Geographical structure of Ukraine’s foreign trade (imports) in Jan-July 2024, thousand USD
Open4Business.com.ua
The Norwegian government will provide Ukraine with an additional 500 million Norwegian kroner through the World Bank’s multilateral donor fund for assistance, recovery, reconstruction and reforms in Ukraine URTF.
“Today, during the 2024 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG), Norway’s Minister for International Development, Ann Beate Christiansen Twinneraim, met with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and pledged to provide an additional 500 million Norwegian kroner to the fund,” the Norwegian government website reported on October 24.
As reported, NPC Ukrenergo received the first large cross-regulation transformer for one of the 750 kV substations (SS) as part of the REPOWER project from the World Bank (WB), which is financed by a grant of $247 million from the URTF fund. In the coming months, after the completion of production, almost 20 more powerful transformers purchased with WB funds are expected to arrive.
“On the eve of winter, it is vital to provide the population of Ukraine with electricity and heat. That is why we recently announced the allocation of 3 billion Norwegian kroner, which, among other things, will be used to provide electricity to almost 1.5 million people and industry in Ukraine, as well as for other assistance so that the war-affected population can survive the winter,” Twinnerem said.
As reported, in October this year, the Norwegian government proposed to extend the Nansen program until 2030 and expand the funding from at least 75 to 135 billion Norwegian kroner during this period.
“My main message during our meeting was that Norway should support Ukraine for as long as necessary. This is in the interests of both Ukraine and Norway, and the long-term Nansen program reflects this commitment,” the Norwegian Minister for International Development emphasized.
The Nansen support program for Ukraine includes military support, humanitarian assistance, funding to support civilian infrastructure and critical societal functions, as well as funding to support the reconstruction of Ukrainian society when possible. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Norway has provided Ukraine with almost 52.6 billion Norwegian kroner, of which approximately 28 billion was allocated for military support and 24 billion for civilian support.
In 2024, the NOVA Group of Companies (NOVA) (Nova Poshta) doubled its investments to UAH 8.5 billion compared to 2021, said NOVA CFO Petro Fokov.
“NOVA Group’s investments this year (2024 – IF-U) amount to UAH 8.5 billion. This is twice as much as the amount of investments in 2021,” he said at the Ukrainian CFO Forum on Thursday.
According to the CFO, the group is investing in areas that provide an opportunity to increase the speed, ease and reliability of delivery.
Fokov identified four main components of the NOVA Group’s investment program: the development of a network of branches and post offices in Ukraine, including the opening of new ones, repair and upgrading of existing ones, and the construction of shelters and safety capsules, in particular in branches located in the frontline areas.
Another component is investments in the automation of sorting centers.
“In particular, these are new services, including fulfillment – logistics outsourcing, whereby an online store transfers goods for storage and order picking to a logistics operator,” said the NOVA Group CFO, adding that the service can significantly speed up the delivery of shipments to customers.
An important component of NOVA’s investments is energy independence. The group invests in solar panels and gas cogeneration to produce electricity for its own needs.
Mr. Fokov also emphasized investments in the international business: NOVA Group operates in 15 countries. “Even this year, our first foreign country has turned a profit, although most of them have not yet – they are still approaching the break-even point,” Fokov said.
In addition, NOVA allocated UAH 1.5 billion to help the Armed Forces.
The chief financial officer named the group’s own and borrowed funds as the main sources of investment financing. In particular, this is a UAH 3 billion loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which was received in 2024.
“This year we signed an agreement for UAH 3 billion with the EBRD. We received the first loan six years ago for a minimum amount of UAH 180 million. We built the facility and repaid the loan on time, and now we have a strong (credit – IF-U) history worth UAH 3 billion,” Fokov stated, adding that the EBRD lends to NOVA Group in hryvnia.
The group also attracts loans from commercial banks, working with 10 leading Ukrainian banks and following a strategy of unifying bank covenants.
