Shareholders of the VUSO insurance company completed the purchase of UASK ASKA (operating under the ASKA brand) in order to create a major player in the insurance market with Ukrainian capital.
“Despite the war and what seems like a bad time to invest, we are determined to see our goal of merging the two companies through. We believe in the victory of Ukraine and its future! We hope that Ukrainians and Ukrainian enterprises will continue to use the services of VUSO as a large Ukrainian company. It is symbolic for us that the date of the transaction, as well as the date of the beginning of the association, is August 24 – the Independence Day of our country!
After the transaction is completed, it is planned to merge UASK ASKA and IC VUSO under a single VUSO brand by the end of 2022.
The future merger will increase VUSO’s presence in the corporate insurance segment through ASKA’s longstanding relationships with large corporate clients.
The amount and terms of the deal were not disclosed.
VUSO insurance company has been operating on the Ukrainian market since 2001. According to Insurance TOP, its assets as of December 31, 2022 amounted to UAH 940.5 million, insurance premiums for 12 months of 2021 – UAH 1.719 billion (8th place in the ranking of insurers). Holds 50 licenses: 33 for voluntary and 17 for compulsory types of insurance. The company specializes in motor, medical and travel insurance for private and corporate clients, has more than 30 representative offices throughout Ukraine. He is a Member of the ITIBU (since 07/01/22 – Full Member), the Nuclear Pool, a participant in the Direct Settlement project. Member of the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine. The company has been assigned a financial stability (reliability) rating of uaАА. The shareholders of VUSO are the Altitude Fund, the ultimate beneficiaries are Mikhail Nazarchuk and Alexey Shuba.
UASK ASKA is the first private insurance company that appeared in independent Ukraine and has been operating for over 30 years. It was included in the portfolio of the international investment company SCM.
At the beginning of 2022, ASKA had 2,900 corporate and more than 200,000 private clients throughout Ukraine. He is a member of MTIBU, one of the founders of the Nuclear Pool. The insurer has a license to carry out insurance activities for compulsory insurance of civil liability of car owners (including the Green Card). During its work, ASKA has repeatedly made the largest payments in the history of Ukrainian insurance.
The state will partially compensate exporters for interest accrued and paid this year on loans insured by the Export Credit Agency (ECA), the website of the Ministry of Economy reported on Wednesday.
The corresponding decision was made by the Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on August 23.
It is indicated that the state will partially compensate the rate on export credits, which are taken for a period of two to 12 years and amount to no more than 85% of the amount of the foreign economic contract.
Such loans should be used to replenish working capital, purchase equipment, fulfill the terms of a foreign economic contract, and build and reconstruct production facilities.
It is noted that the borrower must be a FOP or a legal entity registered on the territory of Ukraine (except for the temporarily occupied territories), not have open bankruptcy cases and not be in the process of liquidation.
The Ministry clarified that if the borrower violates the terms of interest payment for more than 15 days, compensation will be temporarily suspended.
Mining enterprises of Ukraine in January-July this year reduced the export of iron ore raw materials (IORM) in physical terms by 28.8% compared to the same period last year – up to 18 million 571.940 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (STS), over the specified period, foreign exchange earnings from the export of iron ore decreased by 49.8% – to $ 2 billion 357.073 million.
Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (19.80% of deliveries in monetary terms), China (16.07%) and Poland (15.6%).
During the reporting period, IORM was imported to Ukraine for $14 thousand in a total volume of 25 tons, while in January-July 2021, iron ore for $130 thousand was imported in a total volume of 1,134 thousand tons. Imports for January-July 2022 were carried out from Britain (78.57%), Italy (14.29%) and the Russian Federation (7.14%).
As reported, Ukraine in 2021 reduced the export of iron ore raw materials (IORM) in physical terms by 4.2% compared to 2020 – up to 44 million 357.727 thousand tons, but increased revenue by 62.8% – up to $6 billion 899.816 million The export of iron ore was carried out mainly to China (41.90% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (9.65%) and Poland (7.99%).
Last year, IORM was imported to Ukraine for $184 thousand in a total volume of 1.202 thousand tons, while in 2020 123 tons of iron ore for $75 thousand were imported. Imports for 2021 were carried out from Egypt (55.98%), the Netherlands ( 21.2%) and Poland (7.07%).
