Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, has 11% of its employees aged 60+ and is working to increase this ratio to 20%, said Viktor Ivanchyk, SEO and owner of the agricultural holding.
“Astarta companies employ 11% of people aged 60+. We are working to increase this ratio to 20%. I am confident that this 20% will play no less of a role than the other 80%,” he said at the presentation of the study ‘Active Longevity in Ukraine: A Study of the Current Status and Barriers’ in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Ivanchyk drew attention to the fact that one of the main sources of ageism in companies is young employees working in HR departments.
He expressed a wish that HR departments, the Presidential Office, and the Cabinet of Ministers would also take this important factor into account and urged them to hire and recommend experienced people for responsible positions.
As an illustrative example, he cited the plot of the movie “The Intern” with the main character played by Robert De Niro.
“There should be much more such interns at both the state and business levels,” the Astarta SEO is confident.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine. It comprises six sugar refineries, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
“In 2024, Astarta increased its net profit by 34.5% to EUR83.25 million, while its consolidated revenue decreased by 1.1% to EUR612.15 million.
In the first quarter of this year, the agricultural holding’s revenue fell by 24.9% to EUR124.58 million, while net profit fell by 28.8% to EUR6.42 million.
On June 12 this year, the shareholders’ meeting approved the payment of dividends for 2024 in the amount of EUR0.5 per share for a total of EUR12.5 million, which is in line with the previous two years.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group has manufactured and assembled a 3 ton armor shell to cover key elements of the Patriot system as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative.
According to the group’s press release, Metinvest continues to strengthen the protection of Ukraine’s air defense forces as part of the Steel Front initiative, this time by creating a shelter for the Patriot air defense system.
It is specified that the protection consists of a steel frame and armored plates. The design covers several important components of the system: the SAM control station, radar comparator (Doghouse), and generator.
“In such war conditions, every minute that air defense works saves lives. Our protective shells are designed for this very purpose – to ensure that the equipment remains in service even under fire,” commented Oleksandr Myronenko, Group Chief Operating Officer.
In addition, it is reported that since the beginning of 2025, Metinvest has begun systematic work on protection for air defense systems. The first shells were installed at air defense facilities back in the spring, and since then, the designs have been constantly improved. Each new project is adapted to a specific location and type of equipment.
Dozens of specialists are involved in the production of the armor: milling, turning, drilling, planing, electric and gas welders, metalworkers, blacksmiths, and painters. For security reasons, Metivest has moved all production for the army off-site: these are secret sites whose location is not disclosed.
“Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front is the largest private initiative to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As part of the project, SCM Group companies manufacture and supply the army with modern shelters, equipment protection, electronic warfare equipment, vehicles, drones, fortifications and other equipment that is critical at the front. The initiative focuses on the in-house production of solutions adapted to war conditions.
“Staliy Front already manufactures protective screens for vehicles such as Abrams, Bradley, Roshel, Kozak, and MT-LB, which perform combat missions on a daily basis.
The Patriot air defense system is an American medium- and long-range air defense system developed by Raytheon. Designed to intercept aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, it has a phased array radar and high-precision interceptor missiles.
Schneider Electric, a digital transformation leader in energy management and automation, has announced new data center solutions specifically designed to meet the power and GPU-intensive applications of next-generation AI cluster architectures. Expanding on its EcoStruxure™ Data Center Solutions portfolio, Schneider Electric has introduced the Prefabricated Modular EcoStruxure Pod Data Center**, which consolidates liquid cooling infrastructure, high-power bus systems, and high-density NetShelter racks. Additionally, EcoStruxure Rack Solutions include detailed rack configurations and frame designs designed to accelerate the deployment of high-performance computing (HPC) and AI data centers.
Organizations are deploying AI clusters and facing extreme rack power densities that are projected to reach 1 MW or more. Schneider Electric’s new line of solutions provides customers with integrated, data-proven, and easily scalable white space solutions that address new challenges in module and rack design, power distribution, and thermal management.
