According to preliminary information of market participants, 815 KMT of barley was exported from Ukraine in the first month of the 2017-2018 season, down by 19.4% YoY. Traditionally, the key end market for Ukrainian barley is Saudi Arabia, which purchased some 300 KMT in July. China also actively imported barley from Ukraine. 176 KMT of…
DetailsSoon Latvian residents and businesses will be able to perform most transactions within seconds, Swedbank representatives promise. This will be made possible thanks to lightning-fast or electronic transaction system between European banks. Multiple Latvian banks intend to join this system. Swedbank predicts that Latvian residents will like this, seeing as how they have already gotten…
DetailsIn Q2 the average gross wages and salaries for full-time work constituted 927 euros. Compared to Q2 2016, the average wages and salaries increased by 74 euros or by 8.7%. Compared to the previous quarter, in Q2 2016 the increase in the gross wages and salaries comprised 4.8% (42.7 euros). Compared to Q2 2016, in…
DetailsTurkmenistan’s parliament has adopted the law “On cotton-growing”, the Turkmen government said in a message. The draft law defines the legal, economic, organizational basis of cotton-growing in Turkmenistan and regulates relations related to the turnover of raw cotton and cotton products. The adoption of this law will give a new impetus to the development of…
DetailsIn 2016 Ukrainian exports of fresh cranberries and bilberries reached 2,900 tons (valued at $6.9 million), 3.3 times as high as in 2015, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. Poland (1,418 tons), the Netherlands (613 tons) and Belarus (541 tons) were the leading export destinations for those berries. An increase…
DetailsInternet stores continue becoming more and more popular among residents. The number of transactions using Visa payment cards issued by PrivatBank has grown by 6.1% YoY in the first six months of 2017, according to data compiled by PrivatBank. January and March were the hottest months for Internet shopping in this year’s six-month period. The…
DetailsThe first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be commissioned in December 2019, Anatoly Bondar, Chief Engineer of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, said. It was reported earlier that the first unit was scheduled to come online in 2019, and the second one in 2020. “The deadline for the commissioning of…
DetailsKazakhstan’s single national pharmacy and medical equipment procurement operator SK-Pharmacy has purchased almost 1.5 million influenza vaccines for the season of 2017, the company’s press-service reports. According to the Chairman of the Board of SK-Pharmacy Maxim Kasatkin, this year the government has spent 1.2 billion tenge on free vaccination of the most vulnerable groups of…
DetailsThe total amount of funds that have already been allocated for carrying out road works in Ukraine in 2017 exceeded UAH 20 billion, while the length of repaired roads exceeds 750 kilometers, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has said. In addition, he said patch work had been done on 40,000 km of roads. According…
DetailsUkraine’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv says the draft national budget for 2018 has already been endorsed by all ministries and is to be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration within the timeframe established by law, i.e. before September 15. “As of now, the revenue and expenditure parts of the budget…
DetailsCompared to July 2016, construction costs increased by 1.7%. Labor remuneration of workers grew by 4.4%, prices of building materials increased by 1.3%, while maintenance and operational costs of machinery and equipment rose by 0.5%. Compared to June, the level of construction costs in Latvia increased by 0.1% in July. Labor remuneration of workers increased…
DetailsEvery fourth Latvian resident considers reducing the amount of meat in their diet or becoming a vegetarian or vegan, as stated in the latest Maxima survey. What is particularly interesting is that the largest proportion of such residents is found in Riga and Latgale. At the same time, 55% of respondents have no plans to…
DetailsThe price of butter in Latvia has reached its maximum, said Competition Council chairman Skaidrite Abrame. “Prices in Latvia have definitely reached the peak. Alternatives for imports of cheaper butter are being considered,” Abrama said, adding that butter in Estonia was at least 20-30% cheaper. Abrama also notes that prices for butter have grown considerably…
DetailsAzerbaijan, taking credit for being one of the world’s oldest wine growing countries, intends to expand the export of wine to China, the world’s second-largest economy. The issue was the key topic of talks between local winemakers and the trade representative of Azerbaijan in China, Teymur Nadiroglu. Nadiroglu informed entrepreneurs about the Chinese wine market,…
