Business news from Ukraine

“Kryvyi Rih Cement” to build 24 MW of power generation – founder of Concorde Capital

Kryvyi Rih Cement plans to build 24 MW of power generation, the founder of Concorde Capital, Igor Mazepa, said on Facebook.

“We are currently building an independent power generation facility at Kryvyi Rih Cement. We need to generate 24 MW of power. This will be enough to keep the plant running smoothly,” he wrote.

According to him, the project will cost about $15 million, with a payback period of three to four years.

According to Mazepa, “This is a necessary measure to keep the business from stopping. In general, I see the prospect of investing in energy projects. Therefore, in the short term, we will build 40 MW of storage capacity, which will be balancing in the energy market. We see a good ROI of up to 30% depending on the market scenario.”

“Kryvyi Rih Cement (formerly Heidelberg Cement Ukraine) produces construction materials in three areas: cement, concrete, and granite crushed stone. On May 14, 2019, Cypriot Overin Limited, which is affiliated with Concorde Capital, became the owner of the dominant controlling stake in the company.

, , ,

Concorde Capital to carry out large-scale reconstruction of Kyiv Bus Station

Investment company Concorde Capital is implementing a project to reconstruct the Kyiv Bus Station, located near the Central Railway Station (Vokzalna Metro Station), better known as the Yama, Concorde Capital founder Igor Mazepa said on Wednesday.

“My colleagues and I came up with an idea, why don’t we go in… take a closer look at the transportation market from the investment point of view… At Concorde, we decided to enter this market through infrastructure projects… (to start) with the reconstruction of the well-known Kyiv bus station, which is located in the city center near the railway station,” Mazepa said during a video presentation at the conference “Reforming Passenger Bus Transportation in Ukraine.”

According to the investment company, the passenger flow of this station is about 10 thousand people per day, plus or minus 400 bus trips.

Mazepa noted that the central bus station, in fact, was “in a terrible state” until recently.

“Now our task, our mission, is to carry out a human reconstruction in accordance with European standards. I can assure you that you will soon see the changes that will take place there,” Mazepa said.

At the same time, the founder of the investment company noted that the reconstruction would require significant capital investments.

“We are not afraid of this and we can guarantee that our customers and passengers will soon receive the highest quality service. Of course, we will ask that such services be paid for fairly,” Mazepa said.

According to Igor Sotnyk, director of Concorde Capital’s investment banking department, the reconstruction of the bus station is planned in two stages. The first stage, which separated bus and car traffic, has already been completed. The second stage involves work on the improvement of the bus station building in accordance with the concept that is currently being developed.

“We are now finalizing the mix of tenants who will be present there according to the needs of passengers. There will be a waiting area, a food court, a high-comfort zone, a children’s room, a first-aid post, and commercial premises,” Sotnyk said, adding that a working draft will be prepared after the concept is finalized.

In addition, the possibility of creating services for carriers – service stations and car washes – is being considered. The technical possibilities for their placement are being studied.

Sotnyk also said that the exact timing of the start of work will be known after the working documentation is ready, but expressed hope that this could happen in early 2025.

Mazepa estimated the legal road transportation market in Ukraine at almost UAH 7 billion. According to him, taking into account illegal transportation and those from which taxes are not paid, the real size of the market is “many times larger.”

, ,

Company from Concorde Capital acquires right to use Maryansky limestone quarry

Maryansky Quarry LLC of businessman Igor Mazepa’s Concorde Capital group has been granted the right to buy out a special permit for the use of the Maryansky limestone quarry (Dnipropetrovs’k region) after the winning company lost this right by a decision of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine.

According to the Nadra.info portal, Forsazh LLC was deprived of the right to obtain a special permit because it did not enter into a sale and purchase agreement following the tender, where it offered UAH 151.2 million. The relevant decision was enshrined in the order of the Head of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of February 15.

Thus, the right to buy out the special permit was transferred to Maryansky Quarry LLC, which offered UAH 52.2 million at the tender.

According to the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources, the reserves of the Maryansky deposit are about 132 million tons of limestone.

According to Opendatabot, the owners of Maryansky Quarry LLC are Kryvyi Rih Cement (90.1%) and Natalia Kurkova (9.9%), while the ultimate beneficiaries are Ihor Mazepa and Vitaliy Antonov.

,

Concorde Capital’s work is paralyzed as result of search – press service

A search of the office of investment company Concorde Capital without a warrant from an investigating judge on January 18 resulted in the seizure of employees’ personal phones and computers, as well as about a dozen folders of materials that do not relate to the time and territory of the criminal proceedings, the company’s press service said.

“So, the office itself is now paralyzed, and this entails inevitable losses and loss of clients. In addition, it is impossible to imagine the normal operation of an investment company without a head,” the head of the press service, Anna Dyakonova, told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

Earlier in the day, State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) Director Oleksiy Sukhachov said that the procedural actions of law enforcement officers in the case of Concorde Capital CEO and founder Igor Mazepa did not lead to blocking or limiting the business, and the company can fulfill its obligations in full.

