The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has decreased the key interest rate to 11%. The announced lowering of the rate will come into effect on Jan. 31. The decision comes as part of the NBU’s strategy “to ease its monetary policy with the aim of maintaining inflation at the target level of 5% and supporting steady economic growth,” the central bank said in a press release. The key interest rate of 11% is likely to spur more lending in the economy. It is much higher than the 6.5% rate that the country boasted in 2013.
Ukravtodor announces tender for building three road junctions near Kyiv. According to the state-owned road operator, the two junctions will be built on the M-05 Kyiv-Odesa road and one junction on the M-06 Kyiv-Chop road. Financing for the project will come from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and from the European Investment Bank. Ukravtodor’s CEO Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote that Ukravtodor’s initial intention was to build five junctions. Due to the failure of the Kyiv city authorities to designate land within the city boundaries, Ukravtodor decided to announce tenders for only three junctions.
A month after shutting down gambling halls en masse, only 30% of the premises in Kyiv are now up for rent. The reason? The landlords insist on the high rents previously paid by the casinos, according to Novoye Vremya. Gambling shop operators paid up to three times more for a square meter of real estate than other renters. In other words, they used to pay $50-70 per square meter per month, whereas other businesses could only pay $20-25 in rent. Additionally, the premises are not up for rent because the gambling companies also paid rent upfront for a year in advance.
Roshen company is waging an intellectual property offensive over dessert. The confectionary giant owned by former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko believes its patent for “Kyivsky tort” (Kyiv cake) covers not only cake, but also other food products — and it definitely has a history of successful intellectual property litigation. It has already won a case against Kharkiv-based ice cream producer Khladoprom, which makes an ice cream called “Kyivsky tort.” Now, Roshen is defending itself against an appellate claim by the company, Liga.net reported. Previously, Roshen also forced the Kyiv-based BKK confectionary company to remove its own “Kyivsky tort” from shelves and is suing BKK for producing “Kazkovy klyuchyk” (Fairy-tale key), which Roshen believes is too similar in name to its “Zoloty klyuchyk” (Golden key) cake.
Ministry of Digital Transformation suggests tax cuts for IT companies. The ministry proposes using a special Intellectual Property Box (or IP-Box) tax rate for companies creating patents, software and other objects of intellectual property, according to Deputy Minister Oleksandr Bornyakov. According to this concept, IT entrepreneurs will have the same tax rate (18%), but will be taxed on a smaller sum of their income. The same would apply to social contributions from salaries (22%): The percent would stay the same, but could be paid from a smaller base, the ain.ua IT-publication reports.
Naftogaz lowers prices for industrial gas by 14-15% starting Feb.1, 2020. Gas pricing will incorporate the volumes of gas purchased, as well as payment conditions, according to the company’s press-release. Thus, the prices per 1000 qubic meters of gas will vary within the range of Hr 4,661 to Hr 5,208 ($187-210).
Kovalska Group invests Hr 80 million ($3.22 million) into modernizing its quarry. The Granit quarry located in the Korosten district of Zhytomyr Oblast produces “gravel, crushed stone and small aggregates,” according to the group. The investment mostly went into purchasing and launching 17 pieces of new equipment produced in Ukraine, Finland, France and China, according to Novoye Vremya. The new equipment will allow the company to increase output at the Granit quarry by 20% and not only sell gravel to its own companies, but also to external partners. Currently the quarry’s output stands at 1.4 million cubic meters of gravel.
UkraineInvest prepares to hire personnel for its ‘investment nanny’ positions. Daniel Bilak, a сhairman of the Ukraine Investment Promotion Office, or UkraineInvest, told Interfax-Ukraine that his organization supports the president and prime minister’s idea to allocate an “investment nanny” to each foreign company launching projects in Ukraine worth more than $100 million. UkraineInvest has “been fulfilling this role for three years now,” Bilak said. “I’m glad that now it will be at a very significant, relevant level – national — with the support of the president, the prime minister. This is a very important step that can help investors.” Currently, UkraineInvest is searching for a relationship manager, whose job description closely matches that of the “investment nanny” described by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22.
Poultry producer MHP grows its sales and production, but earns less. Ukraine’s largest poultry producer MHP, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has announced its results in the fourth quarter of 2019, Interfax-Ukraine reports. The company’s exports grew by 13% compared to 2018, and reached 670,000 tons of poultry. Production grew by 18% over the last year and reached the level of 729,000 tons. The company also reported its profits for the first quarter of 2019 – it earned $33 million, which is 63% less than the profit of the same period in 2018.
Ukrainian government launches initiative to fight counterfeit cigarettes. The government has approved an action plan that will run through 2021, proposing bylaws, international cooperation, and executive action to fight the production and circulation of counterfeit cigarettes, Liga Business reports.
Government creates a body in Kryvyi Rih to control air pollution in Ukraine, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers reports on its web-page. The government has chosen Kryvyi Rih because this city is suffering the most in Ukraine from air pollution by the metallurgical industry. The office will be a part of the State Environmental Inspection and it is “the first step toward environmental protection reform,” Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said in the Jan. 29 statement.
