The assets of pawnshops in the second quarter of 2023 increased by 6.2%, or by UAH 264 million – to UAH 4.54 billion, the National Bank of Ukraine said in a review of the non-banking financial sector.
According to its data, in general for the first half of the year they increased by 10.7%, or UAH 439 million, completely overlapping the reduction of UAH 188 million last year.
At the same time, it is indicated that the number of pawnshops continues to decline: after leaving the market last year 78 companies, in the first quarter of this year followed by 12, and in the second quarter – another 7 pawnshops. As a result, the number of market participants at the middle of this year was 164 – almost half the number at the end of 2019 (324).
The National Bank specified that among all sectors of the financial market, pawnshops were the fastest-growing both in the second quarter of this year and over the half-year, surpassing even banks, whose assets grew by 5.6% and 8.8%, respectively.
According to the NBU, the loan portfolio of pawnshops added UAH 245 million and UAH 298 million in the first and second quarters, respectively, reaching UAH 3.672 billion at the end of the period.
This allowed to increase interest income in the first quarter to UAH 656 million, in the second – to UAH 780 million, which is respectively by 2.9% and 96.8% more than in the same period last year.
At the same time, although revenues for salaries rose from UAH 100 million in the fourth quarter of last year to UAH 121 million in the second quarter of this year, they are still much lower than the approximately UAH 200 million before the war.
Rent expenses have also increased: from UAH 93 mln in the fourth quarter of last year to UAH 111 mln in the second quarter of this year, although before the war they amounted to about UAH 170 mln.
According to the results of the first quarter of this year, the net profit of pawnshops amounted to 14.21 million UAH, at the end of the second quarter it increased to 52.26 million UAH, while the same periods last year pawnshops ended with a net loss of 56.86 million UAH and 123.89 million UAH, respectively.
The volume of cash assets of pawnshops after a decrease in the first quarter from UAH 388 mln to UAH 340 mln in the second quarter increased only by UAH 3 mln, while the volume of fixed assets decreased during the half-year from UAH 463 mln to UAH 381 mln, probably due to the reduction in the number of companies in the market.
The growth of loans was largely due to an increase in accounts payable: from UAH 2.512 billion at the beginning of the year to UAH 2.659 billion at the end of the first quarter and UAH 2.902 billion at the middle of the year, while shareholders’ equity grew by only UAH 83 million to UAH 1.44 billion during this time.
The National Bank added that after the coverage ratio fell to 108% in the first quarter, it recovered to 111% in the second quarter. As for the structure of collateral, the share of precious metal products rose from 72% to 73% over the six months, while the share of household appliances fell from 28% to 26%.
Ovostar Union, one of the leading producers of eggs and egg products in Ukraine, earned $20.63 million in net profit in the first half of 2023, while the same period in 2022 ended with a net loss of $19.78 million.
According to the group’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, its revenue for the six months increased by 56.8% to $88.69 million, mainly due to higher prices for its products.
Gross profit in the first half of this year amounted to $26.99 million against a gross loss of $10.39 million last year, operating profit – $20.12 million against a loss of $17.57 million, and EBITDA – $21.7 million against a negative $15.5 million in the first half of last year.
It is indicated that such an increase in profitability was also achieved by reducing the cost of sales by more than half – from $47.8 million to $23 million – due to good feed prices and the devaluation of the hryvnia.
The group also reported that its total debt for the year decreased from $12.5 million to $2.5 million, while free cash flow increased from $3.7 million to $50.3 million, including $0.5 million to $24.7 million in Ukraine (including the equivalent of $7.6 million in hryvnia), $3.1 million to $21.2 million in Lithuania, and $0.02 million to $4.2 million in the UAE. As a result, the net debt increased from $8.8 million to negative $47.9 million. In particular, Ovostar has fully repaid its loans to Ukrsibbank and OTP Bank for $8.5 million.
According to the report, the share of egg sales in revenue decreased to 70% from 74% in the first half of last year, while the share of egg products increased from 26% to 30%. At the same time, the share of egg exports in total revenue increased from 23% to 36%, and the share of egg products exports increased from 13% to 18%.
“Against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian military invasion of Ukraine and the overall unfavorable situation in the national economy, the management decided to suspend the investment program,” the document also says.
As specified, in the reporting period, only minor investments were made in production facilities and infrastructure, amounting to $5.8 million compared to $4.3 million in the first half of 2022.
In the first half of this year, Ovostar withdrew from the International Food Trade company (British Virgin Islands).
In mid-June 2011, the group’s holding company, Ovostar Union N.V., conducted an IPO of 25% of its shares on the WSE and raised $33.2 million. The majority stake in the company is owned by Prime One Capital Limited, which is controlled by its CEO Boris Belikov and Chairman of the Board of Directors Vitaliy Veresenko.
“In 2022, Ovostar earned $6.09 million in net profit, which is 3.7 times more than in 2021. At the same time, revenue increased by 1.7% to $135.63 million.
In the first quarter of 2023, the group earned $8.98 million in net profit, while the same period in 2022 ended with a net loss of $16.44 million. Its revenue for the period increased by 70.7% to $47.30 million.
Romania will double the capacity of its main Black Sea port of Constanta and the Danube sea lanes within two months to help Ukraine deliver grain beyond Russia’s reach, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told the Financial Times.
The Romanian prime minister emphasized that the plan would be implemented regardless of Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the other side of the Danube, on the border with Romania.
