said Boris Markov, ATB General Director, in a company press release. Claiming to be Ukraine’s fastest growing supermarket chain, ATB said that it invested $370 million in its expansion during 2020, opening 127 new stores. Its retail network extends to all 24 regions of Ukraine, and ATB has a total of 1,216 stores in 313 towns and cities. The company has estimated that 4 million Ukrainians – more than 10% of Ukraine’s adults population – shop at ATB.
the technology park has reported. The State-owned Bank, Gospodarstwa Krajowego, will loan €81.5 million for the €136 million first phase of development. With a first phase expected to be completed by of end 2023, the general contractor will be Unibep, one of Poland’s largest construction companies. Spreading over a 10-hectare site which is located 4 km south of Rynok Square, the Park will feature research laboratories and offices for 10,000 IT workers and students. Companies that have already reserved space include: GlobalLogic, N-iX, Intellias, SoftServe and Perfectial.
the Lviv City Council has announced. The triangular lot which is located 1.7 kilometerss west of Rynok Square, is to become a mixed use area. The project will include a park, a business center, a congress hall and a new administrative building for the City Council, (Interfax-Ukraine). On the site, bounded by Horodotska, Taras Shevchenko and Yaroslav Mudry streets, City Architect Anton Kolomiytsev has proposed to repurpose the site’s historic, Hapsburg-era buildings to new uses.
Sergiy Sergiyenko, Managing Partner of CBRE Ukraine, (Kyiv Post). “Living in Kyiv and Ukraine, in general, there are no quality public spaces in winter…So, people go out and go to a mall,” he said adding that in Kyiv residents travel to malls using mass transit. “Malls are places for hanging out, for window-shopping or for trying on clothes. They may not be so profitable, but they still continue to be used…Rental rates in shopping malls did get hammered, but they will recover gradually.”
This will add a total of 1.8 million square meters of leasable area, reported the Kyiv Post. This year, Kyiv is to see the openings of Ocean Mall with 100,000 square meters and Blockbuster Phase 3, with 55,000 square meters. Next year, if construction plans hold up, five new malls are to open in Kyiv, adding 173,000 square meters of retail space.
by Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate consultancy. Although 85,000 square meters of new space were commissioned last year, rates have increased to $5.5 per square meter. “It is not enough to satisfy existing occupier demand,” said the report. This year, an additional 60,000 square meters are pipeline for 2021.
, introducing their brands and opening stores, said Konstantin Oliynyk, UTG (Interfax-Ukraine). Brands from Poland include: LPP, Sinsay, CROPP, House, MOHITO, Reserved. Turkish retail brands include: DeFacto, LC Waikiki, and FLO.
Sergiyenko of CBRE, (Kyiv Post). “In other words, if there are 2 million square meters in total supply — 400,000 to 500,000 square meters will be vacated,” he says. However, he cautions: “Offices are not going away. They are places for ideas, collaboration, socializing. A company is a social entity.”
the highest level since 2014. In turn, rents fell by 10 to 20%, reported the Kyiv Post. Faced with uncertainty in the pandemic year, CBRE Ukraine said that developers offered only 125,000 square meters of new office space — half the initial plan. This year, Cushman & Wakefield has predicted that 160,000 square meters in new office space will come on the market in Kyiv. Total current supply is 2 million square meters.
said Yuri Pita, President of the Association of Realtors of Ukraine, (Interfax-Ukraine). Assuming the coronavirus pandemic ebbs in May, rents will stabilize. However, he adds: “In the face of accelerating inflation, the cost of rent can increase by an average of 5-7%.”
Vodafone has reported that analytics of cell phone users showed a 30% yoy increase last summer at Ukrainian beach resorts. On the Azov, one hamlet, Bilosarayska Kosa, about 20 kilometers west of Mariupol, saw a 177% yoy increase. Last summer, while Kyiv hotels saw occupancy rates fall to 23%, seven countryside hotels reported revenue increases, reports the Ukrainian Hotel and Resort Association. More recently, during the December-January holidays, Carpathian mountain resort hotels enjoyed almost 100% occupancies, Artur Lupashko, founder of Ribas Hotels Group, told Interfax-Ukraine.
