Weekly investment market digest

Economics, Investments, and the M&A Market

• The corridor for exporting agricultural products within the framework of the 'grain agreement' is operational again – Turkish Ministry of Defence;
• The abolition of tariffs between the European Union and Ukraine for trade works in both directions – Peter Müller;
• Five EU countries – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria have appealed to the European Commission to propose protection mechanisms for farmers from the influx of agricultural products from Ukraine;
• The Polish Prosecutor's Office has published the first results of the investigation into fraudulent schemes for importing Ukrainian grain;
• Ukraine wants to join the OECD Recommendations for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains;
• Moldova currently has no plans to impose restrictions on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine;
• Ukrzaliznytsia has agreed with Lithuania on a railway connection of Baltic ports with Ukraine bypassing russia and Belarus;
• The Izmail Seaport fulfilled its annual cargo handling plan on 9th May;
• Ukraine has received $1.5 billion from the opening of Danube ports;
• Land prices have increased by 20% this year – Ministry of Agrarian Policy
• In April, inflation slowed to 17.9% on an annual basis – State Statistics Service;
• The IMF plans to conduct the first review of the EFF programme for Ukraine in the second half of May.
• The World Bank Technical Assistance Mission began its work to support the financial sector in Ukraine;
• Ukraine has received $132 million from the World Bank;
• The USAID AGRO programme is additionally allocating over 36 million hryvnias for the modernisation of irrigation systems;
• The Cabinet of Ministers approved the attraction of 200 million euros from the EBRD for Ukrzaliznytsia;
• The Ukrainian investment platform was launched in Tokyo under the leadership of the EBRD;
• The Ministry of Economy has published a scheme for financing investors;
• Income in the oil and gas sector and power generation exceeded one trillion hryvnias – YouControl;
• In April, 21 non-bank participants left the Ukrainian financial market;
• The illegal tobacco market in 2023 reached 21.9% – Kantar Ukraine;
• The European Innovation Council is allocating 20 million euros to support Ukrainian startups;
• The government has banned the import of fuel of unknown origin;
• Ukraine hopes to start selling confiscated russian assets at privatisation auctions in 2023 – Umеrov;
• The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has once again put up for auction the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi seaport on the 6th of June;
• For the first time, the SPFU has put the historic Hermitage Hotel in Kyiv up for auction;
• The Deposit Guarantee Fund has listed townhouses in an elite suburb of Kyiv for two auctions on May 25;
• An auction for the sale of a mansion in Ivano-Frankivsk region with a total area of 1000 sq. m is planned for June 2;
• The Deposit Guarantee Fund has put up for auction on May 16 credits with several car dealerships in Kharkiv as collateral;
• The largest minority shareholder of Kernel has sold all his shares to Verevsky;
• UkrGasVydobuvannya will spend 300 million UAH on the repair of equipment that has been in storage for 5 years;
• PepsiCo Ukraine has resumed operations in Mykolaiv and Kyiv regions;
• BMW and Mercedes-Benz sales in the Ukrainian car market are showing record figures – Ukravtoprom.

World

• US CPI inflation reached 4.9% in April;
• Elon Musk is stepping down as CEO of Twitter: his place will be taken by a top manager of NBCUniversal;
• In the first quarter of 2023, central banks bought 176% more gold than during the same period in 2022 – WGC;
• The global volume of share buybacks by companies reached a record $1.31 trillion in 2022 – MarketWatch;
• Investment from China to the EU last year reached the lowest level in the last 10 years – MERICS;
• Venture investment in the artificial intelligence sector could increase 3-4 times in 2023 – PitchBook;
• The S&P 500 index is once again on the verge of falling below its 2007 peak – Bloomberg;
• German insurance company Allianz warns investors of a new threat of financial catastrophe. Analysts suggest that investors in the markets are facing high volatility in the near future;
• Apple has increased its share buyback programmeme from $76 billion to $90 billion – Media;
• The largest oil company Saudi Aramco reported a nearly 20% drop in profits in the first quarter;
• Turkish Airlines announced a record industry deal for 600 aircraft – Reuters;
• Low-cost airline Ryanair is buying 300 aircraft from Boeing for $40 billion;
• Lithium mining companies Allkem and Livent plan to merge into a $10.6 billion company;
• The British regulator has approved the merger of satellite operators Inmarsat and Viasat;
• Northvolt plans to build two new factories for the production of batteries for electric cars;
• Western countries are preparing an embargo against russian diamonds;
• Shares of Japanese companies invested in by Warren Buffet reached record levels this week – Bloomberg;
• Swedish Sobi plans to acquire American biotech company CTI Biopharma for $1.7 billion;
• Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex has filed for bankruptcy amid an SEC investigation – Reuters;
• Venture investments in European crypto projects have increased nearly tenfold over the past year – analysts.