Kobzarenko Plant LLC, one of Ukraine’s leading agricultural machinery manufacturers, has exported its products to South America, in particular to Uruguay, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
“The first export to Uruguay. Two PT-18 baler trucks are heading to a new dealer in the port of Montevideo to serve our customers in South America,” the statement said.
The company assured that it will continue to open new borders and expand opportunities.
“Kobzarenko Plant was founded in 1993 as the Ukrainian-German company Fliegel (renamed Kobzarenko Plant in 2008). The company began its operations with the production of wheelbarrows and carts for households. Today it is a leading Ukrainian manufacturer of tractor trailers, bins, tanks, fertilizer spreaders, etc. As of 2018, the plant employed 700 people.
It has two production workshops and warehouse complexes in Sumy region, as well as a plant in Poland, Kobzarenko Sp. z.o.o., which produces machinery and operates as a service center for launching, maintaining, and adjusting machinery in Europe and Poland.
Kobzarenko Plant LLC exports machinery to 34 countries and has an extensive dealer network. It sells machinery steadily in all European countries. After the outbreak of a full-scale war, the company withdrew from the markets of Russia and Belarus.
In 2024, TAS Insurance Group (Kyiv) collected UAH 4881.3 million in insurance premiums, which is 37.9% more than in 2023.
According to the insurer’s website, motor hull insurance premiums in 2024 amounted to 17.7% of the total, or UAH 864.4 million, which is 19.5% more than in 2023; motor third party liability insurance premiums – 32.13%, or UAH 1568.3 million, which is 36.4% more, and Green Card premiums – 28.6%, or UAH 1395.98 million (+62.9%).
Under voluntary health insurance contracts, TAS Group collected UAH 511.78 million in premiums, which is 32.3% more than in the same period last year and equals 10.48% of the total premiums.
Under property insurance contracts, the company collected UAH 103.88 million of insurance premiums, an increase of 23.1%.
Under other insurance contracts, the company collected UAH 436.93 million in payments (+29%).
Earlier it was reported that in 2024, TAS Insurance Group paid UAH 1.975 billion under the concluded insurance contracts, which is 47.3% more than the amount of the company’s indemnities for 2023.
More than a quarter of the total volume of payments, or 27.3%, accounted for hull insurance – UAH 540 million, which is 34.1% higher than the corresponding figure for the previous year, for MTPL – 32.5%, or UAH 642.3 million (+30.7%), for Green Card – 21.8%, or UAH 430.8 million (+81%).
The share of VHI in the group’s claims portfolio amounted to 14.9%, or UAH 293.6 million (+74.5%) in 2024.
Under property insurance contracts, TAS Group paid UAH 12.92 million (+20.5%) in the reporting period. Other insurance contracts paid UAH 55.7 million (+84.4%).
TAS Insurance Group was registered in 1998. It is a universal company offering more than 80 types of insurance products in various types of voluntary and compulsory insurance. It has an extensive regional network: 28 regional directorates and branches and 450 sales offices throughout Ukraine.
The Supervisory Board of PZU SA on January 27 dismissed Artur Olech from the company’s Management Board, the company announced on its website.
Also, at the same time, a resolution was passed to delegate Andrzej Klesik, a member of the Supervisory Board of PZU SA, to temporarily act as president of the Management Board of PZU SA until the appointment of the president of the Management Board of PZU SA, but for a period not exceeding three months.
Both decrees entered into force upon adoption, the report emphasized.
According to the report, Andrzej Klesik is a graduate of the Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Social Sciences, (specializing in economics), and Harvard Business School, where he received an MBA degree. In addition, he has attended numerous training courses abroad related to the financial sector and management, including global training for partners and managing directors of The Boston Consulting Group. He has significant consulting experience in the financial and insurance sectors.
