The profit of state-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) amounted to UAH 6.3 billion in January-June 2022, which is 44.5% less than in the same period last year (UAH 11.6 billion), the bank’s press service reported on Thursday.
“We ended the first half of the year with a profit, but we are aware that a difficult period lies ahead. Today, it is impossible to foresee all the risks, but PrivatBank entered the war in excellent financial shape and is doing everything to ensure stability under martial law,” the press service quoted first deputy head of the board Anna Samarina.
According to the report, the amount of lost income during the war period is estimated by the bank at more than UAH 5.5 billion.
It is indicated that in the first six months of 2022, the bank formed UAH 6.9 billion in reserves to cover credit risks.
Also among the main expenses of the bank is the transfer of information systems to cloud architecture, despite the fact that the savings in the total budget of expenses amounted to 11%.
According to the press service, since the beginning of the year, the bank’s loan portfolio (excluding loans related to previous owners) has increased by 16%: individuals received UAH 3.5 billion, and legal entities UAH 9.1 billion.
Funds on deposits increased by UAH 61 billion, or 19% since the beginning of the year, while term deposits decreased by 12.6%, and current account balances of customers increased by 34%, or by UAH 73.8 billion.
In addition, in the first half of the year, the bank transferred more than UAH 70 million to charity for targeted assistance to the defenders of Ukraine.
The Kernel agro-industrial group plans to supply Ukraine with oil products, fertilizers and other inventory items in order to overcome the shortage of resources for agricultural production in Ukraine, Ihor Stelmaschuk, head of the Kernel commercial department, said at the Fuel for Ukraine international conference.
“Together with partners, we will be able to establish long-term systematic work in the processes of production and supply of fertilizers. And in the future we will build a powerful diversified mechanism for providing Ukraine with oil products, we will meet the fuel needs of agricultural enterprises in a planned and cyclical way,” Stelmaschuk said on the Facebook page of the agrarian group.
According to him, now Kernel is exchanging experience and ideas with key players in the global oil products market.
“We decided on the urgent problems of a resource, logistics and infrastructure nature. We assessed the risks and trends in the fuel market. The country’s future annual demand for diesel fuel is estimated at 4 million tonnes, so Ukrainian consumers need to establish cooperation with Europe right now,” Stelmaschuk stressed.
According to him, due to the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine is forced to replace 100% of the pre-war sources of supplies of oil products, which is what Kernel plans to do.
In addition, the agricultural holding is working on projects to provide the agricultural sector with mineral fertilizers, their logistics and transshipment in ports. Kernel stated that it has already signed the first contracts for the supply of fertilizers for the sowing of winter wheat and rapeseed in the autumn, which is especially important given the likely global shortage of fertilizers in autumn 2022 and spring 2023.
Before the war, Kernel ranked first in the world in production of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%), and was also the largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine. In addition, the holding was engaged in the cultivation and trade of other agricultural products.
234 students from 45 Ukrainian universities will take part in the European University Games in Poland, Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet said.
“234 students from 45 universities in Ukraine went to the Polish city of Lodz, where they will take part in the European University Games,” Shkarlet wrote in the Telegram channel.
According to him, 5 thousand participants from 40 countries of the world will demonstrate the sports level during the competition.
“Our student teams are in the top 10 world teams. In sports, the strongest always win, so keep the lead further,” the minister wrote.
In recent days, Europe has been covered by a wave of abnormal heat, which has led to forest fires in many southern countries, Western media reported on Wednesday.
The Portuguese authorities said that several fires led to the evacuation of about 700 people, about 120 needed medical attention, one local resident and one firefighter were seriously injured. 1,300 firefighters and several water-dropping aircraft were sent to fight the elements in the central region of the country, while about 1,000 firefighters are working in other regions.
In the southwest of France, a forest fire has engulfed an area of more than 1.2 thousand hectares near the commune of La Teste-de-Bouche, which is located south of Bordeaux. On Wednesday morning, about 6,000 people were evacuated from the area. Also, about 500 people were evacuated from the outskirts of the city of Landira. More than 800 firefighters are fighting fires in France.
The flames continue to be fought in Italy, which this summer faced the worst drought in 70 years. Firefighters are fighting a fire near Bolzano on Tuesday afternoon and a fire in Tuscany on Wednesday morning. Two helicopters and six teams of firefighters were sent to fight the second.
In Spain, abnormal heat is recorded in all regions, in some the temperature reached 44 degrees Celsius. In the west of the country, a forest fire destroyed 3.5 thousand hectares of land, more than 450 people were evacuated.
