Australian businessman, head of investment company Tattarang and Fortescue Metals Andrew Forrest will invest $ 500 million in the Development Fund for Ukraine UDF, created together with the investment company BlackRock, said the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine from the Conference on Reconstruction in London.
According to a release on its website, Forrest will be a strategic advisor on the creation of UDF and its investment groups – green strategic metals, green iron, green hydrogen and green electricity – and will serve on an advisory panel for the Ukrainian government.
Forrest, in turn, speaking at the conference, urged other global investors to see Ukraine as an excellent long-term investment opportunity.
It is specified that the idea of UDF was conceived and developed by Forrest and inspired by the World War II Marshall Plan, and back in March 2022 he approached Larry Fink, head of BlackRock, to get advisory support for the creation of the investment vehicle.
His plans to be an anchor investor and invest $500 million in a green energy fund first became publicly known in November 2022.
In May 2023, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine announced the appointment of BlackRock FMA as a consultant on the design of the Ukraine Development Fund.
“We should not seek to rebuild what Ukraine was with its outdated Soviet-era infrastructure…We will build a future that is digital, green, fair and free of corruption,” Forrest said at the conference.
The press release notes that Forrests Minderoo Foundation has already contributed millions of dollars to help the Ukrainian people, including funding the first humanitarian grain shipment from Ukraine in August and providing critical storage facilities for farmers whose crops would otherwise have died. In addition, 180 generators were provided to provide power.
Ukrainian cat and dog food manufacturer Kormotech is investing EUR14 million to expand its production in Ukraine and Lithuania during 2022-2023, the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
Reportedly, some of the projects are already being implemented and some are planned to be implemented by the end of 2023. Investments in the Lithuanian plant in 2022-2023 will total EUR 5.4 million, and in Ukrainian plants for wet and dry feed by the end of this year will be about EUR 8.5 million.
The wet fodder production capacity at the Kedainiai Kormotech plant in Lithuania is expected to increase by 25%, and at the Ukrainian plant by 65%. At the Lithuanian plant, the company has integrated new technology for the production of wet feed in the premium and super-premium segments.
In Ukraine, the company is expanding the capacity of its wet feed factory, modernizing 50% of its existing equipment and automating manual processes, the company said. In addition, it plans to modernize its dry feed plant in 2023.
According to the press release, Kormotech continues to improve the efficiency of existing production and business processes.
According to the press release, last year it began working on a “zero losses” program to reduce all irreversible losses at the plant to zero or to recycle them. A complete energy audit of the production in the areas of heat recovery, thermal insulation and the system of monitoring of energy consumers in the processes was carried out. Kormotech began implementing the SAP ERP system in the cloud, which will help focus on innovation, reduce operating costs and improve process efficiency.
Kormotech’s 2022 results show a 12 percent increase in turnover to $124 million from $110 million in 2021. The goal in 2023 is to reach a turnover figure of $150 million and increase the export/Ukraine ratio to 30%/70% from 24%/76% previously through synchronous growth of markets, the report said.
LLC “Kormotech” is the leading Ukrainian manufacturer of food for cats and dogs, occupies the 51st position in the world ranking of petfood producers and the seventh in the ranking of the most dynamic petfood brands. Kormotech sells its own brands and partner brands in 40 countries.
The company has two dry and wet food plants in the Lviv region and a plant in Lithuania. The company produces products for cats and dogs under its own brands Optimeal, CLUB 4 PAWS (TM “Meow!” and “Woof!”) and in private label direction. The assortment has more than 650 items.
The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Elena and Rostislav Vovk.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk believes that it is better to invest in social hostels for IDPs than in the construction of modular towns.
“Today we have 25 modular camps in Ukraine. At most 5 thousand internally displaced people live in them. We have 4.8 million internally displaced people. Is it effective? As for me, it is better to invest in social hostels,” Vereshchuk said on the air of a national telethon on Friday.
According to her, there are a lot of dwellings in Ukraine, which, after being repaired, can be suitable for people living there.
Vereshchuk also drew attention to the fact that the modular hostels need to be maintained, which requires funds.
Industrial investors are looking for brownfield projects (on the former industrial zones) and are ready to invest in Ukraine now, said the managing partner of CBRE Ukraine Radomir Turcan during the architectural and construction business forum “Rebuilding the country. A Strategy for Change for Architects, Developers and Developers.”
“Active hostilities in the east of the country forced industrial businesses to leave the war zone and move to safer regions of western and central Ukraine. This has given a boost to the development of industrial real estate and the creation of new industrial parks in the region, and this trend will grow in the next three to five years,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, during 2022 800 enterprises were relocated to safer regions of the country, 623 of which have already resumed work in the new place. Most of the enterprises relocated to Lviv (24%), Transcarpathian (14.5%), Chernivtsi (9.8%), Ivano-Frankivsk (8.3%), Khmelnytsky (7.3%), Ternopil (6.3%) regions.
“Activation of demand for industrial plots and objects is especially noticeable in the western regions. In addition, we note the potential demand from international investors who are ready to develop industrial production in Ukraine, which will work for the EU market,” – said Tsurkan.
Headquartered in Los Angeles (USA), CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate consulting and investment firm, with revenues of $30.8 billion in 2022 and is listed by Fortune as one of the world’s 500 largest companies.
