Astarta Agroholding, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, has raised up to $60m in a loan from state-owned Oschadbank for the construction of a soybean processing plant in the Poltava region.
“The raised funds will be used to finance an investment project to build a new soybean processing plant in Globino (Poltava region) to produce soy protein concentrate,” the company said on its website on Tuesday.
It is specified that the credit limit of $60 mln is granted to the agricultural holding for seven years.
As reported, the director of business development and investor relations of the group of companies Julia Bereshchenko at the conference-call with investors and analysts on the results of the company’s work for the first nine months of 2023 informed that investments for the construction of the plant will be distributed for three years – the current and two subsequent years. “Astarta intends to finance the project primarily through free cash flow. The Globino plant is expected to produce up to 100,000 tons of concentrated soy protein per year.
“Astarta” announced the start of construction of this line in mid-September 2021. The GPP itself was commissioned in early 2014, with a design processing capacity of 230 thousand tons per year. The plant is capable of producing about 160,000 tons of high-protein soybean meal, 40,000 tons of soybean oil and 9,000 tons of pelletized shell annually. The plant also includes finished product storage facilities and a 42,000-ton elevator and the necessary utilities, roads and railroads. Before the war, more than 80% of the GPP’s production was supplied to the EU, Middle and Far East countries. The main part of soybeans for processing is grown by agrofirms of the agroholding.
In the fall of 2021, Bereshchenko pointed out that the construction of an additional soybean deep processing line at GPP will double EBITDA in the soybean segment, as well as increase revenue.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar mills, agricultural farms with a land bank of 220,000 hectares and dairy farms with 22,000 cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globino (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
The agroholding earned EUR1.24 mln of net profit in the third quarter of 2023, which is 27.7 times less than in the same period of 2022. Astarta’s revenue decreased by 14.4% to EUR104.75m, gross profit decreased by 2.7 times to EUR26.96m, operating profit decreased by 7.6 times to EUR6.79m, and EBITDA decreased by 42.7% to EUR97.25m.
Thanks to a significantly better performance in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year, for the first nine months of 2023 as a whole, net profit decreased by 9.8% to EUR55.97m on revenue growth of 14.8% to EUR392.00m. The company’s gross profit increased by 3.0% to EUR151.91m, while operating profit decreased by 15.9% to EUR79.91m and EBITDA by 10.8% to EUR116.63m.
KP “Zaporozhelektrotrans” on December 22 announced its intention to conclude a contract with IC “VUSO” for services of compulsory civil liability insurance of owners of land vehicles (trolleybuses and streetcars).
As reported in the system of electronic procurement Prozorro, the expected price for the purchase of services – UAH 570,929 thousand, the price offer of the company – UAH 236,310 thousand.
NJSIC ‘Oranta’ also took part in the tender with the offer of UAH 159,4 th.
IC “VUSO” was founded in 2001. It owns 50 licenses: 34 – for voluntary and 16 – for compulsory types of insurance, is represented in all regions of Ukraine. It is a member of ITSBU and UFS, a participant of the agreement on direct settlement of losses and a member of the Nuclear Insurance Pool.
Profit of state-owned Ukrgasbank (Kiev) for January-November 2023 amounted to UAH 4.08 billion, while the same period last year the state bank ended with a net loss of UAH 3.75 billion, the financial institution reported on Tuesday.
It is specified that the operating profit of the bank for January-November this year before deductions to reserves and taxation amounted to UAH 4.3 billion.
According to the release, Ukrgasbank’s assets increased by UAH 35 billion since the beginning of the year and reached UAH 166.7 billion by the end of November 2023, while the portfolio of attracted customer funds increased by UAH 29.9 billion since January and amounted to UAH 142.7 billion.
It is specified that the most significant increase in the portfolio of funds of corporate business – by UAH 26.2 billion, up to UAH 85.5 billion, in particular, from small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) – by UAH 4 billion, up to UAH 25.4 billion.
The bank added that the portfolio of retail customers’ term funds in hryvnia amounted to UAH 9.8 billion at the end of November, having increased by UAH 3.5 billion since the beginning of the year.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1, 2023, Ukrgasbank ranked 5th in terms of total assets (UAH 166.44 billion) among 63 banks operating in the country.
The National Bank of Ukraine on December 25 included Insurance Broker Inlex LLC in the State Register of Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers, the regulator’s website reported.
