The plants of Ostchem nitrogen holding, which unites Group DF’s nitrogen business, produced 1.57 million tons of mineral fertilizers in 9M2023, up 92% year-on-year, Group DF said in a press release on Tuesday.
“At the same time, we have not yet managed to reach the pre-war level: the utilization of the main capacities of the plants did not exceed 70-80% during the year. The reason for the underutilization is a critical increase in fertilizer imports to Ukraine,” said Sergey Pavlyuchuk, Head of Ostchem’s nitrogen business.
According to him, the production plans for January-September were fully met, and the plants’ capacities were loaded more evenly than last year. During the reporting period, Cherkasy Azot increased production by 148% year-on-year to 1.22 million tons, while Rivne Azot increased production by 7% to 347.3 thousand tons.
According to the company’s release, urea (up 3 times), UAN (up 2.5 times) and ammonium nitrate (up 89%) were the most dynamic in terms of production. At the same time, production of UAN decreased by 72% to 36.9 thousand tons.
“Our plants operated smoothly and fulfilled contracts with Ukrainian farmers on time. In the future, the utilization of our plants will depend on the demand for mineral fertilizers. We are ready for the peak demand in November-December and the start of procurement for the spring planting season in 2024,” emphasized Pavliuchuk.
Ostchem cited high consumer activity in the spring and summer of 2023, when mineral fertilizers were more affordable, as one of the main factors influencing the mineral fertilizer market in Ukraine, which satisfied a significant part of consumer demand.
At the same time, according to the leading fertilizer producer, the market is experiencing a decline in the purchasing power of farmers due to the suspension of the grain deal and low prices for agricultural products amid a sharp increase in imports from countries friendly to Russia.
“The volume of imports is growing, which hurts the domestic chemical industry. In the third quarter of 2023, the increase in imports of mineral fertilizers was 46.6%. Since the beginning of the year, the total volume of fertilizers imported to Ukraine amounted to 1.71 million tons. This means that imports exceed domestic production. Fertilizers continue to be imported from countries that are “friendly” to Russia – repackaged Belarusian fertilizers are brought to Ukraine via Poland and Romania. Imports of urea from Turkmenistan are growing at a critical pace,” said Oleg Arestarkhov, Director of Corporate Communications at Group DF, as quoted by the holding’s press service.
He emphasized that often the selling price of fertilizers from post-Soviet countries, including logistics costs, “contradicts all market laws.” “There is reason to believe that fake certificates of origin for fertilizers from Russia and Belarus are entering Ukraine,” the top manager added.
In addition, Group DF pointed out that Ukrainian producers are losing the urea market. The company cited data from Derzhzovnishinform and the State Customs Service of Ukraine, according to which 22.7 thousand tons of urea were imported from Turkmenistan in 2021, 55 thousand tons in 2022, and 230 thousand tons in 9 months of 2023.
“In two years, the volume of urea imported from Turkmenistan has increased almost 12 times. At the same time, the largest Ukrainian chemical companies producing urea have been idle for two years. This shows the quality of the industrial policy, which needs to be urgently adjusted to stimulate production growth,” explains Arestarkhov.
Group DF consolidates Dmitry Firtash’s assets in the gas distribution, chemical, titanium and port industries, as well as in agriculture and media.
Ostchem is Group DF’s nitrogen holding company that unites the largest mineral fertilizer producers in Ukraine. It includes Rivne Azot, Cherkasy Azot, as well as Sievierodonetsk Azot and Stirol, which are not operating and are located in the occupied territories.
More than 9,900 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to figures announced at a UN Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
“According to the latest estimates, more than 9,900 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the invasion. To put this in perspective, this is equivalent to nearly 16 civilians being killed every day,” said Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at the beginning of the meeting.
He emphasized that the figures he cited were outdated and did not reflect the current situation in Ukraine. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the actual civilian casualties are considered to be higher than the reported figures.
The Director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who spoke first, also noted that about 80 million people in Ukraine are currently in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. Rajasingham noted that this is more than 40% of the total population of Ukraine.
In particular, according to his data, 10 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes and have refugee status in other countries or internally displaced persons within Ukraine.
ADONIS Medical Group has become a member of the ONOVA Ukraine Recovery Project.
According to the medical group, the joint project of ONOVA and the ADONIS Medical Group provides, in particular, for the restoration of the ADONIS maternity hospital in Buzova (Kyiv region), which was seriously damaged by an aggressor missile on February 28, 2022.
The Adonis network has eight branches in Kyiv and the region, providing services in more than 65 medical areas. During the war, the branches with surgical units continue to help patients by providing quality medical care to military and civilians.
The ONOVA League of Renewal of Ukraine is a platform for uniting and interacting with representatives of various fields of activity to restore and renew Ukraine.
Ukrainian Graphite PrJSC (Ukrgraphite, Zaporizhzhya) posted a net profit of UAH 128.230 million in January-September this year, up 0.7% year-on-year.
According to the company’s interim report, the company increased its revenue by 8.7% to UAH 1 billion 322.508 million in 9M2023.
The company’s retained earnings amounted to UAH 3 billion 833.682 million as of the end of September this year.
