PJSC State Export-Import Bank (Ukreximbank, Kyiv) and McKinsey and Co. Ukraine LLC on December 16, 2019 signed an agreement on advising regarding the drafting of the bank’s development strategy for 2019-2023, according to information in the ProZorro e-procurement platform.
The price of the services, which according to the documentation must be provided before December 31, 2021, is EUR 960,000. The cost of advising services for developing the strategy, in particular, is EUR 84,000, and if the bank’s supervisory board approves the strategy developed by the company, the amount will increase by another EUR 120,000.
Ukreximbank, the sole owner of which is the state, was created in 1992. The net profit of the financial institution in January-September 2019 amounted to UAH 2.27 billion, which is 2.2 times more than in the same period in 2018 (UAH 706.24 million).
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1, 2019, the bank ranked third among 76 banks operating in the country in terms of total assets (UAH 205.439 billion).
Saga Development will build the Franklin Concept House premium class complex with commercial and office space located at 69, Honchara Street in Shevchenkivsky district of Kyiv. “This is the first residential complex in Kyiv with a five-star level of service. The building will feature exquisite architecture, innovative concierge service, developed internal infrastructure and a location in the city center,” the Saga Development press service said in a statement.
According to him, the apartments will be accompanied by round-the-clock service, including concierge services and a porter. In addition, the complex provides round-the-clock security and a video surveillance system with access to cameras from a mobile application.
The building will have from seven to 19 floors. The residential complex has 141 apartments, some of which include terraces. On the lower floors there will be commercial premises and offices. Infrastructure also provides parking for 37 cars.
According to LUN.ua website, the estimated commissioning dates are the fourth quarter of 2022.
The developers of the project are Saga Development in partnership with Perfect Group and Kyivproekt Development. The customer of the project is Concept-Plaza LLC, and the general contractor is Nika Ltd.
The Saga Development project portfolio includes 17 residential complexes at different stages of implementation: Rybalsky, Chicago Central House, San Francisco Creative House, New York Concept House, Bristol Comfort House, Einstain Concept House, Resident Concept House, Philadelphia Concept House, Happy House, (all based in Kyiv), Kandinsky Odessa Residence and Art Kvartal City Space (both are located in Odesa) and others.
EssilorLuxottica French-Italian holding, a large player on the global eye-glass, optic equipment market, could acquire Luxoptica, the largest Ukrainian eye-glass network with 176 shops, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has reported. The committee said that the committee on Thursday will discuss the provision of a permit to Essilor Nederland Holding B.V. (the Netherlands), fully owned by EssilorLuxottica, to acquire over 50% in International Optical House Holding B.V. (the Netherlands), which holds 100% of Luxoptica Holding LLC (Kyiv).
According to the unified public register of legal entities and private entrepreneurs, the ultimate beneficiaries of Luxoptica Holding are Nadia Shalomova, wife of businessman and former head of the presidential administration of Ukraine Borys Lozhkin, and co-owner of the Dobrobut medical network Oleh Kalashnikov.
Luxoptica was not immediately available for comment.
EssilorLuxottica is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of ophthalmic lenses, frames and sunglasses.
EssilorLuxottica supplies its products to a wide network with more than 10,000 stores, and also sells its products in line with the omnichannel sales model.
In particular, the company is known for such brands of glasses as Ray-Ban and Oakley, optical technologies Varilux and Transitions and ophthalmic retail chains Sunglass Hut and Lenscrafters.
The French Essilor acquired the Italian company Luxottica Group in 2017 for EUR 22.8 billion, creating the largest European lenses manufacturer as a result of the transaction.
The shareholders of Ukrainian Insurance Group on December 19 approved an agreement to merge Globus Insurance Company with Ukrainian Insurance Group (both based in Kyiv), the insurer has reported in the public information base of the National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market. It was also decided to issue shares to convert the shares of Globus: 694,001 common registered shares with a nominal value of UAH 100 per share in the amount totaling UAH 69.400 million.
As reported, Ukrainian Insurance Group and Globus are part of Vienna Insurance Group, one of the largest insurance groups in Central and Eastern Europe.
Ukrainian Insurance Group has been operating in the Ukrainian market of conventional insurance since 2000. Globus insurance company with additional liability was founded in 1994. Both companies specialize in risk insurance.
In addition to these two companies, the Vienna Insurance Group in Ukraine also includes Kniazha Vienna Insurance Group and Kniazha Life Vienna Insurance Group.
Some 2.5 million tourists visited Lviv in 2019, which is 10% less than last year, the Tourism Department of Lviv City Council has reported. “Some 2.5 million tourists visited Lviv in 2019 and 37% of them were Ukrainian citizens,” reads the statement.
According to the Tourism Department, this figure is 10% lower than in 2018. However, the number of tourists from Poland who visited Lviv in 2019 increased by 2%, to 18.3%. Some 6.6% were tourists from Belarus, 6.2% – from Turkey, 5.4% – from Germany and 3% – from the UK.
Around 46% tourists traveled to Lviv by train, 30.8% – by airplane, 11.8% – by car and 11.6% – by bus.
“A tourist stayed in Lviv on the average for 3.8 days and spent around EUR 94 per day,” reads the statement.
Ukraine would receive income of $15 billion in five years of transit of Russian natural gas, according to Minister of Energy and Environment Protection of Ukraine Oleksiy Orzhel. “The approximate income with which Ukraine left this meeting [the meeting in Minsk on December 20, following which Ukraine-Russia-EC signed an intergovernmental protocol], is more than $3 billion for arbitration and approximately $3 billion for transit each year during five years,” the minister wrote in his column for the Ekonomichna Pravda (Economic Truth) publication on Tuesday.
“Thus, in five-year outlook, we will receive about $18 billion, of which $3 billion is ‘natural’ money – before the New Year. And this is without any enslaving conditions regarding the purchase of Russian gas,” Orzhel said.
At the same time, he said that at the meeting in Minsk the parties made significant progress, however, at present, the risk of not signing the new contract still exists.
“The protocol is not an agreement yet. In the last week of December, our companies will draft the text. But until the agreement itself has been signed, there is no transit. Can the other side change its mind at the last moment? Yes. Are we ready for this? Yes. But if this happens, Gazprom will suffer all image losses,” the minister added.
