Page 56 - UKRRptFeb20

occur...an increase in vacancies and a correction in rental rates downward, especially in obsolete objects with serious conceptual flaws.”
Polish development bank has granted a €53.6mn loan for the construction of a shopping centre in Kharkiv​, its second Ukraine project in a year. Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, or BGK, is financing the construction of Nikolskiy shopping centre by Unibep SA, one of Poland’s largest construction companies. Polish Export Credit Insurance Corporation, or KUKE, is insuring the project, which is to have 40% Polish materials and services. With Poland increasingly supplanting Russia as Kharkiv’s international partner, Kharkiv airport now has direct flights to six Polish cities.
9.1.5​ Retail sector news
9.1.6​ Agriculture sector news
In a testament to Ukraine’s fast-growing e-commerce, IKEA is jumping over bricks and going straight to clicks​. “The company decided to launch e-commerce first,” the Swedish-founded furniture giant said in a statement. “The expected launch date is spring 2020.” Two years ago, IKEA, now based in the Netherlands, announced plans to open its first Ukraine store, at Kyiv’s Ocean Mall. But construction delays forced postponements. The company now says it “plans to open the first physical store in Kyiv as soon as possible, after the launch of e-commerce.”
The numbers of most farm animals decreased by 4.7-5.7% last year,
reports the Statistics Service. Cows were down 5.7%, to 3.1mn. Pigs were down, 4.9%, to 5.7mn. Sheep and goats were down 4.7%, to 1.2mn.
Ukraine’s egg production increased by 3.4% y/y to 16.7bn eggs, ​reports the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. This follows a 4.1% rise in 2018.
Ukraine’s milk production decreased by 3.7% y/y, to 9.7mn tons, ​reports the Statistics Service. Dairies were down 1.4%. Households were down 4.6%. This follows a 2.1% fall in 2018.
A mild winter, with rain and temperatures above freezing, has put Ukraine on track for a strong winter wheat crop​, according to Tetyana Adamenko, the state weather forecaster. In the fall, abnormally dry weather raised concerns about seeds germinating. Winter wheat accounts for 95% of the nation’s wheat crop. Last year, Ukraine harvested 28.1mn tons of wheat, 14% more than in 2018.
Ukrainian farmers threshed a record 75.2mn tons of grain in 2019​, 7% more than in 2018, reports the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture. Since July 1,2019 the nation has exported 26.3mn tons of grain, 31.5% more than during the same period last year.
With a private farm land market to start next October, the government is setting up a private credit fund for small agricultural producers ​so they can obtain cheap credit to buy land, according to the Finance Ministry. The goal is to “promote equal opportunities for agricultural producers while opening access to credit for the purpose of acquiring agricultural land.”
56​ UKRAINE Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com