KYIV. April 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Astarta agro-industrial holding, a large sugar producer in Ukraine, has invested UAH 10 million in the launch of a drip irrigation project on 360 ha in Poltava region.
The company said in a press release that the area of farmland, equipped with irrigation, would be expanded further, based on the results of this year harvest.
Astarta has already invested in reconstruction of melioration infrastructure (canal, pump station) followed by installation of a drip irrigation system made in Israel.
The irrigation technology will be implemented on farmland sowed with sugar beet. Drip irrigation of sugar beet will ensure high yields regardless of climatic factors.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding, uniting six regional divisions in Poltava, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, and Kharkiv regions. They include nine sugar factories, agricultural farms with a land bank of about 245,000 hectares and dairy farms. The holding also has a plant for processing soybeans in Poltava region (Globyno processing plant).
KYIV. April 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyivsky cardboard paper mill (Obukhiv, Kyiv region), a leader in Ukraine’s pulp and paper industry in terms of production and sales, has opened a UAH 72 million one-year loan from Pravex-Bank (Kyiv) to replenish its working capital.
The mill reported that the credit agreement was signed on March 9, 2016. A first tranche of UAH 11 million arrived on April 18.
The credit rate is 21.5% per annum. The company used equipment and goods as collateral for the loan.
Net asset value of the mill as of January 1, 2016 totaled UAH 735.117 million.
Kyivsky cardboard paper mill is one of the largest cardboard and paper producers in Europe. It employs almost 2,200 people. It sells produce to almost 700 companies in Ukraine, some CIS member states and the rest of the world.
In 2015, the mill saw a 54% rise in production from 2014, to UAH 3.857 billion.
Austria’s Pulp Mill Holding holds 99.3% in the mill.
Pravex-Bank was founded in 1992. Its only shareholder as of October 2015 was Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.
Pravex-Bank ranked 32nd among 123 operating banks in the country as of October 1, 2015 by total assets (UAH 4.341 billion), according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
KYIV. April 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Industrial Milk Company (IMC) saw $14.04 million in net profit in 2015 compared to $47.33 million of net loss in 2014.
The company said in its financial report that its revenue last year increased by 2%, to $140.39 million.
Gross profit increased by 20%, to $74.35 million and operating profit – by 28%, to $58.56 million.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) totaled $66.52 million and this was 16% up on 2014.
The company said that foreign currency exchange loss, net decreased to $30 million of loss for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 from $73.5 million of gain for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2014. This decrease reflected the less devaluation of hryvnia in 2015 in comparison with 2014. The company’s loans and borrowing decreased by $28.7 million, reaching $98.7 million on December 31, 2015.
The share of revenue from sale of crops was 96% of total revenue ($135.1 million, 4% up year-over-year), and the share of revenue from sale of dairy products was 3.4% ($4.8 million, 39% down year-over-year).
The share of exports revenue was 74% of total revenue.
IMC cultivates grains, oilseeds and potatoes. It is also one of the largest milk producers in Ukraine. The company owns a storage capacity of 554,000 tonnes of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is 136,700 hectares.
KYIV. April 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – UATV Ukrainian TV channel from early April has appeared in the package of Latvian operator Baltcom, the Information Policy Ministry reported on Friday.
The TV channel will be available in Digital Television and Interactive Television packages.
Baltcom was established in 1991. It is the largest operator in Latvia and provides services in more than 15 cities and towns.
Earlier UATV has become available in Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Ukraine’s international broadcasting multimedia platform was launched on October 1, 2015. The platform was created on the basis of state-run television companies Global Service Ukrainian Television and Radio Broadcasting, Banking Television and Ukrinform news agency. The UATV channel was introduced instead of satellite UTR TV channel as part of the international broadcasting multimedia platform. It is broadcasted via three satellites: Amos 3, Azerspace 1, Galazy 19, as well on its own YouTube channel in three languages: Ukrainian, Russian and English.
KYIV. April 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – International investors will monitor the reaction of western financial donors of Ukraine to the first steps of the new government, experts of investment banks polled by Interfax-Ukraine have said.
“We think expectations were depressed by the political crisis, inability to tame corruption, delayed reforms etc. So, investors will monitor closely the first steps of the new government and the feedback from western partners/IMF,” Senior Economist at ING Bank in Russia and CIS Dmitri Polevoy said.
“The list of questions remains unchanged: stabilizing domestic politics, fighting corruption, delivering fully on the promises about reforms (the delayed tariffs hike and the new tax code are one of the several examples), restoring economic growth, Minsk-II process,” the expert said.
Polevoy said that politics will remain in investors focus.
“The recent reshuffling doesn’t solve the fundamental issue of falling approval ratings of President and ex-PM parties and rising support of other parties (Samopomich, Batkivschyna and Opposition Bloc), fuelling their political ambitions and calls for early parliamentary elections. Fundamentally, parliament is misaligned with the current political preferences of the population,” he said.
Sberbank CIB Investment Research Analyst Alexander Golynskiy said that in the short term, the key questions are the stability of the new government and coalition and the resumption the external financing that has been halted. The potential change of the parameters of the IMF’s cooperation with Kyiv is also a source for concerns.
In the mid-term and long-term, investors will seek political stability and the new government and Verkhovna Rada’s stance on reforms and, consequently, chances for the external financing and economic growth.
“We think that a Groysman-led government would be likely to move towards bringing the IMF program back on track, risks are arguably greater than under a Yatseniuk-led one, given the lack of track record and lack of clarity on Groysman’s policy views on utility tariff increases,” Goldman Sachs Analyst Andrew Matheny said.
KYIV. April 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky’s K.Fund in partnership with French School 42 and support of NGO Osvitoria has launched Ukrainian National IT Factory (UNIT Factory) in Ukraine to train IT specialists.
The participants of the project said in a press release last week that education in UNIT Factory will be free of charge for students if after graduation they work in Ukraine for three years. Young people aged from 18 to 30 can enter this education institution. They are to pass tests. Academic criteria (diplomas, Exam Focus Complex Tests and grades are not taken into account).
The training program lasts three years. After first 12 months students can choose if they continue training or go to work in a company.
According to the press release, the program is based on gamification: approaches typical for computer role games. Acquisition of knowledge and project defending are accompanied by “pumping” of skills and getting new experience, while there are no usual teachers, timetables and grades.
The online registration of candidates will be opened in April 2016. Up to 900 students will be selected for one-month probation and finally around 300 persons will start training in November 2016.
“UNIT Factory challenges the conventional education system. Companies do not need papers about graduation from a prestigious college, but they need professionals who successfully realize projects,” Khmelnytsky said.
K.Fund was established in 2015 to support educational and economic projects.
School 42 is a software design school founded in 2013 in France.
NGO Osvitoria was founded in 2013 to develop and reform education in Ukraine.