Editor’s Note: Russia’s Sept. 19 Duma elections seem to be driving President Putin to massively build up military forces on Ukraine’s eastern border. With Russia’s economy and political situation stagnant for years, Putin may be tempted to stage a ‘glorious’ little summer war as an electoral diversion. But, in terms of lives lost and Western sanctions imposed, a small war could well prove inglorious. My bet is that Putin will try a Crimea II: the largely bloodless annexation of the half of the Donbas he already controls, ‘endorsed’ by a late summer referendum. To pave the way, by Jan. 1, he had handed out Russian passports to 441,000 residents of Russia-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk. Then, on Jan. 28, Margarita Simonyan, head of RT, traveled to Donetsk and made an emotional appeal to wild applause:“Mother Russia, take Donbas home!” Ominously, the Kremlin never shot down that trial balloon. With Best Regards Jim Brooke
over the first quarter of 2020, reported the Sea Ports Administration. Of the 1.8 million tons, the cargoes were: construction materials +79% to 1 million tons; grain + 33% to 587,000 tons; and metals +280% to 171,000 tons. The winter season is characterized by short haul barge trips. On March 10, the full river opened to shipping, with all locks working between Nova Kakhovka and the Kyiv Sea.
, reported the Agrologistics website. With a fleet of nine sea-river ships, Argo already takes cargo from Zaporizhia to Greece, Italy and France. Last summer, its vessel MV Porada carried 2,000 tons of Turkish cement to Ukrainka, a Dnipro port 40 km downriver from Kyiv. Last year Argo carried 710,000 tons of cargo on the Dnipro, a 30% increase over 2019 volumes. Argo Commercial Director, Alexander Nikulin said: “This year, we have already received requests from charterers to operate cargo trips from the Persian Gulf countries to Kyiv.”
, a 40% increase over the river’s 2019 cargo level. In a first step, the parent agency, the Infrastructure Ministry, has endorsed the Danube Shipping’s plan to build 16 tugs and 31 barges for use on the Dnipro. The Ministry also promised to transfer to the company its river ports and terminals. Danube Shipping is in negotiations with the EBRD and other international financial institutions to secure low interest financing. By replacing trucks on the highways, river transportation bonds and loans often are considered ‘green.’
Drawing only four meters, the barge can carry down the Southern Bug loads of grain up to 3,000 tons. With six of these barges, Nibulon’s river fleet now numbers 85 vessels, most of them produced at the company’s shipyard in Mykolaiv.
said the French Ambassador to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins. The first of the aluminum, high speed boats is to be delivered by the end of 2021. The Nibulon contract is part of a 20-boat, €136 million deal that is 85% financed by the French Treasury and Bpifrance, the state-owned investment bank.
Last year, Smart Maritime Group, which unites Kherson and Mykolaiv shipyards, built hulls for two Dutch chemical tankers and modernized and repaired 55 vessels.
to 30 million tons a year, Infrastructure Minister Krikliy said at a recent meeting the European Business Association. The State Fund for Inland Waterways is modeled on the three-year-old Ukrainian State Road Fund, which draws on user fees to guarantee money for road repair and construction.
said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported Anadolu Agency. Erdogan promised to have the canal open in time for the October 29, 2023 Centennial of the proclamation of the Turkish Republic. The 45 km canal is designed to carry 160 ships a day, the same volume that travels today through the Bosporus which passes through central Istanbul. Designed in part to handle dangerous cargo, the Istanbul Canal is expected to open the Black Sea to LNG cargoes from the Gulf.
taking residents to their dachas and tourists on day trips through the river delta, reports the city transit agency, Khersonkommuntransservice. With a six-month season, river tourism is increasingly popular in Kherson.
, said Infrastructure Minister, Vladyslav Krykliy, in a recent online forum dedicated to reviving river tourism in Ukraine. “The restoration of inland waterways is not only about increasing cargo traffic on the river, but also about the development of passenger river transport,” Krykliy said. Chornobyl, a major international tourism destination, is 100 km upriver from the Kyiv Hydroelectric Station. Kaniv, home of the hillside grave of Taras Shevchenko, is about 130 km downriver from Kyiv’s River Station, in Podil.
compared to January-March 2020, the airport reported. Of the 1.2 million passengers, 47.5% flew on charters, a big increase over last year. The top 5 destinations for all travelers in March alone were: Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Istanbul, Dubai, Minsk. With the suspension of UIA’s long haul route network, transit passengers dropped by 90.5% – to 36,900 for the quarter.
