KYIV. March 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2017 plans to invest EUR 150-200 million in Ukrainian agriculture, the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has reported.
“In 2017, we hope to reach at least EUR 150-200 million. We expect the resolution of economic activity and as a result the increase in companies’ need in working capital and investment,” the ministry said, citing EBRD Country Director in Ukraine Sevki Acuner.
He said that EBRD intends to support diversification of agribusiness in Ukraine and reaching the new level of development.
Along with crediting, other aspects of EBRD support is participation in a dialog on the regulation of the agricultural sector, provision of technical assistance and a platform for exchange of opinions on the functioning of meat industry and the dairy sector.
EBRD also backs the creation and strengthening of agricultural cooperatives and self-government institutions in various segments of the sector.
The bank has been strengthening financial support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the past eight or nine months, Acuner said. The EBRD is trying to help to increase management efficiency and introduce new technologies in agribusiness, he said.
As reported, Acuner hopes that the bank’s investment into the implementation of projects in Ukraine in 2017 would expand to EUR 1 billion.
KYIV. March 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC Borschahivsky chemical pharmaceutical plant plans by the end of 2018 to invest UAH 317 million in modernization of production, according to a company press release, with reference to its commercial director Yevhen Sova.
“Despite the difficult economic situation in the country, we continue implementing our plans and investing in our development. We plan by the end of 2018 to invest UAH 317 million in modernization of production,” he said.
In addition, the press release says Credit-Rating agency affirmed the long-term credit rating of the plant.
As reported, in 2016 the plant doubled net profit from 2015, to UAH 118.702 million. In 2015 its net profit increased by 35%, to UAH 59.3 million.
In 2016 the plant entered the top ten in terms of pharmacy sales: it occupied 4.2% of the market.
In March 2015, Kyiv sold its 30% stake in Borschahivsky chemical pharmaceutical plant to Darnytsia pharmaceutical firm (Kyiv) for UAH 171.844 million.
KYIV. March 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Rubizhne cardboard packaging mill in Luhansk region, one of Ukraine’s largest cardboard packaging producers, in 2016, according to preliminary data, received a consolidated net profit of UAH 139.45 million, while in 2015 its loss amounted to UAH 242.95 million.
According to the information on the agenda of a general meeting of shareholders scheduled for April 28, undistributed profit of the enterprise by the beginning of 2017 amounted to UAH 558.32 million.
As reported, in 2015 the plant more than halved consolidated loss.
According to the publication, over the year the plant increased current liabilities by 42.4%, to UAH 998.05 million, long-term liabilities declined by 2.5 times, to UAH 230.27 million.
Total debtor indebtedness for the year increased by 23.6%, to UAH 590.72 million. In general, assets as of January 1, 2017 amounted to UAH 2.35 billion, net worth stood at UAH 1.122 billion.
The number of employees for the year decreased by 86 people, to 1,142 employees.
The Rubizhne cardboard packaging mill has worked on the packaging market since 1991, and specializes in the production of components for corrugated cardboard (cardboard and fluting) and corrugated cardboard boxes.
Its most important customers are large confectioneries, juice and tobacco producers.
KYIV. March 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) that took away a fleet of 2,400 freight wagons under the collateral agreement in court from Interleaseinvest could sell it later, Director of the EBRD Corporate Recovery Department Kamen Zahariev has said.
He said wagons on the bank’s balance sheet are for some period of time. The bank is not the natural operator of the wagons. Usually assets used as collateral are transferred to someone’s management or in some period of time the assets are sold, he said. The bank would stick to the same strategy in this situation, Zahariev said.
He said that strategic decisions that would positively influence the private wagon operators market could be made.
The EBRD would look for a better decision for Ukraine, he said. There is a large interest to these wagons. The bank receives many proposals from operators and investors in the sector. It is too early to speak about the decision, but anyway this will be a transparent process that the bank would present, he said.
Commenting on the story how the bank had received these wagons, the EBRD representative said that it showed in what ‘climate’ non-performing loans (NPL) are returned in Ukraine. This is not only EBRD’s loans. One should not forget about billions of U.S. dollars of NPL on the balance sheet of the Deposit Guarantee Fund and the on balance sheets of many Ukrainian commercial banks. They would have to return them somehow, Zahariev said.
He said that this story also shows that the company with liquid collateral assets and large revenue becomes a target for illegal seizers. There is a blur line between business and politics, he said. The loan issued to a private company at first turned out to be a loan issued to the minister, and the fall of the minister resulted in the collapse of his company, he said.
Zahariev said that the story with the return of collateral showed the weakness of the judicial system in Ukraine. The bank managed to protect its rights. It has ownership documents to the wagons, but it took much time to do this, he said. There were over 60 ineffective hearings in courts of Kyiv and Dnipro. There were cases when on the same day in one court two judges made absolutely opposite decisions. There were attempts to press on people, he said.
EBRD Country Director in Ukraine Sevki Acuner said that this was an interesting case that shows that investment climate in Ukraine is improving, as it is important for other financial institutions and investors to have confidence that if something goes wrong, their rights under the contracts will be observed and protected.
KYIV. March 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyivkhlib, the largest producer of bread and bakery goods in Kyiv, in 2016 received UAH 19.48 million of net profit against a net loss of UAH 30.24 million in 2015.
According to the company’s announcement of an annual shareholders’ meeting scheduled for April 28, its assets last year amounted to UAH 640.9 million against UAH 712.55 million for the previous year.
Total debtor indebtedness over the year increased by 1.6 times, to UAH 339.4 million.
Undistributed profit by the end of the year was UAH 77.3 million.
PJSC Kyivkhlib was established in 1996 through the reorganization of state enterprise Kyivkhlibprom. It is the largest producer of bread and bakery goods in Kyiv. The company includes nine production sites in the capital and Kyiv region.
KYIV. March 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – DTEK intends to invest in construction of solar power plants, DTEK CEO Maksym Timchenko has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the pilot project will be construction of a 10 MW solar power plant in Kherson region.
“The project is small, for 10 MW, but we want to try. I think that we would expand this pilot project if there were financing. This is our investment in the future, new generation,” he said.
Timchenko said that DTEK also intends to expand its portfolio of wind generation.
“Today, despite the current situation, we are in the active phase of talks with General Electric on building a new 200 MW plant – Prymorska wind farm… If we were able to form a pool of banks which would not be afraid of investing in Ukraine and come to an arrangement with GE, the development of wind generation would accelerate,” he said.
He said that the company is mulling construction of up to 1 GW of green generation facilities in coming five years.
As reported, in 2011, DTEK started building Botiyeve wind farm in Zaporizhia region and in October 2012 the first phase was launched. At present, the installed capacity of the farm is 200 MW. The share of DTEK of the Ukrainian renewable energy market in 2015 was 13%.
