribunal awarded 50% Ukrainian-owned RosUkrEnergo the return of 11 bn cu m of gas from Ukrainian state oil and gas company Naftogas which must also pay a fine of 1.1 bn cu m of gas. RosUkrEnergo is jointly controlled....
China to invest up to $US20 bn
Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov is leading negotiation with Chinese corporations which may invest between US$5 bn to US$20 bn into the Ukraine economy. To date the names of the Chinese companies involved have not been disclosed. However, it is known that ....
‘Lugansk diesel locomotive’ plant re-sold
The State Property Fund of Ukraine has a new owner for a 76% shareholding in the Lugansk diesel locomotive plant, the country’s biggest manufacturer of electric trains, cargo diesel locomotives, and trailer cars. The purchaser is Russia’s Bryansk machine-shop part of the Transport machine-building holding company (75% owned by Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev). In the competition, organised by the State Fund, two participants.....
Naftogas to be broken up?
The new Ukrainian authorities have begun fleshing out their economic reform programme. A first step is to restructure the only state gas and oil monopolist, Naftogas. The new authority believes that this procedure should be completed by 2014 and will help enable the country to attract investment in the energy sector from Russia and the European Union. But there is significant skepticism about whether ....
€500 million EU loan approved
At the end of May the European Parliament voted 604 votes to 37 for Ukraine to be eligible for an EU loan of up to €500 million to help it through the financial crisis.
A maximum EU loan of €500 million will be available...
Brussels-Kyiv-Moscow gas JV mooted
Development of Ukraine’s gas transport system (GTS) could be achieved through a joint venture or cooperation between the European Union, Ukraine and Russia according to recent Interfax reports citing an unnamed EU Council official.
Japanese power plant JV encouraged by PM
The Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov is encouraging Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to participate in the construction of a waste recycling plant in the capital, offering government support and the creation of joint ventures to share costs and risk.
Inward investment up 20%
Ukrainian market analysts report that capital flows into Ukraine have intensified following this year’s Presidential elections due to a sharp increase in external loans secured and a steady growth in export earnings.
$70 billion investment targeted
On 3rd June Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich took further steps to deliver on his election promises and announced a new programme of economic reforms to be implemented by the end of 2014. The aim is....
Privatisation limited to five-year period
Ukraine plans to undertake a vast sale of state assets over the next five years. Following recent changes in legislation, very many state companies are to be sold off during this period with the aim of raising between Hr 50bn to 70 bn (US$6.3 bn to $8.9 bn), tripling capitalisation of state assets. Once this period is completed the government intends to call a halt to the privatisation process. The State Property Fund of Ukraine has introduced...
REPORT SUMMARY
FREE 24 page summary Wind, Solar, Biofuel, HEP, Alternatives, Hydrocarbons. What is current capacity? What are the growth prospects for each sector? What are the specific economics in Ukraine? Who are the major players? Ukraine plans to spend several billion dollars over the next decade reducing its dependence on imported hydrocarbons, with renewables set to deliver 20% of energy requirements by 2020, and alternative car fuels to jump from 1% to 7% by 2015. Discover which sectors offer the most attractive opportunities, what the Ukraine-specific hurdles are for investors in each sector, from physical to regulatory, market competition, and the favourable and unfavourable effect of differential incentives.
