ASTARTA’s farming units started the new spring planting season.
The Company’s main crops are sugar beet (33.5kha), corn (59.9kha), soybeans (31.2kha), wheat (46.5kha), sunflower (28.1kha) and winter rapeseeds (7.2kha).
ASTARTA is also growing a mix of organic crops on 1.8kha.
ASTARTA is fully prepared for the new planting season 2021 and has a full stock of seeds, crop protection means, fertilizers. The Company uses both imported and domestic inputs. The key selection criteria are quality and support for local producers. Wheat and soybeans’ seeds are produced in-house under the brand ASTARTA Select.
The new John Deere tractors, purchased in 2020-2021 within the five-year investment programme aimed at upgrading its agricultural machinery, are already involved in the current planting.
The staff has been trained. All operations are performed with strict quarantine regulations and requirements.
Despite the later start of the planting due to colder weather conditions, all production operations will be performed within the required timeline.
Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, since the beginning of this year has sold Liaschivka (Cherkasy region) for EUR2.7 million, Agrosvit Savyntsi (Kharkiv region) for EUR1.93 million, and 95% of the shares of Novoivanivsky Sugar Factory (Kolomak, Kharkiv region) for EUR837,000, the total value of the sold assets amounted to EUR5.51 million.
According to data posted in the company’s annual report, in February 2021 the company transferred control over 100% of the shares of Liaschivka for EUR2.7 million (UAH 95.24 million). The agricultural enterprise with a charter capital of UAH 962.6 million is engaged in the cultivation of grain and leguminous crops, melons, root crops, as well as breeding cattle.
Astarta clarified that this transaction will be completed by the end of September 2021. According to the unified state register of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, the ultimate beneficiaries of Liaschivka are Astarta CEO Viktor Ivanchyk and his wife Iryna Ivanchyk, who manage the asset through the agricultural association Tsukrovyk Poltavschyny LLC.
The agricultural holding noted that in March 2021 it sold to Serhiy Hrynko 100% of the shares of Agrosvit Savyntsi LLC for EUR 1.93 million (UAH 63.84 million). According to the unified state register, Serhiy Hrynko, together with Yehor Dorovsky, own C and G company in Kharkiv, which is engaged in renting out real estate.
The agricultural enterprise with a charter capital of UAH 2,000 is engaged in the cultivation of grain and leguminous crops, melons, root crops, as well as the cultivation of spicy, aromatic and medicinal crops.
In addition, in February 2021, Astarta sold 95% of shares in Novoivanivsky Sugar Factory for EUR 837,000 (UAH 28.5 million). Earlier it was reported that the agricultural holding is selling the asset due to a lack of raw materials in Kharkiv region, since sugar beets are not grown near this enterprise due to dry weather conditions.
On April 5, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) launched an investigation into anticompetitive concerted actions on the primary sugar market against Astarta Group and Radekhiv Sugar LLC (Lviv region), the committee said on its website on Monday.
The state regulator said that over the past few months it had studied the situation when these companies, which together occupy a significant share of 40% to influence the Ukrainian beet sugar market, in September-November 2020, similarly increased wholesale selling prices for sugar by an average of 48%.
The committee said that it sees no objective grounds for such a price increase, since there was no sugar deficit in Ukraine at that time, taking into account the transitional reserves, import volumes and a decrease in domestic consumption. The committee said that the production of this product in Ukraine last year decreased by 22.3% compared to 2019, the yield of sugar beet decreased by 7.8%, its sugar content by 1.7%, and its sown area by 2.7%.
It is also specified that Astarta Group and Radekhiv Sugar similarly limited competition in the market, having received the opportunity to raise prices above the competitive level, although they are in different conditions of economic activity.
The AMCU said, citing data from the London Stock Exchange, that in September-November 2020, world prices for beet sugar did not grow as sharply as in Ukraine, and there were no significant fluctuations in foreign exchange markets or an increase in taxation.
