The Ukrproduct Group, a large Ukrainian producer of packaged butter and processed cheese, saw GBP 0.74 million of net profit in H1, 2019 that is 1.8 times more than over the same period in 2018.
According to the company’s report posted on the London Stock Exchange, Ukrproduct revenue saw 1.5-fold rise, reaching GBP 22.24 million, and gross profit grew by 1.55 times, up to GBP 1.93 million.
Through the first six months of 2019 operating profit of the company totaled GBP 0.4 million compared with operating loss of GBP 0.19 million in H1 2018.
As at June 30, 2019, the group had total liabilities of GBP 16.8 million against GBP 15.1 million in 2018, net assets and net assets of GBP 1.3 million million with cash balances of GBP 0.2 million.
According to the group, the main drivers of revenue growth were butter, beverages and processed cheese. The Company estimates that Ukrproduct’s butter market share in Ukraine has increased by approximately 3% to 10.1% when comparing H1 2019 with H1 2018, whilst market share in processed cheese and processed cheese products has decreased by approximately 0.3% to 8.5% when comparing H1 2019 with H1 2018.
“However, in the first half of 2019, Ukrproduct became the top exporter of processed cheese in Ukraine. Hard cheese sales decreased by 2%, whilst sales of bulk & packaged spreads increased by 17%,” the group said.
As the group said, sales of kvass beverage improved, driven by an active marketing strategy and the launch of a new product containing natural ingredients of juice and mint.
The most significant portion of the Group’s revenue comes from selling packaged butter and supplementary products, which represented 57.2% in the first half of 2019 and 45.9% in first half of 2018 of total revenue for the relevant periods.
Export sales of Ukrproduct increased due to rising export sales in supplementary products, however, export sales of packaged butter and spreads decreased overall. Skimmed milk products exports continue to decline as a result of worldwide prices being lower than domestic market prices.
The Group continues to expand export sales into non-dairy products: beverages and other food commodities.
Ukrproduct Group produces branded dairy goods (the Nash Molochnyk, Narodny Produkt, Vershkova Dolyna and other trademarks).
Number of unemployed in Ukraine in 2018-2019
Private joint-stock company Volodymyr-Volynsky Poultry Farm (Volyn region), part of Openmind Group, calls to sign a petition to ban from using antibiotics in agriculture and refuse applying them posted on the website of the president of Ukraine.
“The worldwide recognized problem of antibiotic resistance is the focus of the WHO [World Health Organization] and leading countries. Experience shows the impossibility of production without the use of antibiotics. It does not require significant investments, but needs serious changes in business processes, standards, as well as internal discipline of companies for events that need to be implemented,” CEO of Openmind Group of Companies Oleksiy Kovalenko said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.
He focused on the fact that the refusal to use antibiotics in agriculture, including the production of chicken meat, is impossible without appropriate government support and amendments to the legislation.
“We urge everyone to support this petition so that it has 25,000 votes and becomes mandatory for consideration,” he said.
According to Kovalenko, in Ukraine, the market for antibiotic-free chicken meat is still estimated at only 2%.
PrJSC Volodymyr-Volynsky Poultry Farm is a Ukrainian-Dutch enterprise, part of the Openmind group of companies. The factory’s infrastructure includes 100 poultry farms, a processing workshop and a feed mill, as well as land for planting fodder crops.
The company is certified under ISO 2200:05 and is implementing HACCP principles in production of raw materials and finished products.
At the end of 2017, the poultry farm launched a unique product on the Ukrainian market – chicken meat without antibiotics and growth stimulants under the Epicurus brand, and in 2019 began the construction of a new meat processing workshop worth EUR 38 million.
Premier of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk has proposed setting up Fund of Human Capital Development for IT sector to enable it manage sector on its own. “The problem in the lack of staff…We hope to establish conditions for the sector to work faster,” Honcharuk said during the meeting of the government with export IT industry in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to the premier, the means of this fund will be forwarded for scholarships of talented students, grants for young scientists and the creation of educational infrastructure.
Head of State Tax Service Serhiy Verlanov reported that a special taxation option for individuals in IT sector should be introduced.
In addition to the 5% single tax, 1.5% military tax and unified social tax from two minimum wages, the head of the service suggests introducing a tax on the development of human capital. It will be administered by the tax service and transferred to sector managed-by fund, and its rate will be gradually raised from 1% in 2020 to 5% in 2024.
According to Verlanov, this taxation option will give more guarantees and advantages, however, the transition to it is voluntary, and those who wish can stay on today’s third form of simplified taxation.
The premier has said the government expects that this will allow in 10 years to increase the export of the IT from $3 billion up to $10 billion, the number of workers in this sphere of services will increase from 165,000 to 650,000 people.
Kyiv, September 4, 2019. – The first innovation park, UNIT.City, starts the second phase of its development which includes its integration into the global innovation ecosystem. To complete this ambitious task, the company is changing its managing structure and introducing a new position of CEO which will be occupied by renowned Silicon Valley innovation expert, Dominique Piotet. He has over 20 years of experience in digital transformation, including work in Fortune Global 500 companies.
