President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said he wants the end of the war with Russia and spoke in favor of a diplomatic way to end it.
“I want to stop the war and end it. There is a diplomatic path, there is a military one. Any healthy person always chooses the diplomatic path, because he knows: even if it is difficult, it can stop the loss of thousands, tens of thousands, and with such neighbors hundreds of thousands, and maybe even millions of victims. I don’t want this. And any leader, whether he personally wants it or not, has no right to subjectively cancel the diplomatic path,” Zelensky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Saturday.
MHP Agroholding sold 159.02 thousand tons of chicken meat in January-March 2022, which is 3% more than in January-March 2021, while its sales in Ukraine decreased by 6% to 66.8 thousand tons , and exports increased by 9% – up to 89.34 thousand tons, the agricultural holding said on the London Stock Exchange on Friday.
According to its production report, the agrarian group produced 175.64 thousand tons of chicken meat during the reporting period (+5% compared to the first quarter of 2021). Thus, the agricultural holding managed to sell 90.5% of its products.
“From the start of the war, the company faced serious logistical and infrastructural problems in Ukraine. While MHP continued commercial sales in Ukraine from the start of the war, export sales stopped due to the closure of seaports, and export deliveries by road remained almost impossible,” clarified the chicken producer of the consequences of Russian aggression.
MHP also noted that it was forced to reduce the capacity utilization of poultry farming to 80-85% of the nominal in March due to reduced demand for chicken meat in Ukraine and logistical difficulties in exporting its products, due to which the agricultural holding is forced to look for alternative export routes.
In January-March 2022, the share of chicken exports reached 56% against 53% in the same period in 2021.
MHP in the report noted an increase in the price of chicken for the reporting period by an average of 28% compared to the first quarter of 2021 – up to $1.84/kg (excluding VAT), including in Ukraine up to $1.6/kg (+8%) , in export markets – up to $2.01/kg (+45%). The increase in prices was mainly due to a significant increase in prices for energy resources (mainly natural gas) and utilities.
Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agro-industrial groups, in the third quarter of the 2022 financial year (FY, January-March 2022), reduced sales of vegetable oil (sunflower and rapeseed) by 28% compared to the same period of the last FY – from 371, 9 thousand tons to 269.1 thousand tons, the total processing of oilseeds – by 38%, from 901.6 thousand tons to 562.8 thousand tons.
According to a report published on the company’s website on Friday night, the decline in production and sales of oilseeds and vegetable oil was caused by the blockade of Ukrainian seaports by warships of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, as a result of which the active harvesting, processing and export of grain and sunflower oil was stopped.
Similarly, in the nine months of FY2022 (July-2021 – March-2022), Kernel sold 906.3 thousand tons of sunflower and rapeseed oil (-17% compared to 9 months of FY2021) and processed 2.0 million tons of oilseeds ( -21%).
In the third quarter of FY2022, the group of companies reduced the volume of agricultural products supplied to its elevators by 53% compared to the third quarter of FY2021 – to 50.9 thousand tons, while in 9 months. 4.1 million tons of agricultural raw materials were delivered to elevators in FY 2022, which is 10% more than in 9 months. FY2021.
Kernel also noted with regret that due to the unprovoked military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, five of its employees were killed.
“Since the beginning of the war with Russia, more than 1,100 of our employees have been mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine or joined the terrorist defense units. Of these, 180 have been demobilized and returned to work. No significant damage has been caused to any of the most important objects or infrastructure of the group. Two oil extraction plants of the group are located in the temporarily occupied territory, and access to such facilities is limited,” the agricultural holding stated the results of the Russian military invasion.
The total export of agricultural crops by Kernel in the third quarter of FY2022 increased by 17% compared to the same period of the last fiscal year, to 2.1 million tons, while exports were carried out mainly in January and February and were almost completely absent in March. Over the reporting period, 77% of export deliveries were received from external suppliers, and the rest of the agricultural crop was grown by the Kernel agricultural holding.
Agropromgroup also clarified that in the third quarter of FY2022, the share of its exports in the total volume of grain crops exported from Ukraine amounted to 17%, and for 9 months of FY2022 – 24%.