“At the moment, there have been no actions that would block the business or limit the activities of the Concorde Capital investment fund, which allows it to continue to operate and fulfill its investment obligations in full,” said the SBI director at a briefing in Kyiv.

For her part, Dyakonova added that one of the clients has suspended a loan agreement for construction in the SHELEST project.

According to her, Mazepa also had a number of meetings scheduled in Davos to attract investment in Kryvyi Rih Cement, but now the implementation of the company’s expansion project is in question.

She also said that Mazepa’s lawyers have already appealed the court’s January 19 ruling to place him under arrest with an alternative bail of UAH 349 million, and confirmed that the head of Concorde Capital’s house in his small homeland in Chernihiv region burned down.

As reported, on January 18, SBI officers together with the National Police detained Mazepa on the Ukrainian-Polish border on charges of organizing a scheme to illegally seize 2.4 hectares, which allegedly contain hydraulic structures of critical infrastructure – Kyiv HPP, and currently house the premium cottage community Goodlife Park. It was noted that three more people, including Mazepa’s brother, were detained in different regions of Ukraine, and searches were conducted at the office of Concorde Capital and the offices of some of its employees.

According to the SBI, at the end of 2023, eight suspects were served with a similar case involving 7 hectares of land in the neighborhood and other people were arrested. According to the database of court decisions, these are land plots involved “in the process of implementing a construction project of elite housing – a premium club cottage town Riviera Village,” which was originally developed by the Dragon Ukrainian Properties and Development (DUPD).

The SBI indicated that the defendants face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

,

Concorde Capital Investment Company is developing concept of development project on territory of plant

Investment company Concorde Capital, which acquired the plant “Kuznya na Rybalskogo” at the end of 2022, is developing the concept of a new development project on the territory of the plant, said the head of Concorde Capital Igor Mazepa in a commentary to the publication “Economic Pravda”.

According to Mazepa, the concept is being developed jointly with foreign architectural agencies. The businessman expects to start construction after the completion of legal proceedings around the bankruptcy of “Kuzna na Rybalskogo”.

He also indicated that Concorde Capital is considering participation in joint investment in the project.

“Our initial plan was to attract an investor to resell the project. Now the situation has changed, so we do not rule out participation in joint investment,” Mazepa said.

He did not disclose the amount of the deal to acquire the plant “Kuznya na Rybalskogo”, previously owned by Sergei Tihipko, but indicated that the deal included assets encumbered by debts of the owner company Ewins Limited.

As reported, in the fall of 2018, co-owner of the TAS Group, businessman Sergei Tihipko acquired from Petro Poroshenko, at that time the President of Ukraine, PJSC “Plant “Kuznya na Rybalskoe” (formerly – PJSC “Leninskaya Kuznya”) – one of the well-known in the market of shipbuilding enterprises of Ukraine.

Until mid-November 2018, the main shareholder of PJSC “ZNKIF “Prime Assets Capital” (formerly – “Petro Poroshenko Fund”, Kiev) was the main shareholder with a 73.9067% stake in the shipyard privatized in 1995, the second largest shareholder with a 20.1280% stake was PJSC “ZNKIF “VIK”, which concentrated the assets of MP Igor Kononenko.

In December 2022, the Economic Court of Kyiv opened a bankruptcy case against PJSC “Plant “Kuznya na Rybalskogo” (Kyiv).

As reported, the TAS group planned to realize on the unused territory of the plant the Lipki Island City Resort project in partnership with the developer City One Development.

According to the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market, as of the second quarter of 2023, the main shareholder of Zavod Kuznya na Rybalskoe is Ewins Limited (94.0347%).

, ,

CONCORDE CAPITAL SET STARTING PRICE FOR PRESIDENT HOTEL AT PRIVATIZATION AUCTION AT UAH 390 MILLION

Concorde Consulting LLC, a member of the Concorde Capital group of companies, acting as an adviser on the privatization of PJSC President Hotel, has set its starting price at UAH 390 million, the company’s press service has reported.
The company said that they expect a significant increase in prices during the privatization auction due to the competition of bidders. At the same time, even a sale at the starting price will bring more benefits to the state than income in the form of annual dividends, according to Concorde Capital.
“There is no need to keep the President Hotel in state ownership. This is not a strategic facility. Today, the hotel is in a state that requires significant investments. In the near future, it can take a significant place on the hotel map of Kyiv precisely by attracting the necessary investments through privatization,” CEO of Concorde Capital Ihor Mazepa said.
According to him, the modernization of the hotel and its further operational management could create hundreds of jobs.
Thus, Concorde Capital recommends holding a competition for the privatization of the President Hotel in the near future.
Concorde Capital’s independent appraisal partners were Marcus Bureau, Creston GCG, BDO Consulting, Redcliffe Partners and Cushman&Wakefield.
Earlier, the starting price of the President Hotel at the privatization auction, according to UkraineInvest, was estimated at $12 million.

, ,