The French group AgroGeneration with assets in Ukraine received EUR 5.46 million of net loss in the first half of 2020, which is 68.8% less than in the same period last year.
According to a report on the group’s website, income decreased by 13% to EUR 9.47 million in the reporting period. AgroGeneration received EUR 2.48 million of gross profit in January-June 2020 against EUR 5.57 million of gross loss in the same period previous year. The company reduced its operating loss from EUR 10.76 million in the first half of 2019 to EUR 340,000 in January-June 2020.
EBITDA was positive in the first half of 2020 and amounted to EUR 2.83 million against EUR 7.77 million negative in January-June 2019.
The group’s net debt as of June 30, 2020 amounted to EUR 37.18 million against EUR 50.78 million on the same date last year.
The company noted that since the beginning of the year, AgroGeneration has sold all the harvest remaining in stocks from the 2019 season. As of the date of the report, the company had completed the 2020 harvest, which included 100% of early crops, mainly winter wheat, and 100% of late crops, represented only by sunflower.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) fined the Ukrainian industrial company Interpipe UAH 69.3 million for violating antimonopoly legislation.
“Today, on October 29, 2020, the Ukrainian industrial company Interpipe has received a fine from the AMCU in the amount of UAH 69.3 million for violating antimonopoly legislation. According to the decision of the AMCU, the fine was imposed in connection with the abuse of a monopoly position in the wheel supply market,” the company’s press release reported on Thursday.
At the same time, Interpipe officially declares that it categorically disagrees with such decision of the AMCU and intends to contest this decision in court.
“As a national producer, we consider the AMCU’s decision to be unfair and unreasonable, taken not on the basis of facts, but on assumptions. The Ukrainian market is open to producers from other countries, and there are no protective duties on the market,” the press release emphasizes.
At the same time, it is noted that by submitting such complaints to the AMCU, unscrupulous competitors are trying to discredit the national manufacturer in order to ensure the supply of products of Russian manufacturers to Ukraine.
The statement also recalls that unlike the Ukrainian market, the Russian Federation protected its market from Ukrainian wheels with a 39% protective duty.
Since October, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has lifted restrictions on the salaries of managers, members of executive bodies and remuneration to members of supervisory boards of state-owned companies, according to a government resolution dated October 26, posted on the government’s website.
“To establish that in October 2020 and in the future, the salary of managers, members of executive bodies and remuneration of members of supervisory boards of economic entities in the public sector of the economy are determined in accordance with the terms of contracts …” the government said in the document.
Thus, the Cabinet of Ministers used Paragraph 4 of Section 2 of the Final Provisions of the law dated September 17, 2020, with amendments to the national budget for 2020.
The income of Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of the Metinvest mining and metallurgical group, in August 2020 decreased by 7.9%, or $72 million, to $838 million from $910 million, compared to the previous month.
According to the published preliminary unaudited consolidated monthly results of the company’s financial statements, the overall rate of EBITDA amounted to $216 million in August, which is $12 million more than in July ($204 million), while EBITDA from participation in the joint venture was $48 million (in July $30 million).
According to the report, the adjusted EBITDA of the metallurgical division of the group for August 2020 amounted to ‘plus’ $91 million (in July ‘plus’ $57 million), including $7 million from participation in the joint venture (‘minus’ 5 million); EBITDA of the mining division totals $134 million (in July $154 million), including income from the joint venture $41 million ($35 million). The management company’s expenses amounted to $6 million ($6 million).
Total income in August consisted of $671 million ($700 million in July) from the metallurgical division, $258 million ($283 million) from the mining division, and intercompany sales of $91 million ($73 million).
The company’s total debt in August decreased by $64 million, to $3.017 billion from $3.081 billion, compared to July, while the total amount of money decreased by $88 million, to $523 million from $611 million.
Funds used in investment activities amounted to $54 million, in financial activities to $71 million.
PrJSC Severodonetsk Azot, part of the group of nitrogen business enterprises Group DF, is preparing to produce oxygen for medical use and has already submitted the necessary documentation package to the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health.
“All organizational issues related to permits must be resolved as quickly as possible. The region has a difficult epidemic situation with COVID-19,” the Group DF said in a Tuesday press release, quoting Board Chairman of Severodonetsk Azot Leonid Buhaev from a working meeting with Head of the Luhansk Regional Administration Serhiy Haidai.
The company said that it has already received a license from the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drug Control for the production and sale of oxygen for medical use.
According to the release, the production capacity of the air separation workshop is 500 cubic meters of oxygen for medical use per hour. According to Haidai, with the resumption of production of medical oxygen at Azot, the region will be fully provided with the necessary number of cylinders for the treatment of seriously ill patients with COVID-19.
Severodonetsk Azot is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical enterprises. It has been part of Dmytro Firtash’s Group DF since 2011. The core business of the enterprise is the production of mineral nitrogen fertilizers.
Chateau Chizay Winemaking Company LLC (Berehove, Zakarpattia region) plans to start producing sparkling wine, brandy and cognacs.
Investments in the launch of the last two products will amount to about $ 2 million, Hennadiy Hutman, the owner and founder of Chateau Chizay, said.
“We are planning to produce brandy and cognac. Now we are designing an alcohol storage facility for 63,000 dal. This will be a completely new line and a new direction in Chateau Chizay. Construction is planned at our primary wine-making plant, where grapes are processed. We also plan to produce sparkling wine that is another new direction for us. The target price of the project for brandy and cognac is approximately $ 2 million,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Under favorable conditions, the company plans to launch the production of brandy and cognac in January-February, sparkling wine in 2021.
Answering the question about the impact of the pandemic on the sales of Chateau Chizay wines, the owner of the company noted that sales fell by 50% in the spring 2020 compared to the spring 2019.
“Now the market is reviving, but the uncertainty of the situation with the coronavirus is scary. If in the first months of the pandemic the fall was 50-55%, then since August there has been an increase, now there will be a decline again,” Hutman said.
Despite COVID-19, the winemaking company continued to open up new markets for its products, so in 2020 Chateau Chizay began delivery to Britain, Denmark, and signed a delivery contract with Japan, Norway and Mexico.
“Now we are preparing a small delivery, but it is still very interesting, to one of the wine-making regions, Hungary. We have been delivering our wines to the United States, Canada, Israel, and Australia for several years. This year we have shipped 50,000 liters of wine to Kyrgyzstan, this is a good and interesting market,” the founder of the company mentioned
