At least 64 people have died due to flooding caused by heavy rains in Spain, EFE news agency reported on Wednesday.
“The authorities of the autonomous community of Valencia, which was most affected by the floods, confirmed that 62 people died (…), while two victims were found in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha,” the agency reports.
In addition, several people went missing in both communities. Search and rescue operations continue in Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha. In Valencia, the floods caused power outages. Several flights were canceled at Valencia airport. In addition, rail and road connections in the region have been partially disrupted.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that dozens of cities were flooded and warned that the danger to the population was not over yet.
“For those who are looking for their loved ones: the whole of Spain feels your pain. Our priority is to help you. We are using all the necessary resources to recover from this tragedy,” Sanchez said in a televised address.
Spanish emergency response units have sent more than a thousand employees to the flood-affected areas of the country. In addition, the Spanish government has set up a crisis committee to coordinate rescue efforts.
The National Meteorological Service of Spain has introduced a “red”, the highest, level of weather danger in the region. According to forecasters, the rains will continue at least until Thursday.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing Kormotech, a leading Ukrainian pet food producer, with a financing package to increase exports and geographic diversification by building a second pet food plant in Lithuania, the EBRD press service reports.
According to the release, the total cost of the Kormotech project will be EUR63 million.
The allocated financing package is a EUR40 million A/B syndicated loan, of which EUR20 million will be provided by the Dutch SDG-focused asset management fund ILX Fund.
The bank has previously provided EUR 15 million to Kormotech Group, a long-standing EBRD client, for the construction of its first plant in Lithuania, which began operations in June 2020. The bank also provided a EUR3.3 million loan to the company to replenish working capital during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The EBRD loan is accompanied by grant financing, including a grant from the Japan-EBRD Cooperation Fund, which partially covers the costs of external lawyers. The grant funding will also partially cover the cost of new workplace equipment that will create new livelihoods for groups that need more attention, including women and people with disabilities. This component is being implemented as part of the EBRD’s new program aimed at stimulating capital investment.
The loan is provided to the Group’s holding company Vengast Investments Ltd (Cyprus) and its subsidiary in Lithuania, Kormotech UAB.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war in 2022, the bank has provided EUR 5 billion to the Ukrainian economy and agreed with shareholders to increase capital by EUR 4 billion, which will allow it to continue lending at current levels during the war and further increase volumes during the full-scale recovery phase.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing cat and dog food under the Optimeal, Club 4 Paws, Woof! and Meow! brands since 2003. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, with a product range of over 650 items. Its focus on exports and geographic diversification helps it withstand the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The new project will also help Kormotech strengthen its human resources and skills development efforts in light of the current challenging situation on the Ukrainian labor market, including creating new employment and training opportunities for women, veterans, and other groups that require more attention. It will also enable Kormotech to improve energy efficiency.
In 2023, Kormotech’s turnover increased by 22.5% to $152 million from $124 million in 2022. The ratio of sales abroad and in Ukraine in tons is now 31% to 69%, respectively (in 2022 it was 28% to 72% in Ukraine).
Kormotech brands grew most dynamically in the markets of Romania (+35%), Poland (+11%) and Moldova (+11%).
Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine, one of the world’s top 50 pet food producers and one of the top 21 most dynamic pet food brands. The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Olena and Rostyslav Vovk.
Oleg Krot, co-founder of the Techiia IT holding company, intends to invest $50 million in the bankrupt Polish agricultural tractor manufacturer Ursus over the next five years, whose assets he acquired at a tender on October 24 for PLN 74 million ($18.5 million), according to a report by Forbes Ukraine.
“We plan to invest $50 million in Ursus over five years,” the publication quoted Krot as saying.
According to Forbes Ukraine, within the first 12-18 months, Krot intends to resume production of agricultural machinery at Ursus plants, which have been producing mostly trailers and bodies in recent years.
“At this point, it’s important not to run after some illusory goal, but to increase production of trailers and launch tractors,” he says.
The goal for the next five years is to resume tractor deliveries to Africa and Asia, and, according to Krot, they also plan to attract American investors with whom they have preliminary agreements.
According to Krot, co-founder of Techiia IT holding, the company is investing its own funds from dividends in the purchase of Ursus.
According to the Polish edition of Tygodnikiem Poradnikiem Rolniczym, Ursus was acquired by the Polish M. I. Crow, co-founded by Polish citizen Bożena Głowacka and Oleg Krot, who is also the company’s president.
The acquired assets include production facilities and real estate in the cities of Dobre Miasto and Lublin, the communes of Zakroczyme and Bedaszki, documentation of research projects, machinery and equipment, warehouses, as well as the use of the Ursus trademark.
In an interview with Tygodnik Poradnik Rolniczy, Głowacka noted that the new owner is currently developing a detailed plan for Ursus’ activities after the takeover.
The publication notes that the owner intends to develop a new development strategy for the tractor manufacturer, preserve existing jobs and hire new specialists, as well as increase Ursus’ production capacity.
