Corteva Agriscience, an international agricultural research company, increased its exports of Pioneer brand corn seed to the EU 16-fold in 2023 through established channels in Romania and Hungary, according to its press release.
According to it, the company was able to achieve a 15 percent increase in yields of Pioneer’s advanced seed hybrids last year through the introduction of precision farming, irrigation and other advanced approaches.
“For ten years we have been developing seed production in Ukraine, because for Corteva Agriscience our country is one of the major players in the global agricultural market, which has a significant impact on global food security,” – quoted the press service of the regional head of seed production Corteva Agriscience Andrey Andriushko.
He said that amid the war the company continues to invest in the production seed complex and support the communities of the region. For example, last year Corteva Agriscience signed a declaration with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on deepening and further developing cooperation for food security in Ukraine and the world, which resulted in increasing the production capacity of the seed complex in Stasi village, Poltava region, officially opened in June 2013 and investments of over $56 million. Its annual capacity has reached about 500 thousand seed units of corn and 250 thousand seed units.
According to the company, Corteva is one of the largest taxpayers in the region. The total number of employees, including seasonal workers, reaches nearly 400.
According to the press release, Corteva has invested about UAH 4.6 million in the development of Stasi village since 2013 (to improve infrastructure, medicine, education and social life of the community, in particular, it financed the reconstruction of a bomb shelter for 800 people.
Corteva Agriscience is a global agricultural company. It offers agricultural producers comprehensive solutions to maximize crop yields and profitability. It has more than 150 research facilities and more than 65 active substances in its portfolio.
Its representative office in Ukraine includes a central office in Kiev, a research center in Lyubartsy village (Kiev region) and a seed production complex opened in 2013 in Stasi village (Poltava region). Investments in the plant over five years amounted to more than $56 mln.
In April 2022, the company decided to leave the Russian market due to the full-scale war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.
ABH Holdings S.A.’s (ABHH) non-binding agreement with an international investor to sell 75.6% of Sense Bank (Kiev, formerly Alfa-Bank) implies a sale price of $1.
“The proposed transaction value in acquiring all 75.6% of Sense Bank is a nominal amount equivalent to $1,” the holding said on its website Monday.
ABHH reiterates that the proposed sale of the Ukrainian bank to an international investor does not include any payments to sanctioned shareholders.
“On April 26, 2022, the Board of Directors of ABHH decided not to declare, pay or provide any dividends, distributions or any other funds to its sanctioned shareholders,” the release states.
According to it, the main purpose of the search for an investor to whom control of Sense Bank could be transferred is to reduce the share of the sanctioned ultimate beneficial owners to a level that would meet the requirements of Ukraine.
ABHH recalls that in the autumn of 2022 a shareholders’ letter was sent to the National Bank of Ukraine stating its willingness to transfer the bank to state ownership free of charge and voluntarily in case of such a decision by the regulators, but since no response to this letter was received, ABHH continued its search for an experienced and reliable investor.
As of the beginning of May this year Sense Bank ranked 10th among 65 operating banks in Ukraine with assets of 97.19 bln hryvnia.
The controlling stake in the bank is owned by sub-sanctioned Russians Andrei Kosogov, Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven, although the minority shareholders in ABH Holdings S.A. are Unicredit S.p.a. – 9.9% and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research – 3.8736%.
Back in April 2022, the NBU appointed former Bulgarian Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov as a proxy, to whom was given the right to vote on the shares indirectly owned by the sub-sanctioned owners of Sense Bank (a total of 88.2264%), as well as the right to participate in the management of the bank.
At the end of May, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law that envisages nationalization of Sense Bank as a systemic bank on the basis of the presence of subsanctioned persons among its main shareholders. The law was sent to the president for signature on June 5 and has not yet entered into force. According to ABHH, the law implies a complicated nationalization procedure and creates legal risks for future investors, while leaving the bank in private ownership by selling its shares would be a better solution.
