Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Ukraine exported 6.3 mln tons of grain – Ministry of Agrarian Policy

As of May 1, Ukraine exported 41.365 mln tonnes of grains and pulses since the beginning of 2023/24 marketing year, of which 6.314 mln tonnes were shipped in April, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine reported, citing the data of the State Customs Service.

According to the report, as of the same date last year, the total shipments amounted to 41.595 mln tons, including 3.619 mln tons in April.

In terms of crops, since the beginning of the current season, 15.778 million tons of wheat have been exported (in April, the figure was 1.936 million tons), 2.202 million tons of barley (231 thousand tons), 1.2 thousand tons of rye (0.2 thousand tons), 22.906 million tons of corn (4.136 million tons).

The total export of Ukrainian flour as of May 1 is significantly lower than last year’s figure (127.7 thousand tons) and is estimated at 86.6 thousand tons (7.4 thousand tons in April), including wheat – 81.9 thousand tons (6.8 thousand tons).

As reported, a number of sources in the Ukrainian market suggested that grain exports in April 2024 could be reduced to 5 million tons due to the constant shelling of port infrastructure by Russian troops, which made it difficult for a number of leading traders to supply agricultural products to foreign markets.

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“Lokhvytsia Distillery” to be re-auctioned at reduced price

On May 23, the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) will hold a second online auction for the privatization of the unified property complex of the State Enterprise Lokhvytsia Distillery in Poltava region, according to the Prozorro.Sale system.

According to the report, the asset consists of 139 real estate objects and structures. The area of the land plots is 19 hectares, and the production area of the enterprise is 28614.4 square meters. The plant has 27 vehicles and special equipment on its balance sheet.

The company is engaged in distillation, rectification and mixing of alcoholic beverages. The company’s capacity allows it to produce 6 thousand decaliters of rectified alcohol per day. The company has been out of business since 2009.

As of March 31, 2024, the overdue accounts payable of the SOE amounted to UAH 55.68 million. The average number of employees is three.

The EMC of SE Lokhvytsia Distillery was put into operation in 1934, and in 1937 it was transformed into a distillery. In Soviet times, the plant was one of the largest industrial enterprises in the city, with social infrastructure facilities and houses on its balance sheet. Already in independent Ukraine, the distillery became the largest enterprise in the alcohol industry in Ukraine.

Today, the company is one of the largest wage debtors among enterprises in Poltava region.

The starting price of the lot is UAH 11.22 million.

This is the second attempt by the SPF to hold an auction to sell the company. The first one was unsuccessful – the auction in March was canceled due to the lack of bidders. At the initial auction, the starting price of the property was announced at UAH 11.3 million.

New shopping center will appear in Odessa this year

Itown Mall will appear in Odessa as part of the ITown Residential Complex (Sofievskaya Street, 1a), scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2024, the press service of the Ukrainian Trade Guild (UTG) told the Interfax-Ukraine agency, which is the developer of the concept and exclusive broker of the shopping center.

According to the press release, ITown Mall has three ground floors and two underground floors. GBA The total floor area (GBA) is 20,962 square meters and the leasable area (GLA) is 15 thousand square meters. The minus second floor will house home goods stores and a sports complex, the minus first floor will house a supermarket, the upper floors will house clothing and footwear department stores and technology stores.

The project of ITown business class residential complex is realized by “Prostir” group of companies. The residential complex includes five 9-25 storey residential buildings with a total of 378 apartments. According to the developer’s concept, in addition to housing and shopping center, the complex will also include class A offices, a university, scientific laboratories, an apart-hotel, a co-working space with a swimming pool on the roof, a cinema, a museum, etc. The project will be located in the center of the complex. Residential section E will be commissioned in 2023, and two more sections are scheduled for commissioning in 2024. UTG was established in 2001. It has developed more than 1300 real estate concepts. Over the years, the company has leased out 4.7 million square meters of commercial space in Ukraine.

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IT Coalition provides Ukraine with equipment worth EUR 900 thousand

The IT Coalition, an initiative led by Estonia and Luxembourg, has provided Ukraine with equipment worth EUR 900 thousand.

According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, this is the first delivery to the Armed Forces of Ukraine within the framework of the IT Coalition. Laptops, monitors and other communication equipment worth EUR 900 thousand will be delivered to the units in the near future. The efficient and fast procurement was made possible by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency.

“The equipment will improve communication and the ability to plan tasks at the tactical level. This is one of our priorities – to meet the needs of the units for communication at the front. I am grateful to our partners for their responsibility and speed in decision-making,” said Kateryna Chornohorenko, Deputy Minister of Defense for Digital Transformation, Digital Development and Digitalization.

