KYIV. Nov 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has discussed the possibilities of applying modern technologies during the reform process in Ukraine with Microsoft Corporate Vice President for Central and Eastern Europe Don Grantham, the information and public communications department of Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has reported.
Groysman said that Ukraine needs technological solutions. The government is ready to step up cooperation with Microsoft.
“The introduction of the full-featured e-government and other systems is important. We want to be effective. We need to enhance all services we are providing and make them easy of access, clear and convenient,” the prime minister said at the meeting.
The sides discussed the possibilities of cooperation in e-government, fight against corruption, tax system, customs services and healthcare.
After the meeting Groysman instructed Head of the State Agency for E-Government Oleksandr Ryzhenko jointly with representatives of Microsoft to draw up a cooperation plan and submit it to the government for approval.
“We see Ukraine’s success in economic reforms from the point of view of Microsoft when technology is at its very heart,” Grantham said.
KYIV. Nov 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kernel, a large Ukrainian agrarian group, saw a 2.6-fold rise in net profit in Q1 FY2017 (July 2016-June 2017) year-over-year, reaching $63.07 million.
The company said in a report its revenue in July-September 2016 grew by 2%, to $384.06 million stemming from y-o-y increase in sales volumes and lower international agricultural prices.
Gross profit increased 28% year-over-year to $94.7 million in Q1 FY2017, as a result of positive revaluation of biological assets, and improved operating performance of our infrastructure and farming divisions. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 31.4%, to $72.4 million and profit from operations – by 43%, to $58.5 million.
The company decreased net debt by 16%, reaching $326.2 million as of late September 2016. This resulted in a fall in net debt/ EBITDA ratio to 0.9 from 1.0 a year ago.
Sunflower oil business weak performance in Q1 FY2017 was within expectations (sales fell by 7.8%, to $175.6 million). Sales volumes grew by 7.2%, to 188,600 tonnes. Bottled sunflower oil sales grew by 13.7%, to $23.3 million in money terms and by 20.3% in kind, to 21,300 tonnes.
EBITDA contribution declined to $12.6 million, down 52% year-over-year, due to poor availability of sunflower seeds in the market in May-June 2016, which translated into expensive carry over stock.
Grain business continued to set records in Q1 FY2017 with 1.2 million tons of grain exports, up 27% year-over-year, as we accumulated a presold stock at year ended June 30, 2016. In money terms grain sales grew by 13.3%, to $199.7 million.
Consequently, the gain and infrastructure segment’s EBITDA contribution was $21.9 million, up 4% year-over-year. As a result, the export terminals’ total EBTIDA came to $10.5 million in Q1 FY2017, experiencing a two-fold increase as compared to a year ago. The silo services segment total EBITDA contribution amounted to $7.1 million, up 39% year-over-year.
The company’s farming division posted record revenues of $146 million, 2.6-fold increase year-over-year, with EBITDA at $77.7 million compared to $22.6 million a year ago, stemming from further improvements in farming technology attributable to revaluation of our crops in fields and agricultural produce at the moment of harvest as a result of a double digit growth in yields, and $30.8 million of unrealized profits, arisen upon intragroup sales of agricultural products, which remained unsold to the third parties as of the end of the reporting period.
The total grain and oilseed harvest is expected to increase by 14% year-over-year to 2.13 million tonnes in FY2017.
As reported, Kernel saw a 2.1-fold rise in net profit in FY2016, totaling $225.2 million. Its revenue fell by 14.6%, to $1.989 billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) – by 12.7%, to $346.4 million.
Kernel is a vertically integrated company which has been operating in the Ukrainian agribusiness sector since 1994. The group produces sugar and sunflower oil, distributes bottled oil, exports oil and grain and provides elevator storage services for grain and oilseeds.
KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) has expanded the fleet with another Boeing 737-800 NG.
According to the press service of the company, the delivery of another airplane was the final stage of the program of the fleet expansion and updating in 2016.
The Boeing 737-800 NG produced in 2009 and a passenger capacity of 186 seats has passed official registration in Ukraine and received the registration number UR-PSU.
The aircraft will provide two classes of service on all UIA medium-haul flights.
The beginning of its commercial operation is scheduled for November 28 on the Kyiv-Kharkiv-Kyiv route.
“The availability of an additional aircraft at the beginning of the season of New Year holidays and winter break will increase the carrying capacity on the most popular destinations, regularity of flights. UIA will not rest on the laurels and will continue updating the fleet in 2017. The following aircraft will arrive in January,” UIA corporate secretary Yevhenia Satska said.
KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and Turkey intend to increase goods turnover in the category of agricultural products in the coming years in view of the forthcoming agreement on a free trade area (FTA).
“I hope that our trade volumes will double in the near future,” Deputy Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey Mehmet Danis said during the Ukrainian-Turkish agricultural business forum in Kyiv.
According to him, over the past 13 years agricultural production in Turkey was steadily growing. Now exports of agricultural products from the country stand at $17 billion, while imports of agricultural products at $11 billion. Turkey delivers 1,600 items of agricultural goods to 192 countries.
“Ukraine is the second country in terms of cooperation in agriculture… Negotiations on the FTA will finish and our trade relations will gain a new impetus,” the Turkish official said.
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food for European Integration Olha Trofimtseva at the forum said trade turnover in agriculture between Ukraine and Turkey in 2015 was about $1 billion, over the ten months of 2016 some $700 million.
“Turkey ranks seventh among the importers of Ukrainian agricultural products and third among the countries exporting agricultural products to Ukraine following Germany and Poland,” she said.
KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – ESTA Holding, the managing company of ESTA Group, established by CJSC System Capital Management (SCM, Donetsk), on November 28 opened the eight-storey Central Department Store (TsUM) with a total leasable area of 23,500 square meters after reconstruction.
“Today a new, European period of the Central Department Store begins. Our goal was not only to make TsUM store No.1 in Ukraine but also put it in one line with the leading classical department stores of European cities. We focused on Selfridges in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Kaldewei in Berlin,” ESTA Holding CEO Maksym Hromadtsov said during a press conference devoted to the official opening of the department store.
According to him, due to the difficult economic situation in the country the payback period since the launch almost doubled.
The Central Department Store building was completely rebuilt, while its historic facade was preserved, and inside a new center was built in the format of a conventional department store with a wide range of products organized on the principle of specialized departments in the same service area.
The peculiarity of TsUM will be the availability of common cash desks and fitting rooms at all the levels, open planning and a minimum of partitions.
KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC Sumy machine building plant has signed a contract for the supply of four adsorbers to large petrochemical complex OJSC Naftan (Belarus), the press service of the enterprise has said.
Naftan will use the adsorbers, whose value is not disclosed, for modernization of the dehumidification system. They are vertical capacitive devices with elliptic bottoms, equipped with strainers, whose main task is to prevent ingress of adsorbent particles into the air.
The equipment should be delivered to the customer in April 2017.
According to the report, Sumy plant has been cooperating with Naftan for many years, regularly supplying heat transfer equipment, spare parts for piston compressors.
Sumy plant is one of Europe’s largest producers of gas pumping units and compressor stations for different purposes, a wide range of pumps, compressors, centrifuges, equipment for chemical, gas and petrochemical industry, nuclear power plants.