“The enormous power and density required for AI clusters create bottlenecks that require a new approach to data center architecture,” said Himamshu Prasad, senior vice president, EcoStruxure IT, Transactional & Edge and Energy Storage Center of Excellence at Schneider Electric. “Customers need integrated infrastructure solutions that not only handle extreme thermal loads and dynamic power profiles, but also deploy quickly, scale predictably, and operate efficiently and environmentally. Our innovative next-generation EcoStruxure solutions directly address these critical requirements.”
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“Building a strong ecosystem of trusted partners is essential to supporting the deployment of our advanced AI platforms, and Schneider Electric’s solutions help provide customers with a reliable, proven infrastructure to accelerate their success,” NVIDIA emphasized. “We are also actively collaborating to support the growing demands of AI factories and the transition from kW to MW racks by jointly developing future-proofing solutions such as architectures to increase scalability, density, and efficiency.”
The new solutions and a set of developed data center reference designs provide data center operators and the Schneider Electric partner ecosystem with the infrastructure and insights they need to deploy powerful AI clusters faster and more reliably, while addressing common barriers to adoption, including
These enhanced EcoStruxure offerings complement Schneider Electric’s robust line of fully integrated, end-to-end AI infrastructure solutions – from advanced hardware, intelligent software, services such as EcoCare™ and EcoConsult for data centers, to strategic industry partnerships with key IT players. Schneider Electric is the partner of choice for building efficient, resilient, scalable, and AI-optimized data centers.
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Interchem Pharmaceutical Company has joined the initiative “Boriviter. Restoration” initiative, a large-scale art project to preserve cultural memory, in which 15 artists recreated the mosaic of Alla Gorska’s Sixty Saints in Mariupol, which was probably destroyed by Russian shelling.
According to the company in a press release, the symbolic part of the new panel, the head of the legendary bird, became a sign of InterChem’s participation in the initiative – the company will keep it as a talisman of invincibility and freedom.
“We joined this project not only as philanthropists, but first and foremost as Ukrainians who care about their heritage. We don’t know if the original of this magnificent mosaic has survived, but we will make every effort to preserve what it symbolized: the thirst for freedom and the strength for revival,” commented Anatoliy Reder, CEO of the company.
Participation in the initiative to restore cultural heritage has become another opportunity for Interchem to support the state and citizens of Ukraine in times of war. Since the first days of the full-scale invasion, the company has focused its efforts on helping the military, medics, IDPs and regions affected by the hostilities. In total, since the beginning of 2022, InterChem has donated over UAH 250 million to charity.
The key areas of the company’s charitable activities include the provision of medicines, the purchase of machinery and equipment for military units, and support for humanitarian initiatives. The company donated almost UAH 70 million worth of medicines and medical devices to the Ministry of Defense, the National Police, hospitals, orphanages and communities affected by the war. At the initiative of InterChem, mobile shelters were installed in Mykolaiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, and Odesa, and the company financed the purchase of marine drones, warning systems, and evacuation medevacs as part of United24 projects.
The company provides ongoing assistance to more than 40 combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and pays special attention to supporting air defense forces. “Interchem financed the creation of the RPS-7 Inhul electronic intelligence station, provided FPV drones for the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Deltaquad Pro UAVs for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, night sights and night vision devices for air defense and naval units, etc. In general, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Interchem has donated dozens of powerful motor boats, hundreds of unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, vehicles, including evacuation and reanimation vehicles, equipment for mobile air defense groups, searchlights and electronic warfare systems to the Defense Forces.
“As a pharmaceutical company, INTERCHEM is a strategic part of the national healthcare system. And as a responsible Ukrainian business, we are a strategic part of the resistance to the Russian invasion. Both of these roles complement each other; by supporting the army, we contribute to the security of citizens, and by taking care of citizens, we help to form a strong home front for our defenders,” emphasized Reder.
