Ukraine Business News

Ukrainian and Czech companies jointly launch a €75M wind farm, western Ukraine's largest. Total investment in the Skoliv wind power plant, built in the mountainous area of the Lviv region with a 54.6 MW capacity, amounts to €75M. Ukrainian company Eko Optima and Czech MND implemented the project with the support of Ukreximbank. The wind farm's development began in 2021, and despite Russia's full-scale invasion, the power plant was put into operation in early 2024. This is the largest wind power plant in Ukraine's mountainous area and represents the largest foreign investment in the Lviv region during the war. The power plant's capacity provides 5% of the region's energy consumption and accounts for 12% of alternative energy production in the Lviv region. The Skolivska Wind Power Plant, along with Tyligulska (DTEK) and Dnistrovska (Elementum Energy), is one of the three wind power plants that have been built during the war. However, it is unique in that all of the plant's equipment was delivered during martial law, which testifies to the project's significant stability. https://lnkd.in/dmqYCjtc

The European Parliament calls for an embargo on Russian LNG and sanctions against Gazprom. The European Parliament called on the EU to introduce a full embargo on Russian liquefied natural gas and sanctions against Gazprom and Russian oil companies. The MEPs advocate adding to the sanctions lists the Arc-7 ice-class ships that export Russian LNG and the rest of the shadow fleet, with which Russia serves its energy projects in the Arctic and circumvents sanctions by exporting oil. The deputies also called for the introduction of sanctions against Russia's nuclear sector and persons guilty of nuclear safety violations at the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP. At the same time, top managers at Novatek and Russian government officials are jointly looking for new sales markets and ways to transport LNG from the Arctic, offering discounts of up to 40%. However, most potential customers are wary of cooperation due to the risk of secondary sanctions from the US. In response, Russia developed a shadow fleet for gas transportation through a network of companies that own tankers for gas transportation. Some of these companies are registered in India and UAE. https://lnkd.in/dMBednEy

Ukraine can become the titanium hub of Europe, but hundreds of millions of dollars are needed. To replace Russia in the global supply of titanium, Ukraine will require years of construction and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment, said the chairman of the board of the United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC) Yehor Perelyhin. According to him, Ukraine and Russia currently play in fundamentally different market segments. Ukraine specializes in mining, and Russia in deep processing. "Creating our own value chain will take 7-10 years and cost more than one billion dollars. For this, we need to create a healthy environment for foreign investment and new processing technologies," said Perelyhin. The UMCC head emphasized that to replace Russia as a leading titanium producer, Ukraine must create new production infrastructure for titanium sponge and titanium slabs. At the same time, developing an integrated complex for titanium sponge production requires a $420-500M capital investment. Only strategic investors can provide financial resources of this sort. Perelyhin added that Ukraine has great potential, with its natural resources and geographical position, to become a major supplier of titanium to Europe. https://lnkd.in/dsYi2yxU

Already, next Friday, we will hold our next live event in Kyiv!

Discussions on the short and medium-term strategies for winter survival and ending the war in Ukraine are multidirectional. The primary and short-term tasks for Ukraine's partners are to help restore its energy generation capacity before winter and repel the Russian offensive around Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. The discussion regarding the medium-term perspective is not as unified, particularly in connection with the uncertainty surrounding the US presidential election, writes Bloomberg. As noted, one camp is more fearful of Putin's threats escalation if the allies allow Ukraine to use the weapons they have provided deep inside Russia and is more inclined to support a move toward a diplomatic settlement. Another faction opposes talks in the near future and want to increase arms supplies to Ukraine. The split illustrates Ukraine's long-standing frustration with its allies' reluctance to provide Kyiv with sufficient military hardware to use against Russian forces. On the contrary, Moscow was able to increase its production of missiles and artillery ammunition. It also receives military support from countries such as North Korea and Iran, as well as key technology from China needed to produce weapons. https://lnkd.in/dUFMthHx

