Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

NIKA-TERA SEA TERMINAL RAISES CARGO HANDLING BY 57%

Nika-Tera sea terminal (Nika-Tera specialized seaport, Mykolaiv), part of Group DF belonging to Dmytro Firtash, in January-February 2019 handled more than one million tonnes of cargo, which is 56.7% more than in the same period of 2018, the press service of the company has reported.
According to the company, as of February 27, 2019, Nika-Tera port had handled more than one million tonnes of cargo, significantly exceeding the dynamics of last year’s transshipment: in January-February 2018 the port’s cargo turnover amounted to 638,000 tonnes, while the figure of the first million was reached only at the end of March.
“Nika-Tera port continues to master new technologies for receiving and transshipment of goods. Thus, in February 2019 the first train of railway platforms with specialized containers for bulk cargo transportation entered the port. In total, a batch consisting of 88 containers with corn was processed on 44 platforms with a total weight of more than 2,000 tonnes,” the press service of the port said.
To implement the new cargo handling scheme, containers were unloaded from railway platforms to container trucks inside the port.

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STATE-RUN UKRZALIZNYTSIA NOT PLANNING IPO, BUT NEEDS $6 BLN OF ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT

The draft ownership policy of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia does not envisage a possibility of holding an initial public offering (IPO) for the company, Ukrzaliznytsia Director for Strategic Development and Investment Policy Anton Sabolevsky told reporters on the sidelines of the third International Conference “Railways of Ukraine: Developments & Investments” held in Kyiv. “The draft ownership policy, which is now being considered, does not mention the possibility of an IPO. This is not a question of a year or three, it is more distant. It will definitely not be held in the next five years,” he said.
According to Sabolevsky, in Europe the only successful transaction for holding an IPO for a part of a cargo carrier was in Poland. “Also, there is an example of Doicebahn, which was bought freight operators in the Netherlands, Denmark and partly in Sweden,” he said.
At the same time, according to Sabolevsky, for the next five years, Ukrzaliznytsia needs an additional investment of $6 billion to maintain its assets at current levels.
“If we look at the ratio of capital investment and company revenues, then, to a large extent, we will come to the conclusion that Ukrzaliznytsia must spend about $ 1billion on its capital investment a year. These are the sums which the company announces in its financial plan every year. For example, in 2018, we had a little more than UAH 26 billion of capital investment,” he said.

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VENTURE FUNDS AVENTURES AND INSOFT SELLS IT COMPANY COREVALUE

The venture funds AVentures Capital and Insoft Capital have sold a majority stake in the IT company CoreValue, according to a press release from AVentures. CoreValue was purchased by IT Kontrakt, one of the leading IT outsourcers in the Central and Eastern Europe region, owned by Oaktree Capital Management and Cornerstone Partners Investments. The sum of the transaction is not disclosed.
“The integration of CoreValue into the IT services competency platform is a very important step for us in creating a global IT outsourcing platform. The company proved its potential and strong technological competence by providing services to large customers in the highly competitive U.S. market,” the board chairman of IT Kontrakt, the executive chairman of IT Services Competence Platform, Tomasz Pyrak, said.
CoreValue is an IT outsourcing company based in the United States. The development centers of the company are located in Ukraine and Poland. It was founded in 2004. It has grown to 400 people and delivers solutions to Fortune 500 companies, as well as to medium and large enterprises in the United States and Europe. CoreValue’s competence includes CRM-based services, cloud and mobile applications for such industries as Pharmatech, Healthcare and Finance.
AVentures Capital bought a minority stake in CoreValue in 2017.

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CITY CAPITAL GROUP INTENDS TO INVEST $50 MLN IN BUSINESS CENTERS IN KYIV

City Capital Group (CCG, Kyiv) of Israeli businessman Ofer Kerzner, managing the Platforma art factory in Kyiv, plans to invest more than $50 million in opening new offices in the capital in four years. “The office real estate market is coming to life. All experts predict an increase in the demand in this segment. IT companies are declaring a shortage of quality space. We respond quickly to the increasing interest and are working to become the largest ecosystem of innovative office spaces in Ukraine … During the next four years, the company will use at least $50 million for investment,” Maria Kazantseva, a member of the board of directors of City Capital Group, said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to her, all new CCG projects will be a revitalization of old industrial facilities. All the new office formats of the company (the Voronin factory, the Innovation Park platform and the project in Skovorody Street in Podil) will be included in the umbrella brand Platforma.
City Capital Group was created by Israeli businessman Ofer Kerzner in 2007 to implement projects in the field of development, construction and property management in Ukraine.

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