Ukrnafta, the second or third largest gas producer in Ukraine, has made a strategic decision to build gas generation and has already started to attract partners for this purpose, said Sergiy Koretsky, director of Ukrnafta, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin (URC2024).
“At the first stage, it will be about 1 GW. For this year, we have a more optimistic and more realistic plan to build at least 100 MW,” he said during the URC2024 roundtable discussion on the issue of the fastest possible restoration of power generation in Ukraine.
Koretskyi said that Ukrnafta signed memorandums of understanding with Siemens Energy and Deutsche Bank on the sidelines of URC2024 to obtain expertise and develop new projects based on steam and gas turbines for combined heat and power generation, and to attract financing for the construction of gas-fired maneuvering generation.
At the same time, the Ukrnafta director noted that the company has more than enough liquidity on its accounts for the first stage and has a huge support from Ukrainian banks, while memorandums with Siemens and Deutsche Bank are aimed at the following parallel tracks for electricity generation from gas.
Koretsky recalled that Ukrnafta is also the largest oil producer in Ukraine, and after the government took over the company from Ihor Kolomoisky’s managers, the company generated $1 billion in EBITDA compared to net losses of $0.5 billion over the past 10 years.
The CEO added that an independent supervisory board was recently elected and Ukrnafta is now on the right track to implement its corporate, ESG and social responsibility strategies.
The international chain JYSK is opening two stores: a new one in Odesa in the Mercury shopping center (99v Semena Palia Street) and an updated one in Poltava in the Kyiv shopping center (6/1a Zinkivska Street), the retailer’s press service reports.
“Despite all the challenges, anxieties, and even power outages, JYSK is expanding its network to 96 stores in Ukraine. I would like to thank the team of both stores for their work!” says Country Director of JYSK Ukraine, Yevhen Ivanitsa, commenting on the opening.
In the renovated store in Poltava, the sales area (from 900 to 1150 square meters) and warehouse area (from 225 to 309 square meters) were increased, office space was renovated and a separate room for employees was created.
The store opened in Odesa is the sixth JYSK store in the city. It has a selling area of 1078 square meters, a warehouse of 247 square meters, and an office space of 40 square meters.
Both stores are part of the 3.0 concept, which includes better spot lighting, more modern design and a more comfortable zonal arrangement of goods for customers.
The company has already announced the opening of its seventh store in Odesa in the fall in the Rodos shopping center. The candidate cities for the 100th store are also known. It will be either Kalush or Kryvyi Rih in August.
Currently, there are 96 stores and the jysk.ua online store in Ukraine. By the end of 2024, the plan is to reach 100 stores.
JYSK has more than 800 employees in the country.
JYSK is part of the family-owned Lars Larsen Group with more than 3.4 thousand stores in 48 countries.
JYSK’s revenue in the financial year 2022/23 was EUR 5.2 billion.
Vitagro Group will raise EUR110 million in additional investments to develop its biomethane plant in Khmelnytsky region and increase its capacity by 5 million cubic meters by the time biomethane production starts, said Serhiy Savchuk, Vitagro Group’s Director of Development and Investments, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
“We understand that by 2030, 35 million cubic meters of biomethane will be consumed in the EU. That is why we have invested EUR6 million in our first biomethane plant in Ukraine. Yesterday I spoke with our customers in Europe who sell our product to the EU. I sent them a memorandum for additional investments in our biomethane plant,” he said.
According to Savchuk, it is an investment of EUR110 million, which will allow Vitagro to increase biomethane production by 5 million cubic meters per year.
Vitagro’s Director of Development and Investment also said that the group of companies has launched five projects at its own expense since the beginning of the full-scale war. Fertilizer production projects and a corn pellet ethanol plant have now been fully completed.
The VITAGRO group of companies was founded in 1999. In 2021, it employed 5 thousand people, its revenue amounted to $211.3 million, and EBITDA was $101 million.
The group’s land bank is 85 thousand hectares. The group also owns a seed and crop protection plant, as well as sunflower oil production facilities and one of the five largest orchards in Ukraine. VITAGRO also owns 5,000 heads of cattle and 110,000 heads of pigs, elevator capacity of 400,000 tons, as well as three brick factories and nine asphalt plants, and four solar power plants with a total capacity of 16 MW.
VITAGRO’s first pilot biomethane project was presented in June 2023 in Dobrohorscha village in Khmelnytskyi district of Khmelnytskyi region, where a biomethane plant with a capacity of 2.9 million cubic meters per year was built on the basis of a farm and a biogas plant, with investments in the project estimated at EUR 7.6 million. Manure, silage, and straw from the group’s pig and cattle farms will be used for methane production.