“In 2023, Ukraine will have about 40 million tons of grain for export. To (facilitate) this, we have increased capacity both in Constanta harbor and on the routes leading to Constanta harbor to make this happen. We mobilized as much as we could,” he said.
Ciolacu recalled that Romania’s promise to expand the shipping corridor by deepening the Danube and expanding port infrastructure came after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets via the Black Sea. Moscow also threatened commercial ships and prevented them from leaving Ukrainian ports, which led to exports being diverted through the Danube.
“We have learned well the lessons related to Russia. We have zero dependence on Russian energy and resources. Our support for Ukraine is unconditional,” the Romanian Prime Minister emphasized.
According to him, increasing the capacity of the Black Sea port of Constanta and other routes will allow Ukrainian grain exports to reach 4 million tons per month.
Ciolacu said that investments are currently being made in the Sulina Canal. In addition, there are other “solutions”, such as allowing ships to transit at night from October and increasing cargo transportation to at least 14 ships per day. Doubling the size of barges also “means that Ukraine will not have to use grain warehouses as often,” he said.
The prime minister informed that Romania will open more road border crossings and improve its railroad infrastructure at stations bordering Ukraine to speed up cargo handling.
“Romania has remained silent on military aid to Kiev,” the FT writes and adds that increased military and infrastructure spending related to the war in Ukraine is having an impact on the country’s budget. Romania’s central bank predicts the budget deficit will jump to 7.5% of gross domestic product this year, well above the target of 4.4% and 6.2% in 2022.
Ciolacu intends to meet with EU officials in Brussels this week to discuss measures to close the financing gap. He said there was “no possibility” that the EU would cut Romania’s funding to impose more austerity on Bucharest.
“We had to reorganize the budget to help Ukrainian supplies,” the prime minister said, adding that he would try to get EU approval to take war-related items outside the deficit calculations.
“These were unanticipated expenditures … so we will need an exemption from the tax code,” Ciolacu summarized.
On Monday, Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) and Polish operator Polskie Koleje Państwowe Spółka Akcyjna (PKP S.A.) signed an agreement on the development of railway communication, the first of its kind since 1994, said Yevhen Lyashchenko, chairman of the board of UZ.
“Together we will continue to develop the border infrastructure and increase passenger and freight traffic between our countries, which will ultimately have a positive effect on our railways and the national economies of Ukraine and Poland,” Lyashchenko said in a press release.
Under the agreement, PKP will work out measures to conclude separate agreements with UZ in the field of railway infrastructure management, freight and passenger rail transportation. The parties will also set up joint working groups to draft individual agreements.
In addition, UZ and PKP have agreed that the transshipment of goods into wagons of a different gauge or the transfer of wagons to bogies of a different gauge will be carried out not only by the receiving carrier at a border station located in its state, but also by the delivering carrier at a border station located in its territory.
At the same time, freight trains in both directions will be serviced by locomotives and locomotive crews of both parties in compliance with the 50/50 parity.
On August 25, 2023 Standard-Rating withdrew the credit rating/financial strength rating of the insurer ODO Insurance Company ViDi Insurance (Kyiv) at the company’s request, the agency’s website reports.
As reported, on February 27, 2022 RA Standard-Rating suspended the credit rating of the company at its request due to the introduction of martial law.
It was also noted that the rating could be restored by the company’s decision at any time.
Later, according to the results of the insurer’s activity in the nine months of 2022, RA “Standard-Rating” updated the company’s credit rating/rating of financial stability (reliability) of the insurer on the national scale at the level “uaAA”.
IC “ViDi Insurance” has been working in the insurance market since 2007, the main specialization – motor insurance.
The Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine approved a roadmap for the introduction of health insurance by order of August 25, the ministry’s website reported on Monday.
According to the report, it is proposed to add a system of additional health insurance to the current system of financing healthcare in Ukraine at the expense of the state budget as a potential source of financial resources for the healthcare sector. This is because, due to the negative economic consequences of Russia’s large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine, the available financial resources are insufficient to meet the needs of citizens for sufficient quantity and quality of medical services.
The main advantages of additional health insurance, according to the Ministry of Health, include expanded access to additional services, improved quality of treatment not covered by the medical guarantees program, faster access to specialist doctors, coverage of expensive medicines and treatments, or access to additional medical services.
The additional health insurance is expected to help reduce the burden on the state budget in the healthcare sector, increase the choice of healthcare providers, insurers and insurance packages, which promotes competition in the insurance market and improves the quality of services provided by insurers, and attract private capital that can support the development and modernization of healthcare facilities and infrastructure.
According to the order, important steps to increase the role of additional health insurance should include: a clear definition of medical services not covered by the medical guarantees program, as well as other cases in which medical services can be provided to patients at the expense of individuals and legal entities. To this end, the Ministry of Health, together with the expert community, will develop the necessary regulations to determine the cases in which additional health insurance can complement rather than duplicate the medical guarantees program.
In addition, the development of pharmaceutical insurance, which provides for reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of medicines and/or medical devices, is also envisaged. This type of insurance is intended to protect patients from high costs of medicines, especially in cases where expensive or long-term treatment outside the state guarantee program is required.
To address these challenges, the Ministry of Healthcare, together with associations of insurers, banking institutions and other interested organizations, will establish cooperation in the field of additional medical insurance of the population’s expenses related to the provision of medicines and medical devices. In particular, joint activities are planned to enhance communication and find ways to resolve problematic issues, including simplifying the mechanisms for introducing additional health insurance and raising public awareness through information campaigns.
