Croatia will host 100 children of wounded and killed Ukrainian soldiers for rehabilitation in the fall.
According to the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Split (Croatia) Ivica Pirić, Croatia has been organizing recreation for Ukrainian children by the sea since 2015 with the organizational support of the Embassy of Ukraine in Croatia and the Prime Minister of Croatia. Over the 9 years of the program, which is funded by the Ivica Pirić Foundation, 3.5 thousand Ukrainian children and 400 combatants have visited the seaside city of Split in Croatia.
“In 1991-1995, Croatia went through a war in which more than 20 thousand people died and thousands of soldiers became disabled. Much of Croatia’s territory was mined, and cities and towns were heavily damaged. Many IDPs had to go through a difficult period of reintegration. Croatia has extensive experience in treating and rehabilitating military personnel and treating post-traumatic stress disorders in children. The current generation of Croats, including government officials, are children of war, and they are very close to the problems that Ukraine is facing today, so we want to help. The least we can do is to give a holiday by the sea to the children of Ukrainian heroes who are defending Ukraine’s independence,” Pirić said.
In October 2023, Ukraine and Croatia signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of demining, which provides for training of specialists, surveying of territories, their demining and clearing, and exchange of experience in the production of demining equipment. According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, Croatian demining machines are operating in Ukraine, and in mid-2023, Ukrainian and Croatian manufacturers agreed to localize the production of such machines in Ukraine.
Pirić is a Croatian footballer who has been working as a FIFA agent since his retirement. Since 2016, he has been the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Croatia. Pirić helps wounded Ukrainian soldiers and children affected by military operations.
Benchmark oil prices are rising in the morning on the last working day of summer.
The cost of October futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 8:08 a.m. on Friday is $80.18 per barrel, which is $0.24 (0.3%) higher than at the close of the previous trading. The day before, these contracts rose in price by $1.29 (1.6%) to $79.94 per barrel.
October futures for Brent will expire at the end of the session on Friday. November contracts, which are more actively traded, are rising in price during trading by $0.22 (0.28%) to $79.04 per barrel.
October futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) increased in price by $0.18 (0.24%) to $76.09 per barrel. On Thursday, the contract rose by $1.39 (1.9%) to $75.91 per barrel.
The quotes are supported by tensions in the Middle East. In particular, Israeli Air Force fighters struck several Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon that threatened Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service said in a telegram channel.
Another positive factor for the oil market was the statistical data released the day before, which confirmed the stability of the US economy. The estimate of the country’s GDP growth in the second quarter was revised upward to 3% in terms of annualized rates from the previously announced 2.8%.
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 40.37 million in January-June, down almost 2.4 times compared to the same period in 2023.
According to the company’s interim report, published on Thursday in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), its consolidated net income increased by 35% to UAH 1.01 billion.
The report notes that the consolidated financial statements include the performance indicators of the car-building company TAS Dneprovagonmash LLC and its subsidiary, the casting manufacturer TAS Steel Plant LLC.
As reported, in the first half of the year, TAS Dneprovagonmash’s unconsolidated net profit amounted to UAH 18.85 million, three times less than a year earlier, while unconsolidated revenue grew by 37.8% to UAH 796.47 million.
According to the report, the company’s consolidated net income includes revenue from railcar sales of UAH 773.87 million (56% more than in January-June 2023), revenue from sales of castings and shot of UAH 213.7 million (25.7% more), revenue from sales of spare parts of UAH 21.2 million (35% more) and services rendered (almost UAH 1 million), including railcar repairs.
As reported, in early 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%.
According to the company, in the second quarter of 2024, it shipped platform cars for the EU market as part of the project.
This year, the company plans to invest UAH 100.2 million in the development of the European direction (for the purchase of equipment).
In early August 2024, the company announced on its website the acceptance of 1.5 thousand different railcars by an international company without disclosing details, and on August 20, it announced a contract with the logistics company Balk Trans for the supply of 100 grain cars.
As reported, in 2023, TAS Dneprovagonmash produced 378 freight cars (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.
In January-June 2024, Ukrainian enterprises and organizations increased their pre-tax profit from ordinary activities by 64.8% to UAH 491.2 billion (UAH 298 billion in the first half of 2023), the State Statistics Service reported on Thursday.
