According to SERBIAN ECONOMIST, German pharmaceutical company Phoenix Pharma has announced plans to invest around €14 million in the construction of a modern distribution center in Leskovac, Serbia. The project involves the creation of a 1.5-hectare facility as part of the development of the Leskovac Green Zone, which is positioned as a key logistics and business hub for the region.
Strategic importance of the project
The new center will serve not only the local market but also the entire territory of Serbia, ensuring the efficient distribution of pharmaceutical products, including medicines, food supplements, cosmetics, and medical devices. It is expected to create around 120 jobs, which will be a significant contribution to the development of the region’s economy.
The mayor of Leskovac, Goran Cvetanovic, emphasized the importance of this investment project for the local economy, noting that it contributes to the creation of new jobs and strengthens the position of the “Green Zone” as a key business area.
Phoenix Pharma is a subsidiary of Phoenix Pharmahandel AG & Co KG, one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in Europe. The company is headquartered in Mannheim, Germany. Phoenix Pharmahandel operates in more than 27 European countries, providing distribution services for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and related products.
In the 2023 financial year, the group’s turnover exceeded €25 billion, and it employed more than 39,000 people. The company is actively investing in the expansion of its logistics network, including the construction of new distribution centers and the introduction of modern technologies to optimize supply chains.
Phoenix Pharmahandel has an extensive geographical presence, including countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and others. The company serves more than 150,000 customers, including pharmacies, hospitals, and other medical institutions, ensuring the timely and reliable delivery of pharmaceutical products.
Source: https://t.me/relocationrs/963
PJSC Vinnytsia Dairy Plant Roshen, part of the Roshen confectionery corporation, will pay shareholders UAH 86.394 million in dividends from net profit for 2024.
“To pay annual dividends on the company’s ordinary registered shares in the amount of UAH 86 million 393 thousand 928.60 UAH from net profit for 2024 at a rate of 461.58 UAH per ordinary registered share,” according to the decision of the general meeting of shareholders published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) on Friday.
Dividends will be paid directly to shareholders within a period not exceeding six months from the date of the general meeting’s decision to pay dividends.
In addition, the shareholders extended the term of office of the supervisory board in its entirety: Volodymyr Yarandin was re-elected as chairman, and Serhiy Zaitsev and Valentina Vyshnevska retained their positions as members of the board. Yarandin and Zaitsev represent the interests of the shareholder
Ukrainian Confectionery Holding LLC, while Vyshnevska represents the state-owned enterprise Roshen Confectionery Company.
At the same time, the shareholders gave their preliminary consent to the private joint-stock company to enter into major transactions related to the issuer’s financial and economic activities, the subject of which may include, in particular, the purchase or sale of works or services whose value exceeds 25% of the value of assets according to the latest annual financial statements, with a maximum total value of UAH 10 billion. The transactions may be carried out within one year from the date of such decision.
PJSC Vinnytsia Milk Plant Roshen was founded in 1999 in Vinnytsia. The milk plant is the main supplier of raw materials for the corporation’s factories. The plant has a capacity to process 600 tons of milk per day and produce up to 50 tons of dry milk products, up to 30 tons of butter, up to 10 tons of milk fat, and up to 75 tons of condensed milk. Raw materials are supplied from 10 regions of Ukraine, for which the plant has its own motor transport enterprise.
The plant’s products are exported to more than 50 countries around the world, namely Eastern Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa.
According to Opendatabot, in 2024, the plant increased its revenue by 20.6% to UAH 4.322 billion, increased its net profit by 12.9% to UAH 226.023 million, and reduced its debt obligations by 1.1% to UAH 234.29 million. The company’s assets are estimated at UAH 1.221 billion. The plant employs 228 people.
The authorized capital is UAH 9.358 million.
The ultimate beneficiary of the company is Oleksiy Poroshenko, the son of the fifth president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko.
Shareholders of PJSC National Joint Stock Insurance Company Oranta (Kyiv) plan to allocate UAH 40.667 million of net profit for 2024 to pay dividends.
This is stated in the information system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) in the draft decisions of the company’s shareholders’ meeting scheduled for May 19.
During the meeting, shareholders also plan to approve the amount of dividends per ordinary registered share in the amount of UAH 0.20 and determine that the payment of dividends will be carried out through the depository system of Ukraine in accordance with the procedure established by the supervisory board of NASK Oranta.
As reported, NASK Oranta increased its premium income by 54% in 2024 to UAH 2.35 billion compared to the same period last year, while the volume of payments increased by 22% to UAH 155.2 million.
Over the past year, the company paid out UAH 657 million in claims, which is 25% more than in 2023. The increase in payments is associated with the growth of the portfolio and the number of settled insurance events.
Thus, UAH 487 million (+34%) was paid out under MTPL policies, and UAH 99 million under Green Card agreements. The volume of premiums from legal entities increased by 26% last year.
