AgroVista Agro Holding has sent the first ship with 3rd class wheat of the new harvest to Greece, the next one with feed wheat is intended for Spain, the company’s press service reported.
“In this marketing year, taking into account the stoppage of the “grain corridor”, “AgroVista” returned to the work of logistics routes through the Danube corridor. Also due to the high load of the Danube direction and the temporary absence of the work of the “grain corridor” holding sells part of its products using other transport corridors – road, rail and river, delivering grain to the nearest ports of neighboring countries and buyers in the European Union,” – stated in the message.
According to information on the official website, in 2022/23 MY agroholding, using the “grain corridor”, the Danube corridor and transit routes to the EU countries, shipped for export more than 0.5 million tons of grain, which was sold in the countries of the Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East, Turkey and Egypt.
“AgroVista” (formerly the group of companies “UkrAgroCom” and “Hermes Trading”) is an integrated agricultural corporation specializing in grain and oilseed crops, livestock, grain trading and sugar production. Its land bank is 80 thousand hectares.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, the ultimate beneficiaries of AgroVista agroholding are businessmen and former MPs Anatoliy Kuzmenko and his son Serhiy Kuzmenko.
The United States has added Alfa Bank’s co-owners to the sanctions list.
Thus, Pyotr Aven, Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev have fallen under the restrictions.
Gold prices could hit all-time highs next year on fears of a global recession and thanks to the end of a cycle of interest rate hikes by the world’s key central banks, analysts predict, with the most radical estimates calling for quotes to rise to $2500 an ounce.
“My target is $2500 by the end of 2024. This is largely due to the fact that recessionary factors could intensify towards the end of the year and gain strength in 2024,” wrote David Neuhauser, founder of Livermore Partners. – “I think gold will renew highs next year and go even higher.
“I’m pretty confident we’ll see gold at $2500 in the next couple years,” said Wheaton Precious Metals head Randy Smallwood, also pointing to recessionary signals as a positive for the precious metal.
The current quote record was set on August 7, 2020 at $2072.5 per troy ounce.
“I think gold will exceed the $2100 mark in late 2023 or early 2024,” said TD Securities managing director Bart Melek, adding that his forecast is based on the assumption that the Fed will take a pause in raising rates.
Gold has performed better than most other asset classes over the past 12 months, Melek pointed out. In his opinion, this shows the resilience of the precious metal in the face of rising interest rates and its value as a reliable asset that provides protection against inflation.
Quotes of December gold contracts on New York’s Comex exchange were up 0.1% to $1951 per troy ounce by 3:05 p.m. Q3:05 p.m. Friday.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has allocated UAH 200m to the Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate to purchase weapons, military equipment and ammunition.
The Cabinet’s representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, said in Telegram that the relevant decision was made at a government meeting on Friday.
Thus, allocated to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense 200 million UAH on an irrevocable basis at the expense of the reserve fund of the state budget for the implementation of measures related to strengthening the defense capability of the state, in particular for the purchase of weapons, military equipment and ammunition.
In June 2023, the Dobrobut medical network increased the number of consultations by almost 30% for adults and 70% for children compared to June 2022.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, in particular, in June 2023, the number of visitors to Dobrobut medical centers amounted to 40 thousand, while in June 2021 the network received 50 thousand visitors, and in June 2022 – 28 thousand visitors.
The network noted that the top 3 most popular specialists for adult consultations in 2022 were general practitioners, gynecologists, and neurologists, while in 2023 the most popular were general practitioners, gynecologists, and otolaryngologists.
“Dobrobut is one of the largest private medical chains in Ukraine. The network includes 17 medical centers in Kyiv and Kyiv region, an emergency service, dentistry and pharmacies. The medical centers of the network provide services for children and adults in more than 75 medical areas. Every year, Dobrobut specialists perform more than 7000 surgeries. The network employs 2700 people.
Since the first days of the war, Dobrobut’s medical and diagnostic center in Kyiv, with the support of Direct Relief International and Dobrobut Foundation, has been providing free assistance to wounded soldiers and people in difficult situations due to the war.
“Dobrobut became the first private network in Ukraine to receive funding from the U.S. federal government – with the support of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the company will build a modern physical rehabilitation center.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing Bank Lviv with a financing package consisting of a EUR7.5m guarantee to cover the risks of new lending of up to EUR30m and a hryvnia loan equivalent of up to EUR15m of private micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) financing.
“The loan is divided into two tranches – EUR10m committed and EUR5m non-dedicated, each maturing in three years – will help Bank Lviv maintain a sustainable and diversified funding base to ensure continued access to medium-term financing for businesses,” the bank said in a statement on Thursday.
It is indicated that the cost of financing the loan will be reduced by subsidizing the interest rate in local currency within the framework of the European Union’s EU4Business initiative in Ukraine.
According to the release, an unsecured risk-sharing instrument worth EUR7.5m will also be provided in two equal tranches, each of which will cover 50% of the credit risk of new loans of Bank Lviv totaling up to EUR30m, but not more than 50% of the portfolio. The facility will help Bank Lviv provide access to finance for Ukrainian companies operating in critical sectors such as primary agriculture and agricultural services, food processing, transportation and logistics, retail and pharmaceuticals, the EBRD said.
It added that up to a further EUR4.5m of this total portfolio of EUR30m will support long-term investments by private MSMEs in EU-compliant clean technologies. Eligible sub-borrowers will also receive EU-funded technical assistance and investment incentives upon completion of their investment projects.
The EBRD recalls that the project is made possible by a 50% first loss risk coverage by donors.
As reported, the relevant project was approved by the board of directors of the international bank on July 18, and the necessary documents were signed on Thursday.
The EBRD recalls that Bank Lviv, owned by European shareholders, is a regional SME-oriented bank and one of the fastest growing in western Ukraine: its loan portfolio grew from $35 million in 2017 to $133 million in the first quarter of 2023. Its head office is located in Lviv, and its network includes 19 branches, 13 of them in Lviv region and six in other cities.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of the beginning of June 2023, Bank Lviv ranked 27th (UAH 8.25 bln) among 65 banks operating in the country in terms of assets.
According to the information on the website of Bank Lviv, its shareholders at the beginning of this year were: ResponsAbility Participations (Switzerland) – 48.557189%, Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) – 13.93623% and Icelandic citizen Margeir Peturson – 37.4692%.
