Podorozhnik pharmacy chain plans to expand its network to 2000 pharmacies by summer 2024, CEO of the chain Taras Kolyada said.
“Currently we have 1763 pharmacies. In 2023 we have reached 400 new pharmacies. By the summer of 2024 we will grow to 2,000 pharmacies,” he said in an interview with Forbes.
Kolyada said that the network is currently expanding at a fairly active pace: “In 2019 we opened 486 pharmacies, now 400 pharmacies per year is a habitual rhythm for us.”
At the same time, he noted that “we usually have 150 outlets in back closer – somewhere we are doing repairs and looking for people, somewhere we are signing a contract or waiting for the lease from the previous owner of the premises to expire.”
“Landlords see pharmacy as a stable business and are willing to cooperate. We are building coverage of the country. For us, the key is to penetrate the regions, small towns from Chop to Seredina Buda, from Reni to the north of Chernihiv region,” he said.
In addition, Kolyada said that in 2023, in all channels sales of “Podorozhnik” increased by 40-50% in relation to the data of 2022.
At the same time, Kolyada predicts that in general in Ukraine “the trend for network expansion remains, but the market redistribution will be in favor of system operators”.
According to Kolyada, the average investment in opening a pharmacy is up to UAH 3.5 mln.
Metinvest Group’s Kametstal plant, which was built at the facilities of Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMK, Kamianske, Dnipro region), posted a net profit of UAH 1 billion 359.475 million in January-June 2023, while the same period in 2022 ended with a net loss of UAH 1 billion 256.843 million.
According to the company’s interim report available to Interfax-Ukraine, net income for the period decreased by 0.8% to UAH 23 billion 415.731 million.
Retained earnings as of the end of June 2023 amounted to UAH 202.216 million.
The plant ended 2022 with a net loss of UAH 883.119 million, while in 2021 it made a net profit of UAH 120.277 million. The company’s net income in 2022 increased by 91.3% to UAH 37 billion 850.282 million. Production in 2022 amounted to 1 million 686.4 thousand tons of steel products.
“Kametstal was established on the basis of PJSC Dnipro Coke and Chemical Plant (DKKhZ) and the Centralized Steel Works of PJSC Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMK).
According to the third quarter of 2023, Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) owns 100% of the company’s shares.
The authorized capital of PJSC Kametstal is UAH 170.584 million.
Net sales of dollars by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) last week fell to $789.3 million from $891.8 million in the last week of last year, data on the regulator’s website showed on Friday. In the first half of the week, for which the central bank has already published the data, the purchase of currency by bank clients was growing: from a minimum of $56.52 million on Monday to $202.69 million on Wednesday.
As a result, the NBU on Wednesday weakened the official hryvnia exchange rate by 0.08%, or 3 kopecks, to a new low of UAH 38.1159/$1.
Nevertheless, on Thursday the demand weakened slightly, as a result the exchange rate strengthened by 0.20%, or by 7 kopecks, to 38.0412 UAH/$1, and on Friday, the last day of trading, the hryvnia weakened again slightly – by 0.10%, or by 3 kopecks, to 38.0775 UAH/$.
Overall, since Monday, the dollar has appreciated by 0.20%, and since the National Bank’s transition to the regime of managed flexibility on October 3, 2023, the dollar has become more expensive by 4.13%, or 1 UAH 51 kopecks. A pronounced trend towards weakening of the national currency began on November 26 last year, and since then the hryvnia has devalued by 5.73%.
In the cash market on Friday, the dollar rose by 1% to UAH 39.49/$1, returning to the pre-New Year dynamics after a rebound in the first days of the year.
Overall, the NBU’s net sales in December rose to about $3.57 billion from $2.46 billion in November, $3.34 billion in October and $2.69 billion in September. Last month, the Finance Ministry raised $5 billion in external financing, which boosted international reserves by 4.4% in December to $40 billion 507.9 million, the second highest in history after July 2023.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has included 66.65% of the authorized capital of Lybid Investment Union LLC, which owns the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in Kyiv, in the list of large-scale privatization targets.
According to Taras Melnychuk, a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, the decision was made at a government meeting on Friday.
