BIZNEWS:
Banking & Finance
Ukraine gets USD 732 million for housing and communal services sector
The World Bank has allocated USD 732 million for investment projects aimed at urban infrastructure development and improving the energy efficiency of the district heat supply sector of Ukraine.
The “Urban Infrastructure Development — 2” project’s implementation amounts to USD 350 million (USD 300 million of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan and USD 50 million from the Clean Technology Fund). The project’s implementation period is 6 years. It consists of several water supply and water disposal sub-projects as well as a pilot project concerning municipal solid waste treatment at 11 communal services enterprises of 9 cities, namely Kiev, Kharkov, Kirovograd, Zhytomyr, Kramatorsk, Kolomiya, Ternopil, Cherkassy and Ivano-Frankivsk.
Ukraine received USD 382 million for the implementation of another infrastructure project, which is called “Improvement of Energy Efficiency of the District Heat Supply Sector of Ukraine”. The project’s implementation period is 6 years as well.
District heat supply enterprises in Vynnytsya, Dnepropetrovsk, Kamyanets-Podilsky, Mykolaiv, Kharkov, Kherson, Chernigov, Dneprodzerzhynsk, Kirovograd, Korosten, Pryluky, Ternopil and Chuhuiv are designated as beneficiaries of the funds.
Government approved World Bank loan terms and conditions
The Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 12 August 2015, No.830-ðstates that the government has approved the draft letter of the Government of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine to the World Bank to raise a USD 500 million loan.
According to the document, the funds will be raised under the “Second Programmatic Financial Sector Development Policy Loan” project.
The Cabinet of Ministers has designated the Ministry of Finance as responsible for the systematic project preparation as a whole.
The objectives of the project are to strengthen the operational, financial and regulatory capacity of the Deposit Guarantee Fund with regard to resolving the issue of insolvent banks.
Improving the solvency of the banking system through implementation of bank recapitalization and restructuring plans and timely enforcement actions is another objective of the project.
Trade Policy
Ukrainian exports to Russia fell to historic low
The Russian market now accounts for just 2% of all Ukrainian agricultural exports.
In particular, in the first half of 2014 the Ukrainian export geography showed the Russian Federation’s share of almost 8% whereas currently its share fell to 2%.
In absolute terms, the exports to this country decreased by 80% amounting to USD 125 million. The total exports for 2015 amounts to USD 6.5 billion. Besides, during 2010-2014 the volume of food trade with the Russian Federation decreased by 40%.
Support to European fruit and vegetable producers
The European Commission has formally extended till the end of June 2016, safety net measures for the European fruit and vegetables sector. First introduced last year in response to the Russian ban on the import of EU agri-food products, the present decision follows Russia’s decision to extend its restrictive measures for a further 12 months. The measure approved covers a wide range of food items and reference volumes have been allocated to member states on the basis of exports to Russia in the 3 years prior to the ban, with an additional quantity of up to 3 000 tonnes for all member states.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Clearance for acquisition of Thorntons by Ferrero
The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of the confectioner Thorntons of the United Kingdom by Ferrero of Luxembourg. Thorntons manufactures and sells chocolate confectionery and other sweet products, mainly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Ferrero is active worldwide in the manufacturing and supply of chocolate confectionery and other sweet products, as well as in the procurement and supply of edible nuts. The companies’ activities overlap in the manufacturing and supply of chocolate confectionery and other sweet products in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the companies’ moderate combined market position resulting from the proposed transaction and the presence of a number of strong players providing chocolate confectionery and other sweet products in all relevant countries.
European Commission approves conditional acquisition of Hospira by Pfizer
The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Hospira by Pfizer under the EU Merger Regulation. Both companies are US-based and active globally in the development and marketing of human pharmaceuticals. The approval is conditional on Pfizer divesting certain sterile injectable drugs, as well as its infliximab biosimilar drug, which is currently under development. The EC expressed concerns that the merged entity would have faced insufficient competitive pressure from the remaining players on the corresponding markets, with a risk of price rises and discontinuation of the development of Pfizer’s infliximab biosimilar drug. The commitments offered by the companies address these by removing the overlap between Pfizer and Hospira in all the markets where the Commission identified concerns about competition.
The EC focused its investigation on the two product areas where Pfizer and Hospira compete, namely biosimilar drugs and sterile injectable drugs. Both outcomes (reduction of differentiated biosimilars from three to two, or loss of price competition) would be detrimental to competition on the infliximab drug market.
