The festival was held at the Forest Club Sherwood hotel and restaurant complex. The event was attended by well-known Ukrainian wineries: TM My Wine, SHABO, BOLGRAD, Cotnar, Villa Tinta, and Vladyslav Zakrevsky’s winery. Also represented were Honey Badger liqueurs and tinctures, White Church Distillery, Osnova cheese factory, Zinka TM, Kozatski Kozyrni Syry, producers of meat chips and snacks Snacks by Bandera, and others.
Interesting lectures for visitors were held at the festivals. Visitors were introduced to the world of winemaking: Liudmyla Boiko, chief technologist of the Honey Badger family enterprise; Stepan and Olha Kutsipak, owners of the Snacks by Bandera brand; Natalia Blahopoluchna, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Winemakers and Sommeliers, head of the first Ukrainian sommelier school “Master Class”; Bogdan Panchuk, brand ambassador of Leleka Wines; Eduard Gorodetsky, founder of Tiras Winery; Natalia Burlachenko, sommelier and brand ambassador of Vinos de la Luz; Vita Oliynyk, representative of Zinka TM. The event was also attended by Ricardo Fernandez Nunez, the owner of Vinos de la Luz group of companies.
In addition to wine lectures, visitors were able to attend a master class “How to open champagne with a glass or modern sabrage” by Mykola Blagopoluchny, head of the Master Class sommelier school and director of the All-Ukrainian Association of Winemakers and Sommeliers.
The highlight of the first day of the festival was a soulful concert by Ukrainian singer PIANOBOY.
On July 30, the festival hosted a roundtable discussion on the development of winemaking and viticulture in Ukraine during the war. The participants were Ihor Vishtak, Director of the Crop Production Department of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine; Volodymyr Pechko, Head of the UKRSADVINPROM NGO; Iryna Kovaleva, Director of the V.E. Tairov Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club. Maxim Urakin, founder of the analytical center “Club of Experts”, publisher, marketing director of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency; Yegor Belov, chef-sommelier of the InterContinental Kyiv hotel, winner of the All-Ukrainian Sommelier Competition 2018; Dmytro Saprykin, brand ambassador of Alcoline and Oleg Antipin, brand ambassador of SHABO; Konstantin Tintulov, commercial director and co-owner of Vinhol Oksamytne LLC.
The roundtable was also attended by Dmytro Natalukha, a Ukrainian politician and public figure, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine of the IX convocation, lawyer, human rights activist, Chairman of the Committee on Economic Development in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the IX convocation. Member of the parliamentary faction of the Servant of the People political party. Deputy Member of the Permanent Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Co-chair of the group on interparliamentary relations with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The roundtable ended with a pre-premiere screening of the movie Wounded Land. This is a documentary about the stories of Ukrainian winemakers who have suffered from Russian aggression. The film was directed and co-produced by Roman Zayats, the founder of the Heartland project.
The festival has a charitable component. Charity auctions and fundraisers were held for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The event raised UAH 142,050! The main lot of the festival – a unique wine from Vinos de La Luz with a label of Ivan Marchuk’s painting – was sold for UAH 120 thousand. The funds raised were distributed as follows:
UAH 120,000 was donated for the treatment of cancer to Serhiy Kovalenko, a veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a well-known winemaker.
UAH 22050 was donated to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Consumer tasting was held during the two days of the event. Visitors of the event chose the best wine. Wines from TM My Wine won the Consumer Choice competition.
The event was organized by Focus event.
In January-June 2023, the insurance company “Knyazha Vienna Insurance Group” (Kyiv) collected UAH 879.7 million of insurance payments, which is 69.8% more than in the same period a year earlier, according to the website of the rating agency “Standard Rating” in the information on the confirmation of the financial strength rating / credit rating of the insurer at the level of “uaAA+” for the specified period.
According to the RA website, during this period, the insurer’s revenues from individuals increased by 63.57% to UAH 616.2 million, and from reinsurers – by 205.44% to UAH 1,347 million. In the first half of 2023, the share of individuals in the company’s gross written premiums amounted to 70.04%, and the share of reinsurers – 0.15%.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers in the first half of 2023 increased by 71.15% to UAH 298.9 million compared to the same period in 2022. Thus, the ratio of participation of reinsurance companies in insurance premiums increased by 0.26 p.p. to 33.98%.
The company’s net written premiums increased by 69.19% to UAH 580.8 million, and earned premiums increased by 33.04% to UAH 504.3 million.
The volume of insurance payments and reimbursements made by the company in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 increased by 53.53% to UAH 272.72 million. The payout ratio decreased by 3.30 p.p. to 31.00%.
In the first six months of 2023, the company received a net profit of UAH 17.324 million. Its assets increased by 19.11% to UAH 2.310 billion, equity increased by 4.83% to UAH 417.27 million, liabilities increased by 22.80% to UAH 1.892 billion, cash and cash equivalents decreased by 68.10% to UAH 51.532 million.
At the same time, the RA notes that as of July 1, 2023, the insurer made financial investments in the amount of UAH 914.8 million, which consisted of government bonds (UAH 663.7 million), as well as deposits in banks with a high credit rating (UAH 251.1 million).
PrJSC “IC “Knyazha Vienna Insurance Group” is a part of IFG Vienna Insurance Group Ukraine, the main shareholder of which is Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (Austria). The group also includes PrJSC IC Ukrainian Insurance Group – 100%, PrJSC IC Knyazha Life Vienne Insurance Group – 97.8%, LLC USG Consulting – 50.7%, LLC VIG Services Ukraine – 78.7%, LLC Assistance Company Ukrainian Assistance Service – 100%.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may visit Russia to discuss with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Yeni Şafak reported on Tuesday, citing sources in the administration of the Turkish president.
