Almost 40% of Ukrainian companies need a year to recover from quarantine

In order to achieve a pre-quarantine level of development, according to 20% of entrepreneurs, it will take six months, and for 39% – about a year.

 

 

Such data is the result of a study conducted by the European Business Association (EBA).

 

 

So, most of the companies surveyed are ready to restore offline work or return to the office in the near future – 35% in May and 34% in June. In addition, 16% of respondents said that they had already resumed work or had not stopped at all during the quarantine period due to the peculiarities of the company’s activities. Another 15% do not plan yet to return to the office or have not yet decided on the final date.

 

 

In the context of organizing work in the office, 42% plan to introduce flexible or shift work schedules, another 13% will recommend their employees to continue working from home. 20% of companies are preparing for a phased exit to work, starting with 25% of employees in the office with a possible increase to 50%. Another 17% of enterprises are ready to leave 50% of employees from the first weeks with a possible expansion to 75%.

 

 

Based on the experience of the past few months, 62% of directors said that they are considering the option of full or partial change of the operating mode to a remote one on an ongoing basis. Most of them are ready to allow up to 50% of the staff to work remotely.

 

 

Most companies managed to keep their wages unchanged – 62% of respondents reported this. Wage reduction affected 23% of companies, while 7% increased wages for some categories of workers. In another 3% of cases, some categories of workers went on unpaid leave.

 

 

82% of businesses managed to keep the company’s staff unchanged, and 8% even now are looking for new employees. Accordingly, 11% of companies were forced to reduce their staff.

 

 

If we talk about the financial results of two months of quarantine, then most businesses report losses. So, 36% of respondents received up to 20% of losses from income, another 28% – at the level of 20-50% and 18% – 50-75% of losses from income. Only 11% reported that there were no changes, and 3% were able to increase revenue to 20%.

 

 

According to entrepreneurs, today the business needs support, and the following measures were named among the most effective options:

• reduction of the tax burden on the wage fund;

• introduction of payment of assistance to employees from the social insurance fund from the 1st day of employee illness;

• abolition of fines for violation of tax legislation by the end of the year.

 

 

“Obviously, over the next one or two years, we will have to deal with the consequences of this forced stoppage of business and work in an intensive mode. Let’s hope that the epidemiological situation will be favorable, and companies will be able to move to the recovery phase now without repeating the quarantine scenario, ”commented Anna Derevyanko, Executive Director of the European Business Association.

40% of the industrial cattle population is concentrated in 155 agricultural enterprises

As of January 1, 2020, 678 domestic agricultural enterprises, or one third of the total number specializing in livestock, kept 100-499 head of cattle. In total it is 185,4 thousand heads.

 

 

This was reported by agrotimes.ua. As of January 1, 2020, the total number of cattle in agricultural enterprises was 1.05 million.

 

 

According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, agricultural enterprises kept: 550 agricultural enterprises (27%) – kept up to 50 heads of cattle. The total number of livestock in such farms reached 11.2 thousand; 360 enterprises (17.6%) – kept 500−999 heads of cattle. This segment accounted for 250.2 thousand heads; 161 enterprises (8%) kept from 50 to 99 heads of cattle. The total number of animals in this group is 11.4 thousand; 155 enterprises (7.6%) – kept more than 1.5 thousand heads.

 

 

This is the largest segment, which accumulated 415.3 thousand heads; 141 enterprises (7%) – kept 1-1,499 thousand heads of cattle. This category of enterprises accounted for 176 thousand heads.

 

 

It should be noted that the data are given without taking into account the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, Sevastopol and part of the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

In Ukraine, the volume of grain harvest is forecasted in 5 years

Mykola Gorbachev, President of the Ukrainian Grain Association, predicted that in 5 years the grain harvest in Ukraine would reach 113 million tons. He stated this during a round table held by Ukrzaliznytsia for business, agronews.ua reports.

 

 

“We now grow 98 million tons of grain, and according to our forecasts in 5 years it will be 113 million tons of grain. At the same time, domestic consumption is falling, so we will export more and more, ”he commented.

 

 

He noted that 70% of grain exported is transported by rail. Expectations for the current marketing year (until July 1) are 60 million tons of exported grain.

The number of cattle in Ukraine has decreased

As of May 1, 2020, there are 3.45 million head of cattle in Ukraine, which is 6.8% less than in the same period in 2019. This was reported by the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, agronews.ua reports.

 

 

According to statistics, the number of cows also decreased by 6.5% to 1.78 million (in 2019 – 1.91 million). The number of pigs also decreased by 6.2% to 5.76 million (6.13 million in 2019). The number of goats and sheep decreased by 6.7% to 1.47 million (2019 – 1.47 million).

 

 

Also, the poultry population decreased to 207.86 million, which is 1.2%. Whereas last year in the same period there were 210.39 million heads in all agricultural enterprises of Ukraine.

Kazakhstan since June lifts ban on export of grain and flour

The Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan plans to abolish quotas for the export of flour, grain, as well as a number of food products from June 1.

 

 

This was announced by the head of the department Saparkhan Omarov, Kapital.kz reports.