“As I said, we have 10 partner banks and each of them has its own requirements that are important to fulfill. And it is quite difficult when you have 10 different covenant systems and need to ensure 100% compliance. Our strategy is to fully unify the covenants of all our business partners… We have taken the most developed system of financial covenants of the EBRD as a basis and offer our partner banks with which we start cooperation to join this system or choose requirements from this menu. So far, we have succeeded… I advise all CFOs to try to implement such a policy,” Fokov said.
According to him, the banks’ consent depends on the size and reputation of the company.
“If you have a strong reputation, it’s easier to do, because you have a certain negotiating power. Or it can be done when you have a partner like the EBRD or other international financial institutions,” said the NOVA CFO.
The third component of NOVA’s investment program financing is hryvnia bonds issued by the group, Fokov said. According to him, by issuing bonds in January 2023, the group became the first to resume raising funds through this type of debt financing after the full-scale invasion.
The net profit of state-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv), the largest Ukrainian bank, amounted to UAH 48.35 billion in January-September 2024, which is 11.5% higher than in the same period of the previous year.
“According to the results of the first nine months of 2024, the bank’s pre-tax profit reached UAH 64.01 billion, and net profit amounted to UAH 48.35 billion (+11.5% yoy),” the bank said in a statement on Thursday.
According to it, since the beginning of this year, the bank’s loan portfolio has increased by 18.4%, exceeding UAH 108.99 billion as of the end of September, while total assets increased by 5.4% to UAH 722.17 billion, and deposits and balances on customer accounts by 4% to UAH 572.04 billion.
It was specified that the number of active private clients decreased from 18.35 million to 18.3 million in the first nine months of this year, of which 13.51 million were Privat24 users, while the number of business clients increased from 875 thousand to 890 thousand.
In addition, in January-September, PrivatBank reduced the number of branches by 22 to 1173, ATMs by 20 to 6860, terminals by 62 to 10411, and the number of its POS terminals amounted to 311.17 thousand at the beginning of October.
Taking into account the previously published data, the bank’s net profit in the third quarter of 2024 amounted to UAH 17.75 billion, which is 30.3% higher than in the third quarter of 2023.
“During the third quarter, the bank maintained the achieved level of business activity, despite the pressure of electricity shortages on households and businesses,” the financial institution said in a press release.
It notes that the high quality of the loan portfolio results in almost zero expenses for the formation of additional provisions to cover credit risks. Operating expenses remain under management control: in the first nine months of 2024, they increased by only 4.8% compared to the same period last year, which is significantly lower than the inflation rate.
It was also clarified that since the beginning of the year, PrivatBank has donated UAH 167.06 million to charity, aimed at helping hospitals and medical institutions, strengthening the country’s defense capabilities, social projects, and helping employees.
Geographical structure of Ukraine’s foreign trade (exports) in Jan-July 2024, thousand USD
Open4Business.com.ua
Sukha Balka mine (Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro region), part of Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, commissioned two new iron ore production blocks at Yubileynaya and Frunze mines in October with total reserves of 170 thousand tons.
According to information in DCH Steel’s corporate newspaper on Thursday, at the beginning of this month, the company’s miners prepared and commissioned new production facilities.
At Frunze Mine, the company commissioned block 39-45 with reserves of 55 thousand tons of high-quality raw materials – the block was prepared by section 6, and tunneling operations were carried out using high-performance self-propelled equipment. At the beginning of October, the team of the No. 6 section started mining ore in this block.
Also in October, Yubileynaya Mine commissioned block 34-36 (+10) of the second floor of the Gnezdo deposit with reserves of 115 thousand tons. The block was prepared by the miners of the slicing section No. 19, and deep wells were drilled in this block by the miners of the section No. 9. Production will be carried out by the employees of the No. 17 section.
“The commissioning of these blocks will ensure the stable operation of the mines over the next three months,” the company said in a statement.
It was specified that 9 blocks were put into operation at the mine this year: six at Yubileynaya mine with total reserves of 880 thousand tons and three blocks with reserves of 140 thousand tons at Frunze mine.
Sukha Balka mine is one of the leading mining companies in Ukraine. It produces iron ore by underground mining. It includes Yubileynaya and Frunze mines. DCH Group acquired the mine from Evraz Group in May 2017.