the airport reported. Of the nearly 9,000 tons of cargo, 71% was inbound. Cargo for export dropped by 27%, to 2,560 tons.
to 12,160, reported UkSATSE, the air traffic control agency. This is an improvement over the 58% drop registered in 2020 and the 56% drop registered in February. Looking ahead to summer travel to the EU, Andriy Yarmak, the agency head, cautioned: “With regards to the restoration of traffic to Europe, it is quite difficult to make accurate forecasts for the liberalization of border crossing rules, given the introduction of strict restrictive measures in connection with the third wave of coronavirus.”
reported Interfax-Ukraine. Located 80 km southwest of Kyiv’s Ring Road, Bila Tservka is to win a multimodal cargo complex, a passenger terminal, hangars for an aircraft maintenance center, runway repairs and new lights and radio equipment for landings. Work is underway to upgrade the former military airfield to international status.
Editor’s Note: With public private partnerships and concessions becoming realities in Ukraine, London’s Strategy Council holds its Ukrainian Transport Infrastructure forum next week. Every day, Monday through Friday at 4 pm Kyiv time, there will be an online panel with a stellar lineup of Ukrainian and foreign experts. In succession, the panels are: Monday – Overview, with Infrastructure Minister Krikliy and four IFI reps; Tuesday – Ports and Waterways, with Nibulon, Hamburger Hafen, and IFIs; Wednesday – Roads, with Oleksandr Kubrakov, Head of Ukravtodor, and government’s PPP office; Thursday – Rail, with UZ, the IFIs and East-West Intermodal Logistics; and Friday – Airports, with Kyrylo Khomyakov, head of State Agency for Infrastructure Projects, Kharkiv and Odesa airport managers. The weeklong program is free. You can sign up here. With Best Regards Jim Brooke
by the end of next year, said Sergiy Yevtushenko, UDP’s co-founder and managing partner, on Facebook yesterday. Yevtushenko wrote, Nebras, a state-owned company, will buy control of six solar stations, noting Monday’s deal comes after two years of negotiations. He added: “The next stage of the partnership will be the implementation of new wind power projects which will create new capacity in ‘green’ energy to provide for the needs of about 310,000 average households.”
said Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Presidential Chief of staff, (Ukrinform). Reviewing President Zelenskiy’s one day visit to Doha Monday, Zhovkva said: “During the talks, the leaders discussed the possibility of using Qatar’s logistics network to supply Ukrainian food to other countries in the region.” Doha’s Hamad Port and Hamad International Airport are amongst the busiest in the Gulf. President Zelenskiy also encouraged expanding flight connections beyond the current lone flight — Qatar Airways between Doha and Kyiv Boryspil.
The number of M&A deals was 69, down 15% in comparison to 2019, according to a report issued yesterday by KPMG. Although deals are off to a slow start this year, the report predicts: “Momentum will really start to build up in the second half of the year, with a brighter outlook beyond this.” The four main sectors are: IT, agriculture, real estate, and infrastructure.
up from its forecast of 3% made six months ago. World GDP is to increase by 6% this year, “reflecting additional fiscal support in a few large economies and the anticipated vaccine-powered recovery in the second half of the year,” the IMF wrote in its April World Economic Outlook Review. Last week, the World Bank raised its growth forecast for Ukraine this year to 3.8%. A Bloomberg survey of 13 economists has predicted a rate of growth of 4.4%. Ukraine’s Economy Ministry has forecast a 4.6% rate of growth.
According to figures compiled by Alfa-Bank Ukraine, the GDP drops for 2020 were: Poland – 2.8%; US – 3.5%; Ukraine – 4.1%; Germany – 5%; Czech – 5.6%; EU – 6.4%; France – 8.3%; Italy – 8.8%; and Spain – 11%.
reported the analytics firm, International Data Corporation. Sales dropped during the second quarter lockdown, then came back with a roar, increasing by 37% yoy in the last quarter of 2020. This year, IDC predicts moderate growth, with sales topping 7 million. With Ukrainian purchasing power low, the average price fell last year by $19, to $192. Partly due to a surge in sales of China’s Xiaomi, the ‘cheap’ share of Ukraine’s market grew last year from 62% to 71%.
exceeding the Central Bank’s forecast of 7.6%, said a monthly Reuters poll of Ukrainian analysts. Analysts said consumer prices rose due to inflation imported from world commodity markets, notably wheat, corn, sunflower oil and crude oil. Oleksiy Blinov, Alfa-Bank Ukraine’s Head of Research, said: “These changes in external prices are directly and indirectly transmitted to consumer inflation in Ukraine.” The IMF has predicted that Ukraine’s consumer price index will end this year at 7.9%.