DetailsThe European Commission has approved Riga’s tramway infrastructure development project. As part of this project, it is planned to build the 3.5 km Skanstes tramline, which will cost EUR 97.4 million, as reported by Rigas satiksme representative Viktors Zakis. The project involves the construction of a 3.6-km tramline on Pernavas Street – Sencu Street –…
DetailsAzerbaijan’s external debt stood at $7,172.6 million (12,208.5 million manats) as of July 1, which accounts for 18.9% of the country’s GDP, said Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance. The statistics on borrowings include direct liabilities of the Azerbaijani government and contingent liabilities for loans attracted under state guarantee. Azerbaijan’s external debt consists mainly of funds raised…
DetailsIn Ukraine, early cereals and pulses were harvested from 9639 thousand ha (100%) as of August 21. Farmers gathered 37224 KMT with an average yield of 3.86 MT/ha against 37948 KMT with an average yield of 3.94 MT/ha as of August 22, 2016. These included 26562 KMT of wheat harvested from 6359 thousand ha (100%)…
DetailsIn January-July the production volumes of crude sunflower oil in Ukraine totaled 3.18 million tons, an increase of 36% compared with the same period last year, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported. In particular, in July Ukraine produced 314 thousand tons of sunflower oil, down by 30.4% MoM, but up by 46.4% YoY. Also,…
DetailsUzbekistan’s former Deputy Prime Minister Ulugbek Rozukulov has been appointed the director general of the country’s national airline Uzbekistan Airways, a source in the airline’s management reported on August 24. Uzbekistan Airways was earlier headed by Valeriy Tyan. Uzbekistan Airways is a flag carrier airline in Uzbekistan and is wholly owned by the state. It…
DetailsTurkmenistan-China gas relationship may be viewed as one country’s over-dependence on another, Sean Roberts, an expert on Central Asia and Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, said commenting on the construction of Tajik section of the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan-China gas pipeline launched last month. “On one hand, it is easy to understand why Central Asia…
DetailsPressure on the increase of costs in the next several years will be enormous, and there are worries about the government’s ability to withstand that, said Fiscal Discipline Council’s member Andzs Ubelis. According to him, the government’s recently approved outlook on economic growth this year of 3.7% is realistic and satisfactory. Latvia’s economy is expected…
DetailsPoor households will gain very little from the recently approved tax reform. There is a large number of unemployed people, which will not the change with PIT, according to results of a study performed by Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and economic policy research center Biceps. At the same time, the reform does not…
DetailsBaltic Association – Transport and Logisics President Inga Antane describes the situation with Latvia’s transit industry as tragic. Cargo volume decline has been continuing since 2012. Antane also mentions that, looking at the recent past, 2016 was one of the worst in Latvia’s transit history. It should be added that from April onward there was…
DetailsThe Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) has decided to reduce the refinancing rate from 12% to 11.5% per annum on September 13, the information and public relations office of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus reported. The interest rates on standing and bilateral transactions designed to maintain…
DetailsThe National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has lifted restrictions on the issuance of cash in foreign currency and banking metals from current and deposit accounts through cash desks and ATMs, the NBU reported on the website. “Individuals will be able to receive cash in foreign currency or banking metals from current and deposit accounts through…
DetailsIn the updated draft financial plan for 2017, PJSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” expects that in October cargo transportation rates will be indexed by 22.5%. The, acting head of Ukrainian Railways Ievgeniy Kravtsov hopes that it will be possible to switch to annual change in tariffs depending on the index of industrial prices. In his opinion, this will…
DetailsServices worth $281.9 million were rendered in H1 as part of the general contract to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant, according to the Belarusian Energy Ministry website. In H1 work continued to build the first and second power-generating units of the Belarusian nuclear power plant as well as the facilities the entire power plant…
Details