USAID’s Economic Support for Ukraine project has purchased weighing equipment for weighing railroad and road transport and transferred it to one of the largest operators in Ukraine’s grain market, JV Nibulon LLC (Mykolaiv), the grain trader’s press service reported.
“Providing Nibulon’s elevators with modern weighing equipment will speed up weighing of road and rail transport, provide automation and restore previously cut off capacity to the Izmail investment project. Thanks to this, we expect to restore the capacity of supply chains and speed up operations on acceptance and shipment of grain products. Additional weighing complexes will increase the turnover in conditions of increased load on land transportation”, – said the director on interaction with authorities and issues of sustainable development of “Nibulon” Mikhail Rizak.
According to the company, the weighing equipment will be used at four elevators of the company – in Mykolayiv, Poltava and Cherkasy regions.
With the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, Nibulon was forced to reorient its export chains and compensate for the lack of river navigation on the international inland waterway E-40. The priority was the investment project of the river port in Izmail and strengthening the logistic potential of the company in the use of land routes, recalled the press service of the grain trader.
Currently, Nibulon uses combined routes that combine transportation by truck and transshipment by rail with subsequent transshipment to water transport in Izmail.
USAID’s assistance to agroexporters is part of the Agricultural Sustainability Initiative in Ukraine, which is implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development. It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport and export grain.
JV Nibulon LLC was established in 1991. Before the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and complexes for receiving agricultural crops, capacity for one-time storage of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugboats), and owned the Nikolaev shipyard.
“Nibulon” before the war cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries.
The grain trader exported the maximum 5.64 million tons of agricultural products in 2021, reaching record shipments to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses from the full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation reached $400 mln. Currently, the grain trader is operating at 30% of its capacity, has created a special unit for demining agricultural land and started production of the first vessel for demining international waterways at its shipyards in Mykolayiv.
The grain trader recently raised EUR27m from the Danish Export Investment Fund (EIFO) to increase the capacity of the Bessarabsky branch in Izmail, where an elevator and a flour mill will be built.
Bratislava Mayor Mateusz Vallo has offered Kiev assistance in attracting world experts in consulting in the restoration of infrastructure, development of the transportation system, said Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko after a meeting with his Slovak counterpart.
“Our cities are linked by twinning relations… We agreed on further assistance from Bratislava, in particular in setting up a rehabilitation center for the military, which Kiev is creating. We also discussed the future restoration of Ukraine and Kyiv,” Klitschko wrote in Telegram on Tuesday evening.
Also, according to him, Bratislava will soon hand over 25 city buses to Kiev as aid. Now they are being prepared for shipment, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital said.
Number of applicants per vacancy (comparison) as of 01.06.2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Leaders of several more African Union countries will visit Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told African journalists in an interview.
“I am happy that the (African) delegation was here. Frankly speaking, I think we could expand such meetings. And I expected that more states could come to us. And indeed they are planning to. And we expect some more states to come, some more leaders. They will be in Ukraine,” the President said.
According to him, “it is important to communicate with these leaders, so that we look each other in the eyes, because it is important for them to see with their own eyes what is happening here and the consequences of the war. To listen, to hear. Not over the phone, not through the media, not through Lavrov.”
“When African leaders receive information about Ukraine through the Russian Foreign Ministry, it is wrong. We don’t have any mediation, we don’t have any dialog with the RF. We are at war with them. I would like you (Africans) to perceive information about Ukraine through yourselves, through your journalists,” he said.
The head of state also noted that he would like to be able to hold meetings with all the leaders of the African Union states and within the framework of the recent visit of the African delegation to Kiev he offered to hold such an extensive meeting on the territory of any of the African countries.
“We had several presidents sitting in our circle (as part of a previous meeting with a delegation from Africa). And we communicated about different things, about the consequences of this war, about the causes … We did not have enough time. We talked for 2.5 or 3 hours. And it was already quite a lot, but we lacked time and contacts,” – said Zelensky.
“And I believe, and I insisted on this very much, I really wanted to have the opportunity to meet with all the leaders. Why we suggested that it should be my meeting on the territory of any state of the African continent, where leaders can come? Because it is important that the society of your states can see us, can listen to us, can ask us, can get an answer. Not because of any media, but directly. And then they found the strength and courage to come to Ukraine and see what is happening here. To draw conclusions. This is very important,” he added.
During communication with journalists, the President also noted that the Ukrainian people deserve to trust in relations with the peoples of African states.
“And I would very much like to strengthen our relations, but it requires both sides to be ready for it,” summarized Zelensky.
Beer production in Ukraine in the first six months of this year reached 65.2 million dal, up 112.5% year-on-year, according to the website of the industry organization of brewers Ukrpyvo.
This figure is only 76.9% of the volume of beer production in Ukraine in 2021, the industry association said.
As reported, beer production in Ukraine in 2022 decreased by 27.9% compared to 2021 – to 122.8 million dal.
By the end of 2022, the brewing industry had partially recovered from a 50% drop in production in the first quarter due to the Russian invasion and the shutdown of some breweries. Thus, in the first four months of 2022, the decline amounted to 42.8% compared to the same period in 2021, January-May – 36.4%, January-June – 32%, January-July and January-August – 31.6% each, January-September – 30.5%, January-October – 28.6%, January-November – 28.1%, and 27.9% in the year before last.
PrJSC Kyiv Confectionery Factory Roshen, a part of Roshen Corporation, intends to increase its authorized capital by 33.2%, or UAH 500 million, to UAH 2.006 billion through an additional share issue.
According to the company’s announcement in the NSSMC’s information disclosure system, the investor will be its subsidiary Confectionery Corporation Roshen, which already owned 96.9017% of the shares at the end of the first quarter of this year.
Taking into account the additional issue, the share of the majority shareholder may reach 97.674%.
It is specified that the shareholders’ meeting will consider the issue of increasing the authorized capital on August 16 this year, in particular, the non-use of the shareholders’ preemptive right to purchase shares of the additional issue and its implementation in one stage.
In total, it is planned to issue 2 billion ordinary registered shares with a par value of UAH 0.25, with the sale price to be determined by the Supervisory Board.
Roshen Corporation is one of the top 30 largest confectionery manufacturers in the world. It includes Kyiv, Kremenchuk, two Vinnytsia confectionery factories and Vinnytsia Dairy Plant, a biscuit complex in Boryspil (Ukraine); Klaipeda Confectionery Factory (Lithuania) and Bonbonetti Choco factory (Hungary). Production activities at the Lipetsk factory (Russia) have been suspended since April 1, 2017.
The corporation produces about 320 types of confectionery products. The total production volume reaches 450 thousand tons of products per year.
Roshen’s network of branded stores in Ukraine includes about 70 stores in different regions of the country. The first one was opened in 2009 in Kyiv.
In 2022, PrJSC Kyiv Confectionery Factory Roshen posted a net loss of UAH 984 thousand compared to UAH 25.779 million in profit a year earlier, while the company’s revenue decreased from UAH 979.286 million to UAH 903.195 million.
The ultimate beneficiary of the company is Oleksiy Poroshenko, the son of former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
