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 May 13-19, 2019

1. WEEKLY REPORT
May 13th → May 19th, 2019

2. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of World Bank Group, has placed
its debut issue of bonds denominated in UAH at 15.75% per annum to support its
operations in Ukraine. Placement confirms interest in UAH instruments in the market,
especially in cases with an "AAA" rating of issuers
Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry anticipates the new wholesale electricity market to
be launched July 1, 2019, according to the terms prescribed in the law. The ministry has
developed a draft government resolution aimed to solve the issue of determining the
supplier of electricity under the public service obligations (PSO) and expects its adoption
by the Cabinet by June 2019
On May 18, 2019, President Petro Poroshenko signed the law introducing auctions, the
competitive mechanism for production of energy from alternative sources, from July 1,
2019. This will enable investors to do strategic project planning well ahead, while the
market will benefit from transparent pricing that is easy to forecast
A service to Financial Times, FDI Intelligence, included Kyiv and Lviv in top-10 locations
globally in terms of cost versus effectiveness. Ukraine's capital city became the 5th on
the list after Skopje, Kaunas, Gdansk and Sofia. Lviv took the 8th position. The Cost-
Effectiveness rating was compiled as part of FDI's Smart Locations of the Future ranking
2019
Since the beginning of 2019, non-residents' investment into Ukrainian government
bonds has risen by UAH 33.4 billion (USD 1.3 billion). The current volume of government
bonds in non-residents' portfolio reached 5.2% of their total turnover, while it was below
1% at the year-start
WEEKLY REPORT May 13th → May 19th, 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) 26.25
Source: Ukrstat, NBU
72.21
57.55
16.12
95.34
USD/ton
USD/bushel
6033.00
3.83
4.65
million
+7,8%
+7,3%
+2,1%
8,8%
million

3. Norwegian Scatec Solar is going to build another solar power plant (SPP) in
Ukraine, with 55.4 MW capacity. The project will be funded by EBRD under the
USELF III program for financing alternative energy in Ukraine totaling EUR 250
million
Nova Poshta has launched its Khmelnytsky Innovation Terminal, the key
infrastructure facility in Western Ukraine operating on the total area of 7,700 sq m. It
will serve as a sorting hub sending out parcels to 71 locations throughout Ukraine.
Nova Poshta’s investment into the facility amounted to almost EUR 10 million
Kyiv became the first city in Europe where Uber launched its Uber Shuttle service.
The ridesharing service provider launched two minivan routes, four more are to
come later. Uber Shuttle is the third new service that Uber launches in Ukraine
within 6 months, after Uber Eats food delivery service and the Green ride service
with 100% use of electric vehicles
The Ukrainian company SolarGaps, which developed blinds with integrated solar
panels, has won The Smarter E AWARD 2019 tender for energy transition solutions
in Munich. The project won the nomination Smart Renewable Energy in the tender
of the innovation hub The Smarter E, whose activities are aimed at the development
of industry solutions
Ukraine demonstrated 7.8% growth in export of goods in the first quarter of 2019
.The European Union holds leading position as the top importer of goods from
Ukraine, accounting for 42.7% of total exports
Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, has been included in TOP 10 world's cities with the
best views according to The Guardian readers' travel tips. The list is also includes
Verona (Italy), Bergen (Norway), Bilbao (Spain), New York (USA) and Cape Town
(South Africa)
WEEKLY REPORT May 13th → May 19th, 2019
Ukrainian Business News
Goldman Sachs Group agreed to buy boutique wealth management
firm United Capital Financial Partners (UCFP) for USD 750 million The
deal will add UCFP’s 22,000 clients and USD 25 billion of assets under
management to Goldman’s portfolio
Sony said it would buy back shares worth up to 200 billion yen (USD
1.83 billion), or 4.8% of stock, through March 31, 2020, in an effort to
boost shareholder returns. It follows a share buyback of 100 billion yen,
its first ever, announced in February
Investment firm, Soros Fund Management, raised its stake in Tesla
convertible bonds due in 2021 by 17.5 million convertible bonds to 37.5
million convertible bonds as of the end of the first quarter. Firm’s
increase in 1.25% convertible bonds follows the purchase last year of
another Tesla CB
French group Vinci sealed a deal to take a majority stake in Britain’s
second biggest airport London Gatwick. Vinci formally completed its
2.9 billion pounds deal to buy a 50.01% stake in the airport. The
company took advantage of a Brexit-related hit to UK asset prices to
buy the stake in Gatwick
Nestle has entered exclusive talks to sell its skin health business to a
consortium led by EQT Partners for USD 10.1 billion, as the food group
shifts its portfolio in response to changing consumer demands. The
proposed transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2019
Hewlett Packard (HP) plans to buy supercomputer manufacturer Cray
in a deal valued at about USD 1.3 billion. HP said it expects the deal to
increase its footprint in federal business and academia, and sell
supercomputing products to its commercial clients. The deal is
expected to close by the first quarter of 2020
World Business News