Adaptation of logistics companies to operation under the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the problem of companies adapting to operate under restrictions more acute. Logistics companies were the special focus of researchers because of the specifics of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article aims to determine the features of the management of logistics companies to adapt them against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The methodological background of the analysis is the analysis of financial ratios - Total Revenue Growth;Capital Expenditure Growth;Working Capital Growth;Debt/ Equity ratio;Equity/Total Assets, as well as the case method - a description of the business situation of the company in the sample of JD Logistics, which have successfully adapted to changes against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of the financial statements of the surveyed companies revealed several trends in their financial management during the pandemic - a decline in net income from sales after the pandemic;an increase of capital investments in 2019-2021;reduction of working capital growth rates after 2019;growth of the debt-to-equity ratio after the beginning of the pandemic;maintaining the equity to assets ratio at a stable level in 2019-2021. A set of factors influencing the exogenous and endogenous environment is identified in support of the logistics companies adaptation programme under the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions by the following blocks: "government action and regulatory policy";"support of the company's operation";"company finance";"customer relations";"relations with suppliers". Prospects for further research involve studying financial and market factors influencing the practice of adaptation of logistics companies in a pandemic, as well as studying the problem of adaptation of companies in the post-crisis phase after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Energy Security Assessment of Emerging Economies under Global and Local Challenges

This paper proposes methodological approaches to assessing the impact of renewable energy and energy efficiency development on emerging economies’ energy security. It is suggested to supplement the current methodology for assessing energy security with the decoupling index of the renewable energy financial burden on the state budget, the energy efficiency decoupling index, the households’ energy poverty indicator, the index of capacity development for balancing electricity generation volumes, and the energy fluctuations indicator. These indices provide a comprehensive assessment of energy security under the latest challenges. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic in the Ukrainian energy sector led to the “green and coal paradox”, when the government decided to keep green electricity generation but limit nuclear generation. It required increased flexible capacities (thermal generation) and led to a rise in electricity prices and environmental pollution. Forecasting energy fluctuations with Butterworth filters allows minimizing the risks of maximum peak loads on the grid and timely prevention of emergencies. The energy fluctuations within the 20% range guarantee energy security and optimal energy companies’ operation. It is proposed to smooth out energy consumption fluctuations through green energy development, smart grids formation, energy efficiency improvements, and energy capacities balancing to ensure energy and economic sustainability.

Effective Management Tools for Solving the Problem of Poverty in Relation to Food Waste in Context of Integrated Management of Energy

Globally, millions of people suffer from poverty. This paper discusses the problem of poverty especially in relation to food waste. The prevention of food waste can also contribute to global poverty reduction, and the reduction of food waste is a tool for sustainable growth and competitiveness. At present, the number of people at risk of poverty and the amount of food waste are increasing at unsustainable rates. An integrated and efficient tool for the management of food, energy, and water (FEW) resources to improve FEW security via an interdisciplinary approach could help address several of the most significant global challenges, such as climate change, and economic, environmental, and social security. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the existence of poverty and the treatment of food for sustainable growth. The analysis focused on the EU countries and the main data source was the Eurostat database. Households generally create the largest proportion of food waste. Pareto analysis shows that in households, food and non-alcoholic beverages are among the first group of expenses, and in the EU countries they represent approximately 12% of the total expenses. Food and non-alcoholic beverages are a stable, unavoidable, and non-negligible element of total expenses. Paradoxically, enormous amounts of food are wasted. A relatively weak inversely proportional relationship between the amount of food waste per capita and the proportion of the population at risk of poverty among the total population of EU countries was identified through correlational analysis. A very weak relationship between the share of the population at risk of poverty in the total population and the amount of food waste per capita, excluding the population at risk of poverty, was also found.

Perception of "Green Shipping" in the contemporary conditions

The article aims at substantiating the importance and relevance of the "green shipping" concept, as well as updating approaches to its understanding in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, the article discusses the tools by which there can be achieved the goals of the classical concept, as well as the tools that can be implemented as part of a so-called “primary block” – humanity-friendly part of the updated “green shipment” concept. The purpose of the article is to give grounds to promising areas of investment in "green shipping" projects under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to review the instruments to increase the biological safety of vessels to ensure the financial stability of shipment companies. This article explains the necessity to reconsider the “green shipping” concept, which, under the influence the COVID-19 pandemic, cannot remain the same any longer. The authors proved that achieving total ecological friendliness does not mean the full safety of shipping, and, in their opinion, apart from realizing other fundamental tasks, "green vessels" must become friendly to humanity. There are accumulated the main instruments, which are the part of eco-friendly shipping and are the objects of international investments, and there are proposed the fundamentally new ones. This paper creates the basis for further fundamental research aimed at updating "green shipping" concept under the influence of unfavourable economic and social environment in order to maintain financial stability of all stakeholders engaged in international investments in shipping.