Switzerland has allocated CHF2.5 million (about UAH 100 million) to support milk production farms in the war-affected regions – Chernihiv, Kyiv and Sumy regions, the main attention will be paid to the hygiene of the milking process.
The corresponding humanitarian project is being implemented at the request of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine in cooperation with the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine (AMA), the #SaveUA international charitable foundation and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, according to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy on Wednesday.
The goal of the project is to ensure food security in the regions by improving the quality and safety of dairy products produced in the country, mainly by monitoring compliance with the hygiene of its production. In particular, the control over the hygiene of the culture of milking animals will avoid failures in the further processing of milk, on the one hand, and outbreaks of diseases among consumers, on the other.
The Ministry clarified that by August 1, 232 dairy farms had already confirmed the need for humanitarian assistance, of which 95 were from Chernihiv, 78 from Kyiv, 59 from Sumy region.
“With the support of Switzerland, interested milk producers in the affected areas will receive products for washing and disinfecting milking equipment, pre- and post-milk treatment, udder hygiene wipes, gloves, reagents for the detection of latent forms of mastitis, disinfectants for livestock buildings, etc. in the amount of their quarterly needs,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, until the completion of the project in November 2022, the supported farms will be able to significantly improve their financial condition by restoring product supply chains. It is also important that the purchase of goods will be carried out from Ukrainian suppliers who operated on the market before the war, which will enable them to continue to provide hygiene products and serve dairy farms in the future.
“On the path to restoring the capacity of the Ukrainian dairy sector, it is important to support production technologies built on high hygiene standards for high-quality and safe food products,” the agency concluded in a statement.
As reported, in June the Swiss government announced its intention to hold consultations for more than 100 dairy farms from the above three areas. The government of the country sent a group of consultants to Ukraine, who provided producers with recommendations in the field of restoring livestock productivity, quality control and safety of raw milk.
Ukraine in January-July this year reduced the export of pig iron in physical terms by 57.3% compared to the same period last year – up to 777.208 thousand tons.
According to statistics published by the State Customs Service (SCS), over the specified period, the export of pig iron in monetary terms decreased by 54.2% – to $423.821 million.
At the same time, exports were carried out mainly to the USA (39.02% of deliveries in monetary terms), Poland (33.76%) and Turkey (10.32%).
In January-July 2022, Ukraine imported 15 tons of pig iron from Germany for $25 thousand, while in 7 months of 2021 it imported 30.294 thousand tons of this product for $84.065 million from Brazil (19.16%), Kazakhstan (17.13% ) and RF (10.97%).
As reported, Ukraine in 2021 increased the export of pig iron in physical terms by 4.2% compared to 2020 – up to 3 million 235.772 thousand tons, the export of pig iron in monetary terms increased by 78.1% – up to $1 billion 642.596 million At the same time, exports were carried out mainly to the USA (53.61% of deliveries in monetary terms), Italy (22.08%) and Turkey (9.74%).
In 2021, Ukraine imported 185 tons of pig iron worth $226 thousand from Germany (74.34%), the Russian Federation (20.35%) and Slovakia (5.31%), while in 2020 it imported 593 tons worth $417 thousand.
A trial train of 21 wagons with 1.2 thousand tons of feed corn has arrived in the port of Rostock (Germany), and soon three more trains with corn from Ukraine will enter the country, according to the website of the German publication NRD.
According to him, the train with corn was on the road for about eight days, which included reloading agricultural products into narrow-gauge wagons at the Ukrainian-Polish border, after which DB Cargo delivered the cargo to Rostock, where agricultural products were reloaded into port granaries. The publication clarifies that last year’s corn crop is in good condition.
It is specified that BAT Agrar from Ratzeburg (Germany) is coordinating the arrival of trains. It is not yet known where the agricultural products that arrived at the port of Rostock will go next.
“Due to Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine, many export routes of local agriculture have become difficult or impossible. However, in accordance with the agreement, exports across the Black Sea have started again this month,” the publication recalled.
As reported, in April, the German concern Deutsche Bahn and its subsidiary logistics company DB Cargo began redirecting grain exports from Ukraine through the railway infrastructure instead of their traditional export through Ukrainian seaports, which were blocked by the Russian fleet at that time.
Michael Theurer, parliamentary secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Transport, said that Germany is obliged to ensure the shipment of 20 million tons of grain from Ukraine to prevent starvation on the planet.
