The assets of pawnshops in the second quarter of 2023 increased by 6.2%, or by UAH 264 million – to UAH 4.54 billion, the National Bank of Ukraine said in a review of the non-banking financial sector.
According to its data, in general for the first half of the year they increased by 10.7%, or UAH 439 million, completely overlapping the reduction of UAH 188 million last year.
At the same time, it is indicated that the number of pawnshops continues to decline: after leaving the market last year 78 companies, in the first quarter of this year followed by 12, and in the second quarter – another 7 pawnshops. As a result, the number of market participants at the middle of this year was 164 – almost half the number at the end of 2019 (324).
The National Bank specified that among all sectors of the financial market, pawnshops were the fastest-growing both in the second quarter of this year and over the half-year, surpassing even banks, whose assets grew by 5.6% and 8.8%, respectively.
According to the NBU, the loan portfolio of pawnshops added UAH 245 million and UAH 298 million in the first and second quarters, respectively, reaching UAH 3.672 billion at the end of the period.
This allowed to increase interest income in the first quarter to UAH 656 million, in the second – to UAH 780 million, which is respectively by 2.9% and 96.8% more than in the same period last year.
At the same time, although revenues for salaries rose from UAH 100 million in the fourth quarter of last year to UAH 121 million in the second quarter of this year, they are still much lower than the approximately UAH 200 million before the war.
Rent expenses have also increased: from UAH 93 mln in the fourth quarter of last year to UAH 111 mln in the second quarter of this year, although before the war they amounted to about UAH 170 mln.
According to the results of the first quarter of this year, the net profit of pawnshops amounted to 14.21 million UAH, at the end of the second quarter it increased to 52.26 million UAH, while the same periods last year pawnshops ended with a net loss of 56.86 million UAH and 123.89 million UAH, respectively.
The volume of cash assets of pawnshops after a decrease in the first quarter from UAH 388 mln to UAH 340 mln in the second quarter increased only by UAH 3 mln, while the volume of fixed assets decreased during the half-year from UAH 463 mln to UAH 381 mln, probably due to the reduction in the number of companies in the market.
The growth of loans was largely due to an increase in accounts payable: from UAH 2.512 billion at the beginning of the year to UAH 2.659 billion at the end of the first quarter and UAH 2.902 billion at the middle of the year, while shareholders’ equity grew by only UAH 83 million to UAH 1.44 billion during this time.
The National Bank added that after the coverage ratio fell to 108% in the first quarter, it recovered to 111% in the second quarter. As for the structure of collateral, the share of precious metal products rose from 72% to 73% over the six months, while the share of household appliances fell from 28% to 26%.
On August 10, the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals (DGF) will hold an online auction in the Prozorro.Sale system for the sale of debt to Prominvestbank, which is subject to liquidation, under a loan agreement with the Terra-Food dairy processing company.
The starting price of assets is set at UAH 329.3 million and corresponds to the total debt of the financial institution under the loan agreement, according to the DGF website.
“Provided under the agreement – industrial real estate (property complexes for milk processing) with a total area of 52.2 thousand square meters with land plots with a total area of more than 9.5 hectares, equipment and vehicles in the Kyiv, Poltava, Vinnitsa and Nikolaev regions. Also residential real estate with land plots with a total area of about 1.4 thousand square meters and 0.4 hectares, respectively, in the Vasilkovsky district of the Kyiv region,” the Fund said in a statement.
In addition, the pledge under the agreement includes Terra-Food goods in circulation and shares in the charter capital of four companies.
Bidding will take place according to the Dutch model of the auction to reduce the price. Both legal entities and individuals can participate in the auction, except for borrowers and guarantors for loans, citizens of the Russian Federation or persons associated with the aggressor state.
As reported, the National Bank of Ukraine on February 25 revoked a banking license and liquidated banks under the control of the Russian Federation: JSC International Reserve Bank (formerly JSC Sberbank) and Joint Stock Commercial Industrial Investment Bank (PJSC Prominvestbank), which is 99.77% owned by PJSC Sberbank of Russia and the State Development Corporation VEB.RF.
GC “Terra Food” develops business in three sectors – dairy, meat and agriculture. It is one of the five largest producers of dairy products in the country.
The production capacity of 10 milk processing enterprises of the holding is 31 thousand tons of cheese, 78 thousand tons of butter and vegetable butter, as well as 61 thousand tons of whole milk products per year.
