Page 63 - UKRRptDec19

Thursday. In 2008, about half of the 685,000 new vehicle registrations were new imports and half were made in Ukraine. In 2018, new imports and made in Ukraine vehicles were 96,300. Imported used cars totalled 156,800. During the first 10 months of this year imported used cars totalled 349,000. The top imported brands are Volkswagen, Skoda, Ford, Renault, and Opel.
9.1.3​ Transport sector news
● Trains
Through public tenders, the government plans to transfer half a dozen rail stations to private operators,​ including Kyiv, Darnitsa, Dnipro, Chop, Mykolaiv, and Khmelnytskyi. Kravtsov said Kyiv’s central rail station has higher “passenger traffic than in any shopping centre” and the adjacent McDonald's station “is among the three most visited in the world.” Despite this footfall, the rail station lost almost $100,000 under state administration.
● Cars
In time for the holiday cargo surge, Poland has granted Ukraine 5,000 more trucking permits​ for December, reports Infrastructure Minister Vladislav Krikliy. Earlier this year, Poland cut the number of permits for Ukrainian truckers by 38%, to 160,000. Ukrainian officials complain to Warsaw and to Brussels that Poland is violating Ukraine’s free trade pact with the EU. Ukrainian truckers complain that Poland is pressuring them to emigrate, to drive for Poland’s chronically understaffed trucking companies.
Citing roads as “one of three economic pillars on which economic growth will rest for the next five years,”​ Prime Minister Honcharuk says March 1 will be the kickoff date for 2020 highway construction season: $1.4bn spent on rebuilding 4,000 km of roads. By the end of the Zelenskiy presidency, in 2024, the government plans to rebuild 24,000 of road, linking all 24 regional capitals with high-quality highways.
9.1.6​ Agriculture sector news
Ukrainian farmers have harvested a record 74.3mn tons of grain and legumes,​ reports Tymofiy Milovanov, Minister of Development of Economy, Trade, and Agriculture. The harvest is 6% greater than last year’s harvest of 70.1mn tons, also a record. Average yields are up 5%, to 4.93 tons per hectare.
ICU predicts this year’s grain harvest will be 75mn tons – 7% above last year’s bumper harvest of 70mn tons​. In the mix, Corn remains king, dropping only 1% from last year’s record harvest, hitting 35.3mn tons. The dynamic crops are Barley -- +23% to 9mn tons; and Wheat -- +14% to 28.2mn tons.
With the sugar milling season nearing an end, Ukraine’s sugar mills have produced nearly 1mn tons of sugar​. About six tons of sugar beets are processed to make one ton of sugar. Hit by low prices, reduced plantings, and heavy rains, Ukraine’s sugar production may only reach 1.1mn tons this year, 35% below last year’s level. Experts predict that prices will start to recover during the current marketing season.
63​ UKRAINE Country Report​ December 201 ​ ​www.intellinews.com