The IT Coalition is an ad hoc group of states within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein format) led by Estonia and Luxembourg. It is focused on providing support to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the field of IT, communications and cybersecurity. The coalition has already raised financial and in-kind contributions of more than EUR 36 million, with contributions of more than EUR 23 million still expected.

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Agrarians sowed 3.4 mln ha of spring grains and pulses for harvest of 2024

As of May 2, Ukraine planted 3.407 million hectares of spring grains and pulses, up 1.5 times year-on-year, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported on Friday.

According to the report, 240.7 thousand hectares were planted with wheat (223.3 thousand hectares a week earlier), 775.7 thousand hectares with barley (761.5 thousand hectares), 161.1 thousand hectares with peas (159.2 thousand hectares), 159.9 thousand hectares with oats (146.6 thousand hectares), and 16.7 thousand hectares with millet.

Over the past week, farmers sowed 861 thsd ha of spring crops. A week earlier, the figure was 492.9 thou hectares, and 792.6 thou hectares the week before. The leaders are farmers in Sumy region, where 97.4 thou hectares were sown during the week.

According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Kyiv region is the leader in terms of sowing rates, having planted 31.3 thou hectares of wheat, 43.1 thou hectares of barley, 5.8 thou hectares of peas and 6 thou hectares of oats. Dnipropetrovs’k region – 28 thou hectares of wheat, 50 thou hectares of barley, 14.17 thou hectares of peas, 1 thou hectares of oats; Ternopil region – 18.9 thou hectares of wheat, 63.6 thou hectares of barley, 3.6 thou hectares of peas and 5.1 thou hectares of oats. hectares of oats; Sumy – 18.2 thousand hectares of wheat, 17.9 thousand hectares of barley, 5.6 thousand hectares of peas and 9.8 thousand hectares of oats; Zhytomyr – 16.5 thousand hectares of wheat, 19.3 thousand hectares of barley, 3 thousand hectares of peas and 26 thousand hectares of oats. hectares of oats; Khmelnytsky – 14.8 thou hectares of wheat, 59.1 thou hectares of barley, 2.6 thou hectares of peas and 2.5 thou hectares of oats; Vinnytsia – 11.5 thou hectares of wheat, 55 thou hectares of barley, 6 thou hectares of peas and 1.1 thou hectares of oats.

In addition, sunflower was planted on 2,967.5 thou hectares, soybeans – 566.7 thou hectares, sugar beets – 248.4 thou hectares.

According to the April forecast of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, in 2024, the gross production of grains and oilseeds in the country is expected to reach 74 mln tons, including about 52.4 mln tons of grains and 21.7 mln tons of oilseeds.

In 2024, farmers will be able to harvest 19.2 million tons of wheat (22.2 million tons in 2023), 4.9 million tons of barley (5.7 million tons), 26.7 million tons of corn (30.5 million tons), 5.2 million tons of soybeans (4.7 million tons), 12.4 million tons of sunflower (12.9 million tons), and 4.1 million tons of rapeseed (4.7 million tons).

In 2024, the planted areas of grains and pulses are forecasted at 10.6 mln ha, which is 395 thou ha lower than in 2023.

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“Nibulon” received EUR12.8 mln from EIFO to purchase 74 agricultural machines

One of Ukraine’s largest grain market operators, Nibulon JV LLC (Mykolaiv), has received EUR12.8 million from the Export Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) to purchase 74 units of modern agricultural machinery, the grain trader’s press service reported on Facebook.

“We are grateful to our Danish partners who support Ukrainian business, which is now working in spite of the war, not because of it. We really need more and more such positive signals as convincing role models. This is the only way we will be able to rebuild Ukraine as soon as possible,” said Nibulon’s CFO Iryna Levkovska, CFO of Nibulon.

Peder Lundqvist, CEO of EIFO, expressed confidence that the financing will help the company increase grain yields by modernizing agricultural machinery and strengthen the company’s long-term financial position.

“At EIFO, we are proud to be able to make a small contribution to the enormous recovery work that awaits Ukraine and is now one of the most important things for its citizens. We look forward to future cooperation with Nibulon and other Ukrainian and Danish companies operating in Ukraine,” he said during the signing of the loan agreement in the Ministry of Finance’s bomb shelter during an air raid alert.

According to Nibulon, the financing was allocated as part of a social program of the Danish investment fund created to help Ukraine. Its launch was announced in May 2023 during the Ukrainian Investment Forum in Copenhagen. The program will finance projects involving the best Danish technologies and innovative solutions and will be available to both the public and private sectors.

Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, capacity for simultaneous storage of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.

“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries. In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.

Nibulon’s losses due to Russia’s full-scale military invasion in 2022 exceeded $416 million.

Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has created a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines, and was forced to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.

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