Number of dead and wounded civilians in Ukraine as a result of military actions from 24.02.2022 according to un data (per)
Data: UN
The focus of traders remains the situation in Libya, as well as the upcoming OPEC + meeting, which is expected to discuss the possibility of cutting production.
The cost of October futures for Brent oil on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:15 quarter on Tuesday is $104.28 per barrel, which is $0.81 (0.77%) lower than the closing price of the previous session. As a result of trading on Monday, these contracts rose by $4.1 (4.1%) to $105.09 per barrel.
The price of futures for WTI oil for October in the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $96.76 per barrel by this time, which is $0.25 (0.26%) lower than the final value of the previous session. By the close of the market the day before, the cost of these contracts increased by $3.95 (4.2%) to $97.01 per barrel.
Over the weekend, clashes between two armed groups took place in Tripoli, as a result of which more than 30 people were killed, Bloomberg reported. This raised fears that Libya is waiting for another full-scale conflict, as a result of which oil supplies to the world market will be reduced. State oil company National Oil Corp., however, said on Monday that the country’s oil production remains at 1.2 million bpd.
“A new wave of Libyan production cut fears, coupled with uncertainty about the upcoming OPEC+ meeting, provided support for the oil market on Monday,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategist at ING Groep NV. “However, without major supply disruptions or interventions OPEC+, we can hardly expect a significant rise in prices in the short term.”
Six ships (SEAJOY, LADY ZEHMA, SAFFET AGA, SIMAS, MICHALLIS and KARTERIA) departed from the seaports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny with 183,000 tons of Ukrainian agricultural products.
As reported on the official page of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine on Facebook, among them is the vessel KARTERIA, chartered by the UN World Food Program to help the population of Yemen.
“In less than a month of the initiative’s operation, we have exported almost one and a half million tons of agricultural products, and this is a fairly significant result. However, we must reach 100-150 ships per month and with a total throughput of 5 million tons per month from the three ports of Greater Odessa,” the message is quoted as saying. Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov.
He also noted that Ukraine is strengthening the humanitarian part of the initiative – on board the bulk carrier KARTERIA there are 37.5 thousand tons of wheat for Yemen, which is in a state of humanitarian catastrophe. There, according to the UN, 16 million people suffer from hunger.
“We understand our global mission and responsibility to countries that need Ukrainian food. The caravan that left today is Ukraine’s next step towards the civilized world,” the minister commented.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, during the implementation of the Initiative for the Safe Transportation of Agricultural Products, 61 ships have already departed from Ukrainian ports. There are about 1.5 million tons of agricultural products on board.
Agro-industrial holding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, received EUR 27.7 million in net profit in January-June 2022, which is 3.2 times less compared to the same period last year, according to the company’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on Tuesday .
According to it, the company’s EBITDA decreased by 1.8 times – to EUR68.14 million, while revenue increased by 44%, to EUR218.3 million. The agricultural holding’s gross profit for this period decreased by 37.4% and amounted to EUR77.46 million , the gross margin and return on sales (EBITDA margin) fell 2.3 times – to 35% from 82%.
According to the report, as of June 30, 2022, the total assets of the agricultural holding increased by 21.4% compared to the data as of December 31, 2021 – up to EUR787.2 million, current liabilities – by 37.8% – up to EUR136.7 million, long-term liabilities – by 17.6%, up to EUR125.3 million.
“As of the end of the first half of 2022, net debt increased by 8% year-on-year to EUR193 million driven by an increase in working capital, while net financial debt decreased by 30% year-on-year to EUR53 million with higher balances cash at the end of the first half of 2022,” the agro-industrial holding said in a statement.
According to Astarta, 28% of the total revenue was generated by the sugar production segment, 35% by growing crops, 24% by the production of soybean meal and soybean oil, and 10% by dairy cattle breeding.
The sugar segment of the group in January-June 2022 showed an increase in revenue by 5% – up to EUR61.85 million due to an increase in prices for it by 23% – up to EUR613 per ton. During the reporting period, 121 thousand tons of sugar and sugar-containing products were produced, which is 6.2% less than in the first half of last year.
At the same time, the vast majority of sugar produced by Astarta (96%) was sold on the domestic market, and 4 thousand tons were exported (4%), while in the first half of last year all sugar was sold in Ukraine.
“Since Ukraine has removed export restrictions, and the EU has canceled import duties (for one year – IF-U), the total export of sugar from Ukraine reached 14 thousand tons in the first half of 2022. The share of Astarta in total sugar exports amounted to 30% The key buyers were the EU countries neighboring Ukraine and Moldova,” the manufacturer said in an exchange message.
Revenue generated by the agricultural segment of Astarta in January-June 2022 jumped 2.8 times compared to the same period in 2021, to EUR 76.9 million due to significant sales volumes and high prices for crops before the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. During this period, exports accounted for 79% of crop production segment revenue.