According to the Opendatabot website, Insurance Broker Inlex was registered in Odessa in January 2023. The ultimate beneficiary and owner is Sergey Gorbunenko.
The authorized capital is UAH 500 thousand.
As reported, by the end of November 2023, 55 insurance and reinsurance brokers were registered in the State Register, but in early December the National Bank of Ukraine excluded 23 brokers from the State Register of Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers.
Insurance Broker Inlex LLC, Sergey Gorbunenko, The National Bank of Ukraine
LLC “Rudomain” (Krivoy Rog, Dnipropetrovsk region), engaged in iron ore mining, reduced iron ore production in Krivoy Rog by 25% from 2022 and production in 2023 was at 50% of capacity.
The company told Interfax-Ukraine that Rudomain continues its operations, but the number of employees has been reduced from 1,250 to 950 due to mobilization in Ukraine. Replenishment of personnel occurs only in cases of extreme necessity, including the integration of women into traditionally male-dominated professions.
It is noted, however, that there has been a marked decline in sales since 2022, resulting in a drop in production of up to 75% compared to the pre-war period. In 2023, the downward trend continues and production is held at 50% of potential maximum production capacity throughout the year, which corresponds to a zero breakeven level.
By markets: Rudomain’s products are sold to countries in the near abroad, mainly in Poland and Slovakia. Historically, sales have been made exclusively by rail, thus avoiding maritime transportation problems.
Plans for 2024: sales are planned to increase based on the use of repair and renovation funds for machinery and technology. Failure to generate these funds in year 23 could be a problem in the next year.
“Actively working on plans to increase automation of manufacturing processes to reduce production costs,” the company’s response states.
And it is noted in terms of the impact of the economic downturn in Europe and the way forward: the general downturn in economic development in Europe is being felt.
“Entering new markets requires a significant increase in the global cost of production to cover logistics costs and unblock seaports. The key factors for improving the investment climate are the end of the war, the return of professionals to their jobs and renewed confidence in the state,” the response summarizes.
Rudomain LLC was registered in May 2010. Its main activity is iron ore mining. According to the company, it is active in Ukraine, the CIS and Europe. Since 2005, it has processed more than 20 million tons of substandard ores from the Krivoy Rog iron ore basin.
As of the end of 2020, two concentrators were up and running. The production capacity of the plant was up to 4 million tons of feedstock per year with Fe min 38%. Production of finished products with Fe content of 50-59% (fraction 0-10 mm) was about 1.5 million tons per year.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities as of September 2021, ARDC Mining Asset Management Holding Ltd (Cyprus) owns 100% of Rudomain LLC. The ultimate beneficiary is a Cypriot citizen Andreou Katia.
Previously, the owner of Rudomain LLC was Fernando Trading Ltd (West Indies) with the ultimate beneficiary being resident individual Anatoly Medvedev.
Anatoly Medvedev, Andreou Katia, ARDC Mining Asset Management Holding Ltd, INTERFAX-UKRAINE, Rudomain
A cup of espresso costs 30 hryvnias on average in Ukraine. This is reported by the company Opendatabot, referring to the study of the Espresso Index by Poster POS.
Follow the changes on the Espresso Index page
The Espresso Index is an economic indicator used to measure the cost of a standard cup of espresso in different cities around the world. It can be useful for comparing the price level and cost of living in different places. This indicator helps to assess how big the difference in prices for the same goods and services is in different countries, reflecting purchasing power and inflation.
The Espresso Index in Ukraine has doubled in recent years: from UAH 15 in 2017 to UAH 30 at the end of 2023. It is worth noting that during the full-scale invasion, there was a sharp jump in prices. Thus, the average cost of an espresso in the country increased from 20 UAH to 28 UAH in 2022 alone.
The most expensive cup of coffee will be in Odesa (UAH 36), Donetsk (UAH 35), and Kharkiv (UAH 32). Instead, the lowest prices for a basic coffee drink in Ukraine are in Khmelnytsky (UAH 21), Sumy (UAH 23), Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia regions – UAH 24 each.
The Ukrainian restaurant automation company Poster POS presented the Espresso Index of Ukraine 2023 – a large-scale study of the average cost of a cup of coffee in Ukraine.
Espresso is the main component of every coffee drink, so its cost directly affects the price of any drink in a coffee shop.
Espresso Index, Espresso Index in Ukraine, Poster POS, Опендатабот, ЭСПРЕССО
