Since the beginning of the Russian aggression, Ukraine has been forced to change the geography of agricultural exports, as a result of which the share of Europe reached 59% in January-October 2023 compared to 32% in 2021, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) reported on Facebook.
According to the report, such an increase in exports of agricultural products to Europe is forced and is explained by a decrease in supplies to other regions: the share of Africa decreased to 7% from 14%, Asia – to 12% from 19%, and Southeast Asia – to 4% from 13%.
“The main reason for these changes is the blockade of Ukrainian seaports by Russian troops. The development of alternative routes, which were possible only through the territory of the EU countries, led to changes. Ukrainian farmers were forced to look for buyers of their products in Europe,” the analysts explained.
The UCAB reminded that deliveries to Africa and Asia during the war became possible only thanks to the work of the grain corridor in cooperation with the UN and Turkey, as well as the temporary grain corridor, which is currently shipping.
In 2023, the structure of exports of Ukrainian agricultural products in terms of the main export items is similar to last year’s figures: 39% were grains, 26% were vegetable oils, 4% were meat, and 2% were dairy products, eggs, and honey. At the same time, exports of oilseeds decreased to 12% compared to 16% in 2022, while exports of oilcake increased to 6% from 5% during the year. The permission to supply sugar to foreign markets allowed producers to increase its share in agricultural exports to 3% over the year.
In pre-war 2021, the structure of Ukraine’s agricultural exports was as follows: cereals – 45%, vegetable oils – 26%, oilseeds – 9%, meals – 6%, meat – 3%, and tobacco products – 2%.
“The only way to resume exports to Ukraine’s traditional markets is to ensure the safety of sea export routes and increase the volume of shipments through this channel,” the UCAB summarized.
In January-September 2023, ALC Insurance Company ARX Life (ARX Life, Kyiv) collected insurance premiums in the amount of UAH 234.7 million, which is 18.71% more than in the same period of 2022, according to the website of RA Standard Rating.
According to the RA’s information on updating the company’s credit rating/financial strength (reliability) rating at uaAAAA according to the national scale, the volume of payments and reimbursements made by the insurer for the first nine months of 2023 increased by 31% to UAH 49.426 million compared to the same period in 2022. Thus, the insurer’s claims ratio increased by 1.97 p.p. to 21.06%.
The insurer’s acquisition expenses for the first nine months of 2023 increased by 5.15% compared to the same period in 2022 – up to UAH 117.201 million.
According to the results of January-September, the company received a net profit of UAH 53.214 million, which is 3.09 times more than the profit received in the first nine months of 2022.
As of September 30, 2023, the insurer’s assets increased by 24.42% to UAH 287.277 million, equity increased by 44.46% to UAH 172.906 million, liabilities showed an increase of 2.86% to UAH 114.371 million, cash and cash equivalents decreased by 30.90% to UAH 45.745 million.
Thus, as of the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2023, the company had a very high level of capitalization (151.18%) and a sufficient level of coverage of its liabilities by cash and cash equivalents (40.00%).
At the same time, the RA notes that as of October 1, 2023, the insurer made financial investments in the amount of UAH 216.102 million, which consisted of government bonds (81.18%), government bonds (9.57%) and deposits in banks (9.25%).
ARX Life, like ARX, is part of the international insurance holding Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. ARX Life is among the top 10 companies in the life insurance market in Ukraine.
In January-October 2023, Kokhavyno Paper Mill (KBF, Lviv region), which produces sanitary paper products, increased its production by 22.5% compared to the same period in 2022, to UAH 959.6 million, according to statistics from UkrPapir Association.
According to the data provided to Interfax-Ukraine, in physical terms, the production of paper base for sanitary products increased by 2.4% to 34.6 thousand tons. In particular, in October, its output increased by 3.4% to 3.64 thousand tons by October 2022, which is also 23.4% more than in September this year.
The production of toilet paper in rolls increased by 3.9% to 113 million units during this period. KPF retains the second place in terms of its output after Kyiv CPP (213.3 million units), slightly ahead of VGP JSC (TM Ruta).
Kokhava Paper Mill, which has been operating since 1939, produces the base paper for sanitary and hygiene products, as well as toilet paper and paper towels.
The mill has practically not stopped production since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression in Ukraine.
As reported, in 2023, KPF produced products worth UAH 975.3 million, up 44.8% year-on-year. Net profit decreased by 12.7% to UAH 52.4 million.