They are: Rinat Akhmetov — $7.6 billion; Viktor Pinchuk — $2.5 billion; Konstantin Zhevago — $2.3 billion; Igor Kolomoisky — $1.8 billion; Gennadiy Bogolyubov — $1.7 billion; Petro Poroshenko — $1.7 billion; and Vadym Novinsky — $1.4 billion.
reported the Sea Ports Administration. The big factor in the drop to 33 million tons was a 37% decrease in grain export volumes, to 8.6 million tons. Ore exports were down by 12%, to 9 million tons. During the first quarter, ports handled 253,170 containers, almost a 5% yoy decrease. Despite these tonnage drops, Ukraine’s exports were up by 12% in the first quarter, to $13.75 billion.
reported APK-Inform. Of the 15.9 million tons exported so far, the top markets were: China – 6 million tons; EU – 5 million tons; and Egypt – 1.7 million tons. This year, Ukraine is expected to export 23 million tons of its 30-million-ton crop. Poor weather and reduced plantings depressed the harvest.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi says he will not accept the results of a European Investment Bank tender that awards the contract for 100 buses to MAZ, the Belarus company. “We have no right to finance the regime,” he said, referring to widespread popular resistance to self-appointed ruler Alexander Lukashenko. “We have Ukrainian producers who need support.” Ukraine’s big bus manufacturers are Bogdan, Etalon, and Lviv’s Electron. “Why is this important?” asks Sadovyi. “Ukraine needs 30,000 units of public transport — billions of hryvnias and tens of thousands of jobs that will remain in Ukraine.”
Last month, Iran made public a ‘final’ report, blaming an unidentified Tor-M1 air defense system operator who mistook the passenger jet for an American target. Canada, whose nationals account for almost one third of the fatalities, denounced the long-awaited report, saying it “makes no attempt to answer critical questions about what truly happened.”
“has also pushed Ukrainian sovereign bonds to their lowest level since November,” Reuters reported last night. Adamant Capital elaborated: “The price of Ukraine’s 11-year benchmark Eurobond (2032) has tumbled over the past week (by roughly 370 bps) signaling investor concerns over the possibility of a military escalation.” From the other side, the Russian ruble dropped yesterday to 77 to the dollar, its lowest level since November.
“We lean towards Moscow’s actions being more of a show of force rather than a real preparation for a confrontation…Crossing over [into the Donbas] once more, especially with the world closely watching, would completely destroy Putin’s narrative of the conflict being Ukraine’s internal affair.”
Editor’s Note: VOA’s Russian service put me on the spot last night, asking me live the probability of military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. I hazarded: 70% nyet; 30% da. The ‘leaked’ daytime videos of military hardware crossing the Kerch Bridge and of a convoy heading into southern Belarus smell more of a political threat than of a military threat. That said, last night’s Bloomberg headline captures the mood: “Russia Stages Mass Military Drills as Ukraine Tensions Climb.” At the very least, nothing will happen in April – Ukraine’s mud season. For a historical perspective, check out: Lost in the Mud: The (Nearly) Forgotten Collapse of the German Army in the Western Ukraine, March and April 1944. With Best Regards Jim Brooke
according to a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed yesterday in Doha by Saad bin Sherid Al-Kaabi, Energy Minister and the CEO of Qatar Petroleum, and Yuriy Vitrenko the Acting Energy Minister. Vitrenko said: “Qatar is one of the largest gas producers in the world and has valuable experience and significant financial resources to invest in gas exploration and production in Ukraine.”
“Ukraine is very interested in supplying liquefied natural gas, as well as working with Qatari specialists in the development of our Black Sea shelf. We have signed a memorandum between our states, and I think we will achieve results in this direction.”
which are planned for construction by the end of 2022. At the end of the investment cycle, Nebras will become owner of a controlling stake in the plants.