In January-June 2022, Agropromholding sold corn for EUR54.5 million (an increase of 2.3 times compared to the first half of 2021), wheat for EUR3.2 million (an increase of 2 times), sunflower for EUR18.1 million (an increase of 14 times) and rapeseed by EUR0.39 mln.
As of the date of this report, Astarta has completed the harvesting of winter crops; in total, 265 thousand tons of wheat and 19 thousand tons of rapeseed have been harvested. Due to less favorable weather conditions compared to the previous year, winter crop yields were lower: wheat – 4.8 tons/ha (17% less), rapeseed – 3.1 tons/ha (4% less).
The agro-industrial holding’s revenue in the soybean processing segment for the six months of this year increased by 18% to EUR52.7 million due to an increase in average prices for soybean meal to EUR480/ton (+7% compared to January-June 2021) and soybean oil to EUR1300/ ton (+38%). In total, Astarta produced 113 thousand tons of soybean meal (+18% compared to January-June 2021), 83 thousand tons of soybean meal (+17%) and 21 thousand tons of soybean oil (+17%).
The first two objects for which privatization auctions have been announced since the beginning of the war were the Marilovka and Kobylovolotsk distilleries of the Ukrspyrt State Enterprise in the Ternopil region, the State Property Fund reported on Monday evening.
According to it, auctions for the Kobylovolotsk plant will be held on September 19 with a starting price of UAH 25.2 million, for the Marilovka plant on September 20 at a starting price of UAH 54.3 million.
In total, in September it is planned to hold 8 auctions for the privatization of ready-made alcohol assets, as well as about 150 other objects – from movable and immovable property to non-operating plants, which will be put up before the end of 2022.
“Privatization auctions in September will be held according to new, improved procedures. Thanks to our joint work with people’s deputies and the government, colleagues from Prozorro. Sales, privatization will become an even more convenient tool for business development and will provide additional filling of the state budget in the conditions of martial law “, – the words of the acting are given in the message. head of the State Property Fund Olga Batova.
She recalled that due to legislative changes, the preparation and holding of auctions will take up to two months instead of six, payment will be made before the signing of the sale and purchase agreement to minimize risks, but new owners will receive all permits and licenses automatically.
The mobile operator “Vodafone Ukraine”, which is part of NEQSOL Holding (Azerbaijan), in January-June 2022 reached a revenue figure of UAH 9.916 billion, which is 3% more than in the same period of 2021 (9 .64 billion UAH) .
According to the operator’s financial report, its net profit for the specified period amounted to UAH 663 million (UAH 2.1 billion for the same period last year).
OIBDA exceeded UAH 5.76 billion. OIBDA margin increased by 2.1 p.p. up to 58.1%.
As emphasized in the message of the operator, emergency work on the network and its restoration, assistance to the country and customers, and mass migration of customers abroad have significantly affected the dynamics of key financial indicators.
The growth of part of the financial indicators in the first half of 2022 was achieved due to the successful results of the first two months of the year.
The operator’s capital investments in the first half of the year amounted to UAH 1.276 billion, which is 14% less compared to the same period last year.
“As of today, all elements of the core network are operating normally, Vodafone Ukraine has taken all the necessary steps to quickly switch to a backup scenario. The Vodafone Ukraine team is actively working to restore damage: about 87% of the network is working and this figure is growing “All critical elements of the technical and IT infrastructure have already been diversified. The approximate amount of asset losses is about UAH 806 million,” the company stressed.
Mass migration due to the war also significantly affected the size of the subscriber base – as of the end of July, the operator’s subscriber base amounted to 16.6 million customers, of which 1.76 million were forced to stay outside the country.
In addition, as of the end of July 2022, the company connected free services in the amount of UAH 270 million for 13 million customers in Ukraine. And abroad – in the amount of UAH 596 million for 1.5 million subscribers in 32 countries.
The operator also purchased 10 ambulances for the amount of UAH 23 million.
The volume of humanitarian and direct financial assistance of the company to the country is currently estimated at UAH 250 million.
In 2019, NEQSOL Holding, through Telco Solutions and Investments LLC, controlled by Bakcell, signed an agreement with MTS PJSC on the purchase of its telecommunications business in Ukraine. The deal for the purchase of Vodafone Ukraine was closed at the end of December 2019 with funding from J.P. Morgan and RBI, the price was $734 million, including a deferred payment of about $84 million.
The NEQSOL Holding group of companies, according to the release, has more than 25 years of experience in various industries and countries. Its activities cover oil and gas, telecommunications, construction and other high-tech industries in the UK, USA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, UAE, Bangladesh. The group entered the telecommunications industry in the early 2000s. The companies included in it provide mobile communication services, international transit and wholesale Internet sales, leased line services, data center services, etc.
Businessman Nasib Hasanov is the official founder and 100% owner of the NEQSOL Holding group, including Nobel Oil Services (UK) Limited, Nobel Oil E&P (UK) Limited (trade name Nobel Upstream), Bakcell LLC and Norm OJSC.
