The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on November 10 approved the provision of a four-year amortising senior unsecured loan of up to EUR 25 million equivalent to OTP Bank (Kyiv) to finance micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), according to the EBRD website.
“The project will enable the company to finance long-term investments of Ukrainian MSMEs in upgrading their technology and equipment necessary to meet EU standards in terms of product quality, health and safety measures and environmental preservation,” the bank said.
In addition to long-term financing, eligible sub-borrowers will receive technical assistance funded by the European Union and grant support in the form of investment incentives upon the completion of their investment projects.
The mobile network operator Kyivstar has launched 4G communication in 235 settlements in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions.
According to the press service of the operator reporting on Friday, 4G mobile communication appeared in the settlements of Biliaivka, Volokhiv Yar, Hubarivka, Dvorichne, Sakhnovschyna, Starovirivka (Kharkiv region), Vasylivka, Vodiane, Zlatoustivka, Myroliubivka, Novokalynivka, Novooleksandrivka, Pavlopillia (Kharkiv region), etc.
“To improve 4G coverage in these settlements, Kyivstar has installed 27 base stations at LTE 900 frequencies. As a result, another 72,000 people have the opportunity to use mobile Internet at high speed up to 100 Mbps,” the company said.
The total number of Kyivstar mobile base stations exceeded 38,000.
By now, Kyivstar has already provided access to 4G for almost 85% of the population.
The operator invested more than UAH 4 billion in the development of new mobile technologies in the first nine months of 2020.
The National complex Expocentre of Ukraine (Kyiv) signed a lease agreement with the development and educational project more, which won the first auction for the lease of state property on the electronic platform Prozorro.Sale.
“Just recently, an important event took place in the history of Expocentre, to which we have been going for a long year and a half. We became pioneers and the first among state-run organizations who signed a lease agreement with a partner within the framework of the auction of the State Property Fund,” Managing Director of Expocentre Yevhen Mushkin wrote on Facebook.
According to him, the contract was concluded for 13 years. The rented pavilion (formerly Dary Moria) will also be renovated.
The educational project mOre, created by co-owner and CEO of the TransInvestService (TIS) Andriy Stavnitser, was previously located in the Toronto business center in Kyiv, but after the acquisition of a part of the building by the Kovalska group, the lease was terminated due to a delay in rent.
As reported, in October 2019, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a bill on the lease of state-owned and municipal property, providing possibility of holding procedure of electronic auction. The first electronic auctions under the new lease law were expected in April 2020.
The KSG Agro agricultural holding saw $4.77 million in net profit in January-September 2020, which is 52% less than in the same period in 2019.
According to an unaudited report of the holding, published on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, its revenue in the first nine months of 2020 decreased 17%, to $14.67 million.
In January-September of this year, KSG increased its gross profit 3.6 times compared to the same period in 2019, to $6.77 million, operating profit – 5.4 times, to $13.61 million. EBITDA in the reporting period grew 3.8 times, to $14.71 million.
Revenue and cost of sales are both lower by 17% and 36%, respectively, and primarily in the crop production segment, which is more affected by seasonality and weather conditions. Total revenue in the crop segment in the first nine months of 2020 was $6.9 million, compared to $9.7 million for the same period in 2019.
In January-September 2020, KSG’s revenue in the livestock segment decreased 0.5%, to $7.4 million, As part of the “other operations” segment revenue grew 1.7 times, to $0.4 million. Total pig sales in the first nine months of 2020 year amounted to 80,000 heads.
“The Board of Directors of the company does not currently provide for the significant adverse effects of the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic on the group’s financial results in 2020,” the company said in its report.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig breeding and production, storage, processing and sale of grain and oilseeds.
Carrying out the reform of the taxi market in Ukraine in a five-year perspective can create 100,000 jobs, according to the Uber taxi service.
“I believe that the adoption of a civilized reform will lead, firstly, to an increase in passenger safety, and secondly, to an inflow of foreign investments into Ukraine, and as a result to the creation of jobs. We estimate that the taxi reform may create 100,000 jobs in Ukraine over a five-year perspective,” Uber’s Development Director in Central and Eastern Europe Georgii Sokolianskyi said during an online discussion on the taxi market on Thursday.
According to him, the main obstacle to the development of the taxi market in Ukraine is the lack of sufficiently high-quality cars for those who are ready to work in this sector, since cars and loans in Ukraine are very expensive, especially in comparison with the EU countries.
Sokolianskyi also said that platforms such as Uber often reach agreements with car manufacturers on special terms of purchase, with leasing companies on cheaper loans, potentially secured by companies. At the same time, there is a model on the market for working with private drivers, when the platform gives money for the first payment for a car, and in return the driver agrees to brand the car for a certain period.
“At the same time, neither we, nor private investors in vehicle fleets can invest in an illegal market, where investments may be lost tomorrow if the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety (Ukrtransbezpeka) or the head of the National Police changes,” Sokolianskyi said.
He said that due to problems with regulation in the taxi sector, Ukraine often loses competition for investment to other countries.
“For an investor, the rule of law, fair courts and transparent regulation are always important. And, perhaps, today we cannot change the quality of Ukrainian legal proceedings, but we can change the transparency of taxi regulation,” Uber’s Development Director in Central and Eastern Europe said.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia plans to repair 313 locomotives in 2021, having invested more than UAH 4 billion of capital investments, the company’s press service said on Wednesday, with reference to Ukrzaliznytsia board member Frantisek Bures.
Ukrzaliznytsia says that next year it is also planned to repair, modernize and build more than 23,500 new cars. In particular, to build 3,000 new cars, overhaul and modernize more than 20,500 cars.
Earlier, Director of the Cargo Traffic unit at JSC Ukrzaliznytsia Irakli Ezugbaia said that Ukrzaliznytsia intends to increase investments in rolling stock and infrastructure.
“So, if this year capital investments amount to UAH 4.8 billion, then next year we plan to invest UAH 25.8 billion, some UAH 28.4 billion in 2022, and some UAH 41.1 billion in 2023. Thus, we will be able to provide our customers with equal access to the infrastructure and not refuse any one along with the transportation of goods that can be placed at Ukrzaliznytsia,” he said.
