Over the past two years, JSC OTP Bank has changed its approaches to managing its retail branch network and planning horizons, increasing the emphasis on the results of the team as a unit. This was stated by Lesia Syrota, team leader of the OTP Bank Helps Ukraine charity project, Director of Retail Sales and Network Management at OTP Bank, during the EBA Women’s Club, an event dedicated to women’s leadership in business.
According to her, the Bank used to single out the best employees and encourage competition, but now it is much more important to form powerful teams united by a single goal – to make the Bank even more convenient and closer to the customer. “OTP BANK has a network of branches throughout Ukraine, which are located in different conditions and circumstances, taking into account the security situation. We have changed our management approaches and planning horizons. Every Monday, the teams set their own goals for the week. This has brought the teams together. This position proved to be effective,” said Ms. Syrota.
As noted by the Director of Retail Sales and Network Management, the Bank aims to further develop in several areas, including the use of the latest technologies. “We already use artificial intelligence in our products and services. In the OTP Bank Information Center, the latest technologies are involved in many processes, which made it possible to work with customers’ emotions. And this allows us to increase customer empathy, which turned out to be especially important in Premium banking. This is now a separate rather deep and extensive research and ongoing implementation,” she emphasized.
Ms. Syrota shared her experience with the audience on the process of making important decisions. Usually, a team is involved in a brainstorming session to consider the details of different cases. “We carefully study the situation, form hypotheses, and then confirm or refute them. There should be at least three proposals. As life shows, the latter options will be better than the first fastest. We don’t make decisions instantly, because it’s better to think carefully. This encourages colleagues to offer interesting and progressive solutions,” she said.
As the participants of the event emphasized, the role of women in business and teams is becoming increasingly important. Women’s leadership and soft skills, including emotional intelligence, communication, and teamwork, are becoming key success factors. “The modern world requires us to constantly develop. We should not be afraid to take responsibility. You need to move forward and build your business. Today, there are important and interesting financial support programs for businesses owned or co-owned by women, such as the joint program of OTP Bank and UASID, which offers unique lending conditions. In particular, an important component of this program is to support companies with women in their ownership structure,” added Ms. Syrota.
EBA Women`s Club, OTP BANK, OTP Bank Helps Ukraine, Леся Сирота
The state intends to attract private investors to lend to projects for the repair, modernization, reconstruction, and construction of strategic port infrastructure facilities in Ukraine with the possibility of compensation for the funds spent through port dues.
The relevant provisions are contained in the draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers “Some issues of compensation for investments made by business entities in strategic port infrastructure facilities that are state-owned”, the text of which is posted on the website of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure (Ministry of Health) for discussion.
The document provides for the approval of the procedure and conditions for concluding agreements on the basis of which investments made by business entities in strategic port infrastructure facilities are compensated, as well as amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 899 of October 3, 2012, according to which public sector entities may make expenditures on capital investments, in particular on port infrastructure facilities, in the absence of an approved financial plan.
It is noted that the amount of investment compensation should not exceed the amount of funds actually paid by the investor to finance the design or construction of port infrastructure facilities.
In addition, it is noted that the investor may be a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur. There may be several investors at one facility.
At the same time, the new procedure will not apply to legal relations involving business entities that make private investments in port infrastructure facilities on the basis of agreements concluded under public-private partnerships, including concession agreements and lease agreements for state property.
The Ministry of Reconstruction expects that the adoption of this resolution will help restore strategic port infrastructure facilities, accelerate the growth of maritime transport, improve the competitiveness of seaports and increase their investment attractiveness.
“Due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, there is a problem of insufficient funding for the maritime industry, in particular due to imperfect fiscal policy, which leads to a lack of funds at the state-owned enterprise Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA),” the explanatory note to the draft resolution says.
It is noted that the USPA has entered into contracts for a number of construction projects, but “due to lack of funds and the state’s dividend policy, it is not possible to implement even part of these projects.”
At the same time, the USPA is facing an acute issue of the need to reconstruct and maintain port infrastructure, including berthing facilities. As of February 24, 2022, the state-owned enterprise had 265 berths (cargo, auxiliary, passenger) located in 13 seaports of Ukraine. Of this number, 20 are unsuitable for normal operation, 37 require significant investment in the next five years, and more than 50 operate with low economic efficiency – they need to be restored through overhaul or reconstruction.
In addition, it is indicated that, according to preliminary calculations, in the period before the full-scale invasion, the need for USPA to finance projects for the reconstruction, modernization and construction of berths alone (more than 48 projects, of which 36 are for reconstruction and modernization) was estimated at UAH 12 billion over four years.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy intends to ban the use of Chinese software during the construction of solar and wind power plants with a capacity of more than 100 kW, said the head of the department, Dainius Kreivis.
According to him, no such restrictions are planned for low-capacity power plants installed by residents of the country.
