Nova Poshta Group has expanded its network of Nova Post offices in the Czech Republic to five cities: after opening in Prague, Brno and Liberec, the company has expanded to Pilsen and Pardubice, its press service reports.
The press release, citing NovaPost CEO in the Czech Republic Andrey Artemenko, said that the next branches of the company will appear in Ostrava, Mladá Boleslav, and České Budějovice.
“We also plan to develop a network of branches within existing businesses, and therefore invite owners of shops, supermarkets, coworking spaces, dry cleaning salons, and others to cooperate,” Artemenko added.
It is specified that Nova Poshta currently has more than 35 thousand points of service for sending and receiving parcels in Europe, of which 90 are Nova Post’s own branches in 13 European countries: Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Moldova and the United Kingdom.
Change in consumer prices in 2023-2024
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
On June 17, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has agreed with MetLife PJSC, specializing in life insurance, to expand the scope of the license for direct insurance and incoming reinsurance.
According to the regulator’s website, the company has received the right to carry out insurance in the classes of accident insurance (including industrial injury and occupational disease) and sickness insurance (including health insurance).
The message also underlines that taking into account this extension the license of PJSC “MetLife” is considered to be reissued.
According to the statements of PJSC “MetLife”, the volume of insurance premiums of the company in the specified period amounted to UAH 2,489 billion, insurance reserves – UAH 6,186 billion.
For 2023 the insurer has paid out insurance indemnities in the amount of UAH 516,6 mln.
The share of the company by the volume of insurance reserves in the life insurance market is 31,3%.
Private JSC “MetLife” is a part of the leading world corporation MetLife. The company has been operating in Ukraine since 2002. The main lines of business are accumulative life insurance, accident and critical illness insurance, corporate insurance and bancassurance.
About 20% of Ukrainian IT specialists work abroad, while in 2023 their number increased to 65 thousand from 50-57 thousand a year earlier, according to the study AI Ecosystem of Ukraine: Talents, Companies, Education, prepared by the non-profit organization AI House and Roosh investment group with the support of the Ministry of Digital Information.
According to the data, the total number of IT specialists in Ukraine increased to 307 thousand in 2023 from 285 thousand in 2022.
According to Eurostat data cited in the study, Ukraine ranks second among Central and Eastern European countries in terms of the number of IT specialists, followed by Poland with 600.7 thousand.
At the same time, the number of AI/ML specialists has increased fivefold over the past 10 years, but as of January 2024, it amounts to slightly more than 1% – 5.2 thousand people.
“The active migration of specialists abroad as a result of the war leads to a shortage of qualified personnel in the domestic market, hindering the development of the industry,” the study says.
The most widespread professions among specialists are Data Scientists and ML Engineers, which together account for 63% of all AI/ML industry professionals. It is noted that these areas offer the highest salaries among IT specialties in the country. The average salary of a junior specialist in Ukraine is $1-1.5 thousand, and a senior specialist – $4.5 thousand.
Over the past 10 years, the number of product AI companies in Ukraine has increased by 3.7 times and reached 183 by 2023, while the number of service AI companies has increased by 46% to 60. Over the past four years, 34 companies specializing in artificial intelligence have opened. It is noted that 55% of the offices of Ukrainian AI companies are located in Kyiv.
At the same time, the country ranks last among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in terms of the number of venture capital investments attracted over the past three years. The leaders are Poland, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic, which attract 12-16 times more funding than Ukraine, the study says. The probable reasons are the full-scale invasion of Russia and the registration of Ukrainian companies in European countries or the United States.
In 2023, the amount of venture capital investments that 22 Ukrainian companies managed to attract decreased by 31% to $10.8 million compared to 2022, which, according to the authors of the study, repeats the general trend of a decrease in such investments in the world. The war also complicates the process of negotiations between startups and potential investors to raise funding.
On June 17, JSC “Oschadbank” opened offers of bidders for voluntary medical insurance of employees with a budget of UAH 114.8 million, according to the e-procurement system “Prozorro”.
According to the report, the price offer of the only bidder IC “VUSO” amounted to UAH 114.2 million.
As reported, the company was the winner of a similar tender a year earlier.
IC “VUSO” was founded in 2001. The company holds 50 licenses: 34 – for voluntary and 16 – for compulsory types of insurance. It is represented in all regions of Ukraine. It is a member of ITSBU and UFS, a participant of Direct Loss Settlement Agreement and a member of Nuclear Insurance Pool.
According to analysts at Ukraine’s largest pet food producer Kormotech, the Ukrainian pet food market grew to 58.3 thousand tons in January-April, up 11.4% from the same period last year.
As the company told Interfax-Ukraine, Kormotech continues to grow faster than the market, with sales up 14% year-on-year, and the company’s market share by weight up 0.6%. Currently, Kormotech leads the top four manufacturers in the domestic market.
It is also noted that at the end of the year, Ukrainian Kormotech entered the top 50 global pet food producers and was ranked 49th in the ranking according to the American industry publication PetfoodIndustry.
“For the sixth year in a row, we are among the top 21 fastest growing companies in the petfood industry. This demonstrates the constant growth and demand for our product in the market. Moreover, despite the war, our foreign partners are ready not only to sell our products, but also to expand cooperation with Kormotech,” explained Rostyslav Vovk, CEO and co-owner of Kormotech.
PetfoodIndustry ranks the world’s largest companies by annual revenue.
The main competitors of the Ukrainian company, according to the co-owner, are Empresas Carozzi from Chile, Irish Dog Foods from Ireland, and Whitebridge Pet Brands from the United States.
In 2023, Kormotech’s turnover increased by 22.5% to $152 million from $124 million in 2022. The ratio of sales abroad and in Ukraine in tons is now 31% to 69%, respectively (in 2022 it was 28% abroad and 72% in Ukraine).
Kormotech brands grew most dynamically compared to last year’s sales in the markets of Romania (+35%), Poland (+11%) and Moldova (+11%). Over the past year, the company signed contracts with partners from Malaysia, started sales in Finland, and is actively developing in Spain and Italy, expanding its presence to 42 countries. At the same time, Kormotech retained its leading position in the Ukrainian market.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing high-quality cat and dog food under the Optimeal, Club 4 Paws, Woof! and Meow! brands since 2003. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, with a product range of over 650 items. Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine, one of the world’s top 50 pet food producers and one of the top 21 most dynamic pet food brands. The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Olena and Rostyslav Vovk.
