In the first nine months of the 2023-2024 marketing year (MY), Kernel Agro Holding exported 1 million tons of sunflower oil in bulk to almost 30 countries, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
“We remain the largest agricultural exporter of sunflower oil and are among the TOP-3 total exports of Ukraine,” the statement said.
According to the agroholding, about 50% of the total volume of sunflower oil was supplied to India, 8% to the UAE, 7% to China and Spain, 5% to Italy, and 2% to Iraq, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, and Hong Kong.
“To expand the export opportunities of the entire industry, last year we started offering our infrastructure capacities to other agricultural producers in the market. At the company’s terminals in Odesa region, we provide transshipment services for grain crops and vegetable oil,” Kernel said.
In addition, the agricultural holding is completing the construction of one of the largest oil extraction plants in Europe in Starokonstantinov, Khmelnytsky region. Its processing capacity will be 1 million tons of seeds per year.
“This will allow us to increase the export of vegetable oil, a value-added product, and support agricultural producers in the region by providing them with opportunities to sell their products,” the agricultural holding explained.
As reported, Kernel processed 816 thsd tonnes of sunflower seeds in the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2024, up 10% year-on-year.
At the same time, sales of sunflower oil in January-March 2024 increased by 44% year-on-year to 394 thsd tonnes, totaling 1,103 thsd tonnes in the first nine months of 2024.
Before the war, Kernel Agro Holding was the world’s leading producer of sunflower oil (approximately 7% of global production) and its exports (approximately 12%). It is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. In addition, it is engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
Kernel’s net profit for FY2023 amounted to $299 million, while the company ended the previous year with a net loss of $41 million. The agricultural holding’s revenue for FY2023 decreased by 35% to $3.455 billion, but EBITDA increased 2.5 times to $544 million.
In the first half of FY2024, Kernel’s net profit fell 3.6 times compared to the first half of FY2023, to $102 million, and EBITDA halved to $223 million, with revenue down 16% to $1.59 billion.
The Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine has topped the nationwide ranking of artistic higher education institutions presented by the Institute of Sociological Research of the Kyiv National Economic University named after V. Hetman and the research company Active Group.
According to Oleksandr Poznyi, the coordinator of the project to create the rating, director of the Active Group research company, artistic higher education institutions are a very complex and important social institution that requires a specific methodology for studying.
“That’s why we combine the efforts of researchers, scholars and the best practices of the international community to improve our ranking of artistic higher education institutions,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
Pozniy emphasized that the main mission of the rating is to evaluate artistic institutions, as the existing ratings are designed for classical universities and do not take into account the unique aspects of art education and the specifics of evaluating art institutions. This, in turn, affects the objectivity and significance of these rankings in the context of art education, resulting in the underrepresentation of artistic institutions in the rankings.
“This is an important step in creating a transparent and objective system for evaluating artistic educational institutions, which allows us to adequately assess their contribution to the cultural development of the country. The ranking is designed to reflect the uniqueness of each artistic institution. We have applied comprehensive criteria that include teaching, research, international activity and financial stability,” said Yulia Gorbova, Director of the Institute of Sociological Research at the Kyiv National Economic University named after V. Hetman.
According to her, the methodology of this year’s ranking was improved as part of the joint research work of Active Group, the Institute of Higher Education and the Institute of Sociological Research of the Kyiv National Economic University named after V. Hetman. The study searched, systematized, and analyzed international and local general and subject (industry) rankings, with a special focus on the rankings of art education institutions and/or educational programs.
Art higher education institutions were analyzed by 45 parameters grouped into six blocks: “Teaching and Learning”, “Science and Research”, “Impact of Higher Education Institutions on Society Development”, “Internationalization”, “Institutional Reputation”, and “Financial Sustainability”. The share of each group of indicators and the weight of each individual criterion was determined based on the analysis of international experience and adjusted based on the results of an expert survey of representatives of the field of art education.
The authors of the ranking also used multi-criteria approaches to evaluating the activities of higher education institutions based on the processing of data that can be obtained from open sources and whose validity can be verified.
The sources of data for the ranking of artistic HEIs were: EDEBO, NAQA, Rector’s Report, Report on Scientific Activities, Estimates, Financial Statements of HEIs, HEI Website, Scopus, Web of Science, OpenAlex, Ukrainian National H-index Ranking, Google Scholar, Transparent Ranking, QS, UniRank, services for measuring brand reputation on the Internet and social networks.
As a result, the all-Ukrainian ranking of art universities for the 2023-2024 academic year was as follows:
| Place in the ranking | Result | |
| Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine | 1 | 68,6 |
| Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts | 2 | 47,7 |
| Kharkiv State Academy of Culture | 3 | 43,8 |
| Lviv National Academy of Arts | 4 | 43,5 |
| National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture | 5 | 41,7 |
| Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I.P. Kotlyarevsky | 6 | 39,6 |
| Kyiv National University of Theater, Cinema and Television named after I.K. Karpenko-Kary | 7 | 38 |
| A.V. Nezhdanova Odesa National Music Academy | 8 | 32,2 |
| Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy | 9 | 32,1 |
| Mykhailo Boichuk Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design | 10 | 27,2 |
| National Academy of Management Personnel of Culture and Arts | 11 | 27,1 |
| Transcarpathian Academy of Arts | 12 | 14,5 |
| Luhansk State Academy of Culture and Arts | 13 | 12,3 |
The researchers plan to continue this assessment of artistic institutions in order to track the dynamics of the development of Ukrainian art education institutions. The project team invites everyone to join the work on the development of the ranking, in particular, to improve the criteria for evaluating art institutions.
