Astarta Agro Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, paid UAH 1.84 billion in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in January-October 2023, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, more than UAH 1.08 billion of this amount went to local budgets of territorial communities in Poltava, Khmelnytsky, Vinnytsia, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions. The agricultural holding transferred over UAH 753 million to the state budget.
“During the full-scale war alone, Astarta transferred over UAH 3.46 billion to the budgets of all levels. We are increasing these volumes from year to year because we are convinced that our taxes support both the budget and the people of Ukraine. This is especially true now, when the lion’s share of budget expenditures is spent on improving the country’s defense capabilities. This is our conscious choice, and I urge all Ukrainian businesses, without exception, to make this decision and pay taxes in good faith under any circumstances,” said Astarta’s founder and CEO Viktor Ivanchyk.
According to the agricultural holding, Astarta, together with Ukrainian and international partners, also continues to implement social initiatives within the Common Help Ukraine humanitarian project. The estimated value of charitable contributions and humanitarian aid provided by the project already exceeds UAH 809 million, of which UAH 56 million was allocated to the development of regional entrepreneurship in the communities where the agricultural holding operates.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
In the third quarter of 2023, the agricultural holding earned EUR1.24 million in net profit, down 27.7 times compared to the same period in 2022. Astarta’s revenue decreased by 14.4% to EUR104.75 million, gross profit by 2.7 times to EUR26.96 million, operating profit by 7.6 times to EUR6.79 million, and EBITDA by 42.7% to EUR97.25 million.
Due to significantly better performance in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year, in the first nine months of 2023, net profit decreased by 9.8% to EUR 55.97 million, while revenue increased by 14.8% to EUR 392.00 million. The company’s gross profit increased by 3.0% to EUR 151.91 million, while operating profit decreased by 15.9% to EUR 79.91 million and EBITDA by 10.8% to EUR 116.63 million.
In January-September 2023, Kyivstar, the largest Ukrainian mobile operator, increased its total operating income by 12.1% compared to the same period in 2022 to UAH 25.6 billion.
According to the mobile operator’s press service, the company’s EBITDA also increased by 12.5% to UAH 15.5 billion, while the EBITDA margin increased by 0.2 percentage points to 60.6%.
In addition, the company’s capital expenditures in the first nine months of 2023 increased by 8.1% to UAH 3.791 billion.
Total revenue from mobile services amounted to UAH 24.033 billion, up 12.5% year-on-year. Revenue from data services amounted to UAH 13.963 billion (+12.3%). Operating income from fixed-line services increased by 2.6% to UAH 1.447 billion. Revenue from broadband access services increased by 17% to UAH 979 million.
Operating income in the third quarter increased by 13.8% to UAH 8.711 billion. EBITDA increased by 26.2% to UAH 5.54 billion. Capital expenditures decreased by 11% to UAH 1.61 billion.
Total revenue from telecommunications services in the third quarter increased by 14.2% to UAH 8.13 billion, including 16.4% from data services to UAH 4.81 billion. Operating income from fixed-line services increased by 5% to UAH 501 million in the third quarter. Operating income from broadband services increased by 22.6% to UAH 334 million. The number of broadband subscribers increased by 0.6% to 1.1 million in the third quarter, while the broadband APRU increased by 25% to UAH 100. Mobile subscribers’ APRU increased by 15.8% to UAH 112 and MOU by 2.2% to 547 minutes. Mobile Internet usage by subscribers in the third quarter increased by 17.7% to 10.6 Gigabytes per subscriber.
Earlier it was reported that Kyivstar increased its hryvnia revenue by 16.8% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022 to UAH 8.609 billion (in dollars it decreased by 6.5% to $235 million). During the reporting period, Kyivstar’s EBITDA in UAH increased by 11.6% to UAH 5.085 billion (down 10.7% to $139 million in USD), while its EBITDA margin decreased by 2.9 percentage points to 59%. Kyivstar’s mobile subscriber base decreased by 2.6% year-on-year to 24.1 million as it continued to be affected by the number of Ukrainians living outside Ukraine.
