A snap presidential election in Iran, organized in the wake of the death of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, is scheduled for June 28, Al-Arabiya TV channel reported on Monday.
According to Iranian media, candidate registration will take place from May 30 to June 3. The deadline for campaigning is from June 12 to the morning of June 27.
The day before, a helicopter carrying Iran’s president crashed in a mountainous area in heavy fog in the northwest of the country, near the border with Azerbaijan. On Monday morning it became known that all the people in the helicopter were killed. In particular, in addition to the president, Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdollahian died.
On Monday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed that Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will serve as the country’s president. Khamenei also said that Mokhber will have a maximum of 50 days to hold the country’s presidential election.
In addition, according to Iranian media, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has been appointed acting foreign minister.
Earlier Experts Club think tank presented an analytical material about the most important elections in the countries of the world in 2024, more video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/73DB0GbJy4M?si=eGb95W02MgF6KzXU Subscribe to Experts Club YouTube channel here – https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) is finalizing the list of large-scale privatization objects to be agreed with the Cabinet of Ministers and submitted to the auction commission, said Vitaliy Koval, head of the agency.
“Large-scale privatization is when an asset is worth more than UAH 200-250 million at its book value or starting price. Today, the official list has been approved, all large-scale privatization objects must go through the procedure of approval by the Cabinet of Ministers, be included in the list and transferred to the auction commission under the regulation of the minister, who will approve the data on the auction conditions,” he said at the Business Breakfast with Forbes Ukraine on Wednesday.
Koval named 66.65% of the Ocean Plaza shopping mall (Kyiv), which will be put up for privatization at a starting price of UAH 1.63 billion, and one of the pre-war leaders in the aerated concrete market, AEROC Investment Deutschland GmbH, with three production sites at a price of about UAH 1 billion, as the most valuable assets included in the list of large-scale privatization. Among the state-owned assets, the Ukraina Hotel (Kyiv) will be put up for privatization at a price of UAH 1.8 billion.
In addition, the assets of the United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which has been given control of the Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipro region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyr region), will be auctioned at a starting price of UAH 3.7-3.9 billion.
“We have a task from the Ministry of Finance – UAH 4 billion (to replenish the state budget in 2024 – IF-U). But I am confident that we will exceed it. The ambitious price is much higher,” said the SPF head.
Speaking about the target audience that the SPF is interested in transferring privatization objects into ownership, Koval said that the Fund manages a variety of assets: from a small shop, hair salon, service center and tailoring studio to large objects such as the UMCC. Accordingly, the target audience is very diverse – from individuals to corporations.
“A very cool client for us is someone who comes for the second, third, or fourth time. In addition, when it comes to international business, international groups that already have business in Ukraine, understand the country’s agenda, and are familiar with the context and feel the microclimate are of the greatest interest. Such clients are very important to us. As well as domestic investors who have small and medium-sized businesses – they are needed,” summarized the head of the SPF.
In April this year, Ukrainian steelmakers increased steel production to 715 thousand tons, up 24.5% year-on-year (574 thousand tons) and 17% compared to March this year (611 thousand tons).
At the same time, Ukraine took 20th place in the ranking of 71 countries – global producers of these products, compiled by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).
At the same time, Ukraine produced 2.402 million tons of steel in 4M2024, up 32.8% compared to the same period in 2023 (1.809 million tons in 4M2023). The country ranks 21st in January-April.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 6.228 million tons of steel in 2023, which is 0.6% lower than in 2022. The country was ranked 22nd in 2023.
In 2022, Ukraine ranked 23rd with 6.263 million tons of steel produced (-70.7%).
The record for Ukraine in recent years was the eighth place in the ranking of steel-producing countries compiled by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel). Ukraine was ranked eighth in 2013, followed by a deterioration in its position and even a drop out of the top 20 steel-producing countries.
Ukrainian citizens and businesses, including banks, have purchased more than UAH 1 trillion worth of domestic government bonds on market terms, making investments in bonds the second largest source of state budget financing after international aid, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
“Thanks to the funds raised from government bonds, we were able to finance more than 200 days of our defense and protection, which is equivalent to 15% of Ukraine’s GDP in 2023,” Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko was quoted as saying in the release.
According to the Ministry of Finance, there are currently more than UAH 1.6 trillion worth of domestic government bonds in circulation, of which the share of commercial banks is 42.2%, the National Bank – 41.5%, legal entities – 10%, individuals – 3.8%, non-residents – 2.4%, and territorial communities – 0.1%.
It is emphasized that the volume of investments by individuals has increased by about 600 times since 2016, and by more than 2.4 times since February 24, 2022. Legal entities have increased their investments in government bonds 7 times since 2016 and 2 times since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
The Ministry of Finance notes that from January 2022 to March 2024, coupon income was paid to Ukrainian individuals and legal entities (excluding banks) in the amount of UAH 31.5 billion, and to foreign ones – UAH 19 billion, which amounts to UAH 50.5 billion in total.