Almost 31 thousand sole proprietorships ceased operations in the first 4 months of 2024. The most frequently closed businesses are in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. More than 23% of newly established businesses closed in 2024.
30,904 businesses ceased operations in the first 4 months of 2024. However, the number of new businesses opened is twice as high – more than 74 thousand in the first quarter of this year.
The most frequent closures are in the retail sector – 10,773 (34.9%). Computer programming and wholesale trade are also in the top three, with 10.1% and 6.2% respectively.
Kyiv has the highest number of businesses closing – more than 3,800 or 12.4%. The second place in the anti-rating is occupied by Kharkiv region – almost 2.4 thousand businesses (7.7%). And Dnipropetrovs’k region closes the top, where almost 2.4 thousand businesses, or 7.7%, have also ceased their activities.
Odesa and Lviv regions are also in the anti-top, with 7.7% and 6.8% respectively.
More than 23% of the newly created PEs last year ceased operations in 2024, which is 7.3 thousand businesses.
The military units that protect Kharkiv and the region have already received or will soon receive funds from the city budget to purchase the necessary equipment, said Mayor Igor Terekhov.
“I am in close contact with the commanders of the units that defend the city and the region. I know their needs, and I must say that Kharkiv has already allocated funds to some brigades, and in the near future will transfer money to our other defenders. We are talking about millions and millions so that the military can buy what they need to destroy the enemy,” Terekhov wrote on his telegram channel.
He also called on local businesses and MPs to financially support the region’s defenders.
“I also call on local businesses, members of the city council, members of the regional and district councils of the region, as well as members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from Kharkiv and the region to contribute their money to the defense of the city and the region,” Terekhov wrote.
Source: https://t.me/ihor_terekhov/1317
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Numan Kurtulmuş discussed the intensification of interparliamentary cooperation.
“The current high level of inter-parliamentary relations is an important component of the common relations between our countries, which is supported by our presidents, governments and peoples,” the press service of the Verkhovna Rada’s apparatus quoted Stefanchuk as saying at a meeting with Kurtulmuş in Ankara on Tuesday.
The two sides also discussed the work of friendship groups and the acceleration of contacts between parliamentary committees, in particular, on international affairs and national security and defense.
Stefanchuk noted Turkey’s role in the creation and activities of the International Crimean Platform and emphasized that he looks forward to Kurtulmuş’s personal participation in the third parliamentary summit of the International Crimean Platform.
“Turkey, which has been supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity since the first days of the full-scale invasion, is doing enough to achieve a sustainable and just peace,” Stefanchuk said, emphasizing the importance of implementing the Peace Formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He emphasized that Ukraine looks forward to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s participation in the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland.
For his part, Kurtulmuş noted that Turkey supports Ukraine in its struggle for independence and sovereignty.
“We express our support for Ukraine in returning all the occupied territories, not only Crimea, and we stand for a sustainable and just peace,” Kurtulmuş said.
He expressed hope for a speedy end to the war and a transition to the stage of Ukraine’s recovery, in which Turkey will help Ukraine.
As reported, Stefanchuk is on an official visit to Turkey on May 13-15.
Arricano Real Estate Plc, a developer of shopping malls, continues to invest in the renovation of the Sun Gallery shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih and the construction of the Lukianivka shopping mall in Kyiv, said Margus Kurm, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arricano, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“We have not stopped any of our activities. We are going to invest in Kryvyi Rih to repair our property, as well as in the construction of the Lukianivka shopping mall and other planned projects,” Kurm assured.
As reported, the building of the “Solar Gallery” (Kryvyi Rih) was damaged on January 8, 2024, as a result of a Russian missile attack. According to experts, the repair work will cost more than UAH 30 million. Arricano has already invested UAH 17.5 million and needs to invest more to fully restore the mall.
According to Kurm, the total budget of the Lukianivka shopping mall is about $145 million, and the company has invested $84 million so far.
“This means that additional investments are needed to complete the project. And we also need to attract some financial institutions to lend to this project. Thus, the completion of this project mainly depends on how quickly we can stop the actual raiding of our other assets,” Kurm explained.
As reported, over the years of its operation in the Ukrainian market, Arricano has invested more than $600 million in the Ukrainian economy and continues to invest.
Arricano Real Estate Plc (Cyprus) specializes in the construction of shopping and entertainment centers and is one of the leading developers in the Ukrainian real estate market. It owns and manages five shopping centers in the country with a total area of 147.6 thousand square meters: “RayON and Prospekt in Kyiv, Sun Gallery in Kryvyi Rih, and City Mall in Zaporizhzhia. The company also owns 49.9% in Sky Mall (Kyiv) and land plots for further construction of three projects that are currently under design. The company is also engaged in the construction of the Lukianivka shopping center in Kyiv.
According to the earnings report, Arricano Real Estate Plc’s revenue for 2023 amounted to UAH 36 million 155.9 thousand, which is 52.8% higher than in 2022, while net profit increased 2.28 times to UAH 7 million 167.7 thousand.
According to the report, in the first half of 2022, the largest shareholder was Estonian Rauno Teder, who increased his stake to 70.86% from 15.92% after his father Hillar Teder transferred his stake to him. Dragon Capital Investments Limited and Jüri Põld were also named among the shareholders.
Arricano’s shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2013 and delisted due to the war in 2023. In addition to Dragon Capital, Arricano has attracted foreign investment from various reputable international investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley clients.
The full text of the interview with Margus Kurm will be published on the main page of the agency’s website www.interfax.com.ua.