Its profit amounted to UAH 157 million thanks to an effective tariff policy and expansion of the customer base. Insurance reserves grew by 44% to UAH 1.35 billion, ensuring the insurer’s financial reliability.
NASK Oranta is the successor to Ukrderzhstrakh, founded on November 25, 1921, and has been operating in Ukraine for over 100 years.
The company has been a full member of the MTIBU since 1994 and a member of the Nuclear Insurance Pool since 2003.
The insurer’s main shareholder is the Ukrainian business group DCH. The company has 33 licenses for compulsory and voluntary types of insurance, its network includes over 400 representative offices, and its agency network brings together over 2,000 insurance experts.
In January-April of this year, Ukraine increased exports of processed cast iron in physical terms by 37.4% compared to the same period last year, to 574,057 thousand tons from 417,941 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, during the period in question, exports of pig iron in monetary terms increased by 46% to $226.282 million.
Exports were mainly to the US (83.05% of shipments in monetary terms), Italy (11.34%), and Poland (2.7%).
In the first four months of the year, the country imported 29,000 tons worth $55,000 from Brazil (68.52%) and Germany (31.48%), while in January-April 2024, 15 tons of pig iron worth $35,000 were imported.
As reported, on March 12 of this year, in accordance with a decision by President Donald Trump, the US began imposing a 25% tariff on imports of Ukrainian steel products, except for pig iron.
In 2024, Ukraine reduced exports of processed pig iron in physical terms by 3.4% compared to 2023, to 1 million 290.622 thousand tons, and in monetary terms by 6.1%, to $500.341 million. Exports were mainly to the US (72.64% of shipments in monetary terms), Turkey (8.03%), and Italy (7.30%).
In 2024, the country imported 38 tons of pig iron worth $90 thousand from Germany, while in the same period of 2023, it imported 154 tons of pig iron worth $156 thousand.
In January-April this year, Ukraine reduced exports of semi-finished carbon steel products in physical terms by 24.6% compared to the same period last year, to 440,036 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, in monetary terms, exports of carbon steel semi-finished products fell by 25.3% to $215.286 million.
The main exports were mainly to Bulgaria (40.65% of supplies in monetary terms), Turkey (18.46%), and Poland (13.59%).
During the period in question, Ukraine imported 3,303 thousand tons of semi-finished products worth $2.687 million, mainly from the Czech Republic (72.47%), Italy (26.26%), and Romania (0.93%).
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine increased exports of semi-finished products made of carbon steel in physical terms by 56.7% compared to 2023, to 1 million 886.090 thousand tons. The main export destinations were Bulgaria (32.06% of shipments in monetary terms), Egypt (18.50%), and Turkey (11.14%).
In 2024, Ukraine imported 306 tons of semi-finished products worth $278 thousand from the Czech Republic (88.13%), Romania (7.19%), and Poland (2.88%), while in 2023, it imported 96 tons worth $172 thousand.
The company “Ma’Rizhany Hemp Company” (Zhytomyr region) has commissioned a plant for processing industrial hemp with a capacity of 14,000 tons per year in the “Ma’Rizhany” industrial park, according to the Ministry of Economy.
“The development of domestic processing is one of the key tasks of the government’s “Made in Ukraine” policy and part of the national economic concept. We must change the structure of the economy from raw materials to high technology and increase the production of high value-added goods,” said First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko during an introductory visit, as quoted in the report.
The plant will produce long fibers for textiles and technical fabrics (for export, with the prospect of processing within the country for the Ukrainian fashion industry); short fibers for paper, nonwoven materials, insulation, and straw will be used as raw materials for bioplastics, construction materials, and animal bedding.
According to a Facebook post by Dmytro Kysilevsky, deputy head of the parliamentary committee on economic development, who was present at the opening of the plant, the investment in the first phase of the project exceeded $20 million. The plant currently employs 200 people.
According to information from the company, cited by the Ministry of Economy, in the 1990s, the processing of bast crops in Ukraine virtually disappeared, and with it, the production of combed yarn. This made the textile industry dependent on imports and reduced its competitiveness.
To change the situation, in 2023, Ma’Rizhani Hemp Company began renovating the abandoned flax factory. In 2024, the company planted 890 hectares of industrial hemp, and in 2025, 1,200 hectares.
“This is the largest area under hemp cultivation in Central and Eastern Europe,” the report says.
Currently, the production area is 10,000 square meters, the warehouse area is 10,800 square meters, the construction and installation of equipment has been completed, and testing of raw materials and the production of the first samples has begun. As reported, IP “Ma’Rizhany” occupies about 30 hectares, the territory of a former flax processing plant. It will be the first park in Europe for the primary processing of bast crops. It was entered in the Register of IPs in August 2024. It is planned to create more than 700 jobs.