In particular, he has served as President of the Board of Inteligo Financial Services SA., Managing Director of The Boston Consulting Group in Warsaw, Member of the Board of Management of Bankgesellschaft Berlin Polska, President of the Board of Management of PZU SA, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee at NKBM Maribor, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Best SA., led the first wave of restructuring of Ethnika, the largest insurance company in Greece, and since 2020 he is Managing Partner at Cornestone Partners, where he is responsible for several portfolio companies.
He also led the IPO of PZU, the largest IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange at the time.
PZU Group is one of the largest financial institutions in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. The Group is led by Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń SA (PZU), a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW). The beginning of PZU brand traditions is considered to be 1803, when the first insurance company in Poland was founded.
In Ukraine it is represented by insurance companies “PZU Ukraine” and “PZU Ukraine Life Insurance”.
Centravis Production Ukraine (Nikopol, Dnipropetrovska oblast, Ukraine), a part of Centravis Ltd. holding, increased production of seamless stainless pipes by 12.6% in 2024 compared to 2023, to 13.7 thousand tons.
This is almost the same growth rate as in 2023, when the company increased production by 12%, Centravis CEO Yuriy Atanasov said during an online press conference on Tuesday. Centravis exported almost all of its products, with exports totaling 13.7 thousand tons.
“Nikopol district is a unique city. It has difficult working and living conditions. And 2024 was another year of escalating hostilities. A huge number of drones are killing our city, targeting the infrastructure to cut off water and electricity. Our constant priority is to resume work after each attack,” said Atanasov.
At the same time, the CEO drew attention to the inadequate response to the situation at the enterprise: “There are a lot of promises, but no concrete actions. There are no decisions on lending to the company, no one is going to provide a commodity loan.”
“The second issue is booking. No one comes to Nikopol. We have constant demands for mobilization, but 50% booking is not enough. And the last problem is litigation with the authorities, with the tax office, regarding VAT refunds. There are court decisions that the government does not enforce, the state ignores the decisions. There are only promises,” the CEO stated.
He clarified that the company cannot refund more than EUR 6 million of VAT to finance its operations. “At the same time, we increase our production by about 10% annually. And we not only survive in such difficult conditions, but also advance our strategic projects.
The company plans to increase production to 15 thousand tons in 2025.
Centravis CFO Alexander Joseph said that the company invested EUR 3 million in production in 2023, EUR 2 million in 2022, and plans to invest EUR 4 million in 2025.
According to the information note, the top 5 countries consuming Ukrainian seamless pipes made by Centravis are Germany, the United States, Italy, Austria, and Spain. In total, Centravis exported its products to 39 countries, including Oman, South Korea, Australia, Uruguay, etc.
“It takes a lot of work to achieve a positive result, and even more to maintain the growth rate for the second year in a row, especially in such a difficult time as now and not far from the front line. But our team gives 100% and even more. That is why we have such results and continue to grow,” said Centravis CEO.
According to him, in addition to quantitative indicators, the company managed to make many qualitative changes and implement interesting and notable projects last year. In particular, Centravis produced 28 tons of pipes by special order for SpaceX. The company also received an order for seamless pipes for a new hydrogen production plant in Ulsan, South Korea. The company continued cooperation with Ferrari, a sports car manufacturer, and completed several large orders for the US market.
Traditionally, Centravis represented the Ukrainian industry with its own exposition at the international exhibition Adipec in Abu Dhabi.
“We are not resting on our laurels. Our medium-term priorities include increasing the share of innovative products in our portfolio, i.e. those that would be protected by intellectual property rights and effectively solve our customers’ problems. We will continue to work and do our best to help the country survive and preserve opportunities for post-war development,” Atanasov said.
Last year, Centravis paid UAH 564.7 million in taxes and duties, or UAH 16 million more than in the previous year.
As reported, in 2023, Centravis increased its production by 12% to 12.2 thousand tons. More than 98% of its products are exported.
Currently, Centravis is one of the world’s ten largest producers of seamless stainless steel pipes.
