One of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, Nibulon JV LLC, exported 100 thousand tons of grain to 25 countries using grain carriers and trucks provided by the USAID Ukraine project, the grain trader’s press service reported on its Facebook page.
The agricultural holding recalled that in 2023, Nibulon was forced to switch from water transportation of grain to transportation by road and rail. This alternative solution was helped by the USAID Ukraine economic support project. The Nibulona Project purchased 50 Modern Hope trucks with the capacity to transport 70 tons of grain each. Thanks to this support, Nibulona delivered and exported the first 100 thousand tons of grain to 25 countries.
“We are grateful to our international partners who lend a friendly hand in a difficult time for the company by providing the necessary railcars. This allowed us to continue working, resuming purchases of agricultural products at the blocked river terminals and thus supporting our agricultural partners. The combination of road and rail transport has allowed us to optimize logistics costs and offer purchase prices to farmers that ensure the profitability of their production,” said Nibulon Logistics Director Serhiy Kalkutin and congratulated his colleagues from Danube Transportation.
As reported, in 2023, USAID provided Nibulon with 50 hopper cars built at Karpaty DMZ for grain transportation. In 2024, USAID’s Economic Support for Ukraine provided the grain trader with 13 grain carriers with trailers. “Nibulon also asked the donor organization for assistance in obtaining 250 grain carriers.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, a one-time storage capacity 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 volume of 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.
Ovostar Union, one of the leading producers of eggs and egg products in Ukraine, has postponed the publication of its financial report for the six months to September 6, 2024, the company said in a statement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
The reasons for the postponement of the publication of the report are not specified in the statement. The agricultural holding referred to Article 56.1 of the Polish law of July 29, 2005 on public offer, conditions governing the introduction of financial instruments into organized trade and public companies.
Ovostar Union, a vertically integrated holding company, is one of the leading producers of eggs and egg products in Ukraine. “In 2023, Ovostar increased its net profit by 7.4 times to $45 million, EBITDA by 4.5 times to $50.4 million, and revenue by 20% to $162.5 million.
In mid-June 2011, the group’s holding company, Ovostar Union N.V., conducted an IPO of 25% of its shares on the WSE at PLN62 per share ($22.78 at the then exchange rate) and raised $33.2 million.
At the end of May this year, the majority shareholders of the agricultural holding, CEO Boris Belikov and board member Vitaliy Veresenko, who own 65.93% of the shares, announced that they, together with Fairfax Financial Holding, had accumulated 95.45% of the shares in the agricultural holding and were ready to buy out the remaining 4.55% of the shares held by minority shareholders. During the announced voluntary buyout at a price of PLN70 (about $17.5) per share, they acquired another 56,027 shares, or 0.934%, and now own 96.383%.
“The offerors intend to exercise the squeeze-out right … in order to acquire 100% of the company’s shares at a price of PLN70 per share,” Ovostar said in early July, recalling its delisting plans.
Ukraine’s agricultural sector made a significant breakthrough in development in 2010-2021, employing 17% of Ukrainians and generating 19% of GDP, while 70% of its products are exported, which is one of the highest rates in Europe, said Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky.
According to him, Ukraine’s production is enough to feed almost 400 million people.
“Ukraine’s role in international food security is very important. After the full-scale invasion of the aggressor country, Ukraine was unable to export its products for four months. This led to a 35% increase in the global food price index in 2022. In African countries, hundreds of millions of people were forced to significantly reduce their food consumption,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food quoted Vysotsky as saying in his speech at the national educational and professional course for young people ”State Builder: the Way to Restore the State.”
Vysotsky noted that Ukraine has traditionally exported grains and oilseeds and many other products. In particular, Ukraine ranks 4th in the world in corn exports, and first in sunflower oil. In addition, it ranks 7th in poultry exports. Ukrainian dairy farmers are among the top ten exporters of butter. In addition, Ukraine ranks 4th in walnut production and is one of the world’s leading exporters of honey.
On August 19, Foxtrot, an omnichannel electronics and home appliances retailer, opened a renovated store in the Hermes shopping center in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region.
According to the company’s press service on Monday, the area of the outlet has not changed (total area – 1.5 thousand square meters, selling area – 1.2 thousand square meters), while the number of goods in the store was increased due to redevelopment.
The renovated store also has a service for customers with hearing impairments.
As reported, the retailer’s plan for 2024 envisages opening 10 new and renovated stores.
“Foxtrot is one of the largest omnichannel retail chains in Ukraine in terms of the number of stores and sales of electronics and household appliances. As of August 2024, the retailer operates 122 stores in 66 cities of Ukraine, including the frontline cities of Kherson, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, an online platform foxtrot.ua and a mobile application of the same name.
The Foxtrot brand is developed by the Foxtrot group of companies. The co-founders are Valery Makovetsky and Gennady Vykhodtsev.
According to preliminary information, NPC Ukrenergo plans to impose electricity restrictions for the regions on Tuesday, August 27, followed by hourly blackouts throughout the day, DTEK reported on Telegram.
In particular, from 00:00 to 06:00, it is planned to apply three rounds of blackouts, from 06:00 to 11:00 – four, from 11:00 to 15:00 – three, from 15:00 to 21:00 – four, from 21:00 to 00:00 – three.
“There is a high probability of using light gray outage zones in the schedules,” the company said.
The Lithuanian government has extended the temporary residence permit in Lithuania for Ukrainian residents who fled the war, LRT reports.
“Previously, this protection was established until March 2025. The government has extended the temporary protection until March 4, 2026. This means that it will be possible to issue temporary residence permits that will be valid until that date,” the report said.
According to the Department of Migration, 30-40 new applications for a temporary residence permit in Lithuania are registered daily. Currently, more than 44.3 thousand people have a valid residence permit in Lithuania on the basis of temporary protection.
According to the Minister of the Interior, Agne Bilotaite, the extension of the deadline will allow Ukrainians to reduce the administrative burden, as they will have a residence permit valid for a longer period of time.
The extension of this period was proposed on the basis of the relevant decision of the European Union (EU) adopted in June this year.
The temporary protection mechanism at the EU level was activated on March 4, 2022, shortly after Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
