Detectives of the BES in Odesa region have completed a pre-trial investigation into an organized criminal group that counteracted legitimate business activities and seized real estate of foreign companies in Odesa and Kyiv. The property worth UAH 29 million has already been returned to the owner.
During the pre-trial investigation, detectives established that in almost a year and a half, the criminal group appropriated 4 apartments in Odesa, a land plot and a house in the capital belonging to foreign companies.
For this purpose, the members of the organized crime group set up a scheme of illegal re-registration of real estate for its further sale. With the help of “black” realtors, they created fictitious companies. Using forged seals of non-residents, authorities and notaries of foreign jurisdictions, they contributed real estate to the authorized capital of the above-mentioned companies. Later, they re-registered the real estate by entering into sale and purchase agreements and other transactions. The total amount of losses incurred is UAH 41 million.
The property worth UAH 29 million has already been returned to one of the affected foreign companies – detectives initiated the cancellation of the registration of alienation of ownership of a land plot and a house in the capital.
The organizer and 3 members of the criminal group were served a notice of suspicion of committing criminal offenses stipulated by Part 2 Art. 205-1, Part 3 Art. 206-2, Part 3 Art. 209, Part 3 Art. 3 Art. 209, Art. 358(3), (4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Two persons were chosen as a measure of restraint in the form of detention, and two others were released on bail. The indictment against 4 persons was sent to court.
Operational support was provided by the Strategic Investigations Department in Odesa region of the State Secret Service of the National Police of Ukraine. Procedural supervision – Odesa Region Prosecutor’s Office.
Recently, a Spanish citizen Angel Miguel Cerezo Gallardo publicly appealed to Ukrainian state authorities for support. The Spanish investor estimates his losses from the raider seizure of Selecto Markets, the company he co-founded, at UAH 20 million. For more details, please follow the link – Video of the press conference is available here
The USAID Economic Support for Ukraine Project (USAID Project) has purchased 85 grain railcars for Louis Dreyfus, the largest exporter of Ukrainian grain and oilseeds among foreign companies, the project’s press service reports on Facebook.
According to the report, the first 20 railcars have already been delivered to one of the company’s elevators.
USAID expects that the use of additional railcars will increase grain exports by 110 thousand tons annually. In addition, Louis Dreyfus will be able to expand its geography and ship grain from regions of Ukraine where it was not possible to export grain.
The Louis Dreyfus representative office in Ukraine owns 660 railcars, some of which are located in the temporarily occupied territories. The agricultural trader exports grain to Asia, Africa and Europe.
The USAID clarified that the purchase of equipment for agricultural companies is carried out within the framework of the Agriculture Sustainability Initiative in Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine), implemented by the United States Agency for International Development, to mitigate the global food crisis, which has been exacerbated by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Tourism enterprises paid UAH 2 billion 49.462 million in taxes in 2023, which is 32% more than in the previous year, but 8% less than in 2021, said Mariana Oleskiv, head of the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine, during a final press conference on Wednesday.
“After a very stressful year of 2022, people just needed time to recover, to reboot psychologically, and it was by traveling, visiting tourist destinations, that they achieved their goals. Interest in their culture is realized through travel,” Oleskiv said.
Hotels accounted for 63.6% of tax revenues, tour operators for 10.1%, other accommodation facilities for 9.7%, and travel agencies for 9.4%. At the same time, the total number of taxpayers in 2023 amounted to 16645, which is 9% less than in 2022 and 25% less than in 2021.
On Thursday, February 8, in Ukraine, except for the south, there will be light rain and sleet, moderate rain in the western regions, and significant precipitation in the Carpathians and Transcarpathia during the day, the Ukrainian Weather Center reports.
In northeastern Ukraine, there will be ice on the roads in some places.
The wind is mostly westerly, 7-12 m/s, in the Carpathians and eastern regions at night there will be gusts of 15-20 m/s.
The temperature in the southern part at night will be 2-7 ° C, during the day 10-15 °; in the rest of the territory during the day 1-6 ° C, in the north of Ukraine from 2 ° C to 3 ° C, in Sumy region 0-5 ° C.
In Kyiv on Thursday, light rain with transition to sleet. West wind, 7-12 m/s. The temperature during the day will be 0-2° Celsius.
According to the Central Geophysical Observatory named after Borys Sreznevsky. On February 8, the highest temperature during the day was 11.0° in 2011, the lowest at night was -28.5° in 1929.
On Friday, February 9, in Ukraine, except for the southern part, there will be occasional precipitation in the form of snow and rain. In the northeast of the country, there will be ice on the roads in some places.
Southwest wind with a shift to southeast, 5-10 m/s, gusts of 19-24 m/s in the Carpathians.
