The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering Khrakiv region as one of the priority regions for cooperation in Ukraine and the bank is negotiating with Kharkiv authorities on the participation in the Safe City project, Head of EIB Resident Representation for Ukraine Jean-Erik De Zagon has said. In order to develop small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), it is necessary to create a good climate, De Zagon said at a briefing before the start of the Kharkiv SME Day Forum in Kharkiv on Tuesday.
The bank sees that in Kharkiv region there is indeed development in the medical field, as well as in the field of transport and education, much is being done to improve the infrastructure and living conditions, he said, adding that this is done thanks to the efforts of the local authorities and the bank.
His bank has already sent EUR 1.5 billion to the development of SME in Ukraine in general and plans to continue financing projects for SME,” the head of the EIB Resident Representation for Ukraine said.
Answering journalists’ questions, de Zagon confirmed that the EIB is negotiating with the authorities of Kharkiv on participation in the Safe City project.
The bank is at the negotiation stage. The bank has not yet reached any specific agreements, but we are moving very fruitfully along this path, de Zagon said.
Yesterday, in particular, he was shown a pilot dispatch center for city traffic control center that will be used for the road network and infrastructure to work well. The bank has already provided EUR 21 million for this and will continue to cooperate, he said.
U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has repeatedly approved the provision of $6.407 million loan with twelve-year tenor to Ukrainian Catholic University of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Lviv. According to a report of OPIC, the funds will be used for construction of a multi-purpose academic building and a residential building to expand the university campus.
The total cost of the project is $13 million. The U.S. sponsor is Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation Inc., a not for profit corporation organized in Illinois.
According to the materials, with the expansion of academic and residential buildings, the university expects enrollment to increase by 50% in the coming years, while the school also expects to nearly double the number of need-based scholarships it offers for local students.
As reported, last year OPIC approved the similar project. Then the loan was $6.2 million with the total cost of the project of $12 million.
Ukrainian Catholic University was built in 2002.
After three years of lucrative work, Astarta agricultural and industrial holding saw EUR 21.11 million in net loss in 2018 due to worsening of financial indicators and poor conditions on both sugar and grain markets. According to the company’s yearly report posted in the website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange on April 8, last year its earnings reduced by 18.8%, to EUR 372.22 million, EBITDA dropped by 52.4%, to EUR 56.87 million, and export declined by 3 percentage points, to 56%.
In addition, Astarta’s net debt increased by 2.3 times, to EUR 295.45 million, in 2018.
“We are well prepared for 2019 and showing cautious optimism. The company has revised its investment program, adjusted its sales policy and improved its credit portfolio and spending patterns,” founder and Director General of Astarta Viktor Ivanchyk said in the report.
The company earned EUR 119 million in the sugar segment (32% from consolidated revenue) in 2018. Its sales are estimated at 325,000 tonnes (27% less than in 2017) while its prices dropped by 23%. The company explained drop in sales by weak pricing environment and increased costs value of products due to poor quality of the beet harvest in 2018. Export accounted for 40% from sales in 2018.
According to the report, Astarta estimated its share in sugar production of Ukraine at 21%.
The company earned EUR 127 million in the crop production segment (34% from consolidated revenue). Astarta constructed three grain elevators with a total capacity of 230,000 tonnes in 2018.
Astarta earned EUR 74 million in the soybean processing segment (20% from consolidated revenue), which is 2% more than in 2017. The company produced 42,000 tonnes of soybean oil and 141,000 tonnes of oil cake.
The company’s revenue in dairy farming dropped by 8%, to EUR 29 million, in 2018.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agribusiness holding operating in Poltava, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, and Kharkiv regions. The holding includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of about 250,000 hectares and dairy farms.
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Germany’s Robotron Datenbank-Software GmbH and a consortium of developers consisting of Siemens AG (Austria), Siemens Ukraine, Siemens AS (Germany), Omnetric GmbH (Norway) and IP Systems Informatikai Zartkoruen Mukuodo Reszvenytarsasag (Hungary) will take part in a tender to develop DataHub software for the power commercial accounting administrator, the press service of national energy company Ukrenergo has reported.
“Evaluation of the offers will be held in accordance with the principles and rules of procurement of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development [IBRD, which financed the project]. Evaluation results are subject to mandatory coordination with the bank,” the company said in the report.
As reported, a total of 14 companies bought papers for the tender as of middle of March.
Initially the tender to create DataHub was announced on September 19, 2017. The tender failed to take place due to the absence of high-quality bids. The repeated tender was launched on September 18, 2018 after the review of tender documents and their approval by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which finances the project. The date of opening bids was postponed several times under requests of bidders, Ukrenergo said.
According to the power commercial accounting code, Ukrenergo is the power commercial accounting administrator on the retail market, which new model was launched on January 1, 2019.
The DataHub is a centralized platform to ensure the data exchange with a single database of the commercial accounting points. Currently distribution system operators and state-owned enterprise Energomarket fulfill this function without the proper software.
