Kopernik Global Investors LLC (the United States) on December 27, 2018 acquired 3,216 shares in the share capital of Astarta Holding NV (the Netherlands), the holding company of the Astarta agricultural and industrial holding, and crossed the 5% threshold of voting rights.
According to a report of Astarta on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), the holding received the notification on January 2, 2019.
After the deal Kopernik Global Investors holds 1.25 million shares in Astarta or 5% of its share capital.
According to the WSE, Astarta’s shares as of 10:40 Kyiv time on January 4, 2019 were listed at PLN 23.40 per share.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agribusiness holding operating in Poltava, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, and Kharkiv regions. It consists of eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of about 250,000 hectares and dairy farms.
Ukraine under the Ukraine Urban Public Transport Project of the European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to buy 227 buses, 153 trolleybuses, 56 trams and 35 subway wagons in 2019, according to a posting on the website of the Infrastructure Ministry.
“The Infrastructure Ministry together with the Finance Ministry and local governments (11 cities) are implementing the EIB project, which main goals are to implement subprojects in the cities of Ukraine to develop environmentally friendly and socially significant transport,” the ministry said.
The project provides for the renewal of the fleet of buses, trolleybuses, trams, metro cars, construction and reconstruction of tram and trolleybus lines, funicular, replacement of traction substations, introduction of modern fare collection systems and information systems using borrowed funds from the EIB and EBRD.
According to the Infrastructure Ministry, in particular, in 2018, under the project 167 trolleybuses were purchased, including 47 units for Odesa, 40 units for Kremenchuk, 23 trolleybuses delivered to Dnipro, 10 to Kremenchuk, and eight – to Kryvy Rih.
Thanks to these purchases, taking into account the trolleybus fleet in these cities as of January 1, 2018, Odesa has now updated its fleet by 28%, Kremenchuk – by 70%, Dnipro – by 17%, Rivne and Kryvy Rih – by 10% each.
As reported, in April 2017, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada passed a bill ratifying the financial agreement between Ukraine and the EIB under the Ukraine Urban Public Transport Project.
The approximate total cost of the project is EUR 400 million.
The supervisory board of Odesa Port-Side Plant (Yuzhne, Odesa region) next week will consider the possibility of launching grain handling at the plant’s facilities, First Deputy Board Chairman Mykola Schurikov has said on the MIG local TV channel.
“Today, at the plant’s facilities, it is possible, among other things, to transship the grain. We have the facilities and a huge resource to do it. This will give an opportunity to engage the team,” he said.
According to him, the grain transshipment could be done on the basis of urea transshipment or use for this new activity 3.2 hectares of land, available at the company, with the possible construction of a silo.
Schurikov said that the expanded meeting of the supervisory board will be held in Kyiv together with the trade union committee of the enterprise in connection with the critical situation that is seen at the plant.
He said that the main issue that will be addressed at the meeting is how to preserve chemical production and the staff, whose number has already decreased from 4,000 to over 2,800.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia plans to reconstruct a railway stations located in Vydubychi and integrate the new platform for the railway express train running from the Kyiv Pasazhyrsky station through Darnytsia to Boryspil International Airport.
“The Kyiv Boryspil Express stop on Vydubychi will appear this year after the reconstruction of the railway station,” acting Board Chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia Yevhen Kravtsov said on the company’s website.
The company has set itself the task of creating a single logistic space by integrating the Vydubychi railway station with the subway and bus station, for which it is planned to build a new high platform for stopping the Kyiv Boryspil Express train, equip crossings, reconstruct two existing platforms and build a shed over them.
“Pre-design works are underway and three options for the reconstruction of this transport hub are being considered, where various types of transport will be integrated. The optimal one will be chosen in the near future,” Kravtsov said.
He also said that all reconstruction options imply high standards of security and modern elements of logistics, including for people with limited mobility.
Suchasni Vantazhivky LLC (Modern Trucks, Kyiv), part of the large Ukrainian automotive holding AVTEK, has won a tender to supply 12 low-deck large city buses to municipal enterprise Electroautotrans (Ivano-Frankivsk), offering Guleryur Cobra GD 272 LF buses made in Turkey for UAH 65.995 million with the expected cost of UAH 70.8 million.
According to the results of the auction in the ProZorro e-procurement system held on Thursday, the initial offer of the winner was UAH 70.632 million. Auto-Region LLC (Kyiv) and Autograd-2007 LLC (Cherkasy) also took part in the auction. The price was cut during bidding.
According to the technical conditions, low-deck buses of at least 11.9 meters long are to be made no earlier 2018, meet the Euro 5 emission standard and capable to carry 94 passengers with 26 seats.
The buses are to be supplied before March 1, 2019.
Ukrainian manufacturers did not submit bids for the auction.
According to information on the ProZorro platform, Alfateks, a large supplier of trucks and special-purpose vehicles, won the auction to supply 10 large buses to Kremenchuk, offering MAZ 103 buses for UAH 57.975 million with the expected cost of UAH 58 million.
According to the conditions of the tender, the buses are to be supplied to Kremenchuk road transport enterprise before December 20, 2019.
Bas Motor LLC (the division of the Bogdan Corporation) offered Bogdan A 70132 buses for UAH 58 million and did not reduce the price during the auction.
BELARUSIAN MAZ, BUSES, GULERYURCOBRA, IVANO-FRANKIVSK, TURKISH BUSES
Ukrainian metal and mining enterprises in 2018 tentatively increased rolled steel output by 1% year-over-year, to 18.446 million tonnes.
According to the Ukrmetallurgprom association, steel smelting fell by 2%, to 21.06 million tonnes, and cast iron output increased by 2%, to 20.531 million tonnes.
The production figures of enterprises in 2018 were higher in comparison with the same period in 2017 not taking into account two months of work of the enterprises in the Ukrainian government’s uncontrolled area: rolled steel output grew by 3%, steel – by 0.3%, and cast iron – by 4%.
In December 2018, Ukrainian metal companies produced 1.803 million tonnes of cast iron (110% to the previous month), 1.845 million tonnes of steel (111%), and 1.603 million tonnes of rolled steel (108%).
As reported, Ukrainian metal and mining enterprises in 2017, taking into account the two months of operation of the enterprises on the government uncontrolled areas, reduced steel output by 12% year-over-year, to 21.284 million tonnes, rolled steel – by 14%, to 18.439 million tonnes, and cast iron – by 15%, to 20.035 million tonnes,
In 2016, Ukraine boosted steel output by 6% year-over-year, to 24.2 million tonnes, cast iron – by 8%, to 23.6 million tonnes, and rolled steel – by 6%, to 21.4 million tonnes.