According to the publication, “the upcoming visit of President Erdogan to Russia is of critical importance for the deal.” The estimated dates of the trip are not named.
In Kyiv, 42 thousand square meters of office space is expected to be commissioned by the end of the year, according to CBRE Ukraine’s office real estate market research.
According to the study, in the first half of 2023, only one small office building Unit.City B4 (13.2 thousand square meters) was commissioned. The total volume of competitive office space remained almost unchanged at 2.22 million sq m.
It is expected that in the second half of 2023, about 42 thousand sq m will be commissioned in four business centers. At the same time, BC Twelve (14 thousand sq m) and BC Heritage (16.8 thousand sq m) account for 73% of the new supply. CBRE Ukraine does not rule out delays in construction and commissioning.
The study states that the full-scale war has reduced development activity in the office segment; the amount of office space under construction has decreased. In particular, several office projects originally scheduled for completion in 2023 have been suspended until at least 2024. At the same time, no new development projects were recorded in 2022, and it is unlikely that they will appear before the end of 2023. Therefore, it is predicted that over the next two to three years, the volume of office real estate can only grow if suspended development projects are restarted.
CBRE, headquartered in Los Angeles (USA), is the world’s largest commercial real estate consulting and investment company, with revenues of $30.8 billion in 2022. According to Fortune, it is one of the world’s 500 largest companies.
CBRE Group Inc. shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
CBRE’s Ukrainian office was opened in January 2008 and is part of the company’s affiliate network.
If necessary, Poland will impose a unilateral ban on imports of Ukrainian grain after September 15, while the transit of goods will be maintained, Agriculture Minister Robert Telusz told Polsat News at a press conference on Tuesday.
He denied media reports that a split in the coalition of countries banning Ukrainian grain imports had occurred and that the number of EU member states opposing Poland’s position on extending restrictive measures after September 15 had increased from 13 to 20.
“This is the first time I’ve heard that more countries are against it. I have talked to many ministers from the European Union about this. I see an understanding that we need to build a coalition. We have to build a mechanism. I am convinced that Romania is a member of the coalition,” Telusz was quoted as saying by the Polish publication farmer.pl.
He also said that next week he will hold talks with representatives of Slovakia to determine together “in which direction we will move.”
“At the moment, I have no doubt that there is a coalition,” Telusz assured.
The Polish minister emphasized that keeping the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain only until September 15 is “a political argument to further destabilize the situation in Poland.”
“We will not allow this,” he assured.
The Polish government wants this issue to be resolved “amicably in the European Union, so that there is no need to break down the door.”
“If it is necessary (…) to introduce unilateral bans, we will introduce them, because we are concerned about the interests of farmers (…), and there is no discussion on this topic,” Telusz stated.
Answering a question about possible risks of penalties being imposed on Poland if it violates the rules of the single market, the Minister said that “I don’t want to hear how we, the Poles, are being scared by fines (…)” and added that Poland “will pursue a tough policy in the interests of the Poles.”
Telusz said that Poland is in dialogue with Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia to transit grain through Poland.
“We are in dialogue with Ukraine, as well as with Lithuania and Latvia, to use their ports,” he said, and assured that the grain that leaves Poland does not return.
“If we are talking about the food security of Poland, the food security of Europe, then the grain must flow to Europe and must flow outside of Europe. We will help you on the way,” the head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture said.
According to him, before the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain, about 114 thousand tons of grain entered Poland in transit, and in June – 260 thousand tons. At the same time, about 6 million tons of grain “left” Poland. Poland has about 3-4 million tons of grain left, “but this is a reserve that should always be there,” as the monthly demand for it is 2.5 million tons, the Polish Minister of Agriculture explained.
On June 5, the European Commission agreed to extend until September 15 the restrictions on exports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. “The restrictions do not imply a ban on the transit of these goods through Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia,” reads the document signed by EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
ALC Insurance Company ARKS Life (ARX Life, Kyiv) has collected insurance premiums in the amount of UAH 152,2 mln in January-June 2023, that is by 11,2% more than in the same period a year earlier, according to the website of RA Standard-Rating. According to RA information on the company’s renewal of credit rating/rating of financial stability (reliability) of the insurer at the level “uaAAA” according to the national scale, the volume of payments and indemnities, performed by the insurer for the first half of 2023, has grown in comparison with the same period of 2022 by 32,05%, to UAH 31,818 mln. Thus, the level of payments of the insurer has increased by 3,32 percentage points (p.p.), up to 20,91%.
At the same time, acquisition costs have grown by 6,51%, up to UAH 77,997 mln.
The company’s net profit for January-June amounted to UAH 33.963 mln, which is 2.44 times more than the profit obtained in the first half of 2022.
Assets as of June 30 increased by 15.77% to UAH 267.289 mln, equity – by 28.38% to UAH 153.655 mln, liabilities – by 2.19% to UAH 113.634 mln, cash and cash equivalents – by 33.25% to UAH 88.221 mln.
RA also notes that as of July 1 of the current year the insurer has made financial investments in the amount of UAH 159,267 mln, which consisted of government bonds (85,09%), OVDP (2,35%) and deposits in banks (12,56%).
ARX Life, like ARX, is part of the international insurance holding Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. ARX Life is among the top 10 companies in the life insurance market in Ukraine.
