Yuria-Pharm, one of Ukraine’s leading pharmaceutical companies, has acquired the pharmaceutical company Reka-Med in Uzbekistan, using EUR10 million in financing from an existing loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) after it changed its purpose.
“The EBRD loan will allow Yuria-Fram, which exports 30% of its products (of which 15% are to Uzbekistan), to produce pharmaceutical products locally for the Uzbek market and free up about 10% of its capacity in Ukraine to produce products more critical to the domestic market,” the EBRD said in a Thursday press release.
It noted that buying the Uzbek company to switch to local production was the best strategic response to Russia’s unleashed war in Ukraine, which has made exports more difficult and costly.
“This agreement will improve the availability and affordability of drugs in Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It will also improve Yuria-Pharm’s profitability and allow it to diversify its production risks by locating production outside Ukraine,” EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Matteo Patrone said in a statement.
Purchase of assets abroad and entering the international level of activity will make “Yuria-Pharm” more competitive, the banker concluded.
The EBRD recalled that Yuria-Pharm’s main operating company, Yuria-Pharm LLC, which produces drugs and medical devices, signed an initial loan agreement with the EBRD in May 2019. The document provided for the company to receive EUR25 million financing in two tranches: the first reserved tranche of EUR15 million was for upgrading packaging lines, launching the production of a cancer drug in affordable individual doses and implementing energy efficiency measures, while the second, unreserved tranche of EUR10 million was for production improvements. It was this tranche that, once reserved and reassigned, was used to acquire Réka-Med.
The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Ukraine. The bank promised to invest at least EUR3 billion in the real sector of the Ukrainian economy in 2022-23. In 2022, the EBRD invested EUR 1.7 billion, with another EUR 200 million mobilized from partner financial institutions. The loan to Yuria-Pharm is backed by a EUR2.5 million first-loss guarantee from the EBRD’s Special Crisis Response Fund.
According to the EBRD, Yuria-Pharm is among the top five pharmaceutical producers in Ukraine and sells its products all over Ukraine and exports to more than 40 countries.
In 2021, the company increased its net profit by 30.2% to UAH 883.5 million while revenues increased by 36.1% to UAH 4 billion 562.9 million.
Yuria-Pharm LLC was founded in 1998; its statutory fund is UAH 44.1 mln. The final beneficiaries with equal shares are Natalia Derkach and Nikolai Gumenyuk.
Reka-Med Farm LLC (Tashkent) was commissioned in 2006 as a joint Uzbek-Russian-British venture. According to the information on its website, it produces infusion intravenous drugs. Now the company has one line, the maximum average annual capacity of which is 18.15 million vials
JSC Kyivmedpreparat (Kyiv) posted a net loss of UAH 213.825 million in 2022 after seeing a net income of UAH 30 million in 2021.
According to the company in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the shareholders will consider the results of its work at a remote meeting scheduled for April 26.
The manufacturer of antibiotics Kyivmedpreparat together with JSC Galychpharm are the main manufacturers of Arterium products (Kyiv).
Poznyaki-Zhyl-Bud PJSC (Kyiv) made net profit amounting to UAH 5.9 mln according to the results of 2022, while 2021 ended with a loss of UAH 6.5 mln.
According to the company announcement in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (SSMSC) about the annual general meeting of shareholders on April 28, the net profit per share last year was UAH 1.68 ths.
Poznyaki-Zhyl-Bud’s uncovered loss in 2022 decreased by 25% compared to 2021, to UAH 17.6 mln. Total accounts receivable increased by 36.8% to UAH 642.1 mln.
Last year current liabilities of PJSC increased by 24.6% up to 2.24 billion UAH, and long-term liabilities decreased to 5.6 billion UAH.
In general, the value of assets of Poznyaki-Zhyl-Bud in 2022 increased by 11% to more than 2.23 billion hryvnias.
According to the agenda of the meeting, the shareholders intend not to distribute dividends for 2022 and also elect new members of the supervisory board for three years.
In 2023 the company plans to continue the organization of residential, hotel, office complexes construction in Kiev, including residential complex with non-residential premises and underground parking in 12, John Paul II Str., and multifunctional complex in 7-9, Lesya Ukrainka Str. in Pecherskiy district of the capital.
According to the data of the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market, as for the fourth quarter of 2022 the shareholder of “Poznyaki Zhil-Bud” is Ruzanna Kagramanian (100%).
Poznyaki-Zhil-Bud PJSC was founded in 2002, specializing in construction of elite residential real estate, commercial real estate and social infrastructure objects.
According to the company web-site, its portfolio of completed construction projects includes residential and office complexes over 1 million sq.m.
Poznyaki Zhil-Bud Corporation since December 2015 is a part of investment and development group of companies Taryan Group (Kiev), founded in 2011 by ex-president of Poznyaki Zhil-Bud PJSC Arthur Mkhitaryan.
2022-2024 goods trade balance forecast (USD bln)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The U.S. economy will enter recession in the coming months, Jeff Gundlach, head of investment company DoubleLine Capital, said on CNBC.
According to Gundlach, only a rise in unemployment is needed for a recession to begin under current conditions. The Federal Reserve (Fed) will need to take “very decisive” action, he believes, and expects the regulator to lower interest rates this year.
Since March 3, the two-year U.S. Treasury yield has fallen about 100 basis points to 4.078%. Until it recovers, the Fed won’t raise rates, Gundlach believes.
The Fed has been tightening monetary policy throughout the year. As Bloomberg notes, this forces investors to reallocate capital in favor of cash and instruments with yields higher than deposit rates, including Treasury bills and units of money market funds.
Reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a four-year $15.6 billion EFF program allows us to talk about solving the problem of financing the state budget deficit 2023 and the possibility to more actively seek funds for reconstruction, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.
“We are also actively working to find funds for the recovery, and that will be the main focus and priority of our activities right now,” he said on Wednesday’s national telethon.
Marchenko said the EFF program is an anchor program, allowing donor support to come together. “If all those commitments made by the G7 countries are fulfilled, we can close the state budget deficit for 2023,” stated the head of the Ministry of Finance.
Talking about attraction of funds for reconstruction, the Minister noted that this year Ukraine will not be able to spend more than $14 billion, “these are the figures that have been agreed upon by the World Bank experts together with the relevant authorities: the Ministry of Reconstruction and other ministries.
According to him, the Russian frozen assets will not help in solving this problem this year, and the Ministry of Finance will try to seek funds on its own.
“We in pre-war times did not master any more than we are now proposing. We have a war going on right now, not always a business that does renovations, repairs, is willing to work with a country that’s at war. Therefore, after the war there will be a completely different reality and other opportunities, including the involvement of private investment and business in the reconstruction of Ukraine, “- Marchenko commented on the recently voiced general assessment of Ukraine’s needs for reconstruction in $411 billion and the need for 2023.
The Minister believes that the post-war capacity increase is not a difficult task.
As reported, the Ukrainian government, the World Bank Group, the European Commission and the United Nations recently raised Ukraine’s recovery needs estimate to $411 billion as of February 24, 2023 from $349 billion as of June 1, 2022.
RDNA2 estimates that Ukraine will require $14 billion in investment in 2023 for priority recovery and reconstruction.
The need to finance the state budget deficit in 2023 is estimated at a minimum of $38 billion.
