On Friday, June 7, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign two agreements to provide Ukraine with €650 million in loans and grants, in particular to support local authorities and critical infrastructure, the Elysee Palace said on Wednesday, Le Monde reports.
The first agreement will reportedly provide the French Development Agency with “€400 million in loans and €50 million in grants until 2027” to “expand its activities in Ukraine” by providing support in the energy and transport sectors, in particular “to develop administrative capacity.”
The second agreement concerns the creation of a “support fund” for critical infrastructure, which will be invested with €200 million euros “to support French companies in future tenders (…) in the energy, transport, water and sanitation, health and agriculture sectors”.
It is noted that “these funds will be used to finance large projects, strengthen or replace failing energy infrastructure” as it is the object of special attention from Moscow.
Real GDP in 2021-2025 (forecast)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
AURORA Multimarket and the environmental project BatterFly are joining forces to protect the environment and preserve the health of Ukrainians. The joint project for the collection and recycling of used batteries has become a step towards sustainable development and environmental responsibility. In a short period of time, we managed to collect more than 60,000 batteries, of which 20,000 have already been successfully recycled at a European plant.
By financing this project, AURORA Multimarket and battery manufacturers such as Duracell, Panasonic, +PLUS, Videx, Nasha Sila, demonstrate their responsibility to the environment and society and set the following expectations from the project:
Increasing the volume of recycling: AURORA Multimarket and BatterFly have formed a single chain system for collecting and transferring batteries for recycling, which reduces the negative impact on the environment.
Responsibility for the entire cycle: BatterFly is the only company in Ukraine that implements the full cycle of used batteries recycling – from the manufacture and placement of collection boxes to the transfer of batteries for actual recycling to the European Union countries that have such facilities.
Ensuring accessibility for everyone: Thanks to the modern collection points in the form of a recognizable battery placed in the AURORA Multimarket network, everyone can hand over used batteries free of charge and contribute to the preservation of the environment.
Conservation of natural resources: The process of recycling batteries reduces the need to extract natural resources, such as metals contained in batteries.
Environmental responsibility: BatterFly and AURORA Multimarket are guided by the principles of sustainable development, ensuring efficient waste collection and recycling.
In addition, AURORA Multimarket allows its customers to track the number of batteries collected and recycled in the network using a QR code placed on each box (https://batterfly.org/).
“For more than 10 years of work, we have learned how to sort waste efficiently not only within our company, but also gave our customers the opportunity to get involved. Now we are actively developing this area.
This initiative is an investment in our future, in the culture of our country and the education of our children. In order to avoid having to explain the consequences of negligent waste sorting in the future, we need to create the right habits here and now. Be responsible for the future of your country!” says Oleksandr Dotsenko, Commercial Director of Aurora multimarket chain.
For the readers’ information, BatterFly is the first integrated project in Ukraine that implements a full cycle of used batteries recycling – from their collection and processing to the subsequent transfer of batteries for real recycling. Founded in 2020 in an ideological partnership with the manufacturer Duracell, BatterFly is engaged in the implementation of environmental projects for the recycling of used batteries, based on the principles of sustainable development and environmental responsibility.
In a short period of time, BatterFly and its partners have created the largest used battery collection network among retail players (more than 2,600 collection points in Ukraine).
One of the company’s key initiatives is the construction of modern collection points that look like batteries. This allows everyone to hand over used batteries and contribute to the preservation of the environment. In addition, BatterFly provides transportation of waste to its warehouse, its sorting and shipment to recycling plants in the European Union.
In its activities, the company is guided by the principles of sustainable development and environmental responsibility, and implements innovative technologies and processes to reduce the negative impact on the environment.
Learn more about this project on the official website: https://batterfly.org/avrora/
Astarta Agro Holding will pay dividends for 2023 in the amount of EUR0.5 per share for a total of EUR12.5 million, which is in line with the previous year.
As stated in the company’s announcement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, this decision was made by the shareholders’ meeting on June 4 this year, instructing the board of directors to determine the dates of payment.
As reported, Astarta first paid EUR12.155 million in dividends in June 2021 based on the results of 2020 in the same amount as proposed now – EUR0.5 per share. In the military year of 2022, the company refused to pay them, and then paid them in 2023.
Astarta’s shares are currently quoted at PLN29.25 per share (about EUR6.81 per share), while about a year ago, when the dividend decision was approved, the rate was PLN32.80 per share (about EUR7.28 per share).
In 2023, Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million.
Astarta CEO Viktor Ivanchik’s family currently owns 40.68% of the company. Fairfax Financial Holdings is also a major shareholder with 29.91%, and another 2.12% of shares belong to the company itself and were previously bought back as part of a buyback.
In January-March this year, the coke and chemicals division of KAMETSTAL, a Metinvest Group company (formerly Dnipro Coke and Chemicals Plant, Kamenskoye, Dnipro Oblast), reduced its production of metallurgical coke by 35% year-on-year to 68 thousand tons.
According to a corporate presentation published on the Irish Stock Exchange on June 4, the company produced 79 thousand tons of coke in Q4 of 2013.
It is specified that the decline in production at Kametstal was due to the decommissioning (final closure) of some coking chambers at coke oven battery No. 1.
“Zaporozhkoks, a member of the group, increased its blast furnace coke production by 1% year-on-year to 215 thousand tons in January-March 2024.
In addition, it is reported that Metinvest Pokrovskugol reduced coking coal concentrate production by 9% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023 and by 6% to 640 thousand tons in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to deteriorating coal quality and reduced coal production.
Production at United Coal (USA) in January-March 2024 decreased by 41% compared to the same period in 2023 due to the downtime of the Carter Roag mine and reduced production at some Wellmore mines, and almost stabilized (down 2%) by the fourth quarter of 2023 to 446 thousand tons.
As reported earlier, Metinvest decreased coke production by 11% year-on-year in January-March this year and by 3% quarter-on-quarter to 283 thousand tons, while total coking coal concentrate production decreased by 26% to 1.086 million tons.
“Kametstal was established on the basis of Dnipro Coke Plant and Coke and Steel Plant of Dnipro Metallurgical Plant.
“Zaporozhkoks produces coke, owns a full technological cycle of coke products processing, and produces coke oven gas and pitch coke.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated mining group of companies. Its major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage the company. Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In January-May 2024, Ukrgasvydobuvannya JSC launched 36 new gas wells, the press service of Naftogaz Group reports.
According to it, 11 of them are highly productive and produce more than 100 thousand cubic meters of gas per day.
“Our production in the first five months of 2024 increased by 10% compared to the same period last year. This is the result of the hard work of our specialists. At the beginning of the year, they showed better drilling results, and we have 11 high-yield wells. This is an important result, and we aim to maintain the pace and increase production by the end of the year,” said Alexey Chernyshev, Group CEO.
As reported, in 2022, UGV produced 12.5 bcm of natural gas (commercial), which is 3% less than in 2021. At the end of 2023, the company’s commercial gas production amounted to 13.224 billion cubic meters, which is 0.679 billion cubic meters more than in 2022.
In 2023, UGV launched 86 new wells, including 24 with an initial flow rate of more than 100 thousand cubic meters.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine owns 100% of Ukrgasvydobuvannya shares.
