Business news from Ukraine

EBRD TO PARTIALLY FINANCE CONSTRUCTION OF 100 MW DNEPRO-BUGSKY WIND FARM

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) under EBRD’s Ukrainian Sustainable Energy Lending Facility III (USELF III), a EUR 250 million facility to support renewable energy in Ukraine, will partially finance construction of the Dnepro-Bugsky wind farm with a planned capacity of 110 MW located in Oleksandrivka (Kherson region).
The decision was made by the EBRD board on July 10, EBRD Senior Adviser External Affairs for Eastern Europe & Central Asia Usov told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
EBRD said that Dnepro-Bugsky Wind Power Station LLC is the borrower of the funds. The borrower is ultimately fully owned by three sponsors, Akuo Energy SAS (France), Saffelberg Investment NV (Belgium) and Aeolus Invest NV (Belgium). The limited liability company is a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Ukraine for the purpose of developing, constructing and operating the project.
The total cost of the project is EUR 188.64 million. The possible share to be paid by the EBRD is not disclosed.
According to other materials of the project posted on the bank’s website, Dnepro-Bugsky wind farm will belong to Akuo Energy.
The project consists of 25 4.4 MW turbines on the Dniprovsko-Buzsky Lyman, which will be delivered by Nordex. Under the project it is planned to build a 150 kV power line to the Posad-Pokrovska substation of 27.3 km long with 194 pillars.

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FARMAK RAISES FIVE-YEAR LOAN FROM EBRD

PJSC Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) has raised a five-year loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the amount of EUR 15 million (equivalent of UAH 427.838 million). An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that the loan agreement was signed between the bank and the pharmaceutical producer on Tuesday.
Farmak Executive Director Volodymyr Kostiuk said that the company has raised around EUR 72 million from the EBRD since 2006. “The EBRD is our strategic partner, we will continue working with it,” he said.
Kostiuk said that the attracted funds are intended to expand production at the Farmak’s facility in Kyiv.
“We want to develop and conquer new markets, but today we do not have enough production capacity, so the expansion of production is very important for us,” he said.
The borrowed funds will be sent, in particular, to finance the expansion of production facilities, and the construction of a new laboratory and production complex.

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AGRO-INDUSTRIAL GROUP SODRUGESTVO TO GET $10 MLN LOAN FROM EBRD

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will issue a $10 million loan to Sodrugestvo agro-industrial group, one of the world’s largest soybean processors. According to information on the bank’s website, the funds will be used to finance working capital for the group’s subsidiaries in Serbia and Ukraine.
In addition, the EBRD is organizing a $80 million loan to finance capital expenditures and working capital for a Sodrugestvo subsidiary in Turkey. It is expected that the EBRD will issue $55 million, and the rest of the loan ($25 million) will be syndicated. The cost of the entire project is estimated at $87.5 million. The funds will be used to partially finance the purchase of a production facility in Izmir (Turkey), upgrade the acquired object and finance working capital to expand activities in Turkey.
According to the bank, the financing will allow the company to expand the supplier base in Ukraine and Serbia and support the purchase of assets in Turkey.
Sodrugestvo Group was founded in 1994. It has headquarters in Luxembourg and over 30 enterprises in 20 countries. The company operates in the regions of Russia, the CIS, Scandinavia, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Central and Latin America.

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DNIPROVSKA AGRIBUSINESS GROUP TO GET EUR 20 MLN LOAN FROM EBRD

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will issue a loan of EUR 20 million (two tranches of EUR 10 million) to Dniprovska agribusiness group, one of the largest poultry producers in Ukraine, for the reconstruction and expansion of the slaughtering house. According to the bank’s website, the total cost of the project is EUR 33.8 million, of which EUR 23.8 million will be invested in 2019-2020, another EUR 10 million in 2020-2021.
According to the EBRD’s website, the project will enable the company to obtain necessary certification for entering the EU market.
As reported, in March 2018 the EBRD issued $5 million to Dniprovska group for the construction of a biogas plant. The total project cost was $5.85 million.
Dniprovska agribusiness group is engaged in poultry farming, plant growing, and processing industrial crops.

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UKRAINIAN GOVT APPROVES EUR 149 MLN LOAN FROM EBRD TO MODERNIZE POWER LINES

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has decided to approve the attraction of a loan in the amount of EUR 149 million by national energy company Ukrenergo for the project to modernize power lines from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Finance Ministry of Ukraine reported on Thursday. According to the report of the ministry, the project foresees the replacement of transformer equipment and reconstruction of 12 substations with the installation of automated process management systems.
The project would allow the company to increase effectiveness and reliability of electricity transmission in western, northern, southern and central regions of Ukraine, modernize the key power transmission facilities, which is the condition for harmonization of the Ukrainian power grid with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), the ministry said.

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EBRD ISSUES EUR 3 MLN LOAN TO UKRAINIAN WOODWORKING COMPANY ZUNAMI

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided a loan of EUR 3 million to the Ukrainian woodworking company Zunami to finance the investment program, EBRD Senior Adviser for External Affairs Anton Usov has said.
“As a result of the project, the company will introduce new methods of waste management, which will allow reducing the volume of oak raw materials needed for production of lamella by 23%, or 3,000 tonnes per year,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
According to Usov, the loan funds will be supplemented by means of technical cooperation of the European Union in the amount of up to EUR 70,000 under the EU4Business program and a stimulating grant of more than $170,000 from the Global Environment Facility under the FINTECC program.
Zunami LLC (Volyn region) was founded in 2001. The company is engaged in a full cycle of wood processing. Its capacity is 2 million square meters per year. Zunami produces wooden flooring and solid biofuel – oak shavings pellets.
Wizz Air will raise frequency of flights from Lviv airport to Slovakia, Poland, Germany from Oct 20
KYIV. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air from October 20 will increase the frequency of flights from Lviv International Airport to Bratislava (Slovakia), Wroclaw, Gdansk (Poland), Berlin and Dortmund (Germany) for the winter of 2019/2020 season.
According to the airport’s Facebook page, in particular, such plans are linked to the popularity of these airline destinations from/to Lviv, the average monthly workload of which in 2019 is 83%.
Thus, the number of flights to Bratislava will increase from two to five flights a week. They will be performed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
The number of flights to Wroclaw will rise from three to five flights. They will be performed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Flights to Gdansk and Berlin will be carried out twice as often – four times a week (on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays).
The number of flights in the direction of Dortmund will grow from two to three per week (on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays).

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