Page 63 - UKRRptJun19

Launched from Nibulon’s shipyard in Mykolaiv, the ship was partly funded by loans from the EBRD, the European Investment Bank and the International Finance Corporation.
9.1.4 Construction & Real estate sector news
Ukrainian construction sector reports 24.3% growth in Q1 2019.The Ukrainian construction industry saw a 24.3% year-on-year increase in completed projects during the first quarter of 2019 to reach a total value of UAH26.5bn, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Lev Partskhaladze. The regional leader driving this growth in the construction sector was Kyiv city, which saw completed building projects worth an estimated UAH6.5bn in the January- March 2019 period. In second place was Dnipropetrovsk region (UAH3.6bn), followed by Odesa region (UAH2bn) and Lviv region (UAH1.7bn).
9.1.6 Agriculture sector news
Judging by spring plantings and favourable weather, Ukraine will export slightly more grain next year than its forecast record 50.4mn tons of exports for this year, predicts the US Department of Agriculture. Bolstered by a record harvest last fall, Ukraine exported 43.5mn tons of grain and legumes as of Friday – 25% more than this time last year. The marketing year ends at the end of next month.
The USDA predicts that wheat exports will be up 15%, to 19mn tons. Corn exports will recede 8.5% from their record level, to 27mn tons next year. Barley exports will be 4.5mn tons, almost the same as this year. Overall, grain exports will be 50.7mn tons, 300,000 tons over this year. The harvest will slightly surpass last year’s record, hitting 72.1mn tons, up 3% over last year, the USDA says.
Setting a target of boosting Ukraine’s farm productivity by 30% by 2025, the World Bank approved Friday a $200mn loan for wide ranging support to small and medium farmers. Noting that agriculture accounts for 42% of exports, the program aims to help farmers meet import requirements of the EU, China, the Gulf, the US and Canada. An advocate of a private farm land market for Ukraine, the World Bank will pay for preparatory steps: transparency in land lease markets; registration of all state land; and strengthening land rights by raising owner awareness of their rights.
Low sugar prices and rising production costs are prompting sugar producers to cut plantings of sugar beets this spring by about one quarter, to 210,000 hectares, the lowest level in five years, reports Ukrtsukor, the sugar producer association. During the first half of the sugar marketing year, sugar exports were down by 10% to 304,000 tons, the association reports. During the last sugar refining season, sugar production was down by 15% to 1.7mn tons.
Moisture in the soil may put Ukraine on track to match last year’s record grain harvest of 70mn tons. In neighboring Russia, similar weather could boost the grain crop by as much as 14%, to 129mn tons, reports Reuters in a story headlined: “Good Weather Puts Russia, Ukraine on Track for Large Grain Crop.” Kazakhstan, the region’s other big producer, expects to match last
63 UKRAINE Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com