TAS Dneprovagonmash LLC (DVM, Kamianske, Dnipro region), controlled by businessman Sergiy Tigipko’s TAS Financial and Industrial Group, posted a consolidated net profit of UAH 84.08 million in January-September, up 6% year-on-year.
According to the company’s interim reports, published on Thursday in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), its consolidated net income increased by 62.8% to UAH 1.61 billion.
The report notes that the consolidated financial statements include the performance of the car-building company TAS Dniprovagonmash and its subsidiary, the casting manufacturer TAS Steel Plant.
As reported, TAS Dneprovagonmash’s unconsolidated net profit for January-September amounted to UAH 53.86 million, which is 5.4% more than in the same period in 2023, with unconsolidated revenue growing by 76.4% to UAH 1 billion 278 million.
According to the report, the company’s consolidated net income includes revenue from the sale of railcars and rolling stock of UAH 1.245 billion, revenue from the sale of castings and shot of UAH 332.2 million, revenue from the sale of spare parts of UAH 31 million, and revenue from services rendered (almost UAH 1.18 million), including railcar repair.
In the first half of this year, the company’s consolidated profit decreased by almost 2.4 times compared to the same period in 2023 to UAH 40.37 million, while consolidated net income increased by 35% to UAH 1.01 billion.
As reported, at the beginning of 2023, TAS Group became a strategic investor in the TransAnt GmbH railcar building joint venture of Austrian Voestalpine and ÖBB Rail Cargo with a 40% stake, and in the spring of 2024 it became the majority owner of TransAnt, increasing its stake to 61%.
This year, the company plans to invest UAH 100.2 million in the development of the European direction (for the purchase of equipment).
As reported, TAS Dneprovagonmash produced 378 freight cars in 2023 (including for the EU market), which is 34.8% less than in 2022, while sales decreased by 40.6% to 370 units. Non-consolidated revenue decreased by 2.8% to UAH 1 billion 77 million, while net profit increased slightly to UAH 49.2 million.
TAS Group was founded in 1998 by businessman Sergey Tigipko. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance) and pharmacy, as well as industry, real estate, and venture capital projects.
The Ukrainian soybean market is showing outstanding results – exports since the beginning of 2024-2025 marketing year (July-June) amounted to 445 thsd tonnes, which creates preconditions for a new record, according to the analytical cooperative “Start”, created within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council.
The analysts emphasized that despite the pace of exports, the Ukrainian market depends on global trends, such as fluctuations in prices for American and Brazilian soybeans.
“Ukrainian soybeans are usually sold at a discount compared to US soybeans, which is about $5-7 per ton. However, now the price of US soybeans is almost equal to the Ukrainian one, which is a favorable signal for domestic exporters. Negative trends in the physical markets, in particular, the fall in the price of soybeans in Chicago, have not yet affected our sales volumes,” the experts said.
They pointed out that seasonal trends indicate a possible increase in soybean prices in December-March, which is traditionally an active period for trade. Prices for soybeans will gradually rise to $420-440 per ton, which is $20-30 more than the current figures, according to Pusk.
“December is always active for the market due to the preparation for the Christmas holidays. Processing companies will increase purchases of soybeans, as most of them have covered their needs only for the first half of December. This creates high demand, which, in turn, will contribute to the price increase,” the experts explained and recommended producers who have the opportunity to postpone sales until February-March to maximize the benefits.
On the domestic market, prices for soybean meal remain low, which limits the ability of processors to set high purchase prices. So far, they are buying soybeans for 17.3-17.5 thousand UAH/t. However, the correlation between the price of soybeans and meal gives us hope for the situation on the Ukrainian market to level off in the coming months, Pusk summarized.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has launched an investigation into the reasons for the increase in prices for chicken eggs in October 2024, the agency’s press service reports.
According to the regulator’s website, the AMCU has already sent requests for information directly to chicken egg producers, their sellers, and feed producers, whose cost is one of the main components of the cost of chicken eggs.
The regulator reminded that this is not the first time it has responded to the situation with rising egg prices. Thus, in October 2022, a study was launched to investigate the reasons for the increase in prices for chicken eggs in domestic retail chains. The study collected and analyzed information from market participants at each of the stages of the product’s circulation from the producer to the end consumer.
