On August 4-8, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit Malawi, Zambia, and Mauritius for a series of bilateral meetings, the ministry’s press service reports.
“The fourth African tour of the Foreign Minister aims to continue building relations with African countries. All three countries – Malawi, Zambia, and Mauritius – will be visited by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for the first time in history,” the statement said on Sunday.
It is noted that in Lilongwe (Malawi), Lusaka (Zambia) and Port Louis (Mauritius), Kuleba will hold talks with the leadership of the states, foreign ministers, as well as business and cultural circles.
“All meetings will focus on the development of bilateral relations based on mutual respect and interests. Among the key topics will be the participation of African states in global efforts to restore a just peace for Ukraine and the world,” the press service reports.
In addition, in Malawi, the parties will discuss Ukraine’s important role in ensuring food security, including the exchange of experience and technologies in the field of agriculture and the humanitarian program “Grain From Ukraine.”
In Zambia, Kuleba will discuss the development of bilateral relations, as well as political dialogue and cooperation within international organizations.
The topic of the meetings in Mauritius will be attracting investments and participation of Mauritian businesses in the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.
Number of vacancies as of 30.04.2024 (thousand units) according to data of state employment center
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
The Crisis and Support Center (CDCS) of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has handed over 28 generators to a school in Chernihiv, Ambassador of the French Republic to Ukraine Gael Weissier said after a visit to Chernihiv.
“A new trip to Chernihiv, a priority region, where, together with the head of the regional state administration and Expertise France, we signed agreements with three hospitals, inspected the repair of the roof of the theater that was hit on 19/08/23, and handed over assistance from the Centre de Crise et de Soutien in the form of 28 generators to be used in a local school,” the ambassador wrote on social network X.
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.