 

 

“Export restrictions and quotas were introduced during the state of emergency to ensure the country’s food security. But today, due to the withdrawal of the emergency and due to the fact that Kazakhstan is now fully provided with foodstuffs, the ministry plans to remove all restrictions and prohibitions from June 1, ”he said.

Exports of chicken to the EU from Ukraine dipped by 25%

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result of the impact on the economy of external and internal shocks, the GDP of Ukraine in 2020 will decrease by 7%.

 

 

This is evidenced by the data of the report of the European Commission for the first quarter of 2020, reports Meat-Inform.

 

 

Ukraine took the fourth place among the top exporters of poultry meat in the EU. In the last quarter, the country took 3rd place, but so far the UK has been added to the list of suppliers, which separated from the European Union and became Ukraine’s new competitor in the European market.

 

 

Now the five largest exporters of chicken to the EU countries look like this: Great Britain (63 thousand tons for the first quarter of 2020), Brazil (57.8 thousand tons), Thailand (40.79 thousand tons), Ukraine (23 46 thousand tons), Chile (7.97 thousand tons).

 

 

In January – March last year, Ukrainian producers exported 31.53 thousand tons of poultry meat to the EU countries. Thus, in the first quarter of 2020, sales decreased by 25.6% compared with the same period last year.

Three possible scenarios of the economic impact of COVID-19 on Ukraine

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result of the impact on the economy of external and internal shocks, the GDP of Ukraine in 2020 will decrease by 7%.

 

 

These forecasts were voiced by the consultant of the German Economic Team (GET) and the author of the study “Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Ukraine” by David Zach, conducted by the GET team in conjunction with the Institute for Economic Research and Political Consultation (IEI).

 

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic will lead to a strong reduction in Ukraine’s GDP in 2020. In the baseline scenario, the fall in GDP is 7%, which is ten percentage points below the level of GDP projected before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the pessimistic scenario, the level of GDP decline increases to -11.2%. The main reason for this sharp contraction is the combination of internal and external shocks. Tough but necessary internal quarantine measures reduce economic activity in the retail, restaurant and transport sectors. Foreign exports and remittances are falling, as other countries have also been hit hard by the pandemic, ”explains David Zaha.

 

 

According to the study, due to internal and external shocks caused by the pandemic, in 2020, investments in the Ukrainian economy will decrease by 11.2%. Private consumption will decrease by 5.7%.

 

 

The transport sector will suffer the most (a decrease in the volume of service provision is expected to be 14.3% compared to 2019) and retail trade (due to quarantine and a drop in demand, a decrease of 8% is expected).

 

 

Experts also note that imports are declining to a greater extent than exports. In 2020, imports to Ukraine will decrease by 12.7%, and exports – by 7.6%.

 

 

“Significant uncertainty remains. The economic downturn in 2020 may worsen in the future, if restraining measures cannot be mitigated in the expected time frame. The longer the quarantine lasts, as a result of which the enterprises close, the slower the recovery will be, ”says David Zaha.

UN will help Sudan with Ukrainian wheat

The UN Relief Agency purchased about 80 thousand tons of wheat, which will be delivered from Ukraine to Sudan.

 

 

This was reported by European traders to Reuters.

 

 

It is specified that about 40 thousand tons will be shipped by the end of May, and another 40 thousand tons in the first half of July.

 

The UN provides food aid to Sudan through a number of programs.

Export of cereals has grown by 50% since the beginning of the year

During January-April of this year, Ukraine exported more than 11 thousand tons of cereals from cereal grains in the amount of $ 3.9 million. In money terms, this is 49.5% more than in the same period last year ($ 2.5 million).

 

 

This is reported by AgroTimes with reference to the data of the State Customs Service.

 

 

At the same time, the supply of cereals to the EU market in monetary terms decreased by 6.3% – from $ 436 thousand in January – April 2019 to $ 08 thousand in 2020. But exports of these products to Asia over the reporting period increased by 112% – from $ 0.5 million to $ 1.1 million

 

 

The purchases of Ukrainian cereals and African countries increased by 42% – from $ 382 thousand to $ 544 thousand. More than doubled the import of these products and the countries of America – from $ 290 thousand in January – April 2019 to $ 603 thousand for the same period in 2020- go.

 

 

In the first four months of 2020, more domestic cereals were exported by Israel (22%), Moldova (17%) and Costa Rica (14%).

 

 

Recall that in March, cereal exports more than doubled the previous two months.

How the tourism ban impacted poultry farming

Poultry farms in Seychelles currently sell their eggs directly to local consumers in the markets. An egg in the market previously cost about $ 0.17, but now it has fallen to the level of $ 0.06, depending on the number of sellers in the market.

 

 

“Before the whole situation with Covid-19, egg producers could sell their products without much complaint. This is simply because many of them were oriented towards tourist establishments. Since the fact that the number of tourists is currently zero, we know what impact this could have on them, ”said Antoine Usa, chief secretary for agriculture in the Seychelles.

 

 

According to the Seychelles Agricultural Agency, 23 farmers are active egg producers, 6 of which are large and produce about 22 million eggs a year. One large owner of the poultry farm said he would not be able to support production, as 50% of the eggs produced in the country are usually consumed by the hotel industry.

 

 

“I produced almost 15,000 eggs a day, of which only 3,000 reached the local market through my 2 stores,” he said.