German MC-Bauchemie intends to invest EUR 1.5 mln in the expansion of dry construction mixtures production in Berezan (Kiev region), MC-Bauchemie Ukraine director Artem Priymachenko told Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“We intend to build a new line for special construction materials, such as a variety of polymer-cement mixes for structural repair of concrete, toppings for industrial floors, waterproofing materials, highly functional adhesives for tiles. The approximate volume of investments is EUR 1.5 mln,” he said.
According to Priymachenko, the investments will be made at the expense of MC-Bauchemie’s own funds. The discussion of war risk insurance is underway now.
“We are now in the procedure of obtaining a guarantee from international organizations for military risks. We are considering options – the German government or MIGA from the World Bank,” he said.
According to the company’s plans, the new line in Berezan could be launched at the end of 2025.
Founded in 1961, MC-Bauchemie Group is one of the leading international producers of construction chemicals and technologies. With more than 2,500 employees, it is represented in more than 50 countries.
According to the data of opendatabot, LLC “MC-Bauchemie” (33482370) was founded in 2005, authorized capital 333,8 thousand UAH. Revenue in 2023 356 million 836 thousand UAH, which is 2.6 times higher than the results of 2022 and 9% higher than pre-war 2021. Net profit for 2023 UAH 55 million 618 thousand, in 2022 there was a net loss of UAH 18 million 625 thousand.
construction mixtures, INVESTMENTS, KYIV REGION, MC-Bauchemie
Production and design association “MAANS” (Rivne region), one of the largest manufacturers of equipment and spare parts, has increased production of agricultural machinery despite the war, reported the press service of Rivne regional military administration.
“Despite the war, the company has increased the production of its products by 2 times. Last year “MAANS” paid more than 31 million UAH of taxes to the budgets of all levels and ended the year with a profit. The wages of employees are gradually increasing. Today 140 workplaces have been created here”, – said the deputy head of the OBA Alexander Kohan.
“MAANS” has modern production facilities with an area of 9 thousand square meters. meters. There is equipment for cutting, bending, stamping, heat treatment, milling, welding and grinding of metal. There is a full cycle of production of cutterbars, carts for them, spare parts and consumables for them, noted in OBA.
The enterprise exports one-third of its production abroad. “MAANS” also joined the state platform “Made in Ukraine”: 27 units of equipment are in the list of the state program of compensation for the cost of agricultural machinery.
PE “VKO “MAANS” was registered in 2010 in Zdolbuniv, Rivne region. The authorized capital of the enterprise is 100 thousand UAH. Its beneficiaries are Stanislav Seredyuk (70%) and Igor Seredyuk (30%).
The Steering Board of the Ukraine Investment Framework, set up by the EU on April 17 under the Ukraine Facility instrument, has allocated more than EUR1bn of funding to de-risk investments, mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine, through International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and banks, Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Oleksiy Sobolev said.
“That is, this year, financing for SME development will be enough,” he said at Ukraine’s Future Summit in Brussels on April 18.
Sobolev called for more active trade and joint ventures with Ukrainian companies, because the above mechanism will provide leverage and additional guarantees.
“Thanks to the Ukraine Plan and Ukraine Facility, you will have available financing for business expansion in Ukraine, and what we need right now will be available. This year it will be available through Ukrainian banks and through MFIs: EBRD, EIB, IFC, KfW”, – said the Deputy Minister of Economy.
He specified that about 20 Ukrainian banks participate in these programs.
“So, in fact, you can apply to your Ukrainian bank, and he will provide additional financing to your companies,” – explained Sobolev.
Insurance company “Ukrainian Insurance Group” (Kiev) in 2023 collected UAH 2.036 billion of net premiums, which is 10.7% less than in 2022, and UAH 2.936 billion of gross premiums (-7.3%).
This is reported on the website of the rating agency “Standard-Rating”, which confirmed the financial strength rating/credit rating of the insurance company at the level of “uaAA+” at the end of the reporting period.
At the same time receipts from individuals have decreased by 16.82% – to UAH 1.773 bln, and from reinsurers, on the contrary, have increased in 2.33 times – to UAH 10.112 mln, hence the share of individuals in gross premiums of the company has amounted to 60.36%, and the share of reinsurers – 0.34%.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers for 2023 have increased by 1,55% compared to 2022 – up to UAH 900,401 mln. Thus, the ratio of participation of reinsurance companies in insurance premiums has increased by 2,67 p.p. – up to 30,66%.
The volumes of insurance payments and indemnities made by IC “USG” in 2023 have amounted to UAH 1,478 billion, that has exceeded the volume of payments and indemnities in 2022 by 87,63%. At the same time the level of payments has increased up to 50,33%.
RA also notes that following the results of 2023 the company has received a negative financial result from operating activities in the amount of UAH 321,997 mln, and the net loss of the insurer has amounted to UAH 38,515 mln.
Assets of the company as of December 31, 2023 have increased by 2,44% – to UAH 3,522 billion, shareholders’ equity has decreased by 12,01% – to UAH 566,501 million, liabilities have increased by 5,77% – to UAH 2,955 billion, cash and cash equivalents have decreased by 43,68% – to UAH 825,414 million.
Thus, as of the beginning of 2024 the company had a satisfactory level of capitalization (19.17%), and cash covered 27.93% of its liabilities. At the same time RA notes that on the reporting date the insurer has formed a portfolio of financial investments in the amount of UAH 1,087 billion, consisting of government bonds (57,89% of the portfolio) and deposits in banks with high credit rating (42,11% of the portfolio). The presence of such investments in aggregate covered 64,73% of the insurer’s liabilities.
