Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has its Lviv R&D office up and running, employing about 120 programmers, Interfax Ukraine reported. The Lviv center is the company’s first in Ukraine, and its expansion plans include others throughout the country.
?The Cabinet transferred management of the state railway Ukrzaliznytsia to the government to make it easier to reform the corporate structure of the company, an Infrastructure Ministry official told Interfax Ukraine. Also, an Ukrzalizynitsia affiliate announced a $108 million tender for purchase of 3,000 train cars. The application deadline for the tender is Feb. 21.
?Fortune Global 500 commodity trading and mining company Glencore and Ukrainian tycoon Oleksandr Yaroslavksy’s DCH Group plan to team up and take part in the privatization competition for Turboatom, Ekonomicheskaya Pravda reported. In a meeting with Yaroslavsky and President Petro Poroshenko at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg expressed interest in helping Ukraine modernize its economy and attract foreign investment.
?General Electric Transportation, a division of the world-renowned GE, is ready to enter into long-term cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia, Novoe Vremya reported, citing a Facebook post from Davos by Boris Lozhkin.
?Ukraine received the largest cereal grain quota allotment handed out by the European Union for 2017, UkrAgroConsult reported. The EU import quotas for Ukrainian grain increased by the following amounts: wheat, 10,000 tons; barley, 20,000 tons; and corn, 50,000 tons.
?Ukraine’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved two bills to protect intellectual property rights, one addressing patent trolling and one shoring up safeguards on industrial samples and trademarks, according to Interfax Ukraine. The Economic Development and Trade Ministry said the measures will aid restoration of domestic industry and make Ukraine more attractive for investment.
?Odesa portside plant shareholders have a special general meeting scheduled for Feb. 6 to discuss the restructuring of debt owed to Naftogaz. The agenda indicates that shareholders will also decide whether to give preliminary consent to allow the company to sign large deals.
?The France-based international supermarket chain Auchan is buying Ukrainian counterpart Caravan, Ekonomicheskaya Pravda reported, citing the Ukrainian Retail Association.
?Ukrainian IT company SoftServe bought Coders Center, which is headquartered in the Polish city of Wroclaw, for between $1.5 million and $3 million, AIN reported. Coders Center specializes in enterprise content management systems and e-commerce platforms. It has four offices in Poland and another four affiliated offices in London, New York, Sweden and Germany.
?The National Bank of Ukraine declared People’s Capital Bank insolvent Thursday. In July, People’s Capital was classified as a problem bank because its ownership structure didn’t comply with transparency requirements.
?International Airlines of Ukraine is adding two Boeing 737-800 passenger aircraft to its fleet, Novoe Vremya reported. The first of the planes, which can carry up to 186 passengers, will go into service Jan. 20. The other will be added in March.