Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Index of economic expectations of investors and analysts in Germany fell to minimum in 3 years

The Index of Economic Expectations of Investors and Analysts in Germany for the next six months, calculated by the ZEW Research Institute, fell to the lowest since July 2023 of minus 14 points in April from the highest since February 2022 of 51.6 points a month earlier. This is the most significant drop since March 2022. Analysts on average expected it to decline to 9.5 points in April, according to Trading Economics.

“Global uncertainty has increased dramatically, not only because of the possible effects of the [US] mirror duties on world trade, but also because of the dynamic nature of their changes,” said ZEW President Achim Wambach. ”This is especially affecting export-intensive industries such as the automotive and chemical industries, as well as the production of metals, machinery and steel, which have recently seen significant improvements.

Meanwhile, the indicator of attitudes toward the current situation in Germany increased to minus 81.2 points this month from minus 87.6 points in March.

In the eurozone, the index of economic expectations in April fell to the lowest since December 2022, minus 18.5 points from 39.8 points a month earlier. The experts’ forecast for this indicator was 14.2 points.

The indicator for assessing the current economic situation in the currency bloc decreased by 5.7 percentage points to minus 50.9 points.

Source: http://relocation.com.ua/index-ekonomichnyh-ochikuvan-investoriv/

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Ukrainian Meest plans to attract a strategic investor

The postal and logistics group Meest is planning to attract a strategic investor to build a stable business in Europe, Meest China shareholder Vyacheslav Lysenko told Interfax-Ukraine in a blitz interview.
“We are preparing the company to go public, and we have attracted powerful investments for its development – a powerful foreign investor who appreciates our achievements and experience, is interested in the stable business that our company will build in Europe,” Lysenko said.
It is a strategic investor, the company’s shareholder clarified.
He refused to name the size of the stake the group is ready to offer to the “strategist.”
At the same time, a Meest China shareholder confirmed that the potential investor is a logistics company.
The deal could be closed in 2025, Lysenko said.
Meest Group delivers to 90 countries and has been operating in the c2c and b2c postal services market for over 30 years. The company was founded by entrepreneur Rostyslav Kysel, who remains its beneficiary and is responsible for the strategic direction of the company. The Group of companies includes Meest China, Meest USA, Meest Europe and Meest Ukraine.
Meest China has been a leader in the delivery of postal parcels from China for over 15 years. It also delivers large cargoes from China with customs clearance. It has its own warehouse of 5 thousand square meters in Guangzhou.
In May 2024, Meest International launched a new logistics center near the city of Dębica in Poland, 170 km from the border. The company plans to expand its network of hubs in Eastern and Central Europe.

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President of Ukraine invites investors to take part in conference on Ukraine’s recovery in Berlin

On the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the heads of leading Singaporean investment companies, the press service of the Ukrainian president reports.

“The event was attended by the heads of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Temasek Holdings, Wilmar International, the Singapore Business Federation, Blackstone Singapore, telecommunications operator SingTel, Universal Success Enterprises, and construction company Meinhardt Group,” the statement said.

During the meeting, Zelensky emphasized that the Ukrainian economy, even in difficult conditions of war, finds ways to develop and grow, adapting to new circumstances.

In addition, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Singaporean businessmen who continue to work in Ukraine and keep their jobs.

The President also emphasized that there is great potential for further development of Ukrainian-Singaporean trade cooperation, especially in the field of technology and innovation.

Zelenskyy also reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to creating additional attractive incentives for investors.

“The Head of State invited Singaporean investors to take part in a joint conference with the EU on the restoration, reform and modernization of the Ukrainian economy to be held in Berlin. A program for mobilizing international financial support, implementing long-term projects and creating attractive conditions for investing in Ukraine’s economy will be presented there,” the statement said.

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Spanish investor claims loss of more than UAH 20 mln due to raider takeover of company by its Ukrainian co-founder

Spanish citizen Angel Miguel Cerezo Gallardo estimates losses from the raider takeover by the Ukrainian co-founder of the Selecto Markets company, of which he is a co-founder, at UAH 20 million.

As the Spanish citizen said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday, together with Ukrainian partners, he planned to develop a chain of grocery stores in Ukraine with the supply of products from Spain and other European countries, created the Selecto Markets company, invested in first store in Kyiv, delivered equipment and goods.