The AMCU also noted that it has expanded the scope of the study on this group of goods, which was launched in September-October 2022, and extended it until October 2024.
“After receiving responses from market participants and further analysis of all factors influencing the pricing behavior of business entities at each of the links in the commodity circulation, final conclusions will be formed on the presence or absence of signs of violation of the legislation on the protection of economic competition in the actions of the participants in the commodity market involved,” the AMCU summarized.
As reported, in October, Ukraine set record high prices for chicken eggs, which exceeded the threshold of 60 UAH per dozen. The Union of Poultry Breeders of Ukraine explained this by the delayed reaction of poultry farmers who worked at a loss in the summer of 2024, while the cost of feed and electricity has risen significantly and the industry cannot work at a loss anymore.
Agro-Region has reduced the cost of grain and oilseeds transportation by up to 30% by creating its own fleet of 40 grain carriers, the company’s press service reported on its Facebook page.
“As of today, 58 thousand tons of grains and oilseeds have been exported, with the balance for export of more than 60 thousand tons, including 30 thousand tons of corn and wheat,” said Oleksandr Tymoshenko, commercial director of the agricultural holding, adding that sunflower and rapeseed were the most profitable in the 2024 season due to higher prices than a year earlier.
Agro-Region pointed out that the main volumes of agricultural products are transported by rail and road to ports, and then the grain is exported by sea. Several factors contributed to the reduction in transportation costs, including the company’s own grain carrier fleet, which guarantees flexibility in planning and a fixed cost of transportation.
“Agro-Region received 25 hopper cars as part of the USAID Economic Support for Ukraine grant program. After that, it raised additional funds and invested them in an additional 15 railcars.
Agro-Region owns a land bank of 39 thousand hectares in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyi regions. It specializes in crop production. It consists of 11 companies organized into four crop production clusters. It has two elevators – Boryspil elevator with a capacity of 73 thousand tons and Miropil elevator with a capacity of 52 thousand tons.
Agro-Region’s annual harvest of grains and oilseeds is up to 200 thousand tons.
In April 2021, the Swedish company Lobiu Sala AB, owned by the former Minister of Economy of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavičius, received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to buy the Swedish Agro Region Stockholm Holding, which manages the Agro-Region group of companies in Ukraine.
Agrane Agro Holding has modernized the grain receiving infrastructure at the Service Grain elevator complex (Odesa region) and laid a 200-meter railway line to it, the group’s press service reports.
According to the report, the newly laid railway line allows the company to ship up to 30 cars per day, which reduces the cost and speeds up the delivery of grain to ports.
In addition, Service Grain has equipped three hubs for receiving grain from trucks, including heavy trucks (up to 20 m long). With a total capacity of 2,000 tons, the elevator complex is ready to receive grain up to 1,700 tons per day.
According to the agroholding, the storage capacity of the complex, which is equipped with equipment from the domestic manufacturer KMZ Industries, has already reached 100 thousand tons.
“Thanks to the introduction of modern technologies, the elevator can simultaneously accept and ship both large and small batches of grain in a short time,” Agrane summarized.
“Agrain is engaged in the cultivation and storage of grains and oilseeds, as well as livestock farming. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, the agricultural holding included 11 agricultural enterprises. It cultivated about 110,000 hectares in Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, and Cherkasy regions.
The holding is owned by SAS Investcompagnie (France).
Ukraine’s state budget has received $235 million in concessional financing from the Government of Japan under the World Bank’s new systemic projects, the Resilient, Inclusive and Environmentally Balanced Enterprise (RISE) and the Increasing Access to and Resilience of Education in Crisis-affected Ukraine (LEARN).
As the Ministry of Finance reported in a press release on Wednesday, the RISE program received a $130 million loan that will be used to address critical issues that hinder the growth and sustainable development of the private sector.
The Ministry clarified that the $105 million in Japanese funds received under the LEARN project is the result of the Ukrainian government’s implementation of measures to ensure safe face-to-face learning in schools by providing subventions for shelters and school buses in 2024.
The projects are implemented using the Program-for-results (PforR) financial instrument, when funds are allocated after Ukraine has achieved some of the results.
The Ministry of Finance noted that by the end of 2024, Ukraine expects to raise another $120 million and $95 million under RISE and LEARN, respectively.
