The number of electric vehicles in Ukraine has grown by one-third. Ukrainians bought 587 electric cars – most of them used – in January 2020, which is one-third more than were registered in January 2019, Ukravtoprom reported Feb. 6. The sales of used e-vehicles grew by 37% in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the sales of brand new e-vehicles decreased by 5%. Generally, the share of new e-cars on the market is only 6%. The most popular e-vehicle in Ukraine is the Nissan Leaf with 216 cars of this make receiving Ukrainian registration plates last month alone.
Ukraine’s currency reserves reach a 7-year peak, reaching $26.3 billion in January 2020. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported that reserves grew by 4% in January, $1 billion more than in December. “Both successful placement of government bonds and the operations of the National Bank” enabled this growth, the central bank stated on Feb. 5. The current volume of reserves covers four months of imports, which is “enough for performing the obligations of Ukraine and current operations of the government and the National Bank.”
Milk production falls to Hr 2.6 billion ($105 million) in profits for the livestock industry in 2019. This is Hr 1.3 billion less than in 2018, according to the Institute of Agrarian Economics. Yet those investing in the production of milk in Ukraine enjoy a comparatively stable rate of return – 15.1% in 2019 compared to 16.1% in 2018. The Ukrainian livestock industry in general showed a loss of Hr 2.1 billion ($85 million) in 2019. Only the production of poultry grew: it achieved 2.5-fold growth last year when Ukrainian poultry companies earned Hr 275 million ($11 million) in 2019 compared to Hr 109 million ($4.4 million) in 2018.
DTEK Energy earns Hr 2.5 billion ($101 million) in 2019, decreasing its profits by two. Coal production and electricity generation company DTEK Energy, owned by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, suffered a decrease of revenues and profits in 2019, according to Interfax-Ukraine. The company’s revenue declined by 15% or Hr 15 billion ($608 million), whereas its gross profits fell by 36% or Hr 6.8 billion ($276 million). The company’s results deteriorated due to a 40% decrease in electricity production caused by lower demand last year.
European Investment Bank (EIB) may loan $300 million to Kyiv’s Boryspil International Airport. The EIB’s loan may be used to improve the airport’s infrastructure as well as its capacity, Interfax-Ukraine reports. The money may be spent on reconstructing runways, extending Terminal D and improving the luggage handling systems. The EIB is currently in talks with the Ministry of Infrastructure to decide whether to allocate the loan. The airport, however, will have to seek about 400 million euros more as the total cost of reconstruction it plans to do is 700 million euro.
Ukraine’s government rolls out e-governance mobile app Diia. Starting on Feb. 6, Ukrainians can access their driver’s licenses and car registration documents from their smartphones. For that, they will need to install a free mobile app from either Google Play or Apple Store. “(Diia will) radically change the format of relations between the state and the Ukrainian citizen,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the presentation of Diia in Feb. 6. At least, this is his dream, he added. Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, in turn, promised to digitalize all public services by 2024.
Diia app to grow its offering soon. The next service available via Diia will be car insurance, said Mstyslav Banik, head of the Diia team, during the presentation of the app on Feb. 6. As soon as car insurance is digitalized, drivers will have all the needed documents online, Banik said. In 2020, developers will also bring student IDs and passports online. Banik added that he aims to convince at least 10 million people to use Diia by the end of 2020. By 2024, the government plans to digitize all public services through Diia.
