Vega, the largest Ukrainian telecoms operator, in January-September 2018 saw EBITDA rise by 43%, to UAH 127 million, the company’s net income amounted to UAH 469 million, which is 4% more than in the same period of 2017.
At the same time, the company did not provide information on the company’s net profit/loss for the first half of the year.
According to the operator’s press release, the positive dynamics of the company’s revenues is related to the growth in revenues from the provision of services by fiber-optic channels and from IP services. The revenue in the key business sector of the company is also constantly growing.
In the first nine months of this year, Vega invested UAH 60 million in the development of its own networks and modernization against UAH 66.8 million in the nine months of 2017.
The company also noted that the share of IP telephony clients (VoIP) in the B2B base of subscribers of telephony services increased by 21% compared to the same period last year.
At the same time, the average revenue per user (ARPU) for the above mentioned period rose by 18.4% due to the growing share of the business segment in the subscriber base and the increasing popularity of high yield products.
The volume of taxes and fees the company paid to the budgets of various levels in January-September amounted to UAH 104 million, which is 20% more than last year.
AgroFoodCluster Kharkiv, uniting small and medium-sized agricultural producers in Kharkiv region, plans to develop a direct export scheme for small farmers in 2019, Cluster Chairman Yuriy Mykhailov has said. “Next year we want to build an export scheme for our farmers, according to which they will be able to receive currency into their account. This is the main motive for the region, so that the currency comes to the manufacturer, and does not remain partially abroad, which most traders abuse,” Mykhailov told Interfax-Ukraine at the third Ukrainian-German forum “BEA: Bioenergy, Energy Efficiency and Agribusiness” in Kharkiv.
According to him, the cluster in 2019 also intends to increase the number of participants.
Among the projects of AgroFoodCluster in 2017-2018 is the participation in the ANUGA food fair (Cologne, Germany). According to Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kharkiv and managing partner of ILF Tetiana Havrysh, this allowed the cluster members to get new contracts in the European, Asian and African markets.
Mykhailov said that the cluster also carries out joint projects with the ILF law firm, aimed at raising the legal awareness of cluster members on taxes and protecting businesses from illegal seizures.
“The last initiative that we have to implement is to become representatives of the Ukrainian Agricultural Council, which actively protects the interests of producers, and cooperate with them on the protection of the property of our participants,” Mykhailov said.
According to him, in October 2018, the cluster included 19 companies.
“If there are about 400-500 agricultural producers in Kharkiv, the share of cluster members is very small. We had a goal to reach 100 participants, but this is quite difficult,” he said.
According to Havrysh, the priorities of the cluster are also cooperation with educational institutions, which are part of the cluster, to improve the quality of staff, as well as the development of communities.
“Now the cluster is looking for strategies for introducing green tourism. It is launching cultural programs. This is an evolution, although it may not be fast, because the Ukrainian government does not have a specific strategy regarding clusters,” she said.
Havrysh said that the cluster is also interested in creating a branded regional product to increase competitiveness in the domestic market.
“This can seriously influence domestic exports between regions in Ukraine. We often see products from Western Ukraine in Kharkiv, but it is unlikely that products from Kharkiv are seen in Western Ukraine,” she said.
As reported, the AgroFoodCluster Kharkiv was created in July 2017 intending to bring the region’s products to new markets.
The mobile communications operator lifecell in January-September 2018 saw a rise of 76% in net loss year-over-year, to UH 570.5 million.
According to financial statements of the parent company Turkcell (Turkey) posted on its official website, lifecell’s revenue grew by 6.8%, to UAH 3.852 billion. The increase is linked to growth in profit from consumption of mobile Internet and expansion of data traffic, the company said.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 68.7%, to UAH 1.679 billion. EBITDA margin grew by 16 percentage points, to 43.6%.
Capital investment in January-September soared 3.38-fold, to UAH 3.099 million.
According to the report, revenue in June-September 2018 increased 9.1%, to UAH 1.367 billion.
In Q3 2018, the company’s net loss doubled, to UAH 185.6 million.
EBITDA grew by 64%, to UAH 610 million, and EBITDA margin – by 14.9 p.p., to 44.6%.
“The new IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) in the third quarter of 2018 had a positive impact in the amount of UAH 213 million on the company’s EBITDA,” the lifecell press service said.
Capital investments of the company during this period increased 2.46-fold, to UAH 576.8 million.
“lifecell continued to deploy 4.5G network in the third quarter, launching high-speed communication services in the 1800 MHz band on July 1, following the launch in the 2600 MHz band in March. Also, in accordance with the global strategy for developing digital services of Turkcell, the operator lifecell continues expanding the portfolio of digital services for its subscribers,” the Ukrainian subsidiary of Turkcell said.
In the third quarter of 2018, the active three month subscriber base of the lifecell operator decreased by 7.3% on an annual basis, to 7.6 million subscribers, which the company continues to explain by reducing the number of users of several SIM-cards.
Active three month ARPU (average revenue per user per month) in the third quarter of 2018 increased by 17.7% on an annual basis and amounted to UAH 59.3 compared to last year’s figure (UAH 50.4), which is associated with an increase in the consumption of data traffic, which increased by 156% per subscriber on an annual basis. At the same time, the indicator of the 12 month active MoU (minutes per user) grew by 13.7%, to 145.8 minutes.
The company also said that the three month active user base of high-speed Internet based on 3G and 4.5G exceeded 4.2 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2018 and continues to grow. The penetration of smartphones in the operator’s network at the end of the third quarter was 73%.
Loostdorf LLC (Vinnytsia region), a large dairy producer, is bringing vegan milk under the Ideal Nemoloko brand to the Ukrainian market.
“The large Ukrainian dairy business has turned to the world-wide topic of nondairy milk products. Loostdorf launches buckwheat and oatmeal “Ideal Nemoloko,” Senior Analyst at the Infagro analytical agency Maksym Fasteyev wrote on his Facebook page.
According to him, the global dairy community advocates that dairy alternatives (vegetable) be called “drink” and not “milk” (for example, “soy drink”).
Loostdorf acted delicately. “Milk” is present on the label, but there is also a direct indication that it is “not milk,” Fasteyev said.
Loostdorf LLC was founded in February 1997. The company’s facilities can process around 350 tonnes of milk a day.
The company exports dairy products to Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and other countries.
PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia in November 2018 will launch an express train to the Boryspil international airport (Kyiv region).
“In February was the project, in May – the start of works, and in October – a test launch of the train. In November it will be the launch of the express train,” Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said on his Twitter account on Thursday.
The prime minister said that the cost of the project was about UAH 580 million, recalling that the estimated cost of the “infamous Air Express” in 2010 amounted to UAH 3.2 billion.
Groysman also pointed out the convenience of creating a covered gallery between the airport terminal and express platform.
As reported, Transportation on the Kyiv city-the Boryspil international airport route could reach 3.8 million passengers in 2019, according to Ukrzaliznytsia. The company expects that with a ticket price of UAH 80 the payback period for the project will near 10 years. Ukrzaliznytsia does not deny the scenario of increasing the cost of travel, depending on the demand for the service, as well as the factors that negatively affect its production cost for the company.
The estimated travel time will be 35-40 minutes.