Zelenskiy said. To facilitate Qatari participation in Ukraine’s privatization campaign, Ukraine’s State Property Fund of Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Qatar Investment Authority. The Authority has $345 billion of assets under management in diversified markets.
another meeting in Doha. QTerminals is now on track to fulfill the $140 million investment contract that it signed in August 2020.
Bohdan Danylyshyn, Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine wrote on Facebook. He said: “The key reasons for the low interest of foreign investors in the Ukrainian economy are the weak and underdeveloped domestic market, the ongoing military conflict with the Russian Federation, as well as the low level of legal protection of investments.”
to smooth out foreign exchange fluctuations. As the hryvnia strengthened last week, the bank sold $50 million, reported the National Bank of Ukraine website. Since the start of the year, the hryvnia has appreciated by 2%, achieving the current rate of 27.8 hryvnia/dollar.
, the government portal has reported. Much of the funds originate from a Polish government loan to Ukraine to build border crossings with Poland. More than half of the loan will be used to buy and install video surveillance equipment, weighing and scanning systems. The Finance Ministry wrote that the goal is “the latest technical equipment, which minimizes the human factor in the inspection, and hence corruption risks.”
, wrote Lesia Dubenko an Pavlo Kravchuk in a recent Atlantic Council piece of the Kyiv-based think tank Europe Without Barriers. “Kyiv must deliver on its promises and complete the renovation and construction of checkpoints funded by both the EU and Poland,” they wrote. In turn, the EU should compromise on several Schengen rules to allow Slovakia-Ukraine and Hungary-Ukraine joint border crossings. Increasingly important to the economies of the EU and Ukraine, Ukraine-EU land border registered a total of 32 million crossings in 2019.
, the highway agency reported on Facebook. “Unfortunately, having crossed the borders of our state, it is expected that you meet a pothole,” Ukravtodor wrote. Almost all the work this year is being undertaken in Zakarpattia, repairing road connections to Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Last year, 150 km of border roads were repaired. By 2023, the plan is to repair 600 km.
Talks are ongoing regarding an agreement to build a sixth crossing, at Dyida, and to repair the highway bridge over the Tisza River at the busiest crossing – Chop-Zahony. Last month, at the first meeting of the Ukrainian-Hungarian Joint Commission on Border Traffic Control they discussed: “increasing capacity, reducing queues, modernization of existing and construction of new crossing points, as well as prospects for the introduction of joint border control on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border,” wrote Lyubov Nepop, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Hungary on Facebook.
Ukraine’s Lviv region border town with Poland. By the end of this year, this ‘Dry Port’ will allow shippers to switch container between trains on Soviet gauge tracks and trains on EU gauge tracks. Referring to the growth of freight train traffic from China, Lemtrans General Director Vladimir Mezentsev told Interfax-Ukraine: “Such a project can give an impetus to the development of the entire industry of freight rail transportation in Ukraine.”
the analytical group Restaurant of Ukraine reported on Facebook. The number of restaurants, cafes and bars fell by 21%, to 14,786.
delaying access to and from Kyiv Boryspil Airport. The Metro is to run during the 2-week lockdown, but access is limited to about 600,000 people working in ‘critical’ jobs. In addition to health care, these sectors include energy, chemical industry, transport, banking, telecommunications, food, and utilities. Employers are asked to shift to remote work as much as possible.
according to the airline’s new summer schedule. Frequencies increase to Istanbul, Tel Aviv, and London’s two main airports, Heathrow, and Gatwick. Missing are flights to North America. UIA says it is postponing its relaunch of flights to New York and Toronto in the ‘3rd quarter’ – sometime in the July 1-Sept. 30 period.