“As part of the investigation, in addition to Astarta and Radekhiv Sugar, the committee is studying the actions of other manufacturers in this market. I emphasize that the AMCU will not limit itself to checking possible non-competitive actions in the sugar market. In the near future, we will investigate the situation in the markets of other socially important products, which have risen in price recently,” the press service said, citing head of committee Olha Pischanska.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 cows, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC).
Radekhiv Sugar LLC is one of the largest sugar beet producers in Ukraine with production facilities in Radekhiv (Lviv region), Chortkiv, Khorostkiv, Kozova and Zbarazh (all located in Ternopil region).
According to the data on the company’s website, Radekhiv Sugar is part of the Pfeifer & Langen Investments group of companies (Poland), which, except for a Ukrainian asset, also owns five sugar factories in Germany, shares in enterprises in Poland, Romania, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
Agro-industrial holding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, is going to carry out sowing work on an area of 208,200 hectares in optimal terms, despite the late start due to cold weather, the company said in a press release on Monday.
According to the agricultural holding, it will sow sugar beets on an area of 33,500 hectares, corn (59,900 hectares), soybeans (31,200 hectares), wheat (46,500 hectares), sunflower (28,100 hectares), winter rapeseed (7,200 hectares), and is also engaged in organic farming on 1,800 hectares.
Astarta noted that it is ready for the sowing season and provided with plant protection products, fertilizers and seeds. The agricultural holding said that it produces wheat and soybean seeds at its own seed plants under the Astarta Select brand
According to the company, John Deere tractors purchased in 2020-2021 will be used in the current sowing campaign, within the framework of a five-year investment program for the renewal of agricultural machinery, and properly trained personnel will be also involved into it.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 cows, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC)
Astarta has sold Savyntsi and Novoivanivske sugar factories due to a lack of raw materials and sugar beet producers in Kharkiv region, the press service of the company has said.
The manufacturer clarified that it intends to free up internal resources in favor of the main sugar factories in Poltava, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions through the sale of non-core assets.
Astarta also noted that in 2020 the company focused on increasing the profitability of the sugar segment and optimizing production by focusing on key sugar factories.
According to the company, export of sugar from Ukraine has been under pressure from low prices in the domestic and international markets for several years, which led to the withdrawal of some producers from the market and a decrease in production.
The co-owner of the agricultural holding, Viktor Ivanchyk, said in November 2020 that Astarta planned to sell these assets.
“Last year we worked without Savyntsi plant, and this year without Novoivanivske plant in Kharkiv region. Sugar beet is not grown around these enterprises due to weather conditions. Kharkiv region is one of the regions where the drought is most acute,” he explained.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region.
Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, in October-December 2020 increased sugar sales by 33% compared to the same period in 2019, to 81,180 tonnes with a 37% increase in its price, to UAH 13,240 per tonne.
As the company reported on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, sales of corn increased by 17%, to 294,560 tonnes, with a price increase of 19%, to UAH 4,860 per tonne, while wheat fell 81.8%, to 6,640 tonnes with a 34% rise in price, to UAH 5,590 per tonne.
Sales of sunflower seeds in October-December 2020 decreased by 38%, to 31,710 tonnes, soybean oil by 20%, to 8,510 tonnes, and soybean meal decreased by 12%, to 39,380 tonnes. At the same time, all these products also significantly increased in price, in particular sunflower by 22%, to UAH 10,160 per tonne, soybean oil by 49%, to UAH 25,490 per tonne and soybean meal by 51%, to UAH 12,700 per tonne.
According to the company, sales of milk in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased by 2%, to 22,230 tonnes with a price increase of 10% to UAH 11,310 per tonne.
The multiplication of these indicators leads to a sales volume of UAH 3.834 billion, which is 28.6% more than in the fourth quarter of 2019, in particular sugar sales increased by 82.1%, to UAH 1.075 billion, corn by 39.4%, to UAH 1.430 billion.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC).
As reported, the net loss of Astarta in the first nine months of 2020 amounted to EUR 4.72 million versus EUR 1.93 million of net profit in the same period in 2019.