Germany is giving Ukraine an aid package containing Leopard tanks and Gepard anti-aircraft guns and is preparing to provide another €1.4B in support by the end of the year. The German government announced a new aid package for Ukraine, which included 22 Leopard tanks, 22 MRAP armored cars, five Bandvagn tracked all-terrain vehicles and one Warthog, three Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled artillery installations, 61,000 155-mm artillery shells, one million rounds of small arms ammunition, 12 PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, radar systems, and various types of drones. The German government plans to supply Ukraine with another arms package worth €1.4B by the end of the year. However, Germany's €8B budget for Kyiv's military support has already been largely exhausted. Among the 50 planned items are a package of ammunition for Gepard anti-aircraft guns, 20 more Marder BMPs, and numerous reconnaissance and attack UAVs. An additional €397M resulted from the Bundeswehr's energy cost savings. Germany also collected €1B from European and global partners to strengthen Ukrainian air defenses. https://lnkd.in/d3hi-7ME

Drought in Ukraine threatens the next grain harvest. Drought in the Black Sea region, particularly in Ukraine, has slowed the sowing of winter crops, which make up a significant part of Ukraine's grain production. According to the industry experts, this further complicates the problems farmers are facing during the war. While wheat prices are now well below their peak after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they have risen in recent weeks in part due to supply problems from the Black Sea. Ukraine's wheat production is about 33% below pre-war levels after it lost land to the Russian invasion. Due to the extremely hot weather, reduced rapeseed acreage is forecast in Ukraine, but wheat and barley will be less affected. Moreover, the Ukrainian regions that are now occupied by the Russian Federation were large producers of agricultural products. Farmers in other parts of Ukraine have to work in fields contaminated by mines and munitions and navigate labor shortages arising from mobilization. https://lnkd.in/dB_D4F2X

Ukrainian UAV manufacturers will be able to increase their production and sales, now able to participate in Drone Coalition tenders. For the first time, Ukrainian manufacturers of unmanned technologies will be able to participate in Drone Coalition tenders within the framework of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (Ramstein format). Tenders will include two lots: the production of advanced FPV drones and interceptor drones. Proposals for FPV drones will be accepted until October 14 and until November 11 for interceptor drones. Companies that win tenders will receive orders to produce drones for further testing on the battlefield. If successful, a large-scale order of FPV drones from the winning companies is planned. The coalition's goal is said to be to ensure the industrial production of FPV drones, creating a long-term technological advantage over the enemy. The Drone Coalition includes 16 partner countries, including Britain and Latvia, which supply Ukraine with drones. It is planned to purchase another 20,000-30,000 drones with the €50M in accumulated funds. https://lnkd.in/drQJ-UWq

Ukraine destroyed a year's worth of enemy missiles and a warehouse worth almost $40M in the Tver region. In the village of Toropets in the Tver region of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian drones destroyed a Russian missile depot worth ₽3.6B ($39.2M). The facility housed the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate's arsenal. This is one of the 13 warehouses the Russian Ministry of Defense built in 2015 as part of an ammunition storage improvement program. The warehouse stored ammunition for Grad anti-aircraft missiles, C-300 and C-400 missile systems, and ballistic missiles for Iskander complexes. The explosions at the warehouse caused several dozen earthquakes with a magnitude between 2 to 3.2 in the region. Experts believe that approximately 30,000 tons of ammunition could have been stored in the arsenal, mainly 82-mm mines and 122-mm rockets for MLRS (460,000 rounds). As for MLRS, this is a ten-month supply for active hostilities or more than a year with average intensity of use. As for mines, 10 million units, or a supply for more than 1.5 years, were destroyed. https://lnkd.in/dBk-VHRq

Pistorius expects the German government to allocate an additional €500M to supply weapons to Ukraine this year. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that negotiations to increase the current Ukrainian aid budget for this year, which currently stands at €7.5B, are "very promising" and are likely to be completed by the end of the week. "Then we will be talking about a significant sum of hundreds of millions of euros, with which further military support can be provided," Pistorius said. Since the NATO summit in July this year, Pistorius has publicly called for an increase in the current year's budget. According to Spiegel, the German Federal Ministry of Defense hopes for up to an additional €500M. Although, at one time Pistorius presented a list to the government that predicted additional needs of up to €4B for the current year alone. He wants to use this money to supply Ukraine with more ammunition, urgently needed spare parts for weapons systems that have already been delivered, and more Leopard 1A5 tanks. https://lnkd.in/dnS5QeEn