Page 81 - UKRRptFeb19

Largely with World Bank funding, a 10MW, $13mn solar plant is to be built later this year on a former clay quarry in Zarvantsi , about 10 km west of Vinnytsia city, in central Ukraine. Vasyl Romanyuk, head of Yakushinetsky united territorial community, tells City Over the Bug news site that construction will create 50 jobs.
Norway’s Scatec Solar starts building this spring a €35mn, 30 MW capacity solar station in Kamyanka , Cherkasy region about 250 km south of Kyiv. About 70% of the financing comes from the EBRD and FMO, the Dutch development bank.
On the Black Sea, in Mikolayiv region, Scatec and Kyiv’s Rengy Development will build this year three solar stations with a total capacity of 47 MW. Funding for 65% of the €55mn project comes from the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and from the EBRD’s new, €250mn Ukraine Sustainable Energy Lending Facility III, or USELF III.
Reflecting investors’ rush to commission solar projects before the curtain falls Dec. 31 on the ‘green’ tariff, Cherkasy region, 200 km southeast of Kyiv, has received applications for construction this year of 400 MW of solar power stations . Eco Town news site notes that Cherkasy region’s current renewable power sources are: 12 small hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of 6.4 MW, and seven solar power plants with a total capacity of half a megawatt.
9.2.10 Metallurgy & mining corporate news
EBITDA at Ukraine’s largest steelmaker Metinvest dropped 13.2% m/m in October to $211mn , according to its monthly results published on Dec. 27. The holding’s revenue inched up 2.3% m/m to $932mn. Metinvest’s operating cash flow before working capital changes decreased 14.9% m/m to $172mn, whereas cash flow from operations (before profit tax and interest) rose 4.9% m/m to $171mn in October. The holding reported a net cash outflow from investment activities of $49mn (vs. $132mn in September), including an inflow of $31mn from dividends received. Metinvest’s cash outflow from financing activities amounted to $88mn and its end-of-month cash balance slid 0.2% m/m to $445mn. Metinvest’s metallurgical segment EBITDA dropped 29.5% m/m to $105mn, while mining segment EBITDA slid 1.0% m/m to $104mn.
Metinvest rating upgraded to B3/Stable by Moody’s. The corporate family credit rating of Ukraine's largest steelmaker Metinvest (METINV) was upgraded by Moody’s to B3/Stable on Dec. 27 following its Dec. 21 sovereign upgrade. Moody’s assessment of Metinvest’s rating factors is consistent with a Baa category rating, but the ratings are constrained by the holding’s exposure to the operating environment in Ukraine, volatile prices of steel and raw materials, as well as limited potential for growth of Ukraine’s domestic steel market, the rating agency said. Nevertheless, Moody’s rated Metinvest one notch above Ukraine’s sovereign issuer level.
To modernize Ukraine’s largest titanium ore miner, $11mn worth of American-made Bell dump trucks and British-made JCB loaders have been acquired by United Mining-Chemical Company. The company owns and operates Vilnohirsk state mining and metallurgical plant in Dnipopetrovsk, and Irshansk state mining and processing plant in Zhytomyr. Ukraine has Europe’s
81 UKRAINE Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com