Office of the National Investment Council of Ukraine presents weekly reports as handy tools to keep track of the key news in business and investment climate in Ukraine and the world. The following report covers events dated June 3-June 11, 2019

1. WEEKLY REPORT
June 3rd → June 9th, 2019

2. Ukrainian government will try to issue bonds with longer term and amortization payment
schedule if it is possible to cut the refinancing risk, according to the medium term
strategy for the state debt management for 2019-2022 passed by the Cabinet of
Ministers on June 5
U.S. delegation headed by Donald Winter visited Ukraine to study the state of affairs in
the Ukrainian defense sector with the aim of subsequently developing recommendations
on the reform and development of the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex.
Recommendations may form the basis of the updated Washington policy on bilateral
military technical cooperation with Kyiv
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law "On Amendments to Certain
Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Implementation of EU legislation in the area of
technical regulations“, which is one of the conditions for the European Commission to
resolve the issue of concluding an Agreement on Conformity Assessment and
Acceptance of Industrial Goods with Ukraine (so-called visa-free regime)
The European Union will finalize the consideration of the issue of providing the second
tranche in the amount of EUR 500 million within the fourth EU macro-financial assistance
program to Ukraine as soon as the relevant requirements are met by Ukrainian site
U.S. payment service Payoneer has been launched in Ukraine in partnership with
Alfabank. Freelancers will be able to receive funds from Payoneer account without
additional fees, while standard Payoneer service fee is 2% of payment amount
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine in pursuance of the government resolution adopted on June 5
should reduce the price of gas for the population by UAH 800, set it at UAH 6,299 per
1,000 cu m for June 2019 (excluding VAT)
WEEKLY REPORT June 3rd → June 9th, 2019
Business climate in Ukraine
GDP growth +3.3%
Export $14,905
Import $16,918
Industrial output -0.9%
CPI 8.9%
Oil
Coal
Natural
Gas
Iron Ore
Copper
Corn
Wheat
USD/bbl
USD/ton
USD/MWh
USD/ton USD/bushel
2018, y-o-y
Jan - Jan 2019
Jan-Jan 2019 y-o-y
Jan – Jan 2019
Jan-Jan 2019 y-o-y
Jan - Feb 2019, y-o-y
Feb 2019
Macroeconomic indicators
Jan - Mar 2019, y-o-y
Mar 2019
UAH/USD (NBU, average) 26.80
Source: Ukrstat, NBU
63.29
55.55
12.31
97.78
USD/ton
USD/bushel
5777.75
4.16
5.03
million
+7,8%
+7,3%
+2,1%
8,8%
million

3. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) organizes a syndicated
loan of EUR 116 million for the wood processing company Kronospan UA. The funds will
finance investments in new production facilities in compliance with relevant EU standards
and regulations. The company plans to expand its production in Ukraine with the
construction of a new facility in Novovolynsk
DTEK Energy plans to build two wind farms in Mykolaiv region with a capacity of 565 MW.
Under the wind farm projects it is planned to install up to 130 wind turbines with a capacity
of 3.9-6 MW. The total construction area will be 35,000 ha
Delta Wilmar plans to increase market share in the segments in which its Ukrainian
subsidiary Chumak operates and to increase exports within the network of Wilmar Group
in Asia, Africa and the EU. The share of exports is about 20% of total production and
company plans to double it
Norwegian renewable energy company Scatec Solar has begun construction of 148 MW
solar power plant on Mykolaiv region. Project is being carried out in collaboration with
Chinese energy giant PowerChina Guizhou, which provides financial and engineering
services
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) granted Yuria-Pharm Group
a six-year loan of up to EUR 25 million and will help company to expand its existing
production facilities and introduce an innovative solution for Ukrainian market, which help
customize cancer treatment practices
A joint venture of Dacsa Group and Bunge Limited started construction of a corn mill in
Vinnytsya region. New mill will have the daily production capacity of 300 tons of corn grits
and flours. The facility will occupy 0.3 ths ha. In addition to the construction of the mill, the
management plans to reconstruct the already existing three grain storages. The total
investment amounts to USD 14 million
WEEKLY REPORT June 3rd → June 9th, 2019
Ukrainian Business News
Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company, would buy Looker, a privately
held big-data analytics company, for USD 2.6 billion in cash. The deal
reflects company’s plan to win customers with specialized software, as
rivals focus on more general tools
Swiss Re is planning a USD 4.5 billion IPO for UK life insurance unit to
put it under a more favorable regulatory regime and give it easier access
to capital. Under the flotation plans, Swiss Re would cut its stake in
ReAssure to below 50% from 75%
France is ready to cut its stake in Renault SA in order to consolidate
Renault’s partnership with Nissan Motor. France, which has a 15%
stake in Renault, might consider reducing its stake, if it led to a “more
solid” alliance between the Japanese and French firms
United Technologies is nearing a deal to merge its aerospace business
with U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and form a new company worth
well over USD 100 billion. Companies are seeking to pool resources
through what would be the biggest merger in the aerospace and defense
sectors
PayPal Holdings has invested 10 million euros in Tink, a Swedish
company that enables banks and financial technology startups to
access financial data more easily. PayPal will use Tink’s technology to
allow customers to connect their bank accounts to their PayPal
accounts
Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was holding talks to buy
Bombardier’s regional jet program, sending the Canadian company’s
shares up 14%. Mitsubishi Heavy is working to break into aviation with
the launch of its own regional jet program and Bombardier is trying to
find a solution for its money-losing CRJ program, which has no orders
past 2020
World Business News