Editor’s Note: In Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin meets his ‘starshyy’ – his senior. Biden was elected to the US Senate in the fall of 1972, when 20-year-old Putin was a second-year law student at Leningrad State University. For the next half century, Biden went on to watch Russia and to deal with the Kremlin — either on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee or as Vice President. This spring, Putin is using his old playbook – testing a new US President early in his term. But Putin is used to dealing with neophyte US presidents with limited Washington experience: George W. Bush was governor of Texas; Barrack Obama served only half a US senate term. Donald Trump was a businessman/entertainer. Biden comes in knowing more than where the wash rooms are in the White House. He knows Washington’s levers of power — and how to use them. Only 75 days after his inauguration, 3 million Americans are being vaccinated every day – 10 times the rate of Russia. In Ukraine, Putin is again playing brinkmanship. But the new US president and his team who know how to play the game. Of all the Russia-Ukraine-US quotes that came out last week, the most telling was to David Ignatius of The Washington Post from ‘a senior Biden official’: “We are not looking to reset our relations with Russia nor to escalate. Our goal is to impose costs for actions we consider unacceptable, while seeking stability, predictability, turning down the temperature…If they’re inclined to turn the temperature up, we’re ready for that.” With Best Regards Jim Brooke
It will be Zelenskiy’s second trip to the Gulf in two months, following a visit in February to Qatar’s eastern neighbor, the United Arab Emirates. Referring to a country with an economy the size of Ukraine’s but with only 2.8 million people, Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolia told Ukrinform that Qatar “is one of the richest and most influential countries on the planet.”
with Qatar’s Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister, Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, Agriculture Minister Roman Leshchenko told Ukrinform. In advance, talks have already taken place with Hassad Food, the agricultural investment arm of the Qatar Investment Authority. From its base in Doha, Hassan has invested $500 million in India for the production of rice and coffee and $500 million in Australia for the production of wheat and sheep.
– either pipeline gas through LNG terminals in Croatia and Greece, or through eventual delivery of LNG through Turkey’s planned Istanbul Canal. Today the talks will touch on gas supply, joint investments in gas exploration in Ukraine and investment in infrastructure concession projects, Presidential Economic Advisor Tymofiy Milovanov told Ukrinform.
Lyubov Abdravitova, Ukraine’s Ambassador to South Africa, announced at the Ukrainian Prism conference. Trade Representative Taras Kachka will lead the mission, which runs from April 13 to 18, 2021. The last high level Ukrainian visit, by a foreign minister to the region, took place 20 years ago.
said Vadym Prystiako, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Britain during the Ukrainian Prism discussion. “At this rate, Britain will become one of our main trade partners by the end of this year,” he said. Noting that the Britain is now one of the top five consumers of Ukrainian services, he added: “IT is now greater than the traditional groups, such as metal, agricultural products, oil.” On December 16 2021, two weeks before Brexit went into effect, the Rada ratified a new Free Trade and Strategic Partnership between Ukraine and the UK.
wrote Alfa-Bank Ukraine. Steel export revenues were up 75% yoy and iron ore revenues were up 99% yoy. UkrMetalurgProm, the industry association, reported that in March the steel billet average export price was up 73% yoy and the rebar price was up 70%.
writes Oleksiy Blinov, Alfa’s research head. “Sunflower volume exports are up only 1.5% yoy in March, but the export price has more than doubled.” Similarly, higher grain export prices have compensated for a 23% yoy drop in grain export volumes.
Oleksiy Chernyshov, Minister for Community and Territorial Development, says according the government website. The announcement came at a meeting with Dragon Capital, which is building two industrial parks. The Ministry will spend almost $3 million this year on industrial parks, 10 times the amount spent in the last five years. By definition, an industrial park can contain factories, ports, warehouses.
, the Finance Ministry wrote on Facebook. The funds will be spent on computers and to tailoring university curricula to real world employer needs. The Digital Transformation Ministry has set a goal of doubling the number of Ukrainian IT specialists, to 500,000 by 2024.
The seller, Metropoliya Group, is to continue technical support of the projects until they enter commercial operation next year, VR Capital said Thursday. In addition, VR’s Elementum Energy Ukraine is building a 100 MW wind farm in a different part of the Odesa region. Elementum owns 28 solar stations with a total capacity of 536 MW.
and for a 45-minute discussion. Later, Zelenskiy said in a public address: “We enjoy the full and unwavering support of international partners, including Europe and the United States. Proof of that is the conversation I had today with President of the United States Joe Biden. We discussed the situation in Donbas in detail. President Biden assured me that Ukraine would never be left alone against Russian aggression.”
and 68 of their companies, and is preparing laws to criminalize “inaccurate customs declarations,” the President said in his speech on Friday. Behind the drive is an estimate that smuggling costs the treasury $10 billion a year in lost import duties. “This is economic terrorism against Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said, referring to the lost revenue. “The fight against smuggling will be continued. Today it is the top 10, but it certainly not be the last.”