More than 100 types of meat products of the group are produced at the Tulchinsk Meat Processing Plant with a capacity of more than 6 thousand tons of products per year.
The EU authorities blocked the assets of 29.5 billion euros of individuals and organizations included in the sanctions lists for the Russian Federation and Belarus, according to a press release issued by the European Commission on Friday.
“More than half of EU Member States have reported asset freeze measures to the European Commission. They have reported a €29.5 billion asset freeze, including yachts, helicopters, real estate, and €6.7 billion worth of art,” the report reads. document.
It also refers to the blocking of relevant transactions in the amount of 196 billion euros.
The press release clarifies that such measures are being taken within the framework of the working group created by the EU in March to block the assets of sanctioned persons and structures. The European Commission recalled that on Friday the members of the group are meeting with representatives of the United States and Ukraine to discuss cooperation in this area and that such meetings will continue to be regular.
The process of unbundling the assets of PJSC Ukrnafta between NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy and minority shareholders has been put on hold for now, although it was planned to be completed at the end of 2021, businessman Ihor Kolomoisky has said.
“Yes, on a pause… Naftogaz faced the problem of public opinion, government, the like, they need to get permission for some significant transactions, and so on,” he said in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda.
According to the businessman, Naftogaz was the initiator of the unbundling process, and he supported it.
“Since life together does not work out, it is necessary to separate intelligently and culturally,” he said.
Earlier, at the end of November, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the unbundling of Ukrnafta did not take place, since the state did not yet have the necessary funds to buy the assets.
As reported, in November-December 2021, due to the lack of a quorum, two meetings were not held at which it was planned to consider the issue of unbundling Ukrnafta’s assets between NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy and minority shareholders – Ihor Kolomoisky and his partners. Another meeting of shareholders with a similar agenda is scheduled for February 17, 2022.
Ukrnafta is the largest oil company in the country. NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy owns 50% plus 1 share in Ukrnafta, a group of companies associated with the former shareholders of PrivatBank – about 42% of shares.
State-controlled Oschadbank (Kyiv) in 2021 sold property that is not used in banking activities with a book cost of UAH 517 million for UAH 674 million, member of the bank’s board Arsen Miliutin said.
“In 2021, we planned to sell property with a book value of UAH 670 million, sold by the beginning of November, in terms of book value, for UAH 517 million. But the real selling price is UAH 674 million,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The banker added that one of the main reasons for not fulfilling the plan was the rather lengthy, ongoing negotiations with Kyiv on the sale of the bank’s land plots in Mykilska Slobidka.
Ihor Holovan, an attorney for leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko, released an extract from a court ruling on the seizure of the assets of TV channels Pryamiy and Channel 5, as well as a corresponding extract from a prosecutor’s petition.
“Here is a screenshot of the seizure warrant, and below is a screenshot of the prosecutor’s petition, which her honor Bortnytska rewrote in her ruling, along with mistakes and typos. And everything is listed there in the light of day: subsidiary company NBM-Zaporizhia Television and Radio Broadcasting Company and Author TV Television Company LLC. Companies directly involved in broadcasting programs of opposition TV channels,” Holovan said on Facebook.
At the same time, the attorney said, there is no Poroshenko’s share in the capital of these legal entities.
“Petro Poroshenko has long ago and publicly transferred these assets to Free Media LLC, whose founders are a dozen well-known journalists and MPs. That is, prosecutors and the judge deliberately seized media assets that do not belong to Petro Poroshenko,” he said.
Holovan also said that instead of the code of Author TV Television Company LLC, the documents indicate the code of another asset of Free Media LLC – Express-Inform Television and Radio Broadcasting Company LLC.
“However, we do not think that this is due to stupidity and unprofessionalism typical of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the SBI. We are convinced that Belkin, Potapenko, Safaryan and her honor Bortnytska acted deliberately, since the main customer, in our opinion, Zelensky is interested precisely in the destruction of opposition television channels. Anyway, the media assets of Free Media LLC were illegally seized. And I am convinced that the owners of Free Media LLC will not only file an appeal, but also demand an investigation into the actions of Belkin, Potapenko, Safaryan and Bortnytska for corpus delicti, provided for in Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine [obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists],” Holovan said.
