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.
In 2023, Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands), the parent company of Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, increased capital investments in Metinvest Pokrovskugol, which manages the enterprises of Pokrovskoye Coal Group (PGU), by 15.6% year-on-year to $126 million from $109 million.
According to a corporate presentation published on the Irish Stock Exchange on June 4, Metinvest increased its capex investments in Kametstal by 5% in 2023, to $42 million from $40 million.
Capex at Central GOK increased by 6.7% to $16 million from $15 million.
At the same time, the Group reduced investments in Northern GOK by 29.5% to $31 million from $44 million, in United Coal (USA) by 47.5% to $21 million from $40 million, in Ingulets GOK by 58.1% to $13 million from $31 million, and in other assets by 53.3% to $35 million from $75 million.
In general, Metinvest reduced its capital investments in 2023 by 19.8% compared to 2022, to $284 million from $354 million, while $65 million was invested in the steel segment last year ($99 million in 2022) and $213 million in the mining sector ($244 million).
At the same time, it is noted that the share of the mining segment in 2023 increased to 75% of total investment (+6% compared to 2022), the share of investments in capital repairs increased to 86% of total expenditures (an increase of 6% compared to 2022), while strategic investments amounted to 14% of the total.
The priorities of capital expenditures affected by the war were affected by the implementation schedules of strategic projects in accordance with the actual production configuration and the identified optimization measures. At the same time, the development of the strategy for key projects is ongoing. Maintenance projects continue to be implemented to ensure an adequate level of output capacity and provide technology to increase production at the Ukrainian assets after the end of the war.
In addition, the group has taken a number of measures to minimize potential damage in case of emergency power outages.
As reported, Metinvest’s consolidated net loss in 2023 amounted to $194 million, while in 2022 it reached $2.193 billion (down 11 times). Revenue fell by 11% from $8.288 billion to $7.397 billion in 2022, while EBITDA fell by 54% to $861 from $1.873 billion. At the same time, the steel sector’s revenue decreased by 15.2% to $4.846 billion, and the mining segment’s revenue decreased by 0.8% to $2.551 billion. Adjusted EBITDA of the Group’s steel division decreased by 40.4% to $159 million, and of the mining segment by 50.2% to $770 million.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions, as well as in Europe.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
CENTRAL GOK, INVESTMENTS, METINVEST, Каметсталь, Покровскуголь
In the period from June 17 to October 24 this year, the shareholders of Kokhavynska Paper Mill JSC (KPM, Lviv region) will be paid dividends for 2023 totaling UAH 6.852 million out of the net profit of UAH 137.043 million.
According to the company’s publication in the disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), the relevant decision was made by the general meeting of shareholders on April 25.
Dividends will be paid in the amount of UAH 2.41 per share with a par value of UAH 0.25.
According to the NSSMC data for the first quarter of 2024, almost 12% of the company’s authorized capital belongs to the chairman of the supervisory board Mykhailo Tytykalo, his daughter and member of the SB Larysa Tytykalo – 8.49%, his granddaughter Maria Goryanskaya – 10%, Tamara Tytykalo – 15.5%, members of the Supervisory Board Oleksandr Teletkov, Igor Kostyrko and Roman Pirig – more than 11.12% and 11.92% and 7.88%, respectively, and Oksana Serembytska – 7.88%.
The authorized capital of the company is UAH 711.83 million, divided into 2 million 847 thousand 328 shares.
Operating since 1939, Kokhavynka Paper Mill produces base paper for sanitary and hygiene products, as well as toilet paper and paper towels under the Kokhavynka trademark (made from waste paper) and the Kokhavynska Papirnya and Mildi trademarks (cellulose).
As reported, in 2023, the factory increased its production by 18% compared to 2022, to UAH 1 billion 151.2 million. Net profit increased 2.7 times.
Ukrainian exporters of products to EU countries and the Ukrainian government should pay more attention to the problem of decarbonization within the Green Deal strategy and, in particular, CBAM – an additional tax for goods with a high level of carbonization during production, which comes into effect from 2026.
This opinion was expressed by experts and representatives of companies during a roundtable discussion held at the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Tuesday on “The impact of CBAM on domestic exporters”.
Olga Kulik, Director of the Department of Ecology of Energy and Green Economy of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, noted that CBAM is very important, it affects exporters, every enterprise.
According to her, during a recent business trip she communicated with representatives of enterprises and structures in Europe, they collect information on CBAM reports. At the same time, if European companies realize the requirement for verification of emission reports, Ukrainian enterprises have problems in this direction, in particular, Ukrainian verifiers must be accredited by the European Commission.
“Verification by data – time is going fast, and we cannot delay these problems. Therefore, the Ministry of Economy together with the Ministry of Ecology will negotiate so that verification will be accredited in the EC. But so far the issue has not been resolved,” Kulik said.
On the other hand, according to her, European countries also have certain problems with the unified standardization of a number of points, with further steps to implement the “green” initiative. It is necessary to create a working group, for work within the framework of which Ukraine should receive an invitation.
In turn, the director of the information and analytical center GMK Center Stanislav Zinchenko stated that by implementing the SWAM mechanism the EU protects its markets. And in the future similar mechanisms will be introduced in other countries, such as the UK, USA, Australia.
“This is a new wave of protectionism, this is ‘green’ protectionism and it will step the planet. It will lead to a reformatting of flows, but it will also help reduce emissions,” Zinchenko predicts, adding that there are currently not enough emission verifiers in the EU, in Ukraine and globally.
