The World Bank by February 2019 plans to launch the project entitled “Accelerating Private Investment in Agriculture Program,” the press service of the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has reported. “The project will be implemented in many sectors by the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry, Infrastructure Ministry, Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, Economic Development and Trade Ministry. The approximate cost of the project is $753 million, including the World Bank’s commitment of $200 million,” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the project is aimed at harmonizing Ukrainian legislation in accordance with EU requirements, improving the government agricultural support system, diversifying the production of the agricultural sector, developing rural areas, strengthening the capacity for food safety, solving logistical issues, improving land use quality, and improving management of water resources, improving access to agricultural resources, improving access to financial resources and risk management tools.
The project coordinator is the Finance Ministry, which will receive a previously agreed loan amount and distribute it among the implementing ministries.
Unibep S.A., one of the largest construction companies in the Polish market, has signed a conditional agreement on completing the construction of a shopping and entertainment complex in Kyiv with the Ukrainian company Martin LLC (Kyiv), part of the Lithuanian investment group BT Invest. According to a report by Unibep S.A. on the stock exchange, the contract was concluded on October 30, 2018. The condition for its entry into force is the receipt by Martin LLC of a loan from Poland’s Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego S.A. (BGK) and the availability of a written confirmation of the entry into force of the loan agreement.
According to the report, the cost of the construction contract will be EUR34.6 million. At the same time, the customer makes an advance payment of 15% to Unibep S.A. at its own expense, while the remaining 85% will be financed by a loan provided by BGK.
The implementation period is 14 months from the date of commencement of construction.
BT Invest Group, in particular, Stolitsa Group investment and development company, which is part of it, is currently developing the project for the construction of the Retroville shopping and entertainment center at 47 Pravdy Avenue in Kyiv, whose commissioning was scheduled for 2019. The project partner is BT-Invest investment company, the exclusive broker is Colliers International (Ukraine).
Farmak plans to boost exports to 40% of total sales in coming five years, PJSC Farmak CEO Volodymyr Kostiuk has said, speaking about the company’s entrance the Australian market at the Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Forum in Kyiv. According to him, in 2015, negotiations were held with representatives of an international company with the office in Australia. And in 2017, Farmak shipped the first batch to this country.
“It took us a little time to enter this market [Australia]. After all, our products meet the high requirements that are needed to deliver products to this region… Having a certificate from the Australian regulator facilitates access to other markets. Our goal is to increase exports in the sales structure up to 40% in the next five years,” Kostiuk said, adding that the company’s closest horizons are the EU countries (Germany, the U.K.), the United States, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the company’s press service, the share of sales to the regions of Australia and Oceania in Ukrainian exports of pharmaceutical products is only 0.3%. This is due to the fact that the Australian market is considered well regulated – at the level of the United States, the EU, so few Ukrainian companies can ship their products to Australia.
Farmak is a member of the Association Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU).
PepsiCo Ukraine, a large producer of food and beverages, has started a project to localize production of potato chips under the Lay’s trademark, foreseeing the launch of a chips production line at the existing plant in Mykolaiv region by the middle of 2019. According to the press service of PepsiCo Ukraine, the company plans to launch the production line at the existing production complex in Mykolaiv region, where Khrusteam croutons, Sadochok juices, Agusha baby food are now produced, and primary processing of seasonal vegetables and fruits is carried out.
“PepsiCo strives to maximize localization of production and use of raw materials from local suppliers in the countries of its presence. Today we are preparing to install the first line for the production of potato chips, and we are also implementing our own agricultural program,” PepsiCo Ukraine CEO Iryna Kozlova said.
According to the company, the agricultural program provides for farms supplying potatoes with seeds, conducting seminars and trainings, as well as year-round support with an agricultural team. The annual production demand for potatoes of special “chip” varieties is about 40,000 – 60,000 tonnes.
According to the press service, the company also plans to expand the production of Khrusteam croutons by installing a second line.
The company does not disclose the capacity of new lines and the volume of investments.
At the moment, PepsiCo produces chips under the Lay’s trademark in Poland.
Euroins Insurance Group has notified ERV (Kyiv) about the acquisition of 9.473 million of its shares (99.99998%) for EUR 1.255 million.
According to a posting on the website of the Ukrainian insurance company, the stake was bought on October 1, 2018.
As reported, in April 2018, ERGO Group AG announced the sale of its Ukrainian company ERV to Euroins (EIG).
ERV on October 1, 2018 officially changed the shareholders. The supervisory board of the company was reshuffled.
The company retained the name European Travel Insurance and remained part of ETIG International Travel Insurance Group. The board and the whole team remained to work. The company continues cooperation with the assisting company of ERGO Group, Euro-Center Holding.
ERV Ukraine is still a specialized travel insurance company in Ukraine. The company hopes that in 2018, for the first time in 12 years of its work in the insurance market of Ukraine, it will insure more than one million tourists.
The production of milk in Ukraine (excluding the temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol, part of Donbas) in January-October 2018 declined by 2.1% compared to the same period in 2017, to 8.736 million tonnes.
At the same time, egg production in the first ten months grew by 3.1% compared to the same period in 2017, to 13.777 billion eggs, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said.
Production of meat (in live weight) in January-October 2018 grew by 0.6%, to 2.572 million tonnes.
According to earlier statistics reports, milk production in Ukraine in 2017 decreased by 0.5% from 2016, to 10.329 million tonnes, meat (in live weight) by 0.4%, to 3.259 million tonnes. Production of eggs in 2017 rose by 3.2%, to 15.578 billion eggs.