According to the report, in the first half of 2023, Kyivstar’s revenue in UAH increased by 11.2% to UAH 16.956 billion, EBITDA by 6.2% to UAH 10.006 billion, and capital investments by 28.6% to UAH 2.176 billion.
“Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian telecommunications operator. The company provides communication and data transmission services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has informed President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy about talks with representatives of Bulgaria and Romania.
“This area of cross-border cooperation is obviously growing now. I thank our partners. This is the work of the sea corridor, the Danube export cluster, and the trade turnover between our countries in general,” Zelensky said in a video message on Monday.
“With Romania alone, we see the potential for growth to 4 million tons of trade by the end of this year. This is very powerful and supports not only our state, not only jobs in Ukraine, but also in partner countries,” the president said.
Zelenskyy is confident that “we will add Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and the entire European Union to our cooperation.”
The electronic transit system NCTS (New Computerized Transit System) Phase 5 will be applied from December 1, 2023, the State Customs Service of Ukraine reported on Telegram on Monday.
“Ukraine continues to confidently prove its ability to fulfill the obligations undertaken when joining the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure: from December 1, 2023, we plan to switch to the use of NCTS Phase 5,” the agency quoted Deputy Head of Customs Vladislav Suvorov as saying.
Earlier, on August 17, the State Customs Service announced the postponement of the start of NCTS Phase 5 for two months (until November 1) to give businesses more time to prepare for the new system and requirements for filling out transit declarations.
At the time, the agency indicated that the transition to NCTS Phase 6 is scheduled for June 2025.
“Despite the military actions, we not only met the deadline, but will also help other countries to pass international testing (Mode 3),” Suvorov said.
According to the National Coordinator for Common Transit, Alina Brendak, the new system is currently being tested with brokerage software developers. She emphasized that NCTS Phase 5 will interact with companies through brokerage software, and the current “Trader’s Portal” will no longer be used.
The State Customs Service noted that in Phase 5, companies will have the opportunity to detail information about goods at the level of house consignment notes (the so-called House Consignment level), which is relevant for consolidated cargo.
In addition, it is noted that the agency will develop new guidelines for companies on entering information in transit declarations, taking into account the specifics of NCTS Phase 5. At the same time, all the rules and principles of common transit and transit simplifications remain relevant and in force.
The State Customs Service is also working on the possibility of providing businesses with an alternative tool for filling out and submitting transit declarations and interacting with the national electronic transit system NCTS Phase 5 – an IT solution similar to the current “Trader’s Portal”, the release said.
As reported, in January 2023, the State Customs Service published specifications for software updates by brokerage software developers (bit.ly/3NwC9pk). In August, national developers were granted access to the ARI to test messaging with NCTS Phase 5. The State Customs Service says it is actively working with the relevant teams to ensure the readiness of brokerage IT solutions.
NCTS is one of the 17 customs IT systems that Ukraine has to implement to join the EU, and so far the only one implemented by Ukraine. The implementation of the IT system involves not only its installation but also its synchronized development together with other countries party to the Convention. The draft law was developed to fulfill Ukraine’s European integration commitments in the customs area, the Ministry of Finance said.
Earlier, roundtables were devoted to customs reform, where the event’s organizer and moderator Maksim Urakin stated that the State Customs Service provides 35-40% of state budget revenues, and these figures have remained stable in recent years. That is why customs reforms are so important for the country.
The financial plan of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” (UZ) for 2024 was approved with a projected loss of 12.6 billion UAH, which will be covered by the implementation of the plan to break-even, the press service of UZ reported on the official website of the company on Monday.
“The Cabinet of Ministers approved the financial plan of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” for 2024. Thus, planned income in the amount of 103.2 billion UAH, in particular, net income from the sale of products (goods, works, services) in the amount of 98.6 billion UAH”, – said in the message of UZ.