“Founded in 2000, Centravis is one of the world’s ten largest producers of seamless stainless steel pipes. Its main production facilities are located in Nikopol (Dnipropetrovska oblast). In 2023, the company opened a branch in Uzhhorod.
Centravis Holding Ltd. was established on the basis of Nikopol Stainless Pipe Plant CJSC, service and trading companies of Production and Commercial Enterprise YUVIS LLC. Its shareholders are members of the Atanasov family. Centravis Ltd. owns 100% of the shares in Centravis Production Ukraine.
The Ukrainian labor market remained uneven in 2024, but exactly one third of vacancies (33.33%) were job offers in the capital and Kyiv region, according to a study on the results of the labor market in Ukraine on the job portal Work.ua.
According to the published data, 8% of all job offers included work in Lviv and Dnipropetrovs’k regions, as well as remote work.
Among the companies, the largest number of vacancies in 2024 was posted by Fora retail chain – more than 3.96 thousand job offers. The second place is occupied by Aurora multimarket chain (3.5 thousand), and the third place is occupied by ATB retail chain (almost 3.49 thousand vacancies).
The top 5 in terms of the number of vacancies is closed by the Silpo supermarket chain (3.2 thousand job offers) and the Nova Poshta company (3.15 thousand vacancies).
Next in terms of the number of vacancies are Eva chain of stores, PrivatBank, ANC Pharmacy, Novus retail chain, MHP, Ukrposhta, Prostor chain of stores, Imperia HR, RetailGroup, Dnipro-M chain of construction tools and equipment stores, OKKO chain of gas stations, Podorozhnyk pharmacy, WOG chain of gas stations, DTEK, and 911 Pharmacy.
The record for the number of responses per day was the Front-End Developer vacancy, for which the employer received 555 responses.
As for the categories in which job seekers were most interested, more than half (53%) of the responses were received from seven categories: sales, purchasing; IT, computers, Internet; administration, middle management; marketing, advertising, PR; secretarial, clerical, and general administration; service sector; and retail.
The highest paid vacancy was for a realtor specializing in luxury real estate abroad: the employer offered from UAH 450 thousand to UAH 650 thousand per month, the candidate was expected to have a university degree in real estate, business or marketing, five years of experience in the luxury real estate segment, excellent knowledge of the international market and fluency in English.
Up to UAH 600 thousand was offered to a specialist for the position of Senior Smart Contract Engineer. The employer was looking for a candidate with four years of experience in software development, at least two years of experience with blockchain projects, as well as critical thinking and an inquisitive mind.
Among the top jobs in terms of salary, there were two offers for media buyers. Here, the requirements are more loyal: from six months to one year of experience with Facebook Ads. Also, more than UAH 500 thousand was offered for Blockchain Developer, Full-stack developer, and Head of Security.
On Tuesday, in an extraordinary address to the nation, Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic announced his decision to resign and called on everyone to calm down their passions and return to dialogue.
“Taking into account recent events, I have decided to resign. I have already informed President Aleksandar Vucic about this, and he agreed with my decision and took into account my arguments,” he said on the Serbian RTS TV and radio channel.
Vucevic attributed the decision to the student protests, which were joined by citizens. On Tuesday morning, a protest in Belgrade ended, during which students blocked one of the most important traffic intersections in the southern part of Belgrade for a day.
The reason for the protests was the tragic event in Novi Sad, where 15 people died in early November as a result of the collapse of a part of the roof at the railway station. This generated a stream of criticism against both the local authorities and the central government in Belgrade. They are not only related to the incident, but also to social issues – in particular, there were calls for a general strike and a blockade of government institutions.
The mayor of Novi Sad, Milan Djurić, will also resign, Vučević announced. He said that politicians must take responsibility and show that they are ready to calm the tension in society.
Amid the protests, Serbian President Vucic asked the opposition to demand a so-called consultative referendum to determine what support he has among citizens.
