Office of the National Investment Council of Ukraine presents weekly reports as handy tools to keep track of the key news in business and investment climate in Ukraine and the world. The following report covers events dated August 12-18, 2019

1. WEEKLY REPORT
August 12th → August 18th, 2019

2. The Cabinet of Ministers has obliged recipients of international technical assistance
to publish information on the assistance received, and performers to report annually
on the status of project implementation.
WEEKLY REPORT August 12th → August 18th, 2019
Business climate in Ukraine
Oil
Coal
Natural
Gas
Iron Ore
Copper
Corn
Wheat
USD/bbl
USD/ton
USD/MWh
USD/ton USD/bushel
Macroeconomic indicators
Source: Ukrstat, NBU
58.64
48.80
10.92
93.61
USD/ton
USD/bushel
5719.50
3.81
4.78
Ukraine and Singapore have signed a protocol on the introduction of amendments to
the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income
and capital. The protocol is aimed at avoiding double taxation of income of individuals
and legal entities in the territories of both countries. The provisions of the protocol
are in line with the requirements of the OECD Model Tax Convention.
The Cabinet of Ministers put amendments to the mechanism of functioning of public
service obligations (PSO) in the electricity market. The relevant decision was voted in
accordance with an abridged procedure.
EIB proposes Ukraine USD 250 million for “Development of agricultural infrastructure
and biomass-based energy generation” project. Project will help to attract medium-
term financial resources to the real sector of economy.
The investment attractiveness of Ukraine's energy efficiency and green energy
sectors are in the focus of attention of the Swiss Investment Fund's responsAbility
Investments. The Fund grants credits and attracts investment to small and medium-
sized enterprises in developing countries. Fund was presented more than 100
potential projects in various clean energy sectors worth more than EUR 4 billion.
GDP growth +4.6%
Export $20,895
Import $23,529
Industrial output 0.5%
CPI 9.0%
2Q 2019, y-o-y
Jan - May 2019
Jan - May 2019 y-o-y
Jan – May 2019
Jan - May 2019 y-o-y
Jan - Jun 2019, y-o-y
Jun 2019
Jan - Jun 2019, y-o-y
Jun 2019
UAH/USD (NBU, average) 25.32
Source: Ukrstat, NBU
million
+7.4%
+9.3%
-2.3%
9.0%
million
The Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration
presented a transition book "European and Euro-Atlantic integration". It is designed
to provide public with exact information on the current state of affairs, major
achievements and challenges on the road to the European integration, as well as on
Ukraine's path towards NATO membership.

3. Norwegian company NBT has started construction of the second phase of Zofia wind
farm with a 300 MW capacity in Zaporizhia region. Within the framework of the
project, it is planned to set up nearly 72 wind turbines with a capacity from 4.5 MW
and 6 MW each
WEEKLY REPORT August 12th → August 18th, 2019
Ukrainian Business News World Business News
Verizon would sell its blogging website Tumblr to Automattic Inc,
the owner of popular online-publishing tool WordPress.com.
Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo for more than USD 1 billion in 2013
and Verizon acquired it as part of its deal for Yahoo in 2015
Black Iron, a Canadian iron ore exploration and development company with assets in
Ukraine, expects to receive by the end of August the proposals from several
European export credit agencies and banks for the debt financing of its Shymanivske
iron ore project in Ukraine. Black Iron plans to host at its site in September a
multibillion-dollar Asian construction company that contemplates investing
approximately USD 50 million in Black Iron’s equity in exchange for the project’s
construction contract.
The French speed-test company nPerf has published a study of three largest mobile
communications operators in Ukraine, where Kyivstar ranks first. nPerf specialists in
total analyzed more than 23,100 tests in 2G, 3G, 4G networks.
Ukraine's railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, has completed the first stage of
negotiations with GE Transportation about the acquisition of the next batch of
locomotives. UZ discuss the supply of 20 to 40 locomotives.
Metinvest, the vertically integrated steel and mining group of companies, has signed
its first smart contract on we.trade blockchain trade finance platform supported by
UniCredit. This blockchain transaction demonstrates the importance of digitalization
in the steel industry.
IT services company Presidio would be taken private by BC
Partners in a USD 2 billion all-cash deal, as the European buyout
fund looks to expand its footprint in the cybersecurity space. The
deal includes a period, which allows to consider alternative offers
Hong Kong’s political unrest is posing a dilemma for Alibaba on the
timing of its planned USD 15 billion listing in the city, as China’s
biggest e-commerce company is now considering several
timetables. The Hong Kong listing deal was estimated at up to USD
20 billion, but is more likely to raise between USD 10-USD 15 billion
Amazon.com is in late-stage talks to buy as much as 10% of India’s
Future Retail. Amazon is looking to expand its reach in the Indian
brick-and-mortar market, about a year after retailer Walmart
bought a majority stake in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart. Future
Group is seeking a valuation of about USD 281 million for the stake
CBS Corp and Viacom Inc are in the final stages of negotiating an
all-stock merger. The deal will reunite CBS and Viacom, bringing
together the CBS television networks, cable network Showtime, and
book publisher Simon & Schuster with MTV networks, Nickelodeon
and the Paramount movie studio
German classifieds group Scout24 would explore a sale or spin-off
of its autos platform and borrow more to buy back shares, after
facing calls from activist investor Elliott to boost shareholder
returns. Elliott, in a letter published last week, urged Scout24 to
expand a proposed 300 million euro buyback of stock
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has provided permission to Canadian
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited to acquire PJSC Universalna insurance company,
which would grant over 25% of the votes in the management body of the insurance
company.