According to the Polish publication, Ursus, which has a nearly 100-year history of producing tractors under the same brand, was declared bankrupt in July 2021 after a sharp drop in sales. Three tenders for its sale were then held, but the first two failed due to the lack of buyers, and the only participant in the third was M.I. Crow with a registered capital of PLN 50 thousand. At the same time, the starting price of the assets was reduced by 40% to PLN 74 million compared to the previous tender.
Earlier it was reported that in 2013, the Ukrainian corporation Bogdan, in consortium with Ursus, won a tender for the supply of 38 low-floor trolleybuses to the municipality of Lublin. Bogdan supplied the bodies and components for them, Czech Cegelec supplied the control system, and the final assembly was carried out at Ursus’ facilities.
According to the website of the Techiia holding, co-founded (managing partners) by Krit and Yuriy Lazebnikov, it unites more than 10 technology companies in the unmanned aerial vehicles, IT, e-sports, construction technologies, SaaS, and is considering prospects for investment in other industries.
“Nova Poshta, Ukraine’s largest logistics operator, has launched courier delivery in the Netherlands and plans to open its own branches in Amsterdam and Utrecht in the near future, the company’s press service reports.
“Nova Poshta is already working with courier delivery in all cities of the Netherlands. In the near future, we plan to open our own branches in Amsterdam and Utrecht to make even more services available to our customers,” the press service of Nova Poshta quoted Anton Chernysh, CEO of Nova Post in the Netherlands, as saying.
It is reported that the Netherlands has become the 16th foreign market for the company.
Customers can order targeted delivery from Ukraine to any address in the Netherlands, as well as use the services of a courier to send. Parcels can be sent throughout the Netherlands and between European countries. Private clients and companies can send parcels up to 1 thousand kilograms, the company said in a statement.
The current delivery tariff for individuals from October 21, 2024 is UAH 1 thousand for documents up to 1 kg, small parcels up to 2 kg – UAH 1.05 thousand, medium (up to 10 kg) – UAH 1.6 thousand, large (up to 30 kg) – UAH 2.6 thousand, cargo over 30 kg – UAH 100 for every 1 kg and UAH 250 for every 100 kg. Prices are quoted in UAH including VAT.
Delivery time from Ukraine to the Netherlands is up to 4 days, within the Netherlands and to other European countries – from 1 day.
Earlier it was reported that Nova Poshta launched courier delivery in Austria, which became the 15th foreign market for the operator.
It was also reported that in 2024, NOVA Group of Companies (Nova Poshta) doubled its investments to UAH 8.5 billion compared to 2021.
The State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine on November 7 this year will again put up for online auction with conditions the state block of shares of JSC “Institute of Titanium” (Zaporozhye) in the amount of 100% of the authorized capital. According to information in the system prozorro.sale, the announcement of the three-round English auction is dated October 29.
The starting price of the mentioned block of shares has been reduced from UAH 97.651 mln (excluding VAT) to UAH 48 mln 825.5 thousand (excluding VAT).
At the same time, the auction scheduled for October 30 was not held.
As it was reported, the Federal State Property Management Committee has previously conducted the sale of the company at auctions, which did not take place.
The main activity of the Institute of Titanium, according to its charter, is research and experimental development in the field of natural and technical sciences.
The authorized capital of the company is UAH 75.311 mln.
Agrotrade has completed sowing winter wheat for the 2025 harvest in the fields of Poltava, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions, covering a total of 14.6 thousand hectares, the company’s press service reports.
According to the report, the work went according to plan and all areas have sprouts. In the fields where winter crops were sown early, the plants are already highly developed. And where the crops were sown in the optimal periods, they are in the early stages of development.
“To reduce the cost of growing technology, we have changed our approach to choosing a predecessor crop. Previously, we sowed large areas of winter wheat where we grew winter rape. Under these conditions, it requires herbicide and insecticide protection, which costs about $42-47 per hectare. This year, we reduced such crops and planted soybeans and sunflower on the main area. This way we reduced the cost of autumn wheat protection,” said Oleksandr Ovsyanyk, Director of Agrotrade’s Agricultural Department.
The agricultural holding also implemented all measures related to technological control of sowing. The Online Agricultural Operations Management Center monitored the quality parameters of field work: sowing depth, seeding rate and fertilizer application, speed of machinery, and compliance with field contours to achieve high quality sowing and avoid resource overruns.
We remind you that winter wheat ranks first in terms of area among all crops grown by the group.
As reported, on August 13, Agrotrade started the sowing campaign of winter crops for the 2025 harvest, allocating 27.9 thou hectares for the crops. The area under winter rapeseed increased by 1.3 thou hectares compared to last year to 12.5 thou hectares.
The Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. Its main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a simultaneous storage capacity of 570 thousand tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn and sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand Agroseeds on the market.
Vsevolod Kozhemiako is the founder and CEO of Agrotrade.
