Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

UKRAINIAN STARTUPS ATTRACTED RECORD $780 MLN IN VENTURE INVESTMENTS IN 2021

In 2021, Ukrainian startups attracted venture investments in 216 transactions for a record amount of $779.6 million, which is 46% more than in 2020, these are the results of the annual study Ukraine Deal Review 2021, conducted by the Ukrainian Association of Venture and Private Capital UVCA in partnership with Kreston Ukraine, AVentures and ISE Corporate Accelerator.
“For the first time I will say this figure – $2.8 billion over 8 years, of which $780 million last year was a total investment in the Ukrainian ecosystem, which was invested by foreigners,” Andriy Kolodyuk, head of the UVCA Supervisory Board, commented on these results to Interfax-Ukraine. .
As in the previous period, about half of the deals (47%) came from the Ukrainian Startup Fund (USF). Investments attributed to private equity amounted to $82.8 million, while only agreements with a declared amount were calculated.
UVCA added that in 2021 the Ukrainian venture capital market was replenished with six new players: GEEK Ventures, SID Venture Partners, ZAS Ventures, ANCHOR, PAWA. They offer Ukrainian startups financing at the level of $0.5 million, as well as their experience and expertise. In addition, last year 19 large international companies opened their R&D centers, offices and engineering hubs in Ukraine.
“But the most important thing that happened in the first quarter of 2022 was 11 transactions and 8 exits. It is very important for the ecosystem that transactions continue. Despite large-scale Russian aggression, the development of private technology investment markets has not stopped,” Kolodyuk emphasized.
According to the report, according to the results of January-March 2022, 11 venture agreements were concluded for the amount of $11.5 million, three transactions in the private capital market for the amount of $4 million, and eight exits were made for the amount of $135 million. Over the past year, UVCA estimated the total cost of the exit at $944 .7 million
According to the study, the total valuation of Ukrainian startups before the war was $20.7 billion.

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PARLIAMENT OF UKRAINE ADOPTED IN 1ST READING BILL ON THERMAL MODERNIZATION OF BUILDINGS

The Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading bill No. 6485 on creating conditions for comprehensive thermal modernization of buildings, MP Ivan Yunakov (Servant of the People faction) said.
“We considered this bill at the committee on February 23 … We will prepare for the second reading, taking into account the conditions and challenges that the country faced the next day,” the people’s deputy wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
According to the explanatory note to the bill, the document will remove a number of legislative obstacles to the implementation of thermal modernization projects, including in the case of state support.
The bill amends the law “On the Energy Efficiency Fund” in terms of the procedure for developing, reviewing and accepting applications, implementing and verifying projects.
The draft law will also simplify the implementation of partial thermal modernization projects by reducing the number of procedures, as well as introducing clear criteria in terms of energy efficiency indicators for such projects.
In addition, the procedure for the creation and functioning of associations of co-owners of an apartment building (OSMD) will be simplified.

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MHP CHARITABLE FOUNDATION WILL ALLOCATE MORE THAN UAH 3 MLN FOR GRANTS TO SMALL ENTREPRENEURS

Charitable Foundation (CF) “MHP-Gromade” launched a program to help small businesses in 11 regions of the country, as a result of the competitive selection of business plans, entrepreneurs will be able to receive 50-100 thousand UAH for the implementation of their start-ups.
Representatives of the MHP-Gromade charitable foundation, which is part of the MHP agricultural holding, announced the launch of the corresponding competition during a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Monday.
It is specified that this project is being implemented annually, however, in the context of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the fund plans to focus on grants for internally displaced persons, military personnel and their relatives, as well as people who have lost their homes due to the Russian invasion.
“For the first time, MHP launched this competition in 2016. During this time, 250 business ideas worth over UAH 11 million were supported. In 2021, this project was implemented by MHP-Gromade in partnership with the United Nations Development Program in the country and with the support of the Government of Sweden “, – said the director of the BF Tatyana Volochay.
According to her, in 2022 the competition is held in 11 regions of the country – Vinnitsa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Cherkasy, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Chernihiv, Sumy and Volyn regions.
Representatives of the fund will rob the most viable startups twice a month and issue grants to their authors for the implementation of the project.
The implementation of this project will contribute to the development of the Ukrainian economy, replenish the state budget and help the Ukrainian army, form a business asset in small towns and villages, and motivate the growth of entrepreneurship.
MHP is the largest chicken producer in Ukraine. It is also engaged in the production of cereals, sunflower oil, meat processing products. On the European market, MHP supplies chilled half-carcasses of chickens, which are processed, including at its enterprises in the Netherlands and Slovakia. In February 2019, the agricultural holding completed the acquisition of the Slovenian company Perutnina Ptuj.
MHP generated $393 million in net profit in 2021 against a net loss of $133 million in 2020, while its revenue grew by 25% to $2.37 billion.
The founder, majority shareholder and head of the board of MHP is Ukrainian businessman Yuriy Kosyuk.

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ENERGOATOM ATTRACTED LOAN OF UAH 1.5 BLN TO PURCHASE FUEL FROM WESTINGHOUSE

The state-owned enterprise NNEGC Energoatom has raised a UAH 1.5 billion loan from Ukreximbank (Kyiv) to purchase fresh nuclear fuel from Westinghouse in 2022.
“The borrowed funds will make it possible to increase the purchase of American fuel and ensure the efficient operation of power units of Ukrainian nuclear power plants after the rejection of Russian nuclear fuel,” the NAEC said in a statement.
As reported, Energoatom, at the beginning of a full-scale Russian military aggression, announced a complete refusal to purchase Russian-made nuclear fuel.
Energoatom is the operator of all four operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine. Operates Zaporozhye, South-Ukrainian, Rivne and Khmelnytsky stations with 15 power units equipped with water-cooled power reactors, with a total installed electric capacity of 13.8 GW.

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UKRZALIZNYTSIA PASSENGERS CAN NOW SEND THEIR CARS FROM KYIV TO UZHGOROD AND BACK BY TRAIN

Passengers of Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) can now send their cars from Kyiv to Uzhgorod and back by train No. 29/30 Kyiv – Uzhgorod, UZ reports in its Telegram channel.
It is noted that the cost of transportation is about UAH 1.4 thousand per ton of weight. You can arrange transportation of a car at the box office of the stations.
In addition, it is reported that car carriers are already running on the routes Kyiv – Lvov – Kyiv, Dnepr – Lvov – Dnepr, Kharkiv – Lvov – Kharkiv and Lvov – Odessa – Lviv.
According to the company, UZ has already transported 1,863 vehicles by car carriers during the war.

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PASSENGER FLOW THROUGH THE WESTERN BORDER OF UKRAINE IN APR 2022, THOUSAND (GRAPHICALLY)

Passenger flow through the western border of Ukraine in apr 2022, thousand (graphically)

Data: State Border Service