According to the State Statistics Service, in the first six months of 2024, Ukrainian enterprises that operated profitably earned UAH 619.6 billion in profit, which is 49.7% more than in the same period in 2023.
At the same time, 25.7% of enterprises reported a negative financial result (25.5% in January-June last year). Their losses for the six months of this year increased by 10.6% compared to the same period in 2023 to UAH 128.4 billion.
The official exchange rate as of August 29 is 41.2508 UAH/$1.
In January-June 2024, Vienna Insurance Group (Austria) collected gross written premiums (GWP) of EUR 7.887 billion, which is 7.9% more than in the previous year.
According to VIG, premiums increased in all segments and all lines of business. Underwriting income increased to EUR 5.9 billion (+10.0%), and profit before tax rose to EUR 481.0 million (+3.9%).
Special Markets (Germany, Georgia, Liechtenstein and Turkey) developed particularly well, with premium growth of 32.0%, Extended CEE (Albania including Kosovo, the Baltic States, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary) with premium growth of 11.5% and Austria with premium growth of 6.5%.
Technical income from insurance contracts (income from insurance services) increased to EUR 5.919 billion (+10.0%). The increase was primarily driven by growth in property and casualty insurance. All segments recorded growth, with significant growth in Special Markets (+21.5%), Extended CEE (+14.5%), Poland (+14.0%) and Austria (+6.5%). The Special Markets segment was driven by growth in Turkey, and the Extended CEE segment by growth in Romania, Slovakia, the Baltic States, Bulgaria and Hungary.
Profit before tax increased to EUR 481.0 million in the first half of 2024. Profit growth was 3.9%, mainly driven by Austria, Poland and the expanded CEE region.
The annualized operating return on equity improved to 16.2% (15.1% at the end of 2023), and the net combined ratio improved to 93.3% in the first six months of 2024 (first half of 2023: 94.0%), primarily due to the positive development of the loss ratio.
According to the report, VIG’s solvency ratio at the end of the first half of 2024 remains at a very high level of 265% (including transitional measures) and emphasizes the group’s extremely high capital strength.
In January-March 2024, VUSO Insurance Company PrJSC (Kyiv) collected UAH 641.63 million in gross premiums, which is 5.15% more than in the same period of 2023, according to the rating agency (RA) Standard Rating in information on the confirmation of the company’s financial strength rating at the level of “uaAA” on the national scale.
According to the RA website, in particular, the insurer’s revenues from individuals increased by 0.79% to UAH 413.554 million, and from reinsurers – by 55.66% to UAH 10.283 million. Thus, the share of individuals in the insurer’s gross written premiums amounted to 64.45%, and the share of reinsurers – 1.60%.
Insurance premiums paid to reinsurers increased 5.17 times in the first quarter to UAH 106.327 million, which resulted in a 13.20 percentage point increase in the reinsurance participation ratio to 16.57%.
Net written premiums decreased by 9.22% to UAH 535.303 million, while earned premiums increased by 16.90% to UAH 563.796 million.
During the reporting period, the company paid out UAH 318.957 million to customers, which is 55.35% higher than the volume of insurance payments and reimbursements for the same period in 2023. The level of payments increased by 16.06 percentage points to 49.71%.
RA also notes that the profit from operating activities of VUSO Insurance Company amounted to UAH 18.111 million, and net profit increased 4.66 times to UAH 13.491 million.
As of April 1, 2024, the insurer’s assets decreased by 1.51% to UAH 1.501 billion, equity showed an increase of 2.19% to UAH 630.748 million, liabilities decreased by 4.03% to UAH 870.649 million, cash and cash equivalents – by 14.06% to UAH 479.132 million.
The RA also notes that as of the reporting date, VUSO formed a portfolio of investments in government bonds in the amount of UAH 221.735 million, which in total covered 80.50% of the company’s liabilities. The balance of funds in the insurer’s centralized insurance reserve funds (MTIBU) amounted to UAH 310.453 million, which also had a positive impact on the company’s liquidity.
VUSO Insurance Company was founded in 2001. The company holds 50 licenses: 34 – for voluntary and 16 – for compulsory types of insurance, and is represented in all regions of Ukraine. It is a member of MTIBU and USIF, a participant in the Direct Claims Settlement Agreement and a member of the Nuclear Insurance Pool.