“UNIT.City is entering the next level. I’d like more international companies to open their offices here and hire Ukrainian programmers who have proven themselves to be highly-qualified specialists. To make this real as soon as possible, we’ve invited Dominique Piotet, a person with experience in Silicon Valley, to become CEO of the innovation park. Thanks to Dominique’s experience and his knowledge, UNIT.City has every chance of breaking into the innovative system of the world. I am grateful to Bakhmatov and Yakover for their contribution to the development of the innovation park that has turned an ambitious startup into a unique project of the international level,” Vasyl Khmelnytsky, Founder of UFuture, said.
“I’d like to thank Vasyl Khmelnytsky for the invitation and Max Yakover and Maxim Bakhmatov, who have met me with support and who shared their experience from the very first day. I am delighted to see what they’ve managed to build over the years. In Silicon Valley, where I worked for many years, Ukraine is well known for its great developers who work in such companies as Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber. When I first heard about UNIT.City, I realized that I should definitely get acquainted with this project to see where such talented IT-specialists come from,” Dominique Piotet, CEO of UNIT.City emphasized.
UNIT.City’s managing partners Max Yakover and Maxim Bakhmatov are leaving the project as it was planned due to the end of the three-year contract. The company is grateful for their contribution to the development of the innovation park at the first and most responsible stage of its establishment. Within three years, UNIT.City has launched an IT-school for gifted youth, UNIT Factory, built five business campuses, co-working space Chasopys.UNIT, a free gym, and several cafes. In the next seven years, the park is expected to attract about 15,000 new residents and create 10 R&D laboratories.
“In three years, we’ve created not just a brand, but a phenomenon. Today UNIT.City is already a household name. We’ve managed to succeed thanks to Vasyl Khmelnytsky, who risked to invest money, a huge team working on the project, and the residents of the park. Particularly, we are grateful to the very first residents who believed in us, because nothing like this existed in the country then,” Max Yakover, Managing Partner of the innovation park, said.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
UFuture is a Ukrainian private equity firm and group of companies, based in Kyiv. UFuture consolidates UDP, which is a real estate development company specialized in large infrastructure projects, the country’s second biggest Kyiv Sikorsky international airport, national Ukrainian outdoor advertising operator RTM, and Bila Tserkva industrial park. The group develops new and innovative businesses such as renewable energy generator UDP Renewables, pharmaceutical producer Biopharma, and innovation parks UNIT.City and LvivTech.City. UFuture supports and coordinates numerous impact and sustainability projects related to education and economics, some of which are annual Kyiv International Economic Forum, Small and Medium Entrepreneurship School, cutting-edge IT coding school UNIT Factory and Lean Institute Ukraine.
UNIT.City is Ukraine’s first innovation park. It is the location where matchless infrastructure and all-inclusive ecosystem enable high technology, innovative and creative businesses to happen and flourish. The goal is to become the center of innovations and a one-point entry into Ukraine for investors, partners and new technology from all over the world. The mission of UNIT.City is to create a unique innovation platform where advanced companies, start-ups and mavens get an opportunity to cross paths and work together ramping up their growth and honing quality. Park offers its residents a package of additional services for business development: meetings with investors, counseling, mentoring and accelerating programs, prototyping laboratories, great infrastructure for work and leisure.
CEO of UNIT.City Dominique Piotet is a recognized expert with a 20+ year experience in strategy and operational digital transformation for Fortune 500 companies, both as a consultant and as a corporate executive. Previously, Dominique was CEO of FABERNOVEL US, the US subsidiary of the global Innovation agency FABERNOVEL, the founder and owner of Rebellion Lab, a digital strategy consulting agency based in the Silicon Valley. Dominique worked and advised directly CEO’s and Government officials in the US, Europe, China, Australia and Japan. Prior Piote was responsible for digital strategy and innovation for BNP Paribas globally. Dominique has become one of the finalists of the global search initiated by UFuture and done by an international team of “Pedersen&Partners” that is specializing in top-level executives. Piote is also a successful entrepreneur with more than 50 investments in the portfolio, a startup mentor and advisor and is part of several nonprofits as advisor and ambassador. Dominique is also co-owner of Sierra Nevada Hospitality group, with two boutique hotels in the Foothill of Yosemite National Park. Dominique is a contributing columnist for various global publications. He is regularly an invited lecturer for IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Vogue. He is co-author of the best-selling and award-winning book “How the Web changes the world”, published in four languages (French, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish). Dominique has several awards. He is Knight of the National Order of Merit, given by the French President to recognize his work to support the digital transformation of the French economy and for the bridge he created between Silicon Valley and France. He was recognized as Digital Personality of the year in 2013 and received the price of the best book on technology in 2008.
Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina has made it to the semifinals of the season’s final tournament of the U.S. Open, the organization said on its Twitter account.
Svitolina held the quarterfinal match of the U.S. Open against the British Johanna Konta, which lasted 1 hour 40 minutes.
The Ukrainian tennis player held the match without making a single double mistake, making four aces and gave only two aces of her – 6:4, 6:4.
In the semifinals of the U.S. Open, Svitolina will play with the winner of the pair Serena Williams – Wang Qiang.