The agency emphasizes that, along with profitability, an important characteristic is the high liquidity of domestic government bonds in the secondary market, as investors can sell bonds at any time at the current market price. This is confirmed by the statistics of the average daily volume of transactions at par value, which amounts to about UAH 2.4 billion in equivalent, which is 26% higher compared to the average daily figure in 2021. Such data indicates that there are a sufficient number of market participants to ensure efficient trading.
“Convenient digital solutions for purchasing bonds, market yields that exceed inflation expectations, and a 100% guarantee of repayment from the state make government bonds the most attractive instrument on the market,” the Ministry of Finance summarized.
As reported, the Ministry managed to lower interest rates by another 0.1-0.27 percentage points (p.p.) at the last primary auctions for the placement of government bonds on Tuesday, May 21, bringing the total decrease to 0.92-1.37 p.p. after the National Bank cut the discount rate from 14.5% to 13.5% per annum on April 26. For one-year securities, the rate decreased from 15.15% to 15.05%, for two-year securities – from 16.2% to 16.08%, and for three-year securities – from 17.2% to 16.93%.
According to the Settlement Center, the number of registered private investors reached 183.56 thousand at the beginning of May this year, compared to 166.12 thousand at the beginning of this year, 126.79 thousand at the beginning of last year and 22.79 thousand at the beginning of 2022.
In January-March 2024, ALC Insurance Company ARX Life (ARX Life, Kyiv) collected insurance premiums in the amount of UAH 79.085 million, which is 0.13% less than in the same period a year earlier, according to the website of RA Standard Rating, which updated the company’s credit rating/financial strength (reliability) rating at uaAAA on the national scale.
The volume of payments and reimbursements made by the insurer in the first quarter decreased by 5.29% to UAH 17.01 million. Thus, the claims ratio decreased by 1.17 p.p. to 21.51%.
The insurer’s acquisition expenses for the first three months of 2024 decreased by 9.07% to UAH 43.567 million compared to the same period in 2023.
During the reporting period, the company generated a net profit of UAH 19.631 million, which is 55.43% more than in the first quarter of 2023.
As of April 1, 2024, the company’s assets increased by 7.19% to UAH 305.616 million, equity increased by 9.27% to UAH 231.404 million, liabilities increased by 1.17% to UAH 74.212 million, and cash and cash equivalents increased by 34.51% to UAH 53.069 million.
Thus, as of the beginning of the second quarter of 2024, the company’s capitalization level amounted to 311.81%, and the level of coverage of its liabilities by cash and cash equivalents was 71.51%.
At the same time, the Agency notes that as of the reporting date, the insurer made financial investments in the amount of UAH 246.039 million, which consisted of government bonds (91.90%) and deposits in banks (8.10%).
ARX Life is part of the international insurance holding Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. ARX Life is among the TOP-10 companies in the life insurance market in Ukraine.
State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) has entered into an agreement with Nova Poshta to purchase unsecured corporate bonds of the E series with a maturity of 15 months for UAH 650 million, the press service of the financial institution reported on Tuesday.
“The acquisition of bonds for such a significant amount demonstrates both Oschad’s readiness to share risks with businesses to rebuild the country and the impeccable reputation of Nova Poshta,” Yuriy Katsiyon, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Oschad responsible for corporate business, said in a press release.
“In addition, this project can be another step towards popularizing securities as an alternative tool for raising funds for the development of Ukrainian business,” he added.
It is specified that the issue of series E bonds was registered on April 26, 2024. This is the third transaction since 2019 to finance Nova Poshta by the state bank through the purchase of corporate bonds.
“Thanks to the funding raised, Nova Poshta is able to actively invest in the development and improvement of operational processes, quickly recover from infrastructure shelling, and our customers can continue to receive quality service,” Serhiy Yermolenko, Director of Corporate Finance at NOVA Group, was quoted as saying.
As reported earlier, Nova Poshta LLC, the largest logistics operator in Ukraine and a member of the NOVA Group, issued interest-bearing unsecured corporate bonds of series E and F with a nominal amount of UAH 1 billion each, which were registered by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) on April 26 this year.
No other information on the parameters of these issues, including the maturity and yield, is yet available on the regulator’s website or the issuer’s website.
In 2023, Nova Poshta made two bond issues – “C” and “D” – each with a nominal amount of UAH 800 million. The C series bonds were issued for a 12-month term with a 24% p.a. interest rate, while the D series bonds were issued for a 20-month term with a 23% p.a. interest rate.
Earlier, in February 2023, Nova Poshta redeemed the UAH 700 million of Series B bonds issued in March 2020.
In 2023, the consolidated net income of “Nova Poshta” LLC amounted to UAH 43.65 billion, which is 53.3% more than in 2022, and the consolidated net profit reached UAH 4.28 billion, which is 31.1% better than in 2022.
According to its unconsolidated financial statements, in 2023, Nova Poshta LLC increased its net profit by 85.7% to UAH 3 billion 967.2 million, while its revenue increased by 54% to UAH 36.47 billion.