According to the agency, the investor is one of Poland’s richest men, Zygmunt Solozh, co-owner of Grupa Polsat Plus corporation. This week, the publication Ekonomika Pravda reported that documents to the National Bank filed Cypriot Karswell Ltd, the nominal owner of 43.75% of the shares of the Polish bank Plus Bank SA.
The NBU in its communications until today did not admit the possibility of agreeing a deal on the sale of the bank.
KYIV. June 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The actual selling price of crude oil and condensate used in determining the fee for subsoil use in May 2023 amounted to UAH 14,158 per tonne, which is 8.7% less than in April (UAH 15,515 per tonne).
The relevant data is published on the website of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
As reported, in January 2023, the actual selling price was UAH 13,297 per tonne, in February – UAH 13,251 per tonne, in March UAH 12,522 per tonne and in April UAH 15,515 per tonne.
Consumer price growth in Ukraine in May 2023 accelerated to 0.5% from 0.2% in April after slowing down from 1.5% in March, 0.7% in February and 0.8% in January, the State Statistics Service reported on Friday.
At the same time, inflation of 2.7% was recorded in May 2022, therefore, year-over-year in May 2023, it decreased to 15.3% from 17.9% in April, 21.3% in March, 24.9% in February and 26.6% in December.
Underlying inflation fell to 0.3% last month from 0.5% in April and 1.3% in March, the State Statistics Service said. Taking into account the fact that in May last year, underlying inflation was 1.4%, year-over-year it also fell to 15.9% in May from 17.2% in April, 20.1% in March and 22 .7% in February.
Since the beginning of the year, inflation in the country reached 3.8%, and underlying inflation was 3.3%, the State Statistics Service said.
In the consumer market in May, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 0.9%. Most of all (by 8.7% and 5.6%) the prices of fruits and vegetables rose. Prices for meat and meat products, non-alcoholic drinks, fish and fish products, cheeses, butter grew by 1.7-0.2%. At the same time, prices for eggs fell by 22.7%, prices for processed grain products, lard, rice, sunflower oil, sugar, pasta, and milk dropped by 3.2–0.2%.
Prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products rose by 1.2%, including for tobacco products by 1.3%, and alcoholic beverages by 1.2%.
Clothing and footwear fell in price by 1.6%, in particular footwear by 1.9%, and clothing by 1.4%.
The 0.8% increase in prices in the healthcare sector was primarily due to a 1.0% increase in the cost of pharmaceutical products.
Transportation prices fell by 1.1% mainly due to a 2.5% reduction in the cost of fuel and lubricants.
As reported, in April, the National Bank of Ukraine improved its inflation forecast for this year from 18.7% to 14.8%, including in the second quarter, the NBU expected it to decline to 14.5%.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that he had left for Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“On his way to Ukraine to meet with President Zelensky and to present a program to help clean up the disastrous Kakhovka reservoir spill,” he wrote on his Twitter account Monday.
According to the report, Grossi intends to assess the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP and conduct a rotation of the IAEA mission with a reinforced composition.
As reported, after the Russians blew up the dam of the Kakhovska hydroelectric power plant and spilled the Kakhovska reservoir, Grossi announced the launch of a program of assistance to Ukraine. He noted that by using nuclear techniques, the IAEA will determine the impact of the flooding on drinking water, human health, soil and water management, as well as assess the integrity of critical infrastructure.
Odessa State University of Internal Affairs has announced its intention to conclude a contract with IC VUSO for insurance of real estate.
As it’s reported in the system of electronic public procurement Prozorro, the price offer of the company was 78,858 thousand UAH, which corresponds to the expected cost of purchasing services.
The company was the only bidder of the tender.
IC “VUSO” was founded in 2001. The company owns 50 licenses: 34 – for voluntary and 16 – for compulsory insurance, represented in all regions of Ukraine. It is a member of MTSBU and FSA, a member of the Agreement on direct settlement of losses and a member of the Nuclear Insurance Pool.
