Since the beginning of the 2024/25 season, sugar factories-members of the National Association of Sugar Producers Ukrtsukor have produced 1.165 million tons of sugar as of November 21, the association’s press service reports.
“Ukrainian sugar factories have already accepted 9 million tons of sugar beet for processing, from which they produced 1.165 million tons of sugar, which is almost equal to the same date last year,” the statement said.
The industry association noted that in the season 2024/2025 MY sugar beet processing in Ukraine is carried out by 29 sugar factories, 28 of which are members of the association.
At the same time, Ukraine has almost completed the harvesting of sugar beet, which was harvested in the amount of 11.9 million tons from an area of 251.2 thousand hectares with an average yield of 47.6 tons per hectare.
As reported by Interfax-Ukraine, citing data from the Ukrtsukor association, 37 sugar factories operated in Ukraine in 2023. One plant in Kharkiv region, which is located in the de-occupied territory, was not ready to enter the processing season, as farmers in the region did not sow sugar beets.
On December 10, 2024, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group plans to consider a EUR55 million loan to Concern Galnaftogaz to finance the construction of a 147 MW wind farm in Volyn region and technical support.
According to the IFC website, the total cost of the project is estimated at EUR 235 million. The 16-year loan will be granted to Wind Power G.I. Volyn LLC and Wind Power G.I. Volyn 3 LLC.
As reported earlier, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to approve a EUR62 million long-term loan to the above-mentioned LLC on 4 December 2024 for the construction of a 147 MW wind farm in Volyn region.
The wind farm is expected to produce about 380 GWh (380 million kWh) of renewable electricity with zero carbon emissions annually.
In February 2024, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) allowed GNG Retail Limited (Cyprus) to acquire more than 50% of the authorized capital of Wind Power G&I Volyn LLC and Wind Power G&I Volyn 3 LLC.
According to public registers, GNG Retail Limited owns 89.5% of the two LLCs, and JSC ZNVKIF Rimini (in which Vitaliy Antonov owns 83.19%) owns 10.5%.
OKKO CEO Vasyl Danyliak announced the start of work on the construction of a wind farm in Volyn region in the fall of 2024. He explained the group’s plans to work in the renewable energy sector by the need to diversify its business, as the fuel market no longer foresees growth.
“Galnaftogaz operates one of the largest networks of OKKO filling stations, which includes more than 400 complexes with a network of catering facilities. The group also includes other businesses.
Vitaly Antonov’s GNG Retail Limited owns 90.25% of Concern Galnaftogaz shares. In October 2024, Avalia Investments Limited (Cyprus) of the founder and chairman of Concorde Capital, Igor Mazepa, became the owner of another 7.35% of the shares.
State-owned Ukreximbank has raised the interest rate on its Eurobonds due November 14, 2029 from November 14, 2024 to 10.45% per annum, according to a stock exchange announcement by the issuer of these Eurobonds, Biz Finance Plc, on Wednesday.
According to it, the interest rate on the loan provided to the bank through the issuance of these Eurobonds has been raised to 11% per annum.
As reported, in November 2019, the bank, through Biz Finance, issued Eurobonds in the form of loan participation notes with a total nominal value of $100 million with a fixed coupon rate of 9.95% per annum and maturity in November 2029 with the possibility of early redemption in November 2024 solely for the purpose of financing the bank’s subordinated debt. Interest is payable semi-annually on May 14 and November 14.
According to Ukreximbank’s reporting, as of the middle of this year, its liabilities under the other Eurobonds issued in 2013, which finally mature on January 22, 2025, amounted to $40.566 million.
These Eurobonds, originally issued in the amount of $600 million and due in 2018, were reprofiled on July 9, 2015, with the following terms: coupon rate of 9.75% per annum; final maturity was extended by 7 years, i.e. to January 22, 2025. At the same time, 50% of the Eurobonds will be redeemed on January 22, 2021, and the remaining 50% of the bonds will be redeemed between July 22, 2021 and January 22, 2025 in eight equal semi-annual installments. In 2020 and 2022, the bank repurchased these bonds for a total amount of $238.006 million at par and canceled them.
Ukreximbank was established in 1992. The sole owner of the financial institution is the state.
According to the NBU, as of September 1, 2024, the bank ranked 3rd in terms of total assets with UAH 299.42 billion among 62 active banks. Its net profit in the first eight months of this year amounted to UAH 5.36 billion, which is 73.4% more than in the same period last year.
IC “Express Insurance” (Kiev) in January-October 2024 made payments in the amount of UAH 427,2 mln, which is by 57,5%, or by UAH 155,9 mln more than the indicator for the same period of 2023. According to the insurer’s website, including payments on CASCO amounted to UAH 357,5 mln (+51,1%), on MTPL – UAH 58,5 mln (2,3 times more), payments under other insurance contracts – UAH 11,2 mln (+16,7%).
At the same time, the company reports that in October-2024 payments to clients amounted to UAH 48 mln (+33.7%) more than in October-2023. In particular, the company paid UAH 38.4mn (+22.4%) under hull insurance contracts, and UAH 8.7mn (+2.5 times) under CMTPL insurance contracts.
Express Insurance was founded in 2008 and is a part of UkrAVTO group of companies. The company specializes in automobile insurance. Stable high speed of events settlement in IC is provided by optimal interaction with partner service stations.