The temperature at night will be 0-5° below zero, during the day 0-5° above zero, in Sumy and Chernihiv regions at night 6-11° below zero, during the day 0-5° below zero; in the southern and southwestern, as well as in most western and central regions at night 1-6° above zero, during the day 6-11° above zero, in some places 13-18°.
In Kyiv, on Friday, there will be snow with a transition to rain. Southeast wind, 5-10 m/s. The temperature will be 0-2° below zero at night, 0-2° above zero during the day.
Initial registrations of new buses (including minibuses) in Ukraine in January 2024 halved compared to January 2023, to 119 units, Ukravtoprom reported on its Telegram channel.
According to the report, the Ukrainian Ataman was the market leader with 35 buses registered: in January last year, it ranked third with 50 vehicles. Citroen took second place, as it did a year earlier, with 33 buses (19 less), and Etalon, the leader in January-2023, took third place with 15 buses (4.3 times less).
According to the association, Turkish Temsa took the fourth place in the rating with 13 vehicles compared to three in January last year (and eighth place in the rating), and ZAZ took the fifth place (compared to fourth place in January 2023) with 11 buses (9 less).
As reported, in January last year, according to Ukravtoprom, the demand for new buses more than doubled compared to pre-war January 2022, to 239 units.
In 2023, the total initial registrations of new buses of all classes in Ukraine amounted to 1701 units, which is 86% more than in 2022.
The EVA chain of perfume and cosmetics stores opened 59 new stores and increased its turnover by 40% in 2023 compared to 2022, the company’s press service reports.
“While in 2022, the company’s efforts were more focused on maintaining its business, 2023 was a year of development for it. We increased the turnover in LFL stores by 40% compared to 2022. At the end of the year, we had about the same number of customers as in pre-war 2021, and lost 6.5% in transactions compared to it. These results were very difficult for us. But together with the whole country, we have gained a lot of experience – we have learned how to live in war and, even in such conditions, to move forward whenever possible,” said Olga Shevchenko, Executive Director of RUSH LLC (EVA stores and EVA.UA online store).
In 2023, the company opened 59 new outlets, mostly in the Women’s Energy design introduced at the end of last year. As of December 31, the chain had 1061 operating stores. Of these, 50 were Women’s Energy stores. In September, the company introduced a Skin Health Center with a range of dermatocosmetics from leading global brands in a shop-in-shop format. By the end of the year, two such outlets were operating in Dnipro and Kyiv. In December, the EVA Beauty store was tested in Kyiv’s Respublika Park shopping center.
“The first month of its operation exceeded our expectations. However, it is too early to discuss the results. The store is operating in test mode. We are still making improvements to it, and it should be the way we intended it to be by the end of the first half of the year,” Shevchenko said.
The company plans to open about 60 more stores in 2024. The planned investments in this area amount to about UAH 200 million.
In addition, in 2023, EVA launched six new retail outlets. Thus, the company’s private label portfolio includes 58 brands. This is more than 5000 SKUs in almost all categories represented in the chain’s assortment. In 2024, the company added beauty gadgets, professional gel polishes, and aroma diffusers to its private label portfolio.
In total, about 110 million units of private label products were sold during the year. The share of private label in the company’s total sales is 33.9% in physical terms and 22.8% in monetary terms.
To improve efficiency, EVA invests heavily in logistics development, including the construction and modernization of warehouse facilities. In Lviv, a new 9 thousand square meters warehouse for e-commerce is being built next to the existing warehouse. The area of the existing warehouses in Brovary and Lviv is being expanded by introducing mezzanines. An e-commerce hub was launched in Dnipro in September.
“We simplify and automate warehouse processes as much as possible, which speeds up the flow of orders through the supply chain,” said Olga Shevchenko.
She added that this is facilitated by our own selection system. In addition, the offline warehouses have implemented the Put to light system, which allows them to avoid using picking terminals, speed up the adaptation of new employees and increase productivity.
In 2024, the system is planned to be partially implemented in e-com warehouses. EVA also plans to automate storage systems: introduce AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) and AS/RS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems).
In 2023, the project to build a logistics hub in Odesa resumed after a pause. The procurement of the necessary materials and structures, as well as other preparatory work, is ongoing. The area of the first stage of the Odesa hub should be 20 thousand square meters. Construction work will continue in 2025-2026.
Preliminary investments in logistics infrastructure in 2024 may amount to up to UAH 1.3 billion.
RUSH LLC, which manages the EVA network, was founded in 2002. It owns 52 private labels (PL), which are represented by household goods, perfumes, cosmetics, jewelry, personal care products, accessories, underwear, and children’s products. In 2022, the share of FMCG sales in physical terms was 30.6%. The company employs about 13.4 thousand people.