According to Kernel, in the third quarter of FY2022, it transshipped 2.08 million tons (+1% compared to the same period in FY2021) of agricultural products through its own grain terminal Transbulkterminal (Chernomorsk, Odessa region) – and in nine months of FY2021 – 7.27 million tons (+15%). It is noted that in the third quarter of FY2022, the grain terminal worked exclusively in January and February, before the start of the war unleashed by Russia on February 24.
“The group is working on creating alternative export routes. Rail logistics to the EU countries is very difficult, with numerous bottlenecks that make it impossible to achieve any significant export volumes until supplies are resumed through the Ukrainian Black Sea ports,” – summed up the agrarian group in the message. Before the war, Kernel ranked first in the world in the production of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%), and was also the largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine. In addition, the company was engaged in the cultivation of other agricultural products and their sale.
The largest co-owner of Kernel through Namsen Ltd. is Ukrainian businessman Andrey Verevsky with a share of 39.28%.
The agricultural holding in the financial year 2021 (FY, July 2020 – June 2021), increased its net profit by 4.3 times compared to FY 2020 – up to $513 million, its EBITDA increased 2.1 times – up to $929 million, revenue – by 38%, to $5.65 billion.
The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine due to the war unleashed by Russia has reached 7.7 million compared to 854 thousand before the start of the war, as of April 21 this estimate was given by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR ), which as of April 6 estimated this figure at 7.1 million.
“The Russian Federation launched a military offensive against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. To date, more than 5 million refugees have left Ukraine, making this the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II. Another 7.7 million people have been displaced inside Ukraine,” it says in a report on his website.
UNHCR estimates that some 13 million people are stuck in affected areas or unable to leave due to heightened security risks, destruction of bridges and roads, and a lack of resources or information on where to find safety and shelter.
The organization notes that the delivery of vital aid remains challenging due to the lack of safe humanitarian access.
Citing UNICEF and WASH partners, UNHCR reports that 1.4 million people are currently without access to water in eastern Ukraine and that another 4.6 million people across Ukraine are at risk of losing such access. The organization also points to the persistence of the difficult situation in Kherson.
“UNHCR continues to call for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, respect for international humanitarian law, and neighboring countries to continue to keep their borders open to refugees,” the report emphasizes.
As Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on April 13, 1 million people have already registered as new IDPs as a result of the Russian invasion. The state announced that it would make monthly payments for registered IDPs in the amount of UAH 2,000 per adult and UAH 3,000 per child.
According to UNHCR data, as of 13:00 on April 22, a total of 5.16 million people left Ukraine since the beginning of the war (excluding the flow to enter), of which 2.88 million went to Poland, 838.86 thousand to Romania and Moldova. , Russia – 578.26 thousand, Hungary – 485.62 thousand, Slovakia – 352.29 thousand, Belarus – 23.9 thousand.
The UNHCR, referring to data from the State Border Service of April 22, also indicated that since February 28, the flow to enter Ukraine amounted to 1.12 million people, thus the total number of refugees is about 4 million.
Dynamics of changes in population of Ukraine from 1991-2022
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal invited the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the World Bank Group to join the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities.
“The head of the Ukrainian government spoke about the scale of destruction as a result of Russia’s criminal actions and expressed hope for the support of the International Finance Corporation in the issue of restoring the housing stock and social infrastructure,” the press service of the government said after a meeting between Shmyhal and the managing director and executive vice IFC President Makhtar Diop.
According to him, Ukraine plans to carry out the restoration on the principles of a green economy.
The prime minister also noted that he was counting on IFC assistance in financing the restoration of the transport infrastructure of Ukrainian cities, especially those most affected by the actions of the occupiers.
“We are interested in creating a financial platform for the IFC, which will finance more Ukrainian cities. Today, attracting foreign investment in the restoration of critical and social infrastructure is one of the most important issues on the agenda of Ukraine,” the head of government added.
In addition, Shmyhal focused on the need to extend public-private partnership projects after Ukraine’s victory. In particular, this concerns the implementation of concession projects at airports, railway stations, seaports, as well as public-private partnership projects in the road industry.
“The resilience of the people of Ukraine is outstanding. Consider IFC as a strong and strategic partner that will play its part in supporting the private sector,” Diop tweeted after the meeting.