Currently, InterChem is committed to strategic charity and systematic support of foundations, NGOs, schools, hospitals and cultural institutions. Among the partners and beneficiaries of the company’s initiatives are United24, Ukraine WOW, Monster Corporation, South Wind, Prytula Foundation, Technari, Road Home, Red Cross, Federation of Jewish Communities of Southern Ukraine, Odesa Opera House and dozens of others.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/general/1082680.html
Insurance company “Quorum” (Kyiv) in January-March 2025 collected insurance premiums in the amount of UAH 17.07 million, which is 35.6% more than in the same period of 2024, the rating agency (RA) “Standard-Rating” reported in information on updating the credit rating / financial strength rating of the company on the national scale at the level of “uaAA”.
The agency clarified that it updated the rating based on an analysis of the company’s performance for the specified reporting period.
The insurance company’s revenues from individuals increased by 34.96% to UAH 10.5 million over the year, while there were no revenues from reinsurers. The share of individuals in gross premiums in the first quarter amounted to 61.51%.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers amounted to UAH 3 million, which is 30.1% less than in the same period of 2024. Thus, the ratio of reinsurers’ participation in insurance premiums decreased by 16.54 percentage points (p.p.) to 17.62%.
The insurer’s net written premiums increased by 69.66% to UAH 14.063 million, and net earned premiums increased by 70.43% to UAH 13.972 million.
The volume of insurance payments and reimbursements made by Quorum Insurance Company in January-March 2025 increased by 54.89% to UAH 2.328 million compared to the same period last year. Thus, the payout ratio increased by 1.7 percentage points to 13.64%.
The company’s operations in this period were profitable. In particular, the profit from operating activities amounted to UAH 1,605 million, and net profit – UAH 1,263 million.
As of April 1, 2025, the company’s assets increased by 0.73% to UAH 70.405 million, equity – by 2.06% to UAH 62.683 million, and liabilities decreased by 8.88% to UAH 7.722 million, while cash and cash equivalents increased by 3.42% to UAH 51.559 million.
Quorum Insurance was established in March 2014 and specializes in risk insurance.
In 2024, the elevators of the IMC agricultural holding shipped a record volume of grain – more than 1.1 million tons, in January-June 2025, they completed the shipment of the remaining crop of 2024 and carried out preparatory work for the reception of the new harvest, the press service of the agricultural holding reported on Facebook.
The agricultural holding noted that in recent years, several projects have been implemented at IMC elevators as part of the Smart Green Strategy, in particular in the use of green energy.
“Four of IMC’s elevators have already been equipped with solar panels, and installation is underway at two more facilities, which will cover the demand for electricity from green sources for office buildings and critical infrastructure of elevators. This also contributes to the energy independence of the elevators and the continuous production process despite possible interruptions in electricity supply due to Russian shelling of Ukraine’s energy system,” IMC said.
In addition, two of IMC’s elevators and three grain drying complexes have installed heat generators that run on sunflower pellets and grain waste, which allows replacing natural gas with biofuel for the grain drying process.
“This year’s scheduled repairs at IMC’s elevators are already at the completion stage. We are currently disinfecting the production facilities. IMC elevators are ready to accept the new winter wheat harvest,” emphasized Andriy Havrylenko, Deputy CEO of IMC for Grain Storage and Processing.
IMC Agro Holding is an integrated group of companies operating in Sumy, Poltava and Chernihiv regions (north and center of Ukraine) in the crop production, elevators and warehouses segments. The land bank is 116 thousand hectares, storage capacity is 554 thousand tons, with a harvest of 864 thousand tons in 2024.
IMC ended 2024 with a net profit of $54.54 million against a net loss of $21.03 million in 2023. Revenue increased by 52% to $211.29 million, gross profit quadrupled to $109.10 million, and normalized EBITDA increased 25 times to $86.11 million.