According to him, one of the co-founders of the company from the Ukrainian side was Maksym Marshchivskyy, who at that time headed the distribution direction in the Furshet retail chain. The co-founders, among other things, planned to supply European products to Ukrainian retail chains, as well as develop their own network of Selecto Markets stores.

However, according to the Spanish investor, Marshchivskyy, without any reason, refused to pay for goods imported from Spain and other European countries by the Spanish businessman’s companies, stopped paying local suppliers, blocked the Spanish partner’s access to the company’s accounts and documents, and also “decided to personally manage the company and re-register for himself.”

In turn, Cerezo Gallardo’s lawyer Hennadiy Borysychev noted that law enforcement agencies “are in no hurry to enter information about criminal offenses under Articles 219 and 191 of the Criminal Code into the unified register of pre-trial investigations, as well as to investigate them.”

“We will have to go to court to declare the investigators’ inaction illegal and in court to oblige law enforcement agencies to initiate criminal proceedings,” he said.

Borysychev clarified that the matter concerns the actual raider takeover of the Selecto Markets company by Marshchivskyy.

The lawyer also noted that, according to information available to Cerezo Gallardo, Marshchivskyy is currently abroad, presumably in the United States.

“Any country that is at war, especially with a nuclear state, is not very attractive for investment. But if you add to this the fact that law enforcement and government agencies cannot protect investors, it can lead to bankruptcy of the state,” he said.

“We want to use the example of this case to prove that justice and law enforcement agencies really work in the country, that it is really possible to invest in our country,” he said.

According to the lawyer, representing the interests of Cerezo Gallardo, he intends to “take other steps to stimulate the investigative authorities in a legal way so that they actually investigate these cases.”

In turn, another co-founder of Selecto Markets, Eugene Zhevagin, said at the press conference that since the start of the full-scale invasion, Cerezo Gallardo “not only did not leave Ukraine, but is actively helping it, supplying humanitarian aid, ambulances, and medicines.”

“He doesn’t just invest money, he helped and is helping everyone who needs it, he believes in Ukraine. We really hope that by making this case public, we will get a positive result,” Zhevagin said.

The Spanish investor contacted the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Ukraine to assist in a fair resolution of the case.

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Group of Israeli investors plans to open modern sports complex in Bucha

A group of Israeli investors is planning to open a modern sports complex of 2.7 thousand square meters in Bucha with an expected investment of $1.2 million, writes The Jerusalem Post.
“Like many other cities in Ukraine, Bucha is in the process of reconstruction and is receiving an influx of international budgets. However, funding is not enough. Many cities in the country are unable to cope on their own and need the help of entrepreneurial companies and foreign executive companies in a variety of sectors, especially in real estate, health and recreation, and infrastructure,” Alex Sotovsky, a representative of investors, was quoted as saying.
It is reported that the future sports complex in Bucha, located in a new modern shopping center, built in the city two years ago. Opening of the sports complex is scheduled for August of this year.
There will be swimming pool, heated swimming pool for children, special pool for infants, spa-area with locker rooms, Jacuzzi, sauna, specialized halls for various sports disciplines, gym, functional training zone, special areas for individual and group trainings, martial arts complex and center of fun activities for children, including summer camps, various sports sections and play rooms.
Sotovsky said the physical revitalization of Ukrainian cities must be complemented by the psychological and emotional healing efforts needed by residents, especially those who live in conflict-ridden areas.
“Many studies show that exercise has a positive effect on the psyche and is very helpful in reducing stress, combating anxiety and improving mood. In Ukraine, people are craving it. They are looking for familiar points of sanity and normality. Ukrainians are trying to get back to normalcy and rebuild their lives, including through sports,” he added.
He said there has already been a significant increase in demand for gym registrations in the country’s main cities, and the flow is expected to increase as the country returns to normalcy.

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In November alone, investors withdrew from cryptocurrency funds more than $19 billion

Global funds investing in cryptocurrency assets experienced a $19.6 billion investment outflow in November amid the collapse of digital currencies and the bankruptcy of the FTX exchange, writes The Wall Street Journal citing data from research company CryptoCompare.
Thus, cryptocurrency funds lost about 14.5% of all assets under management, and the cumulative figure fell to its lowest level since December 2020.
Bitcoin and ether (Ethereum) make up the lion’s share of the funds’ investments, and they also invest in exchange-traded instruments and other products.
CryptoCompare tracks the performance of 20 funds, and 19 of them showed negative returns in November. The only fund that remained positive specializes in betting on bitcoin decline: its yield was 18.2%.

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