Structure of foreign exchange reserves as of 30.10.2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Insurance company KD Life (KD Life, Kyiv) has increased its authorized capital by 48% to UAH 53.302 million, according to the insurer’s website.
It is noted that the additional issue of shares was registered by the decision of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission on January 19, 2024.
“The company continues to implement new standards and procedures in accordance with the requirements of the new legislation, actively adapts its internal processes and policies, directing all efforts to comply with the new regulations,” the statement said.
KD Life is a Ukrainian company founded in 2007 by KD Group holding.
KD Group Holding is a leader in the financial market of Eastern Europe, with almost 130 years of successful experience in life and risk insurance, financial management and investment funds.
Currently, the company’s services are offered by more than 3 thousand consultants throughout Ukraine.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ, formerly Dniprokoks), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH group, did not produce rolled products in January this year, while in January 2023 it produced 8.8 thousand steel products.
According to information in the corporate newspaper DCH Steel on Thursday, rolling mills PC-1 and PC-2 did not roll metal in January, finalizing and shipping products manufactured in December last year. Thus, in January, the company shipped 3.7 thousand tons of rolled products and 22.9 thousand tons of metallurgical coke to customers.
It is also specified that the main and auxiliary equipment is being repaired in the shops, and the next rolling campaign will start at the last decade of February at the Rolling Shop No. 2.
In addition, it is reported that the production of metallurgical coke in January-2024 increased by 64.4% compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 22.7 thousand tons.
DMZ continues to restore the masonry of coke ovens using the ceramic surfacing method.
As reported, in 2023, the plant increased its rolled metal output by 86.2% compared to 2022, up to 105.6 thousand tons, and coke output by 38.5%, up to 292.7 thousand tons.
In December last year, the plant produced 5.2 thousand tons of rolled steel, down 35% month-on-month. Coke production decreased by 6% to 23.9 thousand tons in November 2023.
In 2022, the plant reduced rolled steel production by 74.2% compared to 2021, to 58.4 thousand tons, and coke production by 56.3%, to 211.3 thousand tons.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, pig iron, rolled products and products made from them. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy Dnipro Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
In January, almost 16.7 thousand used cars imported from abroad joined the Ukrainian car fleet, which is 45% more than in the same month of 2023, Ukravtoprom reported on its telegram channel.
According to the association, almost 4.4 thousand new passenger cars were registered in January 2024 (an increase of 47%).
The largest share in the segment of used foreign cars last month, as before, belonged to gasoline cars – 46%. This is followed by diesel cars – 29%; electric cars – 16%; cars with LPG – 5%; hybrids – 4%.
Volkswagen Golf remains the leader in registrations among imported second-hand cars with 948 registrations.
The top ten most popular models also include: Renault Megane – 759 units; Skoda Octavia – 669 units; Volkswagen Passat – 599 units; Volkswagen Tiguan – 396 units; Nissan Leaf – 355 units; Audi A4 – 347 units; Audi Q5 – 334 units; Nissan Rogue – 330 units and Tesla Model 3 – 309 units.
The average age of used cars that switched to Ukrainian license plates in January is 9.8 years.
As reported, in January 2023, the demand for used foreign cars in Ukraine decreased by 2.8 times compared to January 2022 – to 11.5 thousand units, with Renault Megan leading the way with 926 cars.
For the whole of last year, registrations of such cars decreased by 45% year-on-year to 214.4 thousand units.
Maestro Hotel Management, a management company specializing in the management of premium hotel complexes, has recently faced a challenge familiar to many businesses – black PR.
Black PR is a well-known tool aimed at eliminating a competitor by dishonest means, by deteriorating their reputation. Black PR is often used to drive a competitor out of the market or prevent them from entering a market of interest. This story is about how a company faced black PR and what steps it took to protect its reputation and restore justice by defeating the slanderers.
The beginning of the PR campaign against Maestro Hotel Management
Within two weeks, competitors published two negative articles in six paid publications, using outright fabrication and false accusations to damage Maestro Hotel Management’s reputation. The competitor chose a loud and scandalous title to attract attention – “The Beachfront Scam”. The articles focused on the company’s strategic goals and were distributed in the regions where Maestro operates. All of this had one goal: to cause reputational damage and block the company’s path to a new market.
The company did not hesitate to respond. Maestro sent a complaint to the media outlets demanding that they remove the false information.
“Unfortunately, there are resources that do not adhere to information hygiene and are not interested in the accuracy of facts. They do not require any confirmation from the customer and do not verify the data themselves, although it is quite easy to refute slander with the help of open registers of legal entities. Prices for placement range from 500 to 1000 euros. There are even separate prices for scandalous articles. Accordingly, anyone and everyone can post paid-for material about anyone – it is enough to have the necessary amount of money. And nothing can be done about this state of affairs,” Eduard Rezhynsky, CEO of Maestro Hotel Management, told the editorial board.