A forest fire was also recorded in southwestern Turkey near the resort of Datca on the Aegean Sea. At least nine water-dropping helicopters and five planes were dispatched to fight the fire.
In 2021, many European countries were also seriously affected by forest fires, which were the result of abnormal heat. Then a difficult situation with natural fires was observed in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Montenegro, Algeria and North Macedonia.
The international network of marketing companies Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) announced the acquisition of the Ukrainian production company for the creation and adaptation of content PEP Group, which will now join Locaria, Stagwell’s linguistic content agency.
“The head office of the PEP Group was and remains in Kyiv. It is very important that the interest of Western investors in Ukrainian companies remains, despite the current situation,” the press release says the words of the founder of PEP Group Mikhail Pimenov, who will remain in Locaria in the role of Executive Vice – President of Creative Content.
According to him, this suggests that the Ukrainian creative sector is competitive with the American and European ones.
“By removing traditional niche approaches and merging production and localization, we will be able to offer more compelling international content and greater efficiency,” said Lindsay Hong, COO of Locaria.
Based in Ukraine, PEP Group has been producing and adapting advertising content for leading international brands, including Kimberly-Clark, Colgate-Palmolive and Church & Dwight, for 12 years.
The Dutch PEP Group Holding B.V., whose beneficiary is Pimenov, owns Pipilats LLC in Ukraine, in which Pimenov was the direct owner until the end of last year. The revenue of LLC in 2020 amounted to UAH 5.96 million, net profit – UAH 1.25 million. The group’s website also lists offices in the Netherlands and Canada.
“Today’s marketers need scalable content solutions that enable global brands to connect with consumers in any market. The acquisition of PEP Group will further expand Locaria’s service offering,” said Mark Penn, CEO and CEO of Stagwell.
Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Locaria is an international language content agency that offers its services to the marketing and e-commerce teams of international brands, media agencies and creative productions to scale content and campaigns internationally.
Stagwell is a network of companies uniting over 12 thousand specialists in 34 countries. Its net revenue in the first quarter of 2022 was $526.6 million, up 22.8% year-on-year, while EBITDA rose 33.8% to $101.4 million.
The cost per square meter in the primary housing market of Ukraine in January-July 2022 increased by 11%, in the secondary – by 8%, OLX Real Estate reported.
“In January, the average prices for the” secondary “in Ukraine were at the level of 17.6 thousand UAH/sq. m., and in July this amount is already 19 thousand UAH/sq. m. If you plan to invest in an apartment in new building, the average cost per square meter will now cost UAH 25.4 thousand / sq. m, which is UAH 2.5 thousand more than at the beginning of the year before the war,” the portal’s press release says.
According to the resource, the cheapest apartments in new buildings in July are offered in the Ivano-Frankivsk region (17.8 thousand UAH/sq. m). The most affordable prices are also in Khmelnitsky (18.8 thousand UAH/sq. m) and Sumy (19.5 thousand UAH/sq. m) regions.
At the same time, the highest prices for new apartments were recorded in Kievskaya (UAH 30.4 thousand/sq. m.), Lvivskaya (UAH 33.5 thousand / sq. m.) and Dnepropetrovsk (UAH 33.6 thousand / sq. m. ) areas.
On the secondary market, the best prices per square meter in July are offered in Sumy (13 thousand UAH/sq. m), Dnepropetrovsk (16.3 thousand UAH/sq. m) and Ivano-Frankivsk regions (16.4 thousand UAH / sq. m). The most expensive housing in this segment is in Kyiv (UAH 34.7 thousand/sq. m), Lviv (UAH 27.4 thousand/sq. m), Vinnitsa (UAH 24.7 thousand/ sq. m) and Chernivtsi (24.6 thousand UAH / sq. m) regions.
According to OLX, the floor, layout, location, finishing, etc. factors also affect the final price. Thus, the average cost per square meter of a furnished apartment on the secondary market in July 2022 is 24.3 thousand UAH/sq. m, while in the new building – 44.7 thousand UAH / sq. m. m.
“As for finishing, a square meter in a secondary housing stock with European-quality repairs will cost an average of UAH 27 thousand, in an apartment with cosmetic repairs – UAH 21.8 thousand. If we consider the primary market, then the cost of a square meter in a house with European-quality repairs will cost an average of UAH 36.3 thousand, with cosmetic repairs – UAH 26.6 thousand, and for fine finishing – UAH 25.8 thousand,” the press release says.
At the same time, the most expensive repair option for both the secondary and primary housing markets is the author’s project. According to the portal, the cost of housing in this case will be 36.5 thousand UAH/sq. m and 53.1 thousand UAH/sq. m respectively.
