KYIV. Dec 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kernel Trade was the largest recipient of VAT refunds in November 2017, which received UAH 1.04 billion (UAH 23.47 million in October), the State Treasury Service has said.
According to the State Treasury Service, the top five recipients of VAT refunds in November slightly changed compared with October. Mariupol Steel Works was second with UAH 671.433 million (UAH 619.215 million in October), ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih was third with UAH 633.194 million (UAH 439.383 million), State Food-Grain Corporation was fourth with UAH 527.694 million (no refunds in October) and AT Cargill was fifth with UAH 377.782 million (UAH 333.291 million).
Ten largest recipients of VAT refunds were also AMD Trading Ukraine with UAH 343.4 million (UAH 599.691 million in October), Nibulon LLC with UAH 335.7 million (UAH 548.463 million), Zaporizhstal with UAH 305.218 million (UAH 238.151 million), Myronivsky Hliboproduct with UAH 300 million (UAH 110 million) and Katerynopil Elevator with UAH 230 million.
KYIV. Dec 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine is an attractive state for the investors looking for a place to accommodate new shared service centers (SSC) or intending to launch business processes outsourcing (BPO) operations, KPMG experts believe.
Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk recognized the most attractive destinations in this ranking given availability and low cost of the qualified labor force, existence of developed infrastructure, real estate market and convenient geographical position, the company said.
“Ukraine’s key advantages in terms of establishment of an SSC include its geographical position and ability to offer significant resources of young and highly qualified labor force,” Director of Audit at KPMG in Ukraine Roman Koutsak said.
He said that investors search for the places where the labor costs are and will remain controllable in the mid-term perspective. The average monthly wage of $220 is the lowest in Europe.
Despite being one of the largest countries in terms of territory and people in the region, along with its abundant resources, Ukraine has often lagged behind more mature markets like Poland or the Czech Republic. However, these countries are becoming more expensive, KPMG said.
The additional advantages in Ukraine are visa-free regime for the citizens of the United States, EU countries and several other developed nations. Ukrainian students are bilingual (native Ukrainian and Russian) and have a good command of other foreign languages, and Ukraine is in the possession of the modern digital communications infrastructure meeting all requirements of the investors.
Commercial office spaces are offered in all major Ukrainian cities at the rates significantly lower than in the neighboring countries. In 2017, Ukraine occupied the 80th and the 20th position among 190 countries according to the rankings of the ease of doing and launch of business, respectively (World Bank’s Doing Business Report).
In addition, the depreciation of the hryvnia caused significant reduction in the tax and regulatory costs in Ukraine.
Ukraine has already turned into the country of choice for IT outsourcing: more than 500 outsourcing companies and 100 global R&D centers launched their operations in the country.
In 2017, Ukraine ranked number two in terms of pace of growth of its outsourcing attractiveness, according to A.T. Kearney (17 positions up).
KYIV. Dec 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – SigmaBleyzer Investment Company is studying the possibility of creating an investment fund in Ukraine that will be oriented to the energy sector, in particular gas production, Vice President of SigmaBleyzer Ukraine Vadym Bodayev has said.
“SigmaBleyzer plans to involve in partnership a Texas-based operator company that owns more than 200 wells in the United States, uses a unique technology and has more than 50 years of production experience,” he said after signing a memorandum of cooperation with the Association of Gas Producers of Ukraine in Kyiv.
According to Bodayev, the Texan company, whose name he did not specify, estimates the Ukrainian gas production market as very promising and will act as an operator of the project, while SigmaBleyzer will be a financial investor.
“At the initial stage, we plan an investment of $100 million,” he said.
Bodayev said SigmaBleyzer is currently negotiating with several companies that have a license to use subsoil for gas production in Ukraine for their purchase.
KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Namsen Limited, a legal entity controlled by the board chairman of Kernel agricultural holding, Andriy Verevsky, from November 29 to December 1 had purchased 587,175 shares of Kernel Holding S.A. (Luxembourg).
According to a Kernel report on the website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), the average purchase price of one share was PLN47.7 ($13.49 per share at the rate of the National Bank of Poland as of December 1).
As of December 1, 2017 Namsen Limited owned about 32.042 million shares in the company, which is 39.1% of the charter capital.
Prior to the acquisition, Namsen Limited held 38.39% in the charter capital of Kernel.
As reported, Cascade Investment Fund (the Cayman Islands), whose beneficiary is the co-chairman of the Vidrodzhennia deputy group, Vitaliy Khomutynnik, which in October 2015 acquired 5% in Kernel, in mid-November 2017 increased its share to 6.59%.
At the end of November 2017, the manager of Kernel sold 300,000 shares of the company for $4.02 million.
KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – DTEK Energy has acquired shares in PJSC Svitlo Shakhtaria, Druzhkivka Machine Building Plant LLC and Mining Machines LLC, which formerly were part of Corum Group, which unites the machine building assets of SCM Financial and Industrial Group.
“These enterprises are the main suppliers of machinery and equipment for coal mining in the company. This transaction will enable DTEK Energy to reduce costs of mining and tunneling equipment, provide coal companies with spare parts on time and also give the opportunity to improve the quality of warranty and post-warranty service,” DTEK Energy said.
According to company CEO Dmytro Sakharuk, investments in production of mining equipment are a strategic step of DTEK power holding.
“DTEK Energy is an example of effective development of mines in Ukraine. Over 12 years of work, we’ve managed to almost double coal production. In many respects due to the fact that we know what technologies and what machinery are needed for coal enterprises operating in the conditions of ultrathin coal seams. This transaction will allow creating a full production cycle in the coal mining sector of the company. We believe that under the conditions when Ukraine needs to increase its own gas coal extraction, this decision will positively influence the result,” he said.
Corum Group is one of the largest manufacturers of equipment and suppliers of integrated mining solutions.
KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Corum Group, which unites the machine building assets of System Capital Management (SCM) financial and industrial group, has purchased a Korean boring and milling machine DOOSAN DBC160 for Svitlo Shakhtaria plant in Kharkiv, the company’s press service has said.
“This is the largest investment in the company’s production equipment park in the last few years. The purchase of the tool will make it possible to manufacture most hull parts for machinery at its own facilities, which will significantly speed up the delivery of orders, as well as automate many production processes and increase output,” the report says.
The amount of investments in the DOOSAN tool is about EUR1 million, while it is comparable to the expected economic effect: using own machine park will allow saving three- or four-time more resources and time for both the plant and Corum’s customers.
According to a press release, the processing machine was purchased in order to increase the throughput capacity for the most critical technological operations – the so called debottlenecking, one of which was the processing of large parts of hull products.
The first order, made at the end of September of this year with the participation of the new center, is a tunneling combine for Bilozerske coal directorate, and at the moment it processes hull parts for harvesters and other plant products.