As reported, Ukrgraphite increased its net profit by 42.9 times year-on-year to UAH 70.723 million in January-March 2023, but reduced its net income by 11% to UAH 437.326 million.
In 1H2023, the plant earned a net profit of UAH 83.556 million, while it ended the same period last year with a net loss of UAH 22.135 million and increased revenue by 22.6% to UAH 938.909 million.
“In 2022, Ukrgraphite reduced its net income by 41.4% year-on-year to UAH 1 billion 545.562 million, earned a net profit of UAH 52.584 million, while it ended 2021 with a net loss of UAH 317.539 million.
“Ukrgraphite is Ukraine’s leading producer of graphitized electrodes for electric steel-making, ore-thermal and other types of electric furnaces, commercial carbon masses for Soderberg electrodes, and carbon-based lining materials for metallurgical, machine-building, chemical and other industries.
According to the National Depository of Ukraine (NDU), as of the fourth quarter of 2022, Intergraphite Holdings Company Limited (Bermuda) owns 23.9841% of the company, and C6 Safe Group Limited (Cyprus) owns 72.0394%.
The authorized capital of the company is UAH 233.959 million, with a par value of UAH 3.35 per share.
The World Bank has announced the allocation of $550 million to help more than 90,000 farmers in Ukraine access concessional loans and grants for agricultural production.
The “Emergency Project of Inclusive Support for the Restoration of Agriculture in Ukraine (ARISE)” will facilitate access to concessional financing for agricultural producers in 2023 and 2024. The project will help farmers mobilize about $1.5 billion in working capital,” the WB said in a statement on Tuesday night.
It is specified that the financing of the ARISE project consists of a $230 million loan from the World Bank from the Trust Fund for Providing Ukraine with Necessary Credit Support (ADVANCE Ukraine), supported by the Government of Japan. The financing also includes a $320 million grant from the Ukraine Recovery, Rehabilitation and Transformation Trust Fund (URTF).
“The innovative design of the project envisages attracting additional financing of up to $150 million, when such funds are available from the World Bank and donors,” the release says.
“The ARISE project will help thousands of Ukrainian farmers, many of them small, continue to produce in what will undoubtedly be a very challenging environment in the coming months,” the statement quoted Antonella Bassani, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, as saying.
The WB recalled that the total cost of damage to the Ukrainian agricultural sector from Russia’s invasion is estimated at $40.2 billion, and it has likely increased since the last Rapid Assessment of Damage and Recovery Needs was published in February 2023. This figure does not take into account the demining of farmland, damage to irrigation systems, losses to agro-logistics, and losses to food processing companies, the bank added.
The ARISE project will be implemented by the Entrepreneurship Development Fund and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. This is the fifth World Bank project approved for Ukraine this year under an innovative and flexible framework model. It provides for the rapid mobilization of partner resources to finance urgent needs, and such financing can be expanded as needed when additional funds become available.
Next year, the World Bank and the Government of Ukraine will focus on critical reforms and investments in priority sectors, including energy, health and social protection, education, housing rehabilitation, and agriculture, the release said.
In January-September 2023, Kredobank (Lviv) earned UAH 1 billion 509.44 million in net profit, while in the same period of 2022 this figure amounted to UAH 68.45 million, according to the bank’s quarterly report.
According to it, in particular, Kredobank earned UAH 594.65 million in the third quarter, which is UAH 41.6 million less than in the second quarter, but 58 times higher than the net profit for the same period last year (UAH 10.09 million).
According to the report, net interest income, which amounted to UAH 1.45 billion in the first half of 2023, increased by another 61.5% to UAH 2.34 billion in the third quarter, while in January-September 2022 it amounted to UAH 1.48 billion.
In particular, net interest income for the third quarter of this year (UAH 893.44 million) was twice as high as in July-September last year.
It is noted that net fee and commission income increased by 9.3% to UAH 387.47 million in the first nine months of this year compared to last year’s results, but in the third quarter this figure was 5.7% less than in 2022 – UAH 128.3 million.
In January-September 2023, Kredobank increased its reserves by only UAH 23.55 million against UAH 1.24 billion in the same period of 2022.
According to the report, since the second quarter of this year, the bank’s assets have increased by 6.8% and reached UAH 48.72 billion as of September 30. This growth is primarily due to a significant increase in the volume of securities – from UAH 13.51 billion in the second quarter to UAH 16.5 billion in the third quarter. At the same time, the amount of cash and funds with the NBU decreased from UAH 14.71 billion in June to UAH 13.68 billion as of September.
Loans and advances to customers increased slightly compared to the previous quarter – by 3.2% to UAH 12.43 billion, while the amounts due to other banks increased by 12.9% to UAH 4.36 billion.
At the same time, in July-September, Kredobank increased its customer accounts from UAH 39.38 billion in June to UAH 41.48 billion. During this time, the bank’s capital increased from UAH 5.08 billion to UAH 5.83 billion, including retained earnings from UAH 0.91 billion to UAH 1.5 billion.
Kredobank was founded in 1990. Its sole shareholder is the largest bank in Poland – PKO Bank Polski S.A. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of September 1, 2023, Kredobank ranked 14th (UAH 52.05 billion) among 64 banks operating in the country in terms of assets.
