Change in prices of food raw materials from Ukraine (forecast up to 2025), %
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
On July 25-26, Viktor Ivanchyk, CEO of Astarta Agro Holding, bought about 0.069% of the holding’s shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) for a total of PLN516.56 thousand (about $131.5 thousand at the current exchange rate), bringing his stake to 40.757% of the issued shares.
According to information on the WSE website, Albacon Ventures Ltd. owned by Ivanczyk, acquired 17.65 thousand shares in about 200 transactions these days at prices ranging from PLN27.85 to PLN30.6 per share, with an average price of PLN29.77.
On Friday, Astarta’s share price fell more than the market – by 4.95% to PLN28.80 ($7.33 at the current exchange rate).
As reported, in December 2023, Ivanchik resumed buying shares on the stock exchange after a break that lasted since June. According to the annual report, over the past year, Ivanchyk acquired 0.26%, or 64.90 thousand shares, increasing his stake to 40.26%, or 10 million 64.90 thousand shares. By now, he has reached 10 million 189.25 thousand shares, in particular due to receiving 0.5%, or 124.755 thousand shares as remuneration this year.
The annual report noted that, in addition to Ivanchyk’s family, Fairfax Financial Holdings is also a major shareholder with 29.91%, and about 2% of the shares belong to the company itself and were previously bought back as part of a buyback.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises 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 2023, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million.
In the first quarter of 2024, Astarta reduced its net profit by 44.1% year-on-year to EUR9.02 million, while its consolidated revenue increased by 1.4% to EUR165.78 million.
Globus Bank has issued UAH 2 million worth of loans to individuals in the first week of its Solar Loans program, and receives up to 10 applications daily, the bank’s press service reports.
According to the press release, the first loans under the program were issued in late July to customers in Poltava and Rivne. Thus, borrowers received loans of UAH 480 thousand for five and 10 years to purchase hybrid power supply systems consisting of solar panels, an inverter and a battery.
“Ukrainians are very positive about the government’s program of preferential lending for the purchase of renewable energy sources. In my opinion, such programs are a significant opportunity to strengthen the energy independence of an individual citizen, and thus the entire country,” commented Serhiy Mamedov, Chairman of the Board of Globus Bank, on the program launch.
According to his forecast, in the fall, the volume of solar loans issued may reach 100, worth more than UAH 40 million.
As reported, at the end of June, Globus and 16 other Ukrainian banks, which account for 83% of all assets, signed a memorandum on financing projects to implement innovative energy solutions for a period of five to seven years at the discount rate.
Globus Bank was registered in 2007. According to the NBU, as of April 11, 2023, the bank’s shareholders were Olena Sylniagina (100%), Dmytro Polkovsky (16.198866%), Yevhen Varyagin (9.899307%), Serhiy Mamedov (9.899307%), Andriy Pinchuk (9.899307%), and Taras Lisovyi (3.599748%), who indirectly own the authorized capital.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of May 1, 2024, Globus was ranked 26th (UAH 9.4 billion) among 60 banks operating in the country in terms of total assets. As of April 2024. The regional network includes 31 branches.
Ukraine’s women’s sabre fencing team has won gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
In the final, the Ukrainians defeated the Republic of Korea 45:42.
The Olympic champions in team sabre are: Olga Harlan, Alina Komashchuk, Olena Kravatska and Yulia Bakastova.
This is Ukraine’s third medal and first gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Number of unemployed people registered in public employment service as of 30.04.2024 (in thousands)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
During the war, the Ukrainian market of primary real estate underwent significant changes. Experts note new trends in the behavior of buyers and shifting priorities in the choice of housing. However, the general portrait of the primary real estate buyer remains conditionally divided into several categories, depending on financial opportunities, professional activity and individual needs.
Alexander Poltorak, brand manager of DIM group of companies, draws attention to the fact that buyers have become more demanding to the quality of construction and the timing of projects.
“Now buyers choose almost ready objects, often they are resettlers who start a new life, – notes Poltorak, – They are picky in assessing construction standards and financial conditions, which allows to ensure stable demand”.
The expert notes that the war has significantly changed the behavior of buyers in the business class segment. If before the war investors actively invested in the early stages of construction, now most people choose housing at the final stages or already finished.
Our buyer today is a person who already has his own housing. A lot of transactions take place with regular clients or on recommendation from them. Clients are looking for favorable conditions, often use promotions and installments, even having the full amount to pay.
This approach reflects buyers’ caution in an unstable period, when confidence in the project and the developer’s readiness to complete the object play a crucial role.
According to the expert, about 65% of buyers in the company’s projects are families aged 25 to 45 years old, which represent the capital’s middle class. Among them there are a lot of IT-specialists, company tops, lawyers, business representatives.
About 15% of buyers are investors who consider real estate as a way to preserve or increase their wealth.
However, the behavior of customers during the war has changed: if earlier transactions were closed in a few weeks, now the process can last from a month to six months. The information background and the frequency of shelling in the capital significantly influence the decision of buyers.
