Page 54 - bne IntelliNews Country Report: Ukraine Dec17

9.1.3 Transport sector news
Ukrainian Railway (RAILUA) reported manufacturing 1,676 freight cars at its three railcar repair plants YTD , with plans to assemble 800-900 more by year-end as current monthly production reached 360 vehicles. In 2018, the company plans to produce 4,000 open cars and 200 platforms. In addition, RAILUA expects to acquire 700 grain hoppers to add to its current 5,000-plus hopper fleet. Lastly, the company sticks to its earlier plan to acquire 2,500-3,000 freight cars from external producers, using expected additional revenues from a freight tariff hike, as well as buy 6,000-6,500 open cars with EBRD funding (the latter is expected to be available in 2H18 only).
9.1.4 Construction & Real estate sector news
Finished construction works rose by 10.2% y/y in September, slowing from 23.6% growth in August and bringing the 9M17 tally to 23.8% y/y, down from 25.4% in 8M17. (SSS).
September’s slowdown was broad-based , with construction of residential buildings (25% of total by nominal volume) registering a 13% y/y drop and construction of non-residential buildings (another 25%) slowing to 15% y/y (from 29% in August), while construction of infrastructure facilities decelerated to 19% from 30% y/y, respectively.
A high comparison base along with a negative calendar effect (one less workday y/y in September vs. flat y/y in August) were the major factors behind the deterioration.
Disregarding monthly fluctuations, construction growth remained strong in 9M17 , reflecting recovery in investment demand in the private sector and selected state-owned enterprises and also helped by increased state investments in motorways.
Construction of residential and non-residential buildings rose 20% y/y in 9M17 , with construction of infrastructure facilities up 29% y/y. Robust construction dynamics supports our view that investment growth remained in double-digit territory in 3Q17 following 24% y/y growth in 2Q17, acting as a key driver of economic recovery alongside household consumption this year.
9.1.6 Agriculture sector news
Ukraine exported 228,635 tonnes of poultry in January-October 2017, which is 14.4% more than in the same period in 2016, the State Fiscal Service has reported. According to its data, in monetary terms poultry exports increased by 34.6%, to $322.96 mn. Poultry imports in January-October 2017 rose by 38.7%, to 94,120 tonnes, in monetary terms by 37.4%, to $38.39 mn. According to the service, pork exports in the ten months through October 2017 increased 2.3-fold compared to the corresponding period of 2016, to 4,569 tonnes. In monetary terms the figure amounted to $9.66mn against $3.07mn in January-October 2016. Pork imports to Ukraine for this period increased 1.6-fold, to 4,090 tonnes. In monetary terms pork imports amounted to $7.24mn against $3.7mn for January-October 2016.
54 UKRAINE Country Report December 2017 www.intellinews.com