CUSTOMERSADMITTHAT
RIGHTAFTERTHEEND
OFTHEHOLIDAYS, SINCE
MID-JANUARY,UKRAINIAN
PRODUCERSWOULD
INCREASETHEPRICESBY
$20-25PERTON
thepriceswentup to340-350hryvnias”.Notonly
cementmanufacturersbut also the intermediaries
madeprofitoncementshortage.Customers
complained that intermediariescharged600-720
hryvniasper1 tonof thesamecementandduring the
timeofmostacuteshortage thesalesweremore like
auction. Sometimes, thesuppliersevenannounced
the initialpriceon the telephone to twocustomers
and theymade their increasingbids taking turns.
Eventually, the traderswouldgetprofitableoffers.
Thedemand forcementwentdownabit
inDecember2006– January2007.However,
customersadmit that rightafter theendof the
holidays, sincemid-January,Ukrainianproducers
would increase thepricesby$20-25per ton. They
explain thisprice increaseby thegrowthofenergy
carriers’prices, increaseofminimumsalariesand
need forequipmentmodernization.At thesame
time, cementproducersstate that the income they
receive isstill insufficient.AndreyPanchenko,National
DirectorofHeidelbergCementGroup inUkraine
(3cementplants; founded in2001;more than2.5
thousandemployees) says that:“according to interim
estimations, over the year 2006, threeplants
ownedbyHeidelbergCementGroupweregoing
toearnapproximately18millioneuroof gross
profit. This isnot enough tobuyevenonecoal
mill,whichcosts 19-20millionEuroandwhich
isneeded toconvert theproduction fuel from
natural gas tocoal. Therefore, theearnedprofit
covers theplanned investment onlypartly. At the
same time, in2007, theheadcompanyplans to
invest 160millioneuro into itsownenterprises.”
Taking intoaccount theexisting stable tendency forgrowthof energy carriers’prices
and increaseof demand, theprices for cementwill continue togrow in2007.
BUSINESS EMIRATES
128
ÍÅÄÂÈÆÈÌÎÑÒÜ, ÁÈÇÍÅÑ, ÈÍÂÅÑÒÈÖÈÈ
ÓÊÐÀÈÍÀ -ÎÀÝ
