Kyivsky cardboard paper mill (Obukhiv, Kyiv region), a leader in Ukraine’s pulp and paper industry in terms of production and sales, saw UAH 348.7 million in net profit in 2017, which is 49.6% up on 2016. According to an announcement on holding a general meeting of shareholders scheduled for April 25, undistributed profit early this year reached UAH 1.156 billion (UAH 807.09 million a year ago).
According to a draft decision of the shareholders it is planned not to pay dividends for 2017.
As reported, in 2016, the mill saw an 89% rise in net profit, to UAH 233.13 million.
According to the report, current liabilities of the mill grew by 15% in 2017, to UAH 1.863 billion and noncurrent liabilities fell by 23.5%, to UAH 146.45 million.
Total bills receivable as of January 1, 2018 totaled UAH 790.22 million, increasing by 31.5%. Assets grew by 19.7%, to UAH 3.326 billion.
Net worth as of early 2018 was UAH 1.317 billion, including UAH 10 million of the charter capital.
Kyivsky cardboard paper mill is one of the largest cardboard and paper producers in Europe. It employs almost 2,200 people. It sells produce to almost 700 companies in Ukraine, some CIS member states and the rest of the world. In 2017, the mill saw a 14.8% rise in production from 2016, to UAH 4.224 85 million.
Kusto Agro plans to spend $800,000 on purchase of new agricultural equipment by July 2018. According to information on the group’s website, in particular, it plans to buy two Case Tiger Mate cultivators, two John Deere tractors, a Kinze seeder with additional equipment, trailers, sunflower harvesters.
“Every year we update and expand our machinery. The enterprise is not small, therefore we cannot completely renew the entire fleet of vehicles in one season. But we are gradually expanding it,” Director of Kusto Agro Farming Volodymyr Sery said.
“Kusto Agro is part of Kusto Group international holding (Singapore), which develops business in oil, energy, agricultural, construction and other industries. Kusto Group implements projects in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Vietnam, China, Turkey, and Georgia.In Ukraine, the land bank of the company is 12,000 hectares and is located in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky regions. In addition, Kusto Agro owns three elevators with a total capacity of 90,000 tonnes.
Total export of soft fruit with wild berries from Ukraine could reach 57,000 tonnes by 2020, Economist of the Investment Center of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Andriy Yarmak has said. According to his report at the Global Berry Congress held in Rotterdam posted on the Facebook page of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association (UHA), soft fruit export could reach 40,000 tonnes by 2020, and with wild – 57,000 tonnes.
“The share of fresh berries in export volumes of cultivated berries could reach 40-44% and in value could exceed 60%,” the expert said. Export of cultivated blueberries by the end of 2020 could reach 8,000 tonnes. Yarmak said that export of wild blueberries could decline to 15,000 tonnes.
According to the expert, the country saw a 19-fold rise in export of cultivated soft fruit in four years and a 17-fold rise in export of fresh soft fruit.
“First, the loss of the Russian market made farmers look for niches with more value. Secondly, the decline of incomes made people look for ways of making money and pay attention to soft fruit. Thirdly, Ukrainian fruit pickers worked in Poland received large experience and most of them started their own small business after returning to Ukraine,” Yarmak said, explaining the reasons of growth. According to the report, the share of raspberry grew from 7% in 2014 to 29% in 2017. The share of raspberry of total cultivated soft fruit reached almost 60% (without wild).
Norway’s Scatec Solar seeks to build a solar power plant with the installed capacity of 25 MW in Kamianka (Cherkasy region), the press service of the Cherkasy Regional Administration has reported. Scatec Solar has built solar power plants with a total capacity of 322 MW in different countries. The company is in the process of building plants with the capacity of 434 MW. Scatec Solar operates in the Czech Republic, South Africa, Ruanda, Honduras and Jordan.
BUILD, CHERKASY REGION, SCATEC SOLAR, SOLAR POWER PLANT, UKRAINE
Turkish brewer Anadolu Efes and AB InBev have received all required regulatory approvals to combine their businesses in Russia and Ukraine, have signed binding transactions agreements and expect to complete the deal in March, Efes said. Anadolu Efes also disclosed the structure of the deal. Its subsidiary Efes Breweries International N.V. will transfer is 99.999% owned subsidiary Moscow Efes Brewery (MEB) to its wholly owned new subsidiary AB InBev Efes B.V. Then AB InBev Western European Holding will contribute its Russian and Ukrainian assets to this company in exchange for new shares in AB InBev Efes.
After the issue of new shares, Efes Breweries International and AB InBev Western European Holding will each own 50% of AB InBev Efes.
AB InBev’s Russian and Ukrainian assets have been valued at $1.002 billion-$1.233 billion for the deal, based on the discounted cash flow method, while the assets of Efes were valued at $962 million-$1.145 billion. The combined business is expected to result in annual cost synergies of about $80 million-$100 million. The merger of operations in Russia and Ukraine will strengthen the competitive position of both companies’ brands, with potential for future growth, Efes said. The combined business will aim to lead the Russian and Ukrainian beer markets, the company said.
The leading supplier of telecomm and IT solutions ZTE has opened a long-term credit line to public joint-stock company Ukrtelecom to finance projects, foreseeing the provision of $10 million at the first phase, the public joint-stock company has said in a press release. “In the current conditions, we see a great interest of global business in the national infrastructure ICT [Information and Communication Technology] operator. This is a line which will be used for projects with a payback period of no more than five years,” the press service said, citing Uktelecom’s Director Yuriy Kurmaz as saying.
According to the company, the funds raised will be used to expand the coverage of Internet access in settlements, upgrade the access network and other elements of the company’s infrastructure.
The funds will be available from June 2018. During this time, the company’s specialists will prepare a roadmap and project calculations that are planned to be implemented in this cooperation, the press service said.
“We are starting a new stage of long-term cooperation between ZTE and Ukrtelecom. From now on it will not only be in the sphere of supply of equipment for consumers, but also at the level of important infrastructural solutions necessary for the development of the Ukrtelecom network,” said Director of ZTE Ukraine LLC Mingxi Huang said.