Since April, 2012 IC Express Insurance is an associated member of the Motor Transport Insurance Bureau of Ukraine.
Industrial park (IP) “Belaya Tserkva” intends to start construction of two more factories in 2025, said Alexander Protsyuk, business development director of the industrial park.
“We now have five operating plants, three more are under construction and next year we will lay two more plants. That is, it will be more than 1 thousand jobs for Bila Tserkva, which is a significant achievement for a city of 250 thousand residents,” he said during the Ukrainian Automotive and Mobility Forum 2024 in Lviv.
Protsyuk recalled that since the beginning of the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation IP “Bila Tserkva” managed to attract three foreign investors – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of everyday goods company Uniliver, manufacturer of spare parts for electric vehicles InTiCa Systems, and a supplier of thin slab structures Finnish Peikko Group (whose plant is under construction – IF-U).
“InTiCa was the first company in Ukraine to obtain war risk insurance, and I will say that the quality of Ukrainian products is an order of magnitude higher than in its Czech division, where Ukrainians work, and in its Mexican division, which works for the American market. And now InTiCa is at a crossroads – they would very much like to move the plant from the Czech Republic to Ukraine, but they are worried about the Vienna risks. But I think we will expand their plant at our location,” Protsyuk said.
He also added that the work with Uniliver and Peikko Group lasted more than a year. “For these three successful cases we have four unsuccessful ones – these are large multinational companies, which for various reasons refused to enter or expand business in Ukraine,” – said the director of business development of IP ”Bila Tserkva.
Regarding the attractiveness of the park for investors, Protsyuk emphasized that for production cases location is certainly important (for example, in border areas), but equally important is access to high-quality but expensive labor and quick access to communications.
“These are two key things that attract investors – we don’t have to spend time on connecting to the networks, capacities are coordinated, and we have received funding from the government under the FE program. We have an unsuccessful history with USAID, but that was a good experience as well. We use all possible types of financing, including bank and grant financing,” Protsyuk said.
According to him today in the IP “Belaya Tserkva” of 36 hectares free 12 hectares, and in “Belaya Tserkva 2” – 24 hectares, and there is a built production facility of 2 thousand square meters, with connected communications in the neighborhood of Peikko and Uniliver.
“And we advise foreign investors who want to reduce the cost of production to keep up with global competition to think not only about investing in border cities like Lviv, for example, but also to shift a bit to the east, because the risks are not much bigger, but the advantages – good wages, freer access to communications, electricity – can offset these risks,” emphasizes Protsyuk.
“And we hope that next year we will have two more successful examples,” he summarized.
IP “Belaya Tserkva” and “Belaya Tserkva 2” – projects of the holding company UFuture of entrepreneur Vasily Khmelnitsky, were included in the Register of industrial parks in 2018.
On the developed territory of IP “Bila Tserkva” 41 square meters of production and warehouse premises were built and 14 residents were attracted, among which, in addition to Unilever, InTiCa Systems, Peikko and Pripravka relocated from Kharkiv since 2022, there is also a logistics depot of “Novaya Poshta”, a grain storage complex “Volytsya Agro”, a factory of electrical fittings Plank Electrotechnic, a manufacturer of high-rise equipment for construction work Virastar.
The first Ukrainian series about cadets topped the content ratings on Kyivstar TV’s movie and TV platform. The evaluation was based on the number of users who watched the series and the total duration of the viewing.
The Ukrainian multi-part series Border Guards, launched on October 1 exclusively on Kyivstar TV, immediately took the lead in October and has been holding it ever since. Currently, the series is in the top 10 in terms of the number of views on the movie and TV platform, which confirms the popularity of Ukrainian content.
Kyivstar TV has already announced that the final 12 episodes will be broadcast on November 29 and posted a new trailer for the series, the soundtrack for which was created by Zhadan and the Dogs.
The plot revolves around border guard cadets who chose to defend the borders of their own country in September 2021, six months before the start of the full-scale invasion. Young boys and girls from different parts of Ukraine enter the National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
To make it easier to watch “Border Guards” during power outages, users of Kyivstar TV mobile application can use the download function. After downloading, the episodes will be displayed in the “My Videos” section.
Kyivstar TV movie and TV platform has a large video library of Ukrainian content. In particular, Ukrainian viewers can watch such Ukrainian film projects as Revenge, Doctor by Vocation, Dr. Baby Dust. A New Life”, ‘Easter egg’, ‘Konotop Witch’, ”The Host 2. On His Own Land”.
Most of the Ukrainian content is available on Kyivstar TV by subscription in the Premium HD package. Until December 1, the platform has made it more affordable with a 65% discount on Black Friday.
For reference:
Kyivstar TV is a joint project of Kyivstar and 1+1 media, founded on December 11, 2019. It is a film and television platform that provides users with access to hundreds of thousands of hours of Ukrainian and world content, live programs, and regularly offers exclusive projects for viewing. The platform has more than 430 TV channels and a VOD library of 20,000 movies, series, cartoons and shows. Kyivstar TV is available for all mobile operators in Ukraine and all Internet providers. Find out more about the new releases on the platform in the Kino for TV telegram channel.
