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220,000-230,000 hectares in 2019 vs 280,000 hectares in 2018, according to estimates of the national association of sugar producers Ukrtsukor. The forecast of 220,000-230,000 hectares will be the lowest figure over the past five years. "This, accordingly, will affect sugar production and the number of sugar factories in operation," Interfax news agency quoted Ruslana Butylo, the deputy chairman of the board of Ukrtsukor, as saying on February 19. She added that the situation could still improve, since most of the farms and sugar factories have not yet decided whether they will work next season. Such uncertainty is due to the fluctuation of the foreign exchange market and producers' fears over the increase in production costs, both of sugar beets and sugar. Sugar prices also fell in 2018 causing other producers to cut back on production. Sugar prices have become a volatile commodity and the price offer in Ukraine and Russia is directly linked to international prices making pricing volatile. As of early February, sugar production in Ukraine in the 2018-2019 marketing year (September-August) decreased by 15% year-on-year, to 1.82mn tonnes.
Ukraine’s 42 sugar mills produced 15% less sugar during the fall 2018
sugar making season than during the 2017 season, reports Ukrtsukor, the industry association. Due to low world sugar prices, 10% less land was planted in sugar beets than in 2017. Last year, Ukraine produced 1.8mn tons of sugar and exported 584,000 tons, a 2.4% fall from 2017. Top buyers were: Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Libya. Top producing regions were: Vinnytsia – 424,000 tons; Ternopil – 227,000 tons; and Poltava – 222,500 tons. In January, Ukraine exhausted its export quota to the EU – 20,000 tons.
Ukraine increased sunflower production last year by almost 16%,
strengthening its lead over Russia as the world’s largest producer of sunflower oil. Production increased to 14.2mn tons, according to the Statistics Service. Other oil seeds also increased: soy – up 14% to 4.5mn tons; and canola up 25% to almost 3mn tons.
9.1.7 TMT sector news
E-commerce grew by 31% in Ukraine last year, the second fastest rate in Europe , following only Romania’s 37%, according to the Better Regulation Delivery Office, or BRDO, a regulatory advisory body funded by the EU. While growing faster than the world average of 24%, Ukraine has plenty of room to grow, Alexander Kubrakov, BRDO IT director, tells reporters. In 2017, online accounted for 3.2% of retail sales in Ukraine, compared to 8.8% in the EU, 10.2% in the US, 17.8% in Britain. To further promote online sales, the BRDO recommends the government allows online stores to email sales receipts, instead of requiring they issue printed paper receipts.
Confirming commercial real estate reports that IT companies account for nearly half of new office rentals in Kyiv, 43 of the top 50 IT companies have offices in the capital. Lviv has 21 major IT companies and Kharkiv has 20. Fourteen companies have more than 1,000 specialists. Two – EPAM and SoftServe – have more than 6,000.
Ukraine’s online advertising grew by 40% last year, to $125mn, reports the Ukrainian Internet Association. In-stream video totalled 42% of spending, banners for 37%, in-page video for 9%, ‘non-standard solutions’ for 7%, and sponsorships for 5%. Social media and instant messaging platforms accounted
62 UKRAINE Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com