In 2024, the NOVA Group of Companies (NOVA) (Nova Poshta) doubled its investments to UAH 8.5 billion compared to 2021, said NOVA CFO Petro Fokov.
“NOVA Group’s investments this year (2024 – IF-U) amount to UAH 8.5 billion. This is twice as much as the amount of investments in 2021,” he said at the Ukrainian CFO Forum on Thursday.
According to the CFO, the group is investing in areas that provide an opportunity to increase the speed, ease and reliability of delivery.
Fokov identified four main components of the NOVA Group’s investment program: the development of a network of branches and post offices in Ukraine, including the opening of new ones, repair and upgrading of existing ones, and the construction of shelters and safety capsules, in particular in branches located in the frontline areas.
Another component is investments in the automation of sorting centers.
“In particular, these are new services, including fulfillment – logistics outsourcing, whereby an online store transfers goods for storage and order picking to a logistics operator,” said the NOVA Group CFO, adding that the service can significantly speed up the delivery of shipments to customers.
An important component of NOVA’s investments is energy independence. The group invests in solar panels and gas cogeneration to produce electricity for its own needs.
Mr. Fokov also emphasized investments in the international business: NOVA Group operates in 15 countries. “Even this year, our first foreign country has turned a profit, although most of them have not yet – they are still approaching the break-even point,” Fokov said.
In addition, NOVA allocated UAH 1.5 billion to help the Armed Forces.
The chief financial officer named the group’s own and borrowed funds as the main sources of investment financing. In particular, this is a UAH 3 billion loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which was received in 2024.
“This year we signed an agreement for UAH 3 billion with the EBRD. We received the first loan six years ago for a minimum amount of UAH 180 million. We built the facility and repaid the loan on time, and now we have a strong (credit – IF-U) history worth UAH 3 billion,” Fokov stated, adding that the EBRD lends to NOVA Group in hryvnia.
The group also attracts loans from commercial banks, working with 10 leading Ukrainian banks and following a strategy of unifying bank covenants.
“As I said, we have 10 partner banks and each of them has its own requirements that are important to fulfill. And it is quite difficult when you have 10 different covenant systems and need to ensure 100% compliance. Our strategy is to fully unify the covenants of all our business partners… We have taken the most developed system of financial covenants of the EBRD as a basis and offer our partner banks with which we start cooperation to join this system or choose requirements from this menu. So far, we have succeeded… I advise all CFOs to try to implement such a policy,” Fokov said.
According to him, the banks’ consent depends on the size and reputation of the company.
“If you have a strong reputation, it’s easier to do, because you have a certain negotiating power. Or it can be done when you have a partner like the EBRD or other international financial institutions,” said the NOVA CFO.
The third component of NOVA’s investment program financing is hryvnia bonds issued by the group, Fokov said. According to him, by issuing bonds in January 2023, the group became the first to resume raising funds through this type of debt financing after the full-scale invasion.
After the war is over and the energy supply situation improves, Nova Group will sell Nova Energy, a company created to develop generation, as a non-core business, said co-owner of Nova Group Volodymyr Popereshnyuk.
“…When the war is over… I will willingly sell this company to those for whom it is a passion, for whom it is the main business, the core business, because I believe that everyone should do their own thing,” Popereshnyuk said at the Energy of Business forum organized by Forbes.
He emphasized that Nova Energia is a non-core asset for NOVA Group, which the company is forced to deal with.
As of today, Nova Energia has already obtained most of the licenses, including the license to purchase fuel for refueling generators.
“Indeed, we opened Nova Energia not only because we need to produce electricity, but also because we need to refuel ourselves, because we had a fuel crisis that scared us, because we realized that if we don’t save ourselves, we may even stop, because fuel is critical for us… We have obtained a license for fuel to refuel our generators,” said Popereshnyuk.
He clarified that the market has long been subject to restrictions on the amount of one-time storage of fuel without a license.
According to him, Nova Energia already has about 4 thousand generators with a total capacity of 40 MW.
In addition, according to Popereshniuk, the company has ordered gas piston units and installed a number of solar power plants, and plans to install five more next year.
A Boeing 737-800SF from the fleet of Supernova Airlines of the NOVA Group (Nova Poshta) has completed its first flight between European airports, the press service of the NOVA Group reports.
“On September 18, 2024, Supernova Airlines made the first flight on its own Boeing 737-800SF aircraft flying the flag of Ukraine, with Ukrainian registration marks UR-NPA. This was a certification flight, one of the final steps in the process of introducing the Boeing 737-800SF type to Supernova’s operator certificate by the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine,” the NOVA press service said.
The airline plans to start regular commercial operation of the aircraft in the winter season of 2024-2025.
Earlier, a Boeing 737-800 from Supernova’s fleet operated a maintenance flight from Guangzhou (China) to Vilnius (Lithuania) with a technical stop at Tashkent Airport.
The company clarified that the use of air transportation saves up to 36 hours on the delivery of parcels from (or to) Riga compared to trucks. It was also reported that Supernova Airlines plans to form a fleet in the future using cargo versions of modern aircraft manufactured by Boeing or Airbus.
Supernova Airlines has received a Ukrainian operator’s certificate, which allows it to start cargo flights on January 6, 2023.
Nova Poshta Group of Companies has changed its name to Nova, but Nova Poshta, a logistics and postal operator operating in the Ukrainian market, will retain its brand, the group’s press service said on Tuesday.
“We are already much more than a post office, so we are removing this word in the name of the group of companies and leaving a broad, unbounded name – NOVA,” the release cites the rebranding rationale.
“The main goal of the NOVA group is to provide easy delivery of anything for life and business. So far, these are parcels, money and technology, but we are not going to stop there,” said Vyacheslav Klimov, co-owner of the group.
According to the release, the NOVA group of companies includes six companies: “Nova Poshta, Nova Post Europe, NovaPay, Nova Global, Supernova Airlines and Nova Digital.
It is noted that Nova Poshta provides delivery services, as well as freight transportation and fulfillment, and its network currently includes 11.4 thousand branches and 15.5 thousand post offices in Ukraine.
Nova Post Europe delivers documents, parcels and cargo across Europe and between the EU and Ukraine. The company has representative offices and 83 own branches in 11 countries: Moldova, Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, and Italy, and operates through 35 thousand service points.
According to the release, NovaPay is a non-bank financial institution that develops its own international payment system and provides financial services to private clients and businesses, currently servicing 2.6 million transactions per day. At the end of last year, the company released an application that allows customers to open current accounts.
It is noted that Nova Global, a member of the group, focuses on the global e-commerce market and cooperation with international marketplaces. The company offers Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses services to enter new markets and develop exports.
Supernova Airlines, according to the release, has already operated dozens of flights between European countries and will soon start transcontinental flights with cargo planes.
IT company Nova Digital, a part of Nova Group, creates and maintains web applications and software products for Nova Poshta and other companies of the group, which, according to the release, has a total of 32 million private and corporate clients.
