The Steering Board of the Ukraine Investment Framework, set up by the EU on April 17 under the Ukraine Facility instrument, has allocated more than EUR1bn of funding to de-risk investments, mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine, through International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and banks, Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Oleksiy Sobolev said.
“That is, this year, financing for SME development will be enough,” he said at Ukraine’s Future Summit in Brussels on April 18.
Sobolev called for more active trade and joint ventures with Ukrainian companies, because the above mechanism will provide leverage and additional guarantees.
“Thanks to the Ukraine Plan and Ukraine Facility, you will have available financing for business expansion in Ukraine, and what we need right now will be available. This year it will be available through Ukrainian banks and through MFIs: EBRD, EIB, IFC, KfW”, – said the Deputy Minister of Economy.
He specified that about 20 Ukrainian banks participate in these programs.
“So, in fact, you can apply to your Ukrainian bank, and he will provide additional financing to your companies,” – explained Sobolev.
Olesya Olenytska has been appointed Director of Corporate Communications at Kyivstar, a Ukrainian telecommunications operator. She will be responsible for the entire range of internal and external corporate communications, media relations, and corporate social responsibility.
“Kyivstar is not only a successful and responsible business, but also a part of the critical infrastructure that provides vital communications to millions of Ukrainians at the front and in the rear, implements large-scale projects to support the Armed Forces, is a major taxpayer and a significant investor in the Ukrainian economy. The speed, resilience, and energy independence of telecommunications networks, along with data protection, are the main challenges for the industry during the war. At the same time, communications in a period of permanent crisis are of utmost importance. It is not just about information and technology. It is about people. After all, people are the backbone of every business. Therefore, one of the main tasks of our team will be not only to ensure effective reputation management, but also to unite people around common values, inspire new achievements, provide emotional support, and engage in community projects to help society and Ukraine,” Olesya Olenytska comments.
Olesya has extensive experience in retail, tobacco, public sector and journalism. She started her career in the media, worked in the press service of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine and as a press secretary of a parliamentary group in the Verkhovna Rada. She holds the rank of civil servant.
For about ten years, Olesya Olenytska worked at Philip Morris Ukraine, where she rose from a specialist to head of communications and charity. In 2014, Olesia became the Head of Corporate Communications and Social Responsibility at METRO Ukraine, a German retailer, where she became the Director of Government Relations and Public Affairs in 2016.
Olesia graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a Master’s degree in Journalism with honors. She studied in graduate school and taught journalism at her alma mater. She also graduated from the Law Faculty of the National Academy of Management of Ukraine and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
About Kyivstar:
Kyivstar is Ukraine’s largest electronic communications operator, which as of December 2023 served about 24 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc. Kyivstar is developing new telecom technologies in Ukraine and plans to invest USD 600 million in this area over the next three years. The company is helping the country overcome the challenges of wartime and has allocated over UAH 1.8 billion over the past two years to support the Armed Forces, subscribers, local communities, and charitable initiatives. The sole shareholder of Kyivstar is the international VEON Group, headquartered in the Netherlands. The Group’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam) stock exchanges. Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for over 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.
For more information: pr@kyivstar.net, www.kyivstar.ua
In 2023, Astarta agricultural holding increased the number of cattle at its three dairy farms by 10% year-on-year to 26 thousand heads, of which 47% were dairy herds, the company said in its annual report on Wednesday evening.
According to the document, cattle milk yields increased by 9% compared to the same period last year and reached 25.8 kg/day. This, together with a 3% increase in the number of cows in the herd compared to last year, led to a 12% increase in milk production compared to the same period last year and amounted to 115 thousand tons.
In addition, in 2023, the agricultural holding increased sales of raw milk by 13% year-on-year to 111 thousand tons, of which 96% was of high quality (94% a year earlier).
Astarta sold all of its milk domestically. The agricultural holding supplies top quality raw milk to Ukraine’s leading large dairy processors, including Lustdorf, Yagotynsky Butter Plant and others.
The average selling price of raw milk increased by 10% year-on-year to UAH 14 thousand. In euros, the selling price decreased by 4% year-on-year to 352 EUR/t in 2023 amid inflation and exchange rate changes.
According to the report, Astarta operates 33 dairy farms in three regions of Ukraine and specializes in the production of raw milk for further sale to processing companies.
The agricultural holding has a calf breeding complex to meet its own needs, which was opened in 2012 and produces about 5,000 heads of highly productive calves annually.
As reported, in 2023, Astarta reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million. Last year, the agricultural holding’s revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million, gross profit by 7.8% to EUR 223.59 million, while operating profit decreased by 12.2% to EUR 95.78 million.
State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) earned UAH 6 billion in net profit in 2023, which is UAH 1.25 billion more than the previously announced preliminary data and 9.4 times higher than the financial result of 2022 (UAH 0.638 billion), the financial institution said on Friday.
“Based on the results of annual adjustments, the bank’s financial result reached almost UAH 6 billion, a record level for the entire period of its operation. (…) Thanks to this, Oschadbank has risen to the second place in the rating of profitability of Ukrainian banking institutions (according to the NBU),” the press release said.
Thus, Oschad beat Raiffeisen Bank, Sens Bank, and state-owned Ukreximbank, which, according to preliminary data, ended last year with a net profit of UAH 5.22 billion.
It is noted that the Management Board and Supervisory Board of Oschad approved the final results of the year 2023 based on the audit reports and unqualified opinion.