A four-level shopping center “Ukraina” with a total area of more than 20 thousand square meters will be opened in Uzhhorod at the end of 2024, the Retail & Development Advisor (RDA) consulting company, which is the exclusive broker of the future facility, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“We are finalizing the architectural concept of the Ukraina shopping center, but we can already say for sure that its content will be the largest in Transcarpathia. Many national and international chains are interested in opening their stores here. The increased interest in the facility from retail operators is quite understandable, because this is the first shopping center of this scale and class in the region, which has no analogues in Transcarpathia today either in terms of architecture or location,” comments Andriy Lototskyi, CEO of RDA.
The new shopping center will be located on Svobody Avenue, not far from the historic city center. The developer of the facility expects that a good location on the main avenue of the city, proximity to the center and densely populated residential areas nearby will provide the mall with consistently high traffic. According to preliminary estimates, the shopping center’s footfall will reach 20 thousand shoppers per day.
RDA has already started the process of filling the facility. It is assumed that ALMA grocery supermarket with an area of 2 thousand square meters, large stores of national and international operators, a modern premium cinema, restaurants and a food court area will open in the shopping center “Ukraine”.
It is emphasized that the project takes into account all relevant DBN norms, in particular, the inclusiveness of the mall and the arrangement of a safe and comfortable shelter for visitors. It is also planned to equip the area in front of the mall.
During a conversation with African journalists, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed holding a Ukraine-African Union summit and said he was ready to come to any African country for this purpose.
According to the head of state, Ukraine is interested in strategic partnership with the states of the African continent, but such a partnership should be based on mutual respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty, language and traditions.
“This should be in the cultural plane, in the economic plane, and in respect between people. Without violating your and our rights, without affecting your and our freedom. We respect any state that respects us,” he said.
As the next step in the development of strategic cooperation, Zelenskyy announced his readiness to visit any state on the African continent.
“I do not have any priorities here (regarding a particular African state – IF-U). I think that if we can organize ourselves where we can meet, so that I have maximum contact with as many leaders, as many communities as possible, I think that would be better. And I would like to have the opportunity to organize such a meeting “African Union – Ukraine” or “Ukraine – countries of the African continent,” the president said.
“To be honest, I don’t care what the format is called. The main goal is for us all to do our best to achieve stability in the world and to achieve peace on the territory of our country. And to put the question not only in Russia, but with this war and the end of this war to put in place any aggressor with any colonial ambitions for the future,” he added.
As he emphasized, this is also very important for the future, because such things, such outbreaks and such wars can happen anywhere in the world.
Charitable Foundation “Help for Ukraine” plans to open a center for psychological and physiotherapeutic rehabilitation of military Step By Step on the basis of sanatorium “Morshynsky” in Lviv region in early 2024, said the president of the Foundation Stepan Aslanyan.
At a press conference in Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday he specified that the project will be implemented on the basis of leased premises of the central building of the sanatorium.
It was noted that the center for psychological and physiotherapeutic rehabilitation of the military will be equipped with comfortable wards with functional medical beds, equipped with ultrasound diagnostic equipment and laboratory tests.
“We are currently negotiating with specialized certified laboratories for the treatment of the consequences of acubarotraumas in cooperation with professional psychologists,” he said.
In turn, the Vice-President of the organization Vilen Fatalov noted that for a year and a half of work the fund has already implemented a number of projects, including a project to provide equipment to JSC “Nikolaevoblenergo”, which suffered from the Russian aggressor strikes on energy infrastructure facilities in 2022. As part of this project, with the support of German partners, the Foundation delivered 169.7 tons of much-needed equipment, including transformers and generators, to Mykolaivoblenergo.
In addition, the Foundation delivered humanitarian and medical supplies to Mykolaiv and the de-occupied territory of Kherson Oblast.
As part of the project, a mobile water purification unit was delivered and launched for the frontline settlement of Kazatskoye in Kherson Oblast.
At present, the project continues to implement the project “Save Kherson Water”, which provides for the purchase and installation of mobile water purification systems in settlements of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
The Foundation is also implementing the project “Beds for IDPs and orphanages”, under which IDPs and orphanages will be provided with 140 beds.
“Unfortunately, the needs for humanitarian aid are not decreasing, they are only growing, and we need to intensify our efforts to support the military and the population,” Aslanian said.
In turn, the fund’s ambassador Yevgeny Koshovy stressed that the organization continues to work towards providing the front with cars. “Unfortunately, cars have become expendable at the front, so we will concentrate our efforts in this direction,” he said.
For his part, Fatalov noted that in realizing its projects, the fund does not seek help from the population, but attracts business and international partners.
“We did not open fees from our citizens, we emphasized Ukrainian business and foreign partners. We must continue to consolidate our efforts and remain united as we were in February 2022. The needs are not getting smaller,” he said.