In October 2023, the State Property Fund of Ukraine appealed to the government with an initiative to include the state-owned stake (66.65%) in the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in the list of large-scale privatization objects. The Fund recommended setting the starting price for the sale of the state-owned stake in the mall at the level of its book value for the last reporting (annual) period.
At the end of 2022, the value of the state share amounted to UAH 1.32 billion (the carrying value of the entire asset was UAH 1.98 billion). At the same time, the Fund expects the sale of the lot to be more expensive than the book value.
As reported, on June 9, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers approved an order to transfer to the SPF a 66.65% share of the authorized capital of Lybid Investment Union LLC, which owns the mall, in the amount of 66.65%.
Previously, these corporate rights belonged to Russian businessmen Arkady and Igor Rotenberg, who are subject to sanctions, but in March 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled to recover them in favor of the state.
Ocean Plaza was opened in Kyiv in December 2012 at 176 Antonovycha Street. Its total area is 165 thousand square meters. Investments in the facility amounted to approximately $300 million. UDP and K.A.N. Development LLC were partners in the development of the project.
The mall was sold to Arkady Rotenberg’s TPS Real Estate in 2012. Later, in 2019, Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky indirectly acquired a 33.5% stake in Ocean Plaza through UPD Holdings Limited. In 2021, he sold his stake to entrepreneur Andriy Ivanov. The deal was finalized in the summer of 2023.
Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant (ZZF) ended January-September 2023 with a net loss of UAH 677.9 million, while in the same period of 2022 it made a net profit of UAH 1 billion 1.283 million.
According to the interim financial results report for January-September 2023, which is available to Interfax-Ukraine, the company reduced its net income by 68.7% to UAH 1 billion 347.930 million over the period.
Retained earnings as of the end of September 2023 amounted to UAH 3 billion 879.020 million.
As reported, in 2022, ZZF made a profit of UAH 523 million 27.621 thousand, in 2021 – a net profit of UAH 2 billion 402 million 251.119 thousand, in 2020 – a net profit of UAH 682.297 million, while it ended 2019 with a net loss of UAH 600.607 million.
As reported, Pokrovsky Mining and Processing Plant (PGOK, formerly Ordzhonikidze Mining and Processing Plant) and Marganetsky Mining and Processing Plant (MGOK, both in Dnipropetrovska oblast), both part of the group, stopped mining and processing crude manganese ore in late October and early November 2023, while NFP and ZFP stopped smelting ferroalloys.
Prior to nationalization, the business of ZZF, NFP, Stakhanovsky ZF (which is on the tubing line), Pokrovske (formerly Ordzhonikidze) and Marganetsky mining and processing plants was organized by Privatbank.
Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant is one of the two main Ukrainian producers of these products.
According to the third quarter of 2023, Matrimax Limited and Soltex Limited own 22.4486% of the company’s shares, Tapesta Limited – 18.8903%, Walltron Limited (all Cyprus) – 18.642%, and Halefield Holdings Limited (Belize) – 7.7508%.
The authorized capital of ZZF is UAH 227.955 million, with a par value of UAH 0.1 per share.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in December fined five banks – Oxy Bank, Accordbank, Universal Bank (mono), MTB Bank and Cominbank – for a total amount of over UAH 66.74 million, the regulator said on its website on Friday.
The largest fine of UAH 20.05 million was imposed on Oxy Bank for improper verification of clients and their financial transactions, violations of financial monitoring, currency control and the bank’s obligation to use a risk-oriented approach in its activities.
According to the release, Accordbank has to pay UAH 18.84 mln for improper risk management system and check of the payer for transfer of funds, submission of unreliable information by the bank to the regulator, as well as for violations in the sphere of currency legislation.
Universal Bank was fined UAH 10.45 mln for improper customer verification, online monitoring and application of risk-oriented approach.
Similar reasons caused almost the same fine – UAH 10.40 mln – to MTB Bank.
The National Bank also fined Cominbank UAH 10m due to its late and incomplete submission of documents to the regulator regarding the bank’s compliance with the legislation on preventing money laundering.
Accordbank, COMINBANK, NATIONAL BANK OF UKRAINE, Oxy Bank, МТБ Банк, Універсал Банк (mono)