For its part, Maestro resorted to legal methods by filing lawyer’s requests to remove the unreliable materials.
Deployment of the campaign
The competitors did not limit themselves to media publications and expanded the black PR campaign to other information platforms.
1. Popular telegram publics.
The choice of a tool for rapid dissemination of information is undoubtedly excellent – Telegram channels have an incredibly wide audience. The publications, as expected, closed the possibility of commenting on the post so that the company would not have the opportunity to defend itself.
Again, the competitors chose resources from the regions that are within the scope of Maestro Hotel Management’s interests. Appeals to the channel administrations brought different results: from a quick agreement to remove the defamatory content to extortion for removal.
2. Business communities and groups in the company’s core area of interest – hotel management and investment.
At this stage of the conflict, anonymous profiles were added to various groups that unite industry professionals. They shared links to negative articles, accompanying them with rhetorical questions such as: “Do you think this could affect the market?”. Such actions were intended to draw attention to the defamatory content, thereby casting doubt on the company’s reputation.
The company’s representatives refuted the slander where they could, but where they were absent from the discussion, competitors managed to create a negative image of Maestro in the eyes of the community.
3. The next stage of aggressive actions on the part of competitors was the initiation of targeted cyberattacks using botnets on the company’s official website and social media profiles.
However, due to the high level of information security at Maestro Hotel Management, these attempts were quickly neutralized. This incident did not have any critical consequences for the company’s operations, but it proved to be an important experience in the field of cyber defense.
4. As the conflict escalated further, competitors’ actions crossed the line of professional ethics and resulted in threats against partners.
Anonymous sources began to warn of possible negative consequences for those who decide to cooperate with Maestro Hotel Management. Such actions could have jeopardized the stability and trust in partnerships, but due to the company’s unquestionable reputation and transparency in doing business, the destabilization attempts failed.
5. The situation took a new turn when the aggression spread to the company’s staff, who began receiving threats.
For the team, such attacks were completely unexpected and caused outrage due to their groundlessness and cynicism. In response, Maestro Hotel Management held a series of outreach meetings for employees, which aimed not only to relieve unnecessary tension but also to strengthen the internal spirit and team cohesion. These actions helped maintain a positive morale among employees and confirmed the high level of corporate culture at Maestro Hotel Management.
Results of the fight against black PR
The fight against black PR has confirmed that honesty and transparency remain the best strategy. To counteract the competitors’ campaign, Maestro
Hotel Management used two key approaches.
1. The first methodology is based on a preventive approach, which includes systematic work to maintain a positive reputation and develop trusting relationships with partners and customers. Thanks to this approach, the Maestro brand has gained a high level of trust in the market.
2. The second methodology is to ignore negative attacks and focus on implementing your own PR strategy, which aims to further develop and promote the brand, regardless of competitors’ attempts to undermine its reputation. According to the company, competitors’ spending on black PR amounted to several thousand dollars.
Thanks to Maestro Hotel Management’s proactive stance and the use of legitimate legal tools to counter black PR, the company managed to neutralize all attempts at discrediting the brand – all false publications were removed. Maestro decided to refrain from retaliatory measures, choosing a strategy of adhering to the principles of fair competition, believing that excellence in doing business is the best strategy.
Maestro’s experience can be useful not only for industry representatives, but also for the wider business community, emphasizing the importance of reputation management as a never-ending process in a competitive market.
Ukraine and the People’s Republic of China have agreed on the terms of exporting Ukrainian honey to China, and now Ukrainian honey producers can supply their products to the country, the press service of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection reported.
“Thanks to the coordinated work of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the People’s Republic of China, all stages of approval of the certificate for honey exports to China have been completed. The procedure for opening the honey market in China, which began in 2019, has been officially completed and the market is open to domestic exporters,” the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection said on Thursday.
According to the head of the service, Serhiy Tkachuk, this is the first export market that the agency opened in 2024.
“A lot of work has been done, many meetings and negotiations have been held, and the state control system in Ukraine has been audited. We plan not to stop, but to continue working to ensure the uninterrupted export of Ukrainian products in order to strengthen economic stability and increase jobs in our country,” Tkachuk emphasized.
The approved form of the health certificate for the export of honey from Ukraine to China is available on the official web portal of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the section “International Cooperation” under the heading “Certificates for export from Ukraine”.
The agency also advised potential honey exporters to familiarize themselves with the guidelines for state veterinary inspectors of Ukraine and market operators who intend to export honey to China.
“The Chinese market is very promising for the export of Ukrainian products and its opening for Ukrainian honey significantly expands opportunities for domestic producers,” the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection expressed confidence.
