State-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) will increase to UAH 360 million the financing of the Viliya group of agrarian enterprises to expand production, increase exports, increase the fleet of agricultural machinery and equipment, PrivatBank’s press service said on Thursday.
“The bank has decided to increase the volume of lending to the largest agribusiness in Volyn – the group of companies “Vilia”, which according to Forbes rating this year entered the TOP-20 of the most effective agro-companies in the country. The increase in the volume of financing by the bank up to UAH 360 million will allow the company in 2024 to ensure the acquisition of fixed assets to expand production and export capacity of agricultural products in the region, increase the fleet of agricultural machinery and equipment”, – said a member of the Board of Directors Yevgeniy Zagraev.
According to his information, PrivatBank since the beginning of the war has identified the financing of agro-production as a top priority and has become one of the leaders in terms of lending to agrarians.
“We continue to support agribusiness and today we expand investments in leading modern agribusinesses, such as the enterprises of SC “Vilia”, striking the dynamics of development and modernization of business,” – said Zagraev.
According to PrivatBank, since the beginning of the war SC “Vilia” has increased investments in the construction of a grain terminal, increased the volume of products processing due to the launch of a flour milling complex. During 2024, the company plans to invest more than UAH 1.5 billion in modernization of production and export capacities.
In addition, during the two years of the war “Vilia” increased the fleet of grain trucks by 25%, and the volume of grain storage in elevators – by 20%. In 2025, the agroholding plans to resume the construction of a dairy farm and is considering a project to create the latest pig farms.
The group of companies “Vilia” unites a number of enterprises of Volyn and Rivne regions, which cultivate 42 thousand hectares of land, specialize in crop production, storage of grain, oilseed and legume crops, grain trading, flour and granulated flour production, animal husbandry. Its parent company Volyn-Zerno-Product LLC began operations in 2001. Vilia Group of Companies includes seven elevators in Volyn and Rivne regions, Lutsk Feed Mill LLC, Mlynivsky Feed Mill LLC, a seed factory, a number of warehouses, and its own railroad line. The beneficiary of the company is Yevhen Dudka.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of September 1, 2023, PrivatBank ranked first in terms of assets (UAH 782.31 billion) among 64 banks operating in the country and second in terms of the number of branches in the country (1131).
Shareholders of Alliance Bank have made a regular decision to increase the authorized capital by 51.3%, or UAH 234.356 million – up to UAH 691.636 million, according to the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and Stock Market.
It is specified that such decision was made at the remote general meeting of shareholders of the financial institution on April 29.
Additional capitalization is planned to be carried out at the expense of the issue of 8.2 million common registered shares, which will be held without attracting an underwriter.
This is not the first attempt of the bank to increase its authorized capital. As reported, the shareholders made such a decision at the meeting on December 21 last year, but then abandoned it at the end of March 2024.
Before that, Alliance Bank made a similar decision to increase the authorized capital to UAH 689.367 mln at the end of June 2023, which was then canceled in October.
Alliance Bank was founded in 1992. In terms of total assets as of March 1, 2024 (UAH 12.87 billion), it ranked 24th among 63 Ukrainian banks. Its net profit for last year amounted to UAH 0.09 billion.
The shares of the financial institution at the beginning of this year were owned by Alexander Sosis – 89.289006%, Pavlo Scherban – 3.994938%, Marina Getmantseva – 1.706025%, as well as indirectly through the venture capital CIF “Avanpost” Dmitry Melnyk – 3.793525% and Vladimir Bychnik – 1.364910%.
Insurance group “TAS” (Kiev) for January-March 2024 paid out under the concluded insurance contracts indemnities in the amount of UAH 465,89 mln, which is 50,8% more than in the same period of the previous year.
According to the insurer’s website, more than a quarter of its payments (27,54% or UAH 128,31 mln) following the results of the first quarter fell on CASCO, which is 33% higher than the corresponding indicator for the same period of the last year, 35,46% or UAH 165,21 mln – on MTPL insurance (+ 40,1%), 18,91% or UAH 88,12 mln – on voluntary medical insurance (+62,6%)
At the same time, the company has paid UAH 2,8 mln of indemnities under property insurance contracts during the reporting period – by 38,3% more than in the first three months of the last year.
The volume of payments under other insurance contracts amounted to UAH 10.92 mln, which is 30.9% higher than in the same period of 2023.
SG “TAS” was registered in 1998. It is a universal company offering its clients more than 80 types of insurance products on various types of voluntary and compulsory insurance. It has an extensive regional network: 28 regional directorates and branches and 450 sales offices throughout Ukraine.
The incumbent mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has won re-election and will remain in office for a third term, Sky News reports.
In an election held in early May, Khan, who represents Labor, won 43.7% of the vote, while his Conservative rival Susan Hall won only 32.6%.
This is the first time in history that a London mayor will remain in office for three terms.
In early May, regional elections were held in the UK. According to the incoming data, Labor won a convincing victory. The Conservatives, on the contrary, showed the worst result in such elections for the last 40 years.
European media noted that the regional elections gave an insight into the balance of power in British politics ahead of the general election, which is expected to be held at the end of 2024.
World food prices fell 9.6% in April from a year earlier, the FAO (UN food and agriculture organization) said in its monthly report on Friday.
Meanwhile, March’s price index was revised up 0.3 percent, the document noted on its website.
The cereal price index rose 0.3 percent in April from March after three months of declines. World wheat export prices stabilized in April as strong competition among major exporters offset concerns about unfavorable crop conditions in several countries in the European Union, Russia and the United States. Export prices for corn were boosted by strong demand amid growing logistical disruptions from infrastructure damage in Ukraine and production concerns in Brazil ahead of the main harvest.
The vegetable oil price index also rose 0.3% year-on-year in March to a 13-month high. FAO indicated that higher quotations for sunflower and rapeseed oil offset a slight decline in palm and soybean oil prices.
The Meat Price Index increased 1.6 percent in April from the previous month as international poultry, beef and lamb prices rose. World pork prices declined slightly, reflecting sluggish domestic demand in Western Europe and persistently sluggish demand from leading importers, especially China.
The sugar price index declined 4.4% from March and was 14.7% below the April 2023 level. The decline was attributed to an improved global supply outlook, particularly due to higher than previously expected production in India and Thailand, as well as improved weather conditions in Brazil.
The Dairy Price Index declined 0.3% after six months of gains, driven by sluggish spot import demand for skim milk powder and lower global cheese prices due to a stronger U.S. dollar. In contrast, world butter prices rose on the back of robust import demand.
China on Friday launched an automated spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to collect rocks and soil from the moon’s back side, becoming the first country to undertake such an ambitious endeavor, Reuters reported. China’s largest rocket, Long March-5, launched at 17:27 Beijing time (12:27 Kiev time) from the Wenchang spaceport on the southern island of Hainan with the Chang’e-6 probe weighing more than 8 tons.
Chang’e-6’s mission is to land in the South Pole-Eitken basin on the back side of the moon, which is eternally facing away from Earth, after which it will retrieve and return samples.
The launch was another milestone in China’s lunar and space exploration program.
“It remains a mystery to us how China was able to develop such an ambitious and successful program in such a short time,” said Pierre-Yves Meslain, a French researcher working on one of the Chang’e-6 mission’s scientific objectives.
In 2018, Chang’e-4 made the first unmanned landing on the back side of the moon. In 2020, Chang’e-5 delivered lunar samples for the first time in 44 years, and Chang’e-6 could make China the first country to get samples from the “hidden” side of the moon.
Earlier, the launch of the Quequiao-2 transponder satellite, designed to link China’s lunar landers with ground stations, was reported.