“Less than 10% of the 20,000 companies in Germany that were supposed to report on time have done so. And in Ukraine there are also problems with the reports, with the methodology. A very crude procedure, a crude experiment, but it is starting to affect Ukrainian companies. Ukraine does not have a single document on SWAM”, – stated the expert.
According to him, due to force majeure circumstances because of the war, Ukraine may not be subject to the requirement to submit verified reports from 2026, but only declarative reports on SWAM, without payment for certificates.
According to him, in case of introduction of strict requirements of the SWAM, Ukraine’s losses, if calculated at 2023 prices, may amount to $600 million for pig iron exports (“minus” 1.4 million tons), $640 million for semi-finished products, and $200 million for rolled products. In general, losses at steel enterprises may reach $1.5 billion.
Other industries will also suffer losses.
“We do not see the interest of either the government or the ministries, which should conduct constant negotiations. And the EU is surprised why Ukraine is not actively involved in this process. Unfortunately, part of the government employees believe that this is a problem of business, not the Cabinet,” Zinchenko summarized.
Arzinger partner, head of the Energy and Natural Resources, Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development practice Angelika Livitskaya emphasized that SWAM is a mix of ecology and economics, and Ukraine has an obligation to implement EU legislation in Ukraine.
“We are implementing a number of waste management regulations. And we expect more cooperation from the government and ministries. It is unlikely that we will make it by 2050, but we have a commitment,” Livitskaya said.
According to her, cement, steel, aluminum, and fertilizers will fall mainly under SWAM. And it is necessary to submit reports by May 31 of each year, the first time – by May 31, 2027 with a report for 2026. Failure to submit reports will result in significant fines, from EUR10 to EUR50 for each ton of emissions.
“The government needs to raise the issue of force majeure for Ukrainian enterprises,” Livitskaya believes.
Lyudmyla Kripka, executive director of the Ukrcement association, noted that Ukrainian enterprises have the opportunity to declaratively submit emission reports.
“We initiated such a procedure, we are not obliged to buy SWAM certificates under force majeure circumstances. We offer and ask to work within the framework of SWAM on a declarative principle,” – emphasized Kripka.
The President of Ukrmetallurgprom OP Oleksandr Kalenkov noted that metallurgical enterprises consider SWAM as an irreversible process: “One way or another, it will be implemented and will be worldwide, it will lead to some reformatting of trade all over the world”.
Previously up to a third of steel products went to the EU, the share has now increased due to the blocking of the sea route, and it could increase if the blockade resumes.
“It is important for the government to get involved in the process, to pay more attention to it,” Kalenkov stressed, noting that Euro companies from this eco-initiative receive certain subsidies for their development and modernization.
“It is necessary to level the playing field between Ukrainian and European companies – to apply force majeure conditions for Ukrainian enterprises. It is necessary to approach this issue comprehensively, to take into account the issues of modernization of companies. The Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Economy are involved in this process, but it is important that there is one center that will manage this process, so that a unified position is communicated to European colleagues”, – said the head of Ukrmetallurgprom.
He also believes it is necessary to create a competitive market of verifiers in Ukraine so that both local and European companies could work here.
Earlier, the head of international relations of Metinvest Group Andriy Kryl during Ukraine’s Future Summit said that soon a new obstacle for Ukrainian companies to work in the European market will be the carbon duty (CBAM), which will work in full in 18 months. The top manager expressed hope that thanks to the dialog between the Ukrainian government and the European Commission these obstacles can be overcome and trade flows will remain uninterrupted.
In turn, Vladyslav Varnavskiy, Director for Ecology and Industrial Safety of Interpipe, at the “Exporters’ Summit” organized by Forbes Ukraine, noted that companies should pay more attention to environmental projects within the framework of the EU requirements on the topic of “green” economy – Green Deal and CBAM. And clarified that despite the fact that this topic is becoming increasingly broad and not only political, but also economic and public, in Ukraine so far few companies pay attention to it, even exporters of products to the EU.
As stated on the website of the European Commission, the “green” agreement (Green Deal) is a strategy that should bring the EU economy to a modern, resource-efficient and competitive state through commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and stop completely by 2050.
ANZHELIKA LIVITSKA, CBAM, LUDMYLA KRIPKA, MAXIM URAKIN, OLEXANDR KALENKOV, OLHA KULYK, STANISLAV ZINCHENKO
Agrotrade has completed the spring sowing of spring crops, for which it has allocated more than 30 thousand hectares, the company’s press service posted on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to the report, favorable weather in early spring allowed Agrotrade to start sowing in March, although it had previously started in April. However, due to precipitation, field work had to be suspended for some time, and when it resumed, more machinery had to be used than planned.
“This year, we focused on using our own equipment in the problem areas near the sites of shelling and active hostilities. This allowed us to work efficiently despite limited working hours and problems with satellite navigation. The delay caused by weather conditions did not have a significant impact and did not cause any economic losses, as we had foreseen the possibility of using additional equipment in advance. As a result, we completed the spring sowing campaign even ahead of schedule,” said Oleksandr Ovsyanyk, Director of the Agricultural Department.
According to him, Agrotrade has planted 12.52 thou hectares of sunflower, 8.27 thou hectares of soybeans, 6.4 thou hectares of corn, 3.75 thou hectares of spring wheat, and 230 thou hectares of industrial hemp for the 2014 harvest. Buckwheat and peanuts were also sown for the first time.
The Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. Its main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a simultaneous storage capacity of 570 thousand tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn and sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand Agroseeds on the market.
Vsevolod Kozhemiako is the founder and CEO of Agrotrade.
