BUSINESS IN BRIEF (06/25/00)

BUSINESS IN BRIEF

Sponsors support Ukraine's Olympians

KYIV - Ukraine is in the top 10 most successful countries out of 200 in terms of implementation of Olympic projects. The list of major sponsors now includes UMC (Ukrainian Mobile Communications), Coca-Cola, Adidas and Samsung. More than 230 Ukrainian athletes competing in 26 sports will represent Ukraine during the Olympic Games in Sydney, which will be held September 15 through October 1, which is springtime in Australia. (Eastern Economist)

Rada ratifies railway loan with EBRD

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada in early June ratified an agreement signed last December 7 between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the UkrZaliznytsia Railway administration whereby the EBRD extends a $51.88 million (U.S.) loan to modernize the Kyiv-Zhmerynka-Lviv railway. The loan will be backed by government guarantees at the standard EBRD interest rate for a term of 15 years with a four-year grace period. Under the project, 400 kilometers of track, automatic control, telemechanics and communications systems will be replaced, repaired or modernized. These facilities have been in operation for 30 to 40 years and are obsolete. The loan will also fund the installation of an automatic traffic control system that meets international standards. (Eastern Economist)

Sea Launch receives space award

COLORADO SPRINGS - Sea Launch received the Gen. James E. Hill Space Achievement Award "for outstanding demonstration of the possibilities for international commercial collaboration in the post-Cold War space industry." The Space Foundation presented the award to the president of Sea Launch, Will Trafton, at the opening ceremony of the National Space Symposium. Sea Launch includes companies from the United States, Ukraine, Russia and Norway. Previous recipients of the award include the NASA/Boeing International Space Station Team and Apollo 13 Commander James Lovell. (Eastern Economist)

300,000 vehicles imported last year

KYIV - Over 300,000 automobiles were imported into Ukraine in 1999, stated the director of auto consulting, information/analysis group, Oleh Omelnytskyi. He added that 300,000 automobiles is the amount necessary to respond to supply pressure on the internal market and maintain the continued decrease in prices for used cars. There was a decrease in the re-sale of cars on the internal market in 1999. According to the experts, this is caused by the increase in the importation of parts for car assembly. Mr. Omelnytskyi stated that 67,000 cars, or 21 percent of the total number imported last year, were new vehicles; 108,000 vehicles were used; while another 107,000 cars were imported temporarily. (Eastern Economist)

Sponsorship improves corporate image

KYIV - "Corporate sponsorship is rapidly developing in Ukraine, though it receives very low coverage in the mass media," said the executive director of Innovations and Development Center, Oleksander Sydorenko. According to research conducted by the center in 1999, 28 percent of the companies involved in sponsorship consider it to be a good form of advertising, and 24 percent say it's good for improving a company's image. Activity among Ukrainian firms and especially government organizations is much lower. Mr. Sydorenko also commented on low coverage of charity and sponsorship projects in mass media. According to his research, only 27 articles on this issue were published in the press within a sample period of three months. (Eastern Economist)

Pharmaceutical plant opening in Drohobych

LVIV - A new pharmaceutical plant is to be opened in Drohobych, stated the chair of the Association of Metallurgy Industry Workers, Anatolii Holubchenko. Construction of the plant started in 1999 with total construction costs of $11 million (U.S.). The plant is being built by the Ukrainian Industrial Co. and the Elektron firm, said Mr. Holubchenko. The plant will produce a mixture needed for blood transfusions. Currently Ukraine buys this mixture for $80 million (U.S.) annually. The Drohobych plant will be able to produce $6 million worth of this product. (Eastern Economist)

Foreign investment in Kyiv declines

KYIV - Potential investors' fears of losing their capital has meant that the volume of foreign investment in the city of Kyiv has dropped significantly in the last two years. That news was revealed by the head of the Kyiv City Administration's Foreign Economic Relations Department, Mykhailo Pozhyvanov. He told representatives of foreign firms that, while investment in Kyiv in 1998 totaled $182.3 million (U.S.), in 1999 it was only $70 million. (Eastern Economist)

Unified energy system is proposed

KYIV - In order to ensure the transit of Russian electricity through Ukrainian territory to Western Europe, cooperation of the Ukrainian and Russian energy systems must be reinstated, said Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Russia's United Energy Systems has offered to organize the transit, she added. It would be most efficient to restore the operation of both countries' energy systems in the summer, when the demand for electricity consumption is lower. Ms. Tymoshenko added that Ukraine does not produce the necessary volume of electricity in order to export it to Western Europe on its own and that Ukraine will only agree to this project if the country's interests in this sector are taken into consideration. (Eastern Economist)

Golden Telecom buys Sovam Teleport

MOSCOW - Golden Telecom Inc., provider of telecommunications and Internet services in Russia and several other former Soviet republics announced that its Ukrainian subsidiary, Golden Telecom LLC, has acquired the outstanding interests in Sovam Teleport Kyiv, provider of data and Internet services in Ukraine. The combined company will be the first digital telecommunications network in Ukraine to offer integrated voice and data services on a nationwide basis. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine completes grain harvester

KYIV - A Ukrainian grain harvester, which was developed over the course of seven years, is complete, stated the general designer of the Pivdenne construction bureau, Stanislav Koniukhov. The Slavutych harvester will be produced at Kherson Harvesters Production Association. In order to launch production, an investment of 17 million hrv is required. The production of 500 Slavutych harvesters is planned for the year 2000. The price of one unit is around $80,000 (U.S.) and orders for 2,500 units have already been placed. Ukrainian agricultural producers currently need approximately 120,000 harvesters. (Eastern Economist)

UkrPoshta launches money transfer

KYIV - Ukraine's state postal communication company, UkrPoshta, introduced a new service, electronic transfers, which will enable customers to transfer funds to personal accounts via electronic mail. The first experimental stage of the service was to function only in Vinnytsia, Donetsk, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv and Yalta. The transfer time is three hours. (Eastern Economist)

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