VITAGRO also planned to launch two more such plants: “Zorya in Rivne region for 3 million cubic meters and 52 thousand tons of fertilizers with an investment of EUR 7 million and in the former Volochysk district (now Khmelnytsky district) for 2.5 million cubic meters and 100 thousand tons of fertilizers with an investment of EUR 6.8 million.
According to the state register, the main beneficiary of VITAGRO is MP Serhiy Labaziuk, and the CEO is Petro Labaziuk.
For the first time, Ukraine will send 2,453.26 tons of sunflower oil to five African countries – the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Djibouti, Mauritania, and Palestine – as part of the humanitarian food initiative Grain from Ukraine, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reports.
“We are fulfilling the mission of our country, ensuring food security in the world. And we are expanding humanitarian supplies, as announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the second Grain from Ukraine summit. We supply not only grain, but also corn, peas, and now sunflower oil. This oil will be shipped in containers from the ports of Greater Odesa,” said Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Markiyan Dmytrasevych.
Marianne Ward, Acting Director of the UN World Food Program in Ukraine, said that more than 200 thousand tons of agricultural products will be shipped under Grain from Ukraine. Many donor countries have already joined the initiative, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Luxembourg.
Mr. Dmytrasevych emphasized the important role of the UN World Food Program in supporting Ukrainians from the frontline areas and internally displaced persons. According to him, in the near future Ukraine will transfer grain for processing to the World Food Program for the production of pasta and bread. These goods will be sent to residents of the frontline areas.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food together with the World Food Program (WFP) are sending humanitarian goods under the Grain from Ukraine program.
As reported, a total of 10 ships with more than 200 thousand tons of agricultural products were sent within the initiative to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Yemen, Nigeria, Sudan, Palestine, and Yemen.
The Grain from Ukraine initiative was launched by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in partnership with the UN World Food Program (WFP) to minimize the damage caused to the global food system by Russian aggression and the attempted blockade of Ukrainian ports.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that EUR 500 thousand was raised for the creation of a prosthetics center in the capital during a charity fundraiser in Berlin.
“For our prosthetics center, which we are creating in Kyiv with the help of Berlin, we raised a total of EUR 500 thousand yesterday,” he wrote in his telegram channel on Thursday.
According to him, almost EUR305 thousand were donations in cash. “In addition, German business will provide, among other things, equipment to the prosthetics workshop for five additional employees,” he added.
Klitschko thanked the German benefactors, as well as the Life bridge Ukraine organization and its head Janine von Wolfersdorf, who, together with the Association of Berlin Merchants and Industrialists, organized a charity evening to raise funds for the prosthetics center.
“I am also grateful to the mayor of Kyiv’s sister city, Berlin, Kai Wegner, with whom we convinced Berlin businessmen of the importance of a joint project to create a prosthetics center in Kyiv,” Klitschko said.
Global grain production in the 2024-2025 marketing year (MY, July-June) will increase by 1% compared to the previous season and amount to 2312 million tons due to higher yields of wheat, barley and sorghum, which will compensate for the decline in corn production, the International Grains Council (IGC) said in a report on Thursday.
At the same time, grain consumption will increase, and end-of-season stocks are expected to fall to a ten-year low, including in major exporters.
According to the forecasts, the volume of contracted grain trade in 2024/25 MY will increase by 4% and reach 416 mln tonnes. At the same time, the demand for global consumption will amount to 2320 mln tonnes, and carry-over stocks will be 580 mln tonnes.
In 2024/25, the global soybean production is expected to reach the maximum of 414 mln tonnes. The main demand for soybean products in the upcoming season will come from the world’s leading buyers – the USA, Brazil and Argentina. At the same time, carry-over stocks continue to accumulate. The trade in soybeans in October-September will intensify and increase by 2%, reaching a new high, according to IGC.
Speaking about other oilseeds, IGC drew attention to the expected significant global production of rapeseed/canola against the background of almost unchanged sunflower production, which will be similar to last year’s volume.
According to IGC forecasts, global rice production in 2024/25 MY will reach a record peak and grow by 2%, driven by increased production in major exporting countries, particularly in South Asia. Rice consumption will increase due to population growth, while stocks may increase due to accumulation in India. Trade is likely to decline in January-December 2025 amid rising supplies to Africa and lower demand from Asian importers, particularly Indonesia.
The IGC forecasts a 5% decline in demand for lentils and beans in January-December 2024 to 21.2 mln tons.
The International Grains Council also drew attention to the temporary abolition of tariffs on imports of raw rice, brown and white rice to Brazil until the end of 2024, which aims to mitigate the effects of recent rains and floods in southern Brazil. In addition, IMG members noted recent changes in India’s pulses import policy.