As it was informed, the controlling shareholder of IC USG is an international insurance group headquartered in Austria Vienna Insurance Group, which is represented by 50 companies in 30 countries and is the leader of the insurance market of Central and Eastern Europe.
Astarta Agroholding cut its net profit by 5.0% to EUR61.9m in 2023, while its EBITDA fell by 6.1% to EUR145.77m, the company said in its annual report on Wednesday evening.
“EBITDA margin decreased by 7 percentage points (p. p.) year-on-year to 23%, reflecting lower crop prices, higher selling expenses and a change in the basis of supply in the sale of crops,” the document said.
According to it, Astarta’s revenue last year increased by 21.3% to EUR618.93m, gross profit by 7.8% to EUR223.59m, while operating profit decreased by 12.2% to EUR95.78m.
It is specified that the Agriculture segment contributed 39% of consolidated revenue or EUR240 million in 2023 (+33% y-o-y), while the Livestock segment contributed 7% of total revenue or EUR43 million in 2023 (+10% y-o-y).
Sales of the Sugar Production segment grew by 28% y-o-y to EUR199m and accounted for 32% of total revenue in the period under review, while the Soy Processing segment contributed 20% of Astarta’s revenue or EUR122m, unchanged y-o-y.
According to the report, export sales accounted for about 53% of consolidated revenue or EUR325m last year.
The lower gross profit growth is due to the lower effect of the revaluation of the fair value of biological assets in the cost of revenue (EUR60 mln in 2023 vs. EUR73 mln in 2022), reflecting cheaper commodities and changes in exchange rates.
It is indicated that in UAH terms, Astarta increased net profit by 11.9% to UAH2bn 452.81m in 2023 on revenue growth of 39.3% to UAH24bn 446.26m.
According to the report, cash flow from operating activities amounted to EUR91m vs. EUR39m in 2022 due to lower working capital outflows, while cash flow from investment activities increased 2.6 times to EUR40m, with the largest investments in soybean processing and sugar production.
Net financial debt (net of lease liabilities) declined by 10% last year to EUR39m, while net debt increased slightly by 3% to EUR156m due to higher lease liabilities of EUR118m vs. EUR109m in 2022.
As reported, Astarta reported EUR65.16m net profit in 2022, down 46.8% from 2021. The holding’s EBITDA decreased by 23.2% to EUR154.77m in the year before last, while revenue increased by 3.8% to EUR510.07m.
In 9M 2023, net profit decreased by 9.8% to EUR55.97 mln, while revenue grew by 14.8% to EUR392.00 mln. EBITDA decreased by 10.8% to EUR116.63 mln.
In UAH terms, Astarta increased its net profit by 6.9% to UAH 2 bln 219.11 mln in the first 9 months of last year, while revenue grew by 37.7% to UAH 15 bln 513.56 mln.
The King Salman Center for Rescue and Humanitarian Assistance (KSRelief) has donated $10 million to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). King Salman Rescue and Humanitarian Relief Center (KSRelief) has donated $10 million to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to support war-affected Ukrainians in 1,200 facilities across the country with daily hot meals, according to the WFP press office.
“We are grateful to KSRelief for supporting a vital component of our emergency assistance programs in Ukraine that supports the most vulnerable Ukrainians and strengthens the local institutions and organizations that care for them,” said Marianne Ward, acting director of WFP Ukraine.
According to a press release, the agreement was signed between H.E. Dr. Abdullah Al Rabia, Advisor to the Royal Court and General Manager of KSRelief, and WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.
Saudi Arabia’s contribution will help provide 50 million meals to the institutions that WFP supports (hospitals, shelters for internally displaced persons, orphanages, neuropsychiatric and geriatric institutions, and other public or private organizations that care for vulnerable Ukrainian citizens).
“We are pleased to be part of this important emergency program to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of the affected population in Ukraine. KSrelief’s humanitarian assistance will provide vital food aid to the most vulnerable communities across the country,” the press office quoted KSRelief’s Assistant General Manager for Planning and Development, Ahmed Al Baiz, as saying.
The assistance provided will allow the purchase and delivery of about 7,600 tons of food. It is noted that all products, including flour, pasta, buckwheat, oatmeal, peas, sugar and oil, are purchased from Ukraine to support the local economy and food system.
Over the next six months, WFP’s institutional feeding program plans to provide food assistance to 210,000 vulnerable Ukrainians. KSRelief’s contribution will cover a significant portion of the program’s needs – approximately 67%. This is support for 140 thousand people.
During 2023, WFP’s institutional feeding program supported 460,000 Ukrainians in Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovograd, Kyiv, Lviv, Mykolayiv, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zakarpattya, Zaporizhzhya and Zhytomyr regions.
Institutional feeding is one of the many ways WFP supports Ukrainians affected by the war. WFP is also distributing food packages in areas close to the front line where food is hard to find or very expensive, distributing cash assistance to vulnerable Ukrainians across the country, and supporting the safe release of agricultural land mines in Kharkiv Oblast to help farmers and food producers. WFP has also chartered 25 ships to export Ukrainian grain to countries in need through the Black Sea Grain Initiative and Grain from Ukraine.
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization that saves lives in emergencies and uses food aid to build a path to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, natural disasters and the effects of climate change.