“The past year of 2023 was the eighth consecutive year during which the bank demonstrated profitable operations,” the press service of the financial institution emphasized.
It is also noted that in the first quarter of this year, Oschad earned UAH 4.9 billion in net profit, which is more than twice the result for the first quarter of last year.
“This is largely due to an increase in operating income, which increased by UAH 0.9 billion, or 14%, as well as a positive result of the revaluation of government bonds with an indexed value of UAH 1.2 billion,” the state bank explained.
Oschad added that an additional factor in this result is a balanced approach to optimizing operating costs, an effective risk management policy and the formation of the active part of the balance sheet “taking into account the realities and needs of the wartime economy.”
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as of February 1 this year, Oschadbank ranked second in terms of total assets (UAH 369.56 billion) among 63 banks operating in the country.
Metinvest Group’s KAMETSTAL plant, which was set up at the facilities of Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMK, Kamenskoye, Dnipro Oblast), continues to master the casting of continuous billets of improved quality using continuous casting machine (CCM) No. 1.
According to the press release, the new stop-casting technology is characterized by the fact that the steel jet between the ladle and the crystallizer is protected by a dipping glass. This protects the hot metal from secondary oxidation, which adversely affects its macrostructure, and gives the billet the improved quality required by customers for some special orders.
The new technology also makes it possible to partially replace the product mix of CCM No. 2 and thus reduce the cost of additional rolls at the pipe billeting mill.
Last year, at the first stage, KAMETSTAL successfully mastered the production of continuously cast billets with a cross-section of 160×160 mm with increased requirements for chemical composition and macrostructure from St3ps/sp, C72D2, C80D2, 70, Sh2, and S355 steels. These steel grades were chosen as pilot grades in the project due to their special demand from the company’s key customers and the program for the development of new products.
“Currently, the most experienced steelmakers, repairmen, and technical management specialists involved in this large-scale project have focused on mastering the production of 200×200 mm longitudinal bar sections made of C72D2, C80D2, C50, S60, S60, S30 steel grades,” the company says.
The top priorities include improving the skills gained, selecting the best materials and refractories, and increasing production. First of all, practical tests are used to select the best granulated slag mixtures that ensure lubrication of the walls of the crystallizers and avoid secondary metal oxidation. Work is also underway to improve the durability of the submersible glasses.
Successful development of the continuous casting locking technology provides additional prospects for expanding the steel product mix. Last year, the steelmakers produced and shipped 2,218 tons of HLD-160 and 3,042 tons of HLD-200 of improved quality to Ukrainian and foreign customers.
“In 2024, we already have a program to fulfill such orders, which will increase the production of billets using the new technology and at the same time expand its product mix. These are high-margin products, which makes it possible to increase the efficiency of the shop and the enterprise as a whole,” the press release says.
“Kametstal was established on the basis of Dnipro Coke Plant (DKKhZ) and Centralized Steel Mill of Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMK).
According to the 2020 report of Metinvest Group’s parent company, Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) owned 100% of the shares in DCCP.
In 2023, Astarta Agricultural Holding produced 39 thousand tons of sugar beet, up 20% year-on-year, thanks to a record yield of 58 tons/ha compared to 56 tons/ha in 2022, the company said in its annual report on Wednesday evening.
According to the agricultural holding, the record high sugar beet harvest extended the processing period until the end of January 2024. In total, the sugar production campaign in 2023 lasted 130 days, compared to 111 days a year earlier.
“In the 2023-2024 marketing year, Astarta increased sugar production by 34% year-on-year to 377 thousand tons. At the same time, the volume of sugar beet processing in 2023 increased by 37% compared to the same period last year and reached 2.7 million tons. The market share remained unchanged at 21% in 2023, the document says.
The agroholding has engaged more than 100 independent sugar beet producers in eight regions of Ukraine to supply its sugar factories with raw materials. In 2023, they increased the supply of raw materials to 26% of the total volume of this crop processed by the company (18% a year earlier) – up to 707 thousand tons of the crop.
Astarta’s share in Ukraine’s total sugar exports amounted to 12%, or about 50 thousand tons in 2023. Italy and Romania became the key export destinations for the agricultural holding, accounting for 29% and 25% of the company’s exports, respectively. Hungary, Spain and Bulgaria were also among the top five buyers of Astarta’s sugar.
99% of Astarta’s sugar was exported by land, mainly by road (67%) and rail.
Half of the sugar produced was supplied to processing companies, primarily in the food industry, including confectionery, bakery and beverage production.
Astarta also produces by-products such as pressed pulp, dry granulated pulp and molasses from its sugar beet processing and sells them domestically as ingredients for animal feed production for use in its own livestock farming or for biogas production.
The volumes of by-products produced depend on the amount of sugar beet processed, so in 2023 their production volumes increased significantly, the agricultural holding explained. The production of molasses increased by 1.5 times to 98 thousand tons, and pressed pulp – to 1.7 million tons against 1.5 million tons in 2022. Production of granulated beet pulp amounted to 28 thousand tons.
In 2023, Astarta’s bioenergy complex used 145 thousand tons, or 9% of the produced pressed pulp, to produce biogas for its facilities. In addition, 223 tons (approximately 1%) of the produced granulated sugar beet pulp was used as alternative energy at one of the agricultural holding’s sugar plants.
Sugar sales volumes increased by 26% year-on-year to 284 thousand tons in 2023, while the average selling price increased by 3% to EUR 665/ton. Realized prices increased by 18% year-on-year to 26 thousand UAH/ton (excluding VAT).