The lockdown – the third in one year – comes as the city registers 1,000 new infections a day. At the end of last week, Ukraine was registering a record 20,000 new infections daily and 5,000 new hospitalizations. Iryna Ozymok, of Western NIS, wrote Thursday in an Atlantic Council blog: “With little sign of any vaccine breakthroughs on the horizon, Ukraine looks set for many more months of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.”
according to the Worldometer running tally of infections and deaths. A BBC Eastern Europe coronavirus roundup shows Ukraine far behind in vaccinations. Poland, Czech and Slovakia are near the EU average — 16 jabs for every 100 people. Hungary is at 29.5. Ukraine is at 0.6. Yesterday, Zelenskiy gave his government one week to draw up a plan to vaccinate most adults by the end of this year.
Editor’s Note: From Brooklyn, my son William told yesterday that Manhattan clubs are re-opening their doors. Admission? A QR with your vaccination code. Biden is vaccinating 3 million people a day. All three of my adult sons in the US now are vaccinated. In my home county, Berkshires, Mass., the Boston Symphony Orchestra will resume its summer music festival. Theater and ballet festivals are planning summer schedules. Here in Ukraine, all that is needed is 40 million vaccines and anti-vax attitudes will ebb. Here are the summer choices. Fly Wizz Air to Krakow for the weekend? Of go in a BlaBlaCar crammed with cranky anti-vaxxers? Suck a beer like a booby on a park bench? Or dance the night away in a club with scantily clad members of the opposite sex? Attitudes will evolve. Just bring in the vaccines. The Rada is taking a good step to ease out all-talk, no-action Health Minister Stepanov. With Best Regards Jim Brooke
compared to the same January-March period last year. Exports were up by 12% to $13.75 billion. Imports were up by 12% to $15.1 billion. Overall trade totaled $28.8 billion. “The Ukrainian economy is recovering,” Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka wrote on Facebook. “Good news – export is growing.”
, Kachka wrote. Other increases for the first quarter of 2021 were: EU +18% and Poland +16%. With regards to Turkey, Ukraine registered a $260 million trade surplus. Kachka wrote: “The main driving force of exports is ore and ferrous metals, for which both prices and demand are rising. This trend will continue.”
to $255 million in 2020, from $3.4 billion in 2019, Kachka said when speaking at the Ukraine’s International Trade Council. He said: “The most important indicators are the phenomenal growth of exports of Ukrainian products to Vietnam and China – by 93% and 98%, respectively.” Last year, 14.5% of Ukraine’s exports went to China, compared to 5.5% for Russia, reports the State Statistics Service.
Vladyslava Magaletskaya, Ukraine’s Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service, wrote on Facebook after meeting with China’s Ambassador Fan Xiangzhong. The list includes: honey, cherries, apple, peas, fish products, wheat, barley and animal feed.
reported World Railways, a Moscow-based news site. With most of the rail traffic crossing Russia, trains now roll from 60 Chinese cities to Europe. In January 2021, 1,165 freight trains traveled from China to Europe, a 66% yoy jump. In the nine months since the start of dedicated rail service between China and Ukraine, 28 trains have arrived in Kyiv.
, reported Meduza, the Russian-language news site based in Latvia. Vadim Rabinovich, a pro-Russia Ukrainian Rada member, wrote on Facebook that the visit could be a “countermove” by Beijing in response to Ukraine’s nationalization of Motor Sich. Chinese investors in the aircraft engine factory are fighting the nationalization, with muted support from Beijing.
It will be the fifth international card payment system in Ukraine with a non-resident payment organization, reported the National Bank of Ukraine. The 50-year-old Tokyo-based company has 5,000 employees and 130 million cardholders in 23 countries. Around the world, JCB has alliances with Discover Network in the US, UnionPay in China, RuPay in India and American Express in Canada.
