Companies of industries, where the cost of goods is at least 7% of the price of gas, will be unprofitable in November at current prices per cubic meter of gas, and shutdowns of enterprises and a decrease in capacity are expected in November-December, Chairman of the Council of Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU) Dmytro Oliynyk said.
“In August, the gas price reached a turning point, it reached Hr 14,000 per thousand cubic meters. In September, about 40% of the studied industries were unprofitable due to the high gas price, and in October, losses are expected to show 60%. At the current gas price, 100% of the studied industries will be unprofitable,” Oliynyk said in a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine on Oct. 8 on the sidelines of the Kyiv International Economic Forum.
The study concerns the branches of the economy, where the cost of goods was at least 7% of gas consumption at the beginning of the year. These are the branches of the chemical industry, production of ceramics, glass, a number of branches of the food industry (sugar, bakery, dairy, etc.), more than ten branches in total, he explained.
“Moreover, we see that in November-December, enterprises declare that they will stop production or reduce capacities. About 60% of the surveyed enterprises announced such plans,” Dmytro Oliynyk said.
Stops, first of all, will affect those enterprises where the technological process provides for a quick stop and start, he explained.
In addition, the FEU study showed that significant cash gaps are expected.
“Of course, these cash gaps will become an additional risk, so if the government does not ease the blow to these industries, the companies’ solvency will fall to the crisis level and they will not be able to prepay energy resources,” the head of the FEU Council said.
