The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has included Hotel Ukraina in the list of large-scale privatization targets.
The relevant order was published on the government’s website.
As reported, the State Property Fund plans to hold an auction for the privatization of the Ukraina Hotel in late summer 2024. The property is estimated at UAH 1.039 billion (excluding VAT).
The capital’s Ukraina Hotel is a state-owned enterprise managed by the SPF. It has 363 rooms, six conference halls and meeting rooms. There is a parking lot for 80 cars and a shelter with a separate auditorium for 50 people. The hotel’s debt is currently over UAH 45 million.
Fuel price developments for 2022-2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
PJSC Sumykhimprom, the only state-owned titanium dioxide producer in Ukraine managed by the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF), has resumed operations after a long pause, according to the industry news agency Infoindustry.
“In the spring of 2024, raw materials were purchased and production of the first products began. The first commercial product, ammonium sulfate, was received this week, on April 21-22, 2024. The goods are already being shipped to customers at a price of UAH 13800 per ton, big bag, from the plant’s warehouse,” the agency said.
According to him, the plant intends to produce nitrogen-phosphorus and complex three-component fertilizers. The manufacturer has already purchased ammonia and sulfur and is in the process of purchasing phosphate rock and potash ores for fertilizer production. The new management of PJSC Sumykhimprom is open to cooperation with distributors and partners to revive the titanium giant, the statement said.
“Sumykhimprom is one of the largest domestic enterprises producing complex mineral fertilizers, titanium dioxide, sulfuric acid and other inorganic chemicals. The company is one of the top three budget-forming enterprises in Sumy and the region and produces more than 30 brands of NPK fertilizers with different nutrient ratios for different soil and climate zones.
For over 10 years, the plant had been managed by a group of companies affiliated with Dmitry Firtash’s Group DF. In November 2023, the Commercial Court of Sumy Region granted the petition of the SPF and the Ministry of Justice and closed the bankruptcy and rehabilitation proceedings against the state-owned Sumykhimprom.
Investment company Concorde Capital is implementing a project to reconstruct the Kyiv Bus Station, located near the Central Railway Station (Vokzalna Metro Station), better known as the Yama, Concorde Capital founder Igor Mazepa said on Wednesday.
“My colleagues and I came up with an idea, why don’t we go in… take a closer look at the transportation market from the investment point of view… At Concorde, we decided to enter this market through infrastructure projects… (to start) with the reconstruction of the well-known Kyiv bus station, which is located in the city center near the railway station,” Mazepa said during a video presentation at the conference “Reforming Passenger Bus Transportation in Ukraine.”
According to the investment company, the passenger flow of this station is about 10 thousand people per day, plus or minus 400 bus trips.
Mazepa noted that the central bus station, in fact, was “in a terrible state” until recently.
“Now our task, our mission, is to carry out a human reconstruction in accordance with European standards. I can assure you that you will soon see the changes that will take place there,” Mazepa said.
At the same time, the founder of the investment company noted that the reconstruction would require significant capital investments.
“We are not afraid of this and we can guarantee that our customers and passengers will soon receive the highest quality service. Of course, we will ask that such services be paid for fairly,” Mazepa said.
According to Igor Sotnyk, director of Concorde Capital’s investment banking department, the reconstruction of the bus station is planned in two stages. The first stage, which separated bus and car traffic, has already been completed. The second stage involves work on the improvement of the bus station building in accordance with the concept that is currently being developed.
“We are now finalizing the mix of tenants who will be present there according to the needs of passengers. There will be a waiting area, a food court, a high-comfort zone, a children’s room, a first-aid post, and commercial premises,” Sotnyk said, adding that a working draft will be prepared after the concept is finalized.
In addition, the possibility of creating services for carriers – service stations and car washes – is being considered. The technical possibilities for their placement are being studied.
Sotnyk also said that the exact timing of the start of work will be known after the working documentation is ready, but expressed hope that this could happen in early 2025.
Mazepa estimated the legal road transportation market in Ukraine at almost UAH 7 billion. According to him, taking into account illegal transportation and those from which taxes are not paid, the real size of the market is “many times larger.”
State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) has so far paid UAH 4.2 billion in income tax and UAH 0.7 billion in dividends to the budget based on the results of its operations in 2023 and plans to make another final payment of UAH 1.1 billion, the Oschadbank press service said at the request of Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
“The budget will receive a total of UAH 6 billion from income tax and dividends, UAH 0.5 billion is taken into account in the calculations for previous periods,” the press service of the financial institution noted.
According to the finalized financial results, the bank earned UAH 6 billion in net profit last year, which, according to the bank, is the second highest figure in the market after PrivatBank.
As of March 1, 2024, Oschad ranked second in terms of total assets (UAH 376.4 billion) among 63 banks in the country.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed Arvid Türkner, who has held a similar position in Turkey since November 2017, as its new Managing Director for Ukraine and Moldova from May 1, 2024, the bank said in a press release on Wednesday.
“Ukraine is a priority area for EBRD investments, with EUR4.1 billion sent there during the wartime period. Türkner will replace Matteo Patrone, who after five years of work (in Ukraine) will hold the position of EBRD vice president for the banking sector,” the release stated.
The EBRD notes that future wartime and reconstruction investments in Ukraine will be underpinned by the EUR4bn paid-up capital increase approved by shareholders late last year.
“Arvid Türkner’s outstanding performance in his previous role in Turkey gives us great confidence that this vital portfolio is in safe hands,” the statement quotes EBRD First Vice President Jürgen Rigterink as saying.
It is indicated that Türkner will oversee the development of the EBRD’s program for Ukraine, focusing on five wartime investment themes: support for energy security, vital infrastructure, food security, trade and the private sector, as well as political dialogue to help Ukraine and Moldova move towards EU membership.
It is reported that Türkner, a German national, joined the EBRD in January 2009 from the German development bank DEG as a senior banker in the financial institutions group in Moscow. In October 2013, he was promoted to regional development director and deputy head of the Moscow office, and became head of the office in April 2015.
After moving to London in early 2017 as director of corporate debt, Turkner was appointed to his current role as managing director in Turkey in November 2017, where he successfully led the bank’s crisis response to the devaluation of the lira in 2018. Under his leadership and despite recurring macroeconomic volatility, the bank’s business in Turkey has continued to grow significantly: the portfolio is currently valued at EUR7.5bn, with 246 active projects and EUR5.8bn of operating assets. In 2023 alone, the bank signed 48 projects worth EUR2.48bn.