Fiala, through Dragon Capital companies, is buying 75%. Svitek, former CEO of Alfa-Bank Group in Ukraine, is buying 25%. The Central Bank ranks UNEX Bank as the 63rd largest of Ukraine’s 73 banks, with total assets of $32 million.
one in Brovary and one in Kharkiv. Last July, Grand Business Center became Kyiv’s first office building to receive a sustainability certificate under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, or BREEAM, an internationally recognized environmental rating system. A 15-story Class A office center, with 9,000 square meters of leasable space, Grand Business stands at Vasylkivska 98, across from the St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral. By the end of this year, Dragon intends to have eight buildings in Ukraine certified by BREEAM, Dragon reports. The two warehouses — Diana Lux Logistic in Kyiv and Terminal Kharkiv – have a combined rental area of 26,000 square meters.
, Prime Minister Shmygal announced on Telegram. After meeting with Dmytro Sennychenko, the Head of the State Property Fund, Shmygal wrote that top candidates for auction are: Kyiv’s President Hotel, Kyiv’s First Bolshevik Machine-Building Plant, and the United Mining and Chemical Company.
territory of the Central Bank’s monthly survey. The mood inched up to 51.4 points, the first time since February 2020 that the index of business prospects have crossed the 50-point equilibrium, reported the National Bank of Ukraine. The survey of 269 companies was taken March 3-24, before the latest imposition of quarantine restrictions.
Concorde CEO Ihor Mazepa said recently at the IPO presentation of Veres Rivne People’s {Football] Club. Citing changes in Ukraine’s financial markets, the Concorde founder said: “What I have seen for the last six or nine months: there has been such a huge trend that a class, a huge group of investors has begun to form in the country. He added: “I give myself, roughly speaking, two years to bring a good 10 companies to an IPO.”
– and managed to end the first quarter with the passenger numbers down by only one third compared to the first quarter of last year. Ukraine International Airlines carried only 121,047 passengers on regular flights, only 13% the number of Q1 2020. By contrast, its charter passengers nearly tripled, to 201,685. During the first quarter, UIA says it returned $6.7 million to about 30,000 passengers for cancelled flights. During the full, first year of the pandemic, the airline says it has returned $33 million to passengers.
The government also passed rules to ease parking payments, through street terminals and through ATM machines.
Editor’s Note: The Kremlin is matching its anti-Ukraine rhetoric with major troop movements toward the border and into Crimea. The Kremlin bills these movements as “exercises.” In August 2008, I happened to be in Georgia when a Russian exercise turned into an invasion of Georgia. In Dec. 2013, I won no friends by warning in a column that Putin wanted to take Crimea. Today, Putin faces Duma elections on Sept. 19. He may calculate that military action against Ukraine is a vote getter. Let’s see if he cranks up his propaganda machine – and if he starts moving field hospitals closer to the lines of control. All this clearly is a test for President Biden. But the days are over when President Obama viewed Putin as a tiresome pest. Since then, the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 presidential election and then orchestrated massive thefts of American computer secrets. Today, there is a deep bipartisan consensus in the US to rap Russia when it gets out of line. Inside the Kremlin information bubble, Russia’s leaders may be oblivious to American readiness to whack back. With Best Regards Jim Brooke
, announced Mayor Klitschko yesterday. The Metro, city buses and trams will carry only ‘critical workers’ with special passes. Employers are asked to move as many workers to remote work as possible. All schools and kindergartens will close for two weeks. Starting today, all outdoor food markets are closed. On Tuesday, the Rada may pass a 10:00 pm curfew for Kyiv, reported Segodnya.
Kyiv hospital occupancy levels are around 85%. Klitschko said: “We have lines of ambulances in front of hospitals. We have no choice. Otherwise, there will be hundreds of deaths every day.” Nationwide, the Health Ministry reported 407 coronavirus deaths yesterday, a record for the year-long pandemic.
President Zelenskiy said on Monday. The next day, his Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Ukraina 24 TV: “If there is an appropriate amount of vaccines, we will be able to vaccinate up to 5 million people a month in a very quiet mode.” By the end of May, Ukraine is to receive 1.7 million doses — enough to vaccinate 3% of Ukraine’s adults. Of the 500,000 vaccines received five weeks ago, the Health Ministry has used only 212,900.
Goesta Ljungman, the IMF’s resident representative, said in a lengthy interview with Interfax-Ukraine. “At this stage, it is not possible to make any predictions about when the review can be completed. This depends on how quickly there is progress on outstanding issues,” he said, referring to the Stand-By Arrangement that has been largely dormant since $2.1 billion was disbursed last June 11.