It is indicated that the company’s EBITDA is planned at the level of UAH 11.8 billion. EBITDA profitability index will amount to 12%.
The costs of UZ in 2024 will amount to 115.8 billion UAH. In particular, it is envisaged that the cost of sales will increase by 13%, mainly due to the need to increase employee salaries and electricity tariffs.
Revenue from freight transportation is expected to amount to UAH 80.1 billion, from passenger transportation – UAH 9.3 billion.
The planned volume of payments to the State and local budgets – 24 billion UAH, which is 5% more than in 2023.
“For the third year in a row we approve the main financial document of the company even before the new year. This time also in a record time”, – are quoted in the message the words of the head of the Board of UZ Eugene Lyashchenko.
He stressed that the approved financial plan does not provide for the attraction of funds from the state budget, the priority of which is the financing of the country’s defense capability.
“Our task remains stable provision of passenger and freight transportation in wartime conditions and financing of necessary investments for support and restoration of railway infrastructure at the expense of own and attracted from international financial institutions funds. In addition, the financial plan provides for an increase in salaries of railway workers”, – said Lyashchenko, noting that the current salaries of UZ employees do not correspond to their real contribution to the defense capability and economy of Ukraine.
The head of UZ pointed out that work on the financial plan was started back in the third quarter, when the work of ports was completely blocked.
“We have already developed our proposals for reaching break-even. In particular, given the trend of the last two months of this year, we have made a more optimistic forecast for cargo transportation. Also, we plan to unify tariffs: make them more transparent and bring them to the European model. We continue to work on cost optimization,” – said Lyashchenko.
UZ said that the financial plan for 2024 forecasts losses at the level of 12.6 billion hryvnias. They will be covered by the developed plan to reach break-even.
In addition, it is planned to utilize capital investments in the amount of UAH 38 billion. In particular, these funds will be used to restore the infrastructure damaged by the enemy and develop crossings with EU countries.
The leaders of the Ukrainian insurance market in terms of collected net insurance premiums in January-September 2023 were: ARKS Insurance Company (UAH 2.378 billion), TAS Insurance Group (UAH 2.601 billion) and Unica Insurance Company (UAH 1.984 billion) (all based in Kyiv).
No. Name of IC Net premiums Growth rate Written premiums Growth rate Assets Reserves
1 ARX 2378 +6.8% 2760 +21.5% 5455 2838
2 TAS 2601 +54.7% 2542 +47.7% 3696 2486
3 UNIQ 1984 +9.4% 2381 +23.8% 4557 2114
4 VUSO 1693 +86.2% 2005 +78% 1726 1087
5 USG 1632 +17.2% 2243 -1.2% 3767 2312
6 INGO 1466 +34.6% 1993 +64.9% 3527 1889
7 Arsenal Insurance 1323 +5.3% 1599 +42.3 2383 1602
8 Universalna 1212 +48.3% 1463 +54.7% 2062 1121
9 PZU Ukraine 1109 +33.1% 1314 +42% 2065 1394
10 Oranta 927.8 +16.2% 1100 +29.6 1535 980.3
11 Guardian 844.5 +57.2% 1010 +60.5% 996.3 699.3
12 Knyazha VIG 825.5 +40.7% 1464 +68.9% 1758 1382
13 Premier Garant Profi 620.4 +26.9 617.5 +25.6% 180.2 19.7
14 Persha 487.4 +59.3% 599.4 +47.7% 926.9 639.9
15 Express Insurance 468.5 +12.5% 511.1 +68.5% 715 360.1
16 Colonnade Ukraine 355.1 +39% 450.2 65.4% 863 337.7
17 Euroins Ukraine 321.3 +9.3% 408 +22.1 1059 647.5
18 Alfa Garant 298.3 +24.2% 330.9 +37.6% 348.3 294
19 Oberig 293 +47.8% 275.1 +30.7% 278.3 186.8
20 UPSC 282.4 -63.9% 359.7 +0.2% 690.1 267