“We are preparing documents so that all equipment, even in private investments, that generates more than 100 kW, cannot use any Chinese software,” Kravis told Ziniu radijas radio station on Thursday, answering the question whether Lithuania should abandon Chinese technology in the country’s power system.
“That is what we plan to do. I think the decisions we will make will solve the problem,” the minister said.
The Energy Minister emphasized that government agencies are already prohibited from installing Chinese-made software.
According to Kravis, despite the growing number of household electricity producers, there is currently no threat of “excessive use” of Chinese equipment at their facilities.
President of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists Vidmantas Janulevicius said at a meeting of the Seimas Committee on Economics in late March that Chinese software is often used in the construction of renewable energy facilities both in Lithuania and in the rest of Europe. He suggested looking for funds to replace Chinese technology at existing power plants with Western software.
Ukrainian ice cream and frozen semi-finished products producer Three Bears has acquired Nordis, which owns a plant for the production of semi-finished products and ice cream in Poland, the company’s founder Dmytro Ushmayev told the Ukrainian edition of Forbes.
“We have indeed acquired the Nordis plant in Poland. Nordis is similar in potential to Three Bears,” Ushmayev said.
The owner of the company refused to disclose the amount of the deal and clarified that the Ukrainian company plans to invest in the development of production in Poland.
According to the Ministry of Justice of Poland, in September 2023, the management of the Polish plant for the production of semi-finished products and ice cream Nordis changed. Dmitry Ushmayev, founder of Three Bears, became the new owner of the company. Andriy Tyshchenko, director of the Ukrainian manufacturer, has also joined Nordis’ supervisory board.
Nordis owns a plant in western Poland and warehouses. The company produces more than 100 types of ice cream and semi-finished products. Nordis also has a distribution network in 19 cities in Poland. The previous owner and CEO of Nordis was Slawomir Jankowski.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ, formerly Dneprokoks), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, cut rolled steel production by 61% year-on-year in January-March this year, down to 11.5 thousand tons from 29.4 thousand tons.
According to a report in DCH Steel’s corporate newspaper on Thursday, coke output for the period increased by 52.4% to 69.8 thousand tons from 45.8 thousand tons.
At the same time, in March of this year, DMZ reduced rolled steel output by 41.3% year-on-year to 6.2 thousand tons. However, metallurgical coke production increased by 52.3% to 24.4 thousand tons.
“In March, rolled steel production increased by 17.9% compared to February and metallurgical coke production by 7.8%,” the publication states.
DMZ employees made a unique mine skip for the group’s Sukha Balka mine. It is specified that this lifting mechanism is unique because there are no other such mine skips in the world with a volume of 25 cubic meters and a lifting capacity of 53 tons from a depth of 1500 meters, usually miners use smaller units of 20 cubic meters.
The skip was transported to the mine, where it was covered with an anti-corrosion coating, galvanized and painted, and a lining made in Sweden was installed. Currently, the skip is being installed at Yubileynaya mine.
“The project to manufacture a mine roof was implemented as part of DMZ’s vertical integration with Sukha Balka mine. The work was done perfectly, so we decided to entrust DMZ specialists with the production of the next important unit – a three-storey mine cage,” said Vitaly Bash, CEO of DCH Steel.
As reported, in 2023, the plant increased its rolled metal output by 86.2% compared to 2022, up to 105.6 thousand tons, and coke by 38.5%, up to 292.7 thousand tons.
In 2022, the plant reduced rolled steel production by 74.2% compared to 2021, to 58.4 thousand tons, and coke production by 56.3%, to 211.3 thousand tons.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, pig iron, rolled products and products made from them. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy Dnipro Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
PJSC Ukrnafta made a net profit of UAH 23.6 billion in 2023, the company’s CEO Sergiy Koretsky said on Facebook.
According to him, the independent audit of the financial statements was completed by Grant Thornton Ukraine on April 3.
“Dividends for last year are twice the cumulative result of the last 10 years. I never tire of thanking each and every person who works in the company, and I will emphasize once again that public administration can and should be effective,” Koretsky said.
As reported earlier, Ukrnafta’s financial plan for 2024 approved by the Cabinet of Ministers envisages net revenue of UAH 118 billion and net profit of UAH 18 billion.
In 2024, the company plans to start drilling 30 new wells, purchase equipment to stimulate production, and invest in upgrading its network.
“Ukrnafta is the largest oil producer in Ukraine and operates a national network of 537 filling stations, of which 456 are in operation. The company is implementing a comprehensive program to restore operations and update the format of its filling stations. Since February 2023, Ukrnafta has been issuing its own fuel coupons and NAFTAKarta cards, which are sold to legal entities and individuals through Ukrnafta-Postach LLC.
Ukrnafta’s largest shareholder is Naftogaz of Ukraine with a 50%+1 share. On November 5, 2022, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to transfer to the state a share of corporate rights of the company owned by private owners, which is now managed by the Ministry of Defense.