The shares of CBRE Group Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
CBRE’s Ukrainian office opened in January 2008, is part of the company’s affiliated network.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking by video link to the participants in the conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine (Rome), called on Italian business to invest in the Ukrainian economy based on new security standards.
As the president stressed, Ukraine and its partners will have to prepare already this year the most ambitious economic project of modern times in Europe, in particular, the project for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“Europe has not seen such destruction since World War II, which was brought to Ukraine by the Russian Federation. But it was after that war that Europe saw what real reconstruction yields and what growth brings. We are now on the cusp of no less opportunity. There is a demand in the world for new security standards so that every country can defend itself against any manifestation of aggression. We in Ukraine are creating such security standards,” Zelensky said.
The head of state called on representatives of Italian business and investors to join the reconstruction of Ukraine on the basis of new security standards in 5 key areas: energy, construction, technology, access to global markets and cooperation in pharmaceuticals and human rehabilitation.
Speaking of the energy sphere, Zelensky emphasized that now it is necessary to do everything to prevent the enemy from having even a theoretical opportunity to break the Ukrainian energy sector. The answer to this can only be its transformation and decentralization of energy production.
“The more green energy producers, the more resilient the system. The more sources of energy supply, the more reliably each city, community and family is supplied. Italy is one of the leaders in the creation of smart grids. I invite your companies to develop together the Ukrainian networks. Do not forget that in the near future Ukrainian networks will be the EU networks,” he said.
The President also noted that Ukraine has an enormous need to rebuild infrastructure on a new security basis, and therefore he invited Italian companies to plan, design and build together with Ukrainians.
In addition, he called on Italy to invest in the production in Ukraine of military equipment, which it receives from partners, in particular sea drones, UAVs, etc.
Also, according to the President, Ukraine to assist in the processing of its own resources with the subsequent entry into the global market. Which, in turn, will help to replace companies from Russia.
Finally, the last example of cooperation between Ukraine and Italy could be pharmaceuticals and rehabilitation of people affected by war.
Ukraine is a huge market for pharmaceutical products as well. Localization of production in our country gives a huge benefit. But the war has given a new level to this industry – we are talking about people who need rehabilitation after injuries and those whose lives are poisoned by post-traumatic disorders. We will work on this in Ukraine together with the best representatives in the world. Ukraine has a unique experience in defense of the state and people in the conditions of aggression. We invite Italy to build a new security together with us, we invite your business, investment and experience to come to Ukraine now”, – summarized Zelensky.
Cherkasy Bus JSC which produces Ataman buses based on Japanese Isuzu units is planning to invest UAH 200 million in the project for creation of two buses exceeding the buses produced today, deputy Dmitry Kisilevsky said after his visit to Cherkasy.
“Due to localization, the owner of Cherkasy Bus, Alexander Dorosh, is bolder in his plans to invest. He is preparing two new larger buses for production. The volume of investments in this project is 200 million hryvnias,” he wrote in Facebook on Thursday, summarizing some results of the law on localization in machine-building, initiator of which he is.
According to him, during the period of the law (since June 2022), which in 2023 provides for mandatory availability of at least 15% of the Ukrainian component in public procurement (and +5% annually until it reaches 40%), the plant has produced 324 buses, won 60 tenders in public procurement – not only for buses, but also for other wheeled vehicles with localization.
“The largest of them is for the supply of 126 school buses for the Lviv region. The localization index in these buses is 60%. Today, two-thirds of the company’s production is an order from the public sector,” Kisilevsky stressed.
In this connection, he noted inappropriate, in his opinion, limitation of the maximum support, which industrial manufacturers can get from the state on the program 5-7-9, to the sum of 60 million hryvnias.
“For comparison, this ceiling is set at 1 billion UAH for retail chains. Such priorities, in my opinion, should be changed to the exact opposite. “Cherkassy bus” program 5-7-9 successfully took advantage of, but the need for investment funds is much more, “- emphasizes the people’s deputy.
Kisilevsky noted that “Cherkassy bus” was idle only a few days in February 2022 (immediately after the Russian invasion), and now 450 residents of Cherkassy work at the plant, another 50 specialists the company is ready to hire. The average salary is 15,000 hryvnias.
He stressed that in Ukraine today there are at least four major manufacturers of buses, jointly capable of covering the needs of the state in this form of transport.
“Buying Ukrainian public transport, state departments, companies and communities win three times. Firstly, they save on service, because the manufacturer is close by. Secondly, they get back more than 40% of their money spent in taxes. Thirdly (and most importantly) this way the State encourages investments and job creation in the country, not abroad”, summed up the MP.
Founded in 1994, “Cherkassy Bus” plant until now has been producing only small class buses, as well as other wheeled vehicles using Isuzu equipment.
According to the resource opendatabot, in 2022, the plant increased its net profit by almost 2.9 times to UAH 65.02 million, while its net income grew by 32.5% to UAH 842.29 million.
The Kiev-based “Investments for Development” LLC and Oleksandr Dorosh own 24.79% of the stock, Anna Suprun and Konstantin Vorushylin – 8.2498% each, another four natural persons (including the long-term director of the plant Vitalii Raabe) own 5.3999% of shares each.
The charter capital of Cherkassy Bus JSC is 162.96 mln hryvnia.
