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price of one ton was $4 to $4.5 a kilo. Now the price is $12 to 18. UIA and SkyUp are using idled passenger jets to carry cargo.
It may take four months before scheduled flights are flying again out of Ukraine​, Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy said on Channel 24 TV on April 20. He said: “I think that scheduled [flights] are quite likely to be resumed in September or even earlier, by the end of the summer.” Facing what could be a 6-month, government-imposed shutdown, Ukraine’s four largest carriers – Azur, SkyUp, UIA, and Windrose -- have already asked for aid from the Infrastructure Ministry. He predicts it will take two years for Ukraine’s air traffic to return to the level of 2019. Municipal transit – buses, trams and metro networks – should restart in June-July, he predicts.
● Trains
Ukrzaliznytsia forecasts that it will handle 3-15% more rail cars at the Black Sea ports​ than last year. In 2019, the growth was 9% y/y. Last month, the state railroad handled twice the volume of one year ago, Andriy Kiman, director of the state railroad’s Odesa section tells Magistral news site.
“Several dozen” companies are interested in participating in the pilot project to allow private locomotives to pull freight trains down Ukrzaliznytsia tracks,​ Minister Krikliy tells Interfax-Ukraine. “Basically, these are all members of the European Business Association and the American Chamber of Commerce,” he said, adding that participating companies will be chosen by May 10. Lemtrans argues that the test sections of track should go all the way to Black Sea ports. Krikliy plans to re-introduce a bill in the Rada to create an independent, tariff-setting regulator for transport. The goal is to reduce political influence on freight rates.
9.1.4 ​Construction & Real estate sector news
9.1.5​ Retail sector news
Sales of top end apartments in Kyiv fell by 70% y/y in March, ​and in April almost stopped, according to a survey by Kiev Standard, the elite real estate agency. In January-February, a total of 624 high end apartments sold. In March this fell to 116. The agency said Ukrainian buyers shifted toward finished or nearly finished apartment. Foreign buyers could not complete purchases due to travel barriers.
About 30% of retail stores in Ukraine may not reopen after quarantine​, Colliers International predicts in a new report. “It is expected a significant decrease in rental rates after quarantine for at least six months to preserve tenant business,” the real estate consultancy wrote last week. “A number of large retail operators suggest that in the worst case scenario and the reluctance of some landlords to significantly revise the lease terms in favour of tenants, up to 30% of stores may not open after quarantine.”
The quarantine has cost shopping centre owners $50mn in lost rents and advertising revenue​, NAI Ukraine real estate consultants tell Interfax-Ukraine. Often rents are tied to sales volumes. Since mid-March all shopping centre stores are closed, except for supermarkets. A NAI survey of Ukrainians indicate that the recovery will be slow, restrained by shoppers’ lost incomes
55​ UKRAINE Country Report​ May 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com