Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of the Metinvest mining and metal group, increased consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by 39% in January-September 2017 year-over-year, to $1.373 billion.
According to a trading update published by the company, its revenue grew by 36%, to $6.222 billion, capital investment – by 55%, to $308 million and margin did not change, being 22%.
Metinvest said that since early 2017 the company managed to reduce total debt by 2%, to $2.909 billion, boosting cash and cash equivalents by 30%, to $293 million.
Metinvest Group’s principal shareholders are System Capital Management with 71.24% and Smart-Holding with 23.76%.
Swedish-based chain IKEA is mulling over entering the Ukrainian market and may open its first outlet in Kyiv in the next two years, the company said in an official statement.
At the moment, IKEA is looking for the most acceptable business model that would allow the implementation of plans in Kyiv within the next one or two years. A decision on further steps will be taken based on the results of market research and preferences of Ukrainian consumers, the document says.
IKEA South East Europe, which is part of the IKEA Group (Ingka Holding B.V.), could be engaged in the development of the chain in Ukraine. The company is engaged in retail business of IKEA in Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and Slovenia.
Public joint-stock company Research and Industrial Center Borschahivka chemical and pharmaceutical plant (Kyiv) has won a tender of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to supply to medicines under the child oncology and oncohematology as part of the procurement of medicines using the 2017 budget funds.
The press service of the plant reported that these are 61,700 Ondansetron solution vials and 10,700 Cebopim powder vials for solutions.
Eight Ukrainian and foreign manufacturers took part in the tender.
In 2016, the plant was among top ten leaders of pharmacy sales with 4.2% of the market share.
Borschahivka chemical and pharmaceutical plant is a member of the association of Medicines Manufacturers of Ukraine.
PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) is experiencing significant difficulties in transporting 5 million tonnes of steel products from the enterprise to the Black Sea ports of Ukraine and delivering 2.5-3 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate to consumers in Eastern Europe, company CEO Paramjit Kahlon has stated.
“One of the biggest problems at the moment is logistics,” the top manager stated at a conference with suppliers in Kyiv.
According to him, the reason for this situation is a shortage of wagons of Ukrzaliznytsia, as well as private companies.
At the same time, he noted that 3,000 wagons with locomotives are required to ship 5 million tonnes of steel products to the Black Sea ports – Mykolaiv and Yuzhny, as well as iron ore deliveries to Europe.
“We invite logistics companies to cooperate,” the top manager said, without specifying whether ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih plans to create its own logistics division at the enterprise.
ArcelorMittal owns the largest mining and metallurgical plant in Ukraine, ArcelorMittal Kryvy Rih, and a number of small companies, in particular, PJSC ArcelorMittal Berislav.
Ukraine has invited Portugal to joint work on the creation of a firefighting aircraft, according to Svyatoslav Tsegolko, press secretary for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
“Ukraine has offered Portugal to develop a firefighting plane on Antonov’s basis,” he wrote on his Twitter page on Monday.
Tsegolko also said that Poroshenko had thanked Portugal for recognizing the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people this year.
He also noted that Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had confirmed that his country “supports Ukraine in NATO and the OSCE.”
Poroshenko is on an official visit to Portugal on December 17-18.
The press service of the Ukrainian president said later on Monday that it is proposed to design and produce firefighting aircraft on the basis of Ukraine’s Antonov State Enterprise.
“We offered to elaborate a joint project of water-bombing aircrafts construction on the basis of Antonov. We are confident that this will increase security in Portugal and will be a very successful and effective project of our cooperation,” the press service said, citing Poroshenko.
According to Petro Poroshenko, bilateral economic projects should play significant importance for the development of cooperation between Portugal and Ukraine. He also said that “we are waiting for Portuguese investors who will seize opportunities for privatization.”
He reminded that Ukraine had helped Portugal during wildfires.
