As of August 30, three factories in Vinnytsia, Ternopil, and Lviv regions started sugar beet processing in Ukraine, while the launch of the remaining factories is delayed due to the later harvesting of sugar beets, the industry association Ukrtsukor reports.
“In general, the expectations of a massive early launch of factories this year were not met due to dry weather conditions that complicate the harvesting of sugar beet. A number of plants have postponed the start of processing to a later date,” the business association explained.
According to the industry association, sugar beet has been harvested from 1.2 thousand hectares. The average yield is 50 t/ha, including 35 t/ha in Vinnytsia region, 44 t/ha in Poltava region, 58 t/ha in Ternopil region and 70 t/ha in Lviv region.
As of the same date last year, 2 sugar plants in Vinnytsia and Cherkasy regions started processing beets in Ukraine, Ukrtsukr said.
Astarta Agro-Industrial Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, started sugar beet processing at a plant in Vinnytsia region on August 24, with a total of five plants of the agricultural group operating this season, the press service of the agricultural holding reported on its Facebook page.
According to the report, two plants in Poltava region are scheduled to be launched at the end of the week, and two more in September.
“The season has started successfully. The first plant is now online and operating at full capacity. We will soon start shipping the first batches of high-quality sugar to Ukrainian consumers. In general, our investments in the sugar segment were aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the plants. We also focused on improving staff motivation and product quality,” said Igor Rylyk, Director of Agricultural Processing at Astarta.
At the same time, the agricultural enterprises of the agro-industrial holding, which are the main suppliers of raw materials for Astarta’s sugar factories, continue harvesting sugar beet, the total area of which this year is 38 thousand hectares.
Currently, the holding’s plants are working on their own raw materials, and starting from September 1, sugar beet will be supplied for processing by farms with which Astarta cooperates on a regular basis, the agricultural holding said.
In 2023, Astarta Agricultural Holding grew 39 thousand tons of sugar beet, which is 20% more than a year earlier, thanks to a record yield of 58 tons/ha against 56 tons/ha in 2022, the company’s annual report said on Wednesday evening.
According to the agricultural holding, the record high sugar beet harvest extended the processing period until the end of January 2024. In total, the sugar production campaign in 2023 lasted 130 days, compared to 111 days a year earlier.
“In the 2023-2024 marketing year, Astarta increased sugar production by 34% year-on-year to 377 thousand tons. At the same time, the volume of sugar beet processing in 2023 increased by 37% compared to the same period last year and reached 2.7 million tons. The market share remained unchanged at 21% in 2023.
In 2023, Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million.
The Turkish company Dalgakiran Kompresör has invested UAH 400 million in the launch of a plant for the production of industrial power equipment in Bilohorodka (Kyiv region), according to a press release from Dalgakiran Compressor Ukraine LLC.
The construction project was started before the start of Russia’s large-scale aggression, and now, thanks to investments from the Turkish side, it has been completed. The investment in the production site and office will create 50 new jobs.
The office and new production facility in Ukraine will contribute to the development of enterprises in all industries, enabling them to continue their business activities, save money and resources,” said Vyacheslav Dinkov, director of Dalgakiran Compressor Ukraine, as quoted by the press service.
According to him, the plans include further development and localization of production, development and supply of new equipment to restore energy and industrial production in Ukraine.
In turn, Dalgakiran Kompresör Chairman of the Board Adnan Dalgakiran noted that scaling up business in Ukraine is a contribution to supporting the country’s economy and energy sector in difficult times. “In the face of a power outage, our equipment can ensure the continuity of business processes and production, enable businesses to continue to operate, pay taxes and provide jobs to Ukrainians,” he said.
“Dalgakiran Compressor Ukraine is a representative office of the Turkish Dalgakiran company specializing in the production and maintenance of generator and compressor equipment, cooling systems and industrial pumps.
The Ukrainian representative office sells the equipment and improves it to meet the needs of national consumers. Azov equipment is manufactured in Turkey, where a full cycle of quality control has been introduced and the company has its own design office.
The company has been operating in Ukraine for 19 years. It has representative offices in 11 cities and more than 70 of its own mobile service teams.
The President of Uzbekistan visited the BYD Uzbekistan Factory in the Jizzakh region and signed the first cars that rolled off the assembly line.
This is the first stage of a $160 million project. The plant currently produces two models of the brand’s cars. Theannual production capacity of the first stage is50 thousand units.
Thesecond stage of the $300 million project is expected to increase production to 200 thousand electric vehicles per year (in 2027-2028), 350 thousand in 2028-2029, and the third stage of the $500 million project will increase productionto500 thousand electric vehicles (starting in 2030).
For reference: In January-May 2024, Uzbekistan produced a total of 162,608 units of cars. Source – UzAUTO.
The joint venture has been provided with modern industrial infrastructure and nearly 2 km of railway tracks have been laid. The plant has modern equipment and robotic systems from China. The production process is automated. A laboratory for high-precision inspection of the geometric dimensions of electric vehicles has been set up.
As the number of electric vehicles increases, the level of localization is expected to gradually increase. First of all, the production of bumpers, glass, lacquered and plastic parts will be launched. In the future, it is planned to produce batteries, electric motors, aluminum parts, tires and seats.
In the future, the plant plans to export electric vehicles to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan.
BYD, CARS, PLANT, UZBEKISTAN
In 2025, the beneficiary of Dragon Capital Investments Limited, Tomas Fiala, will start construction of a new plant for the production of Truskavetska mineral water in Lviv region with a capacity of 1 million bottles per day, which will allow Truskavetska to approach the capacity of the market leader Morshynska and overtake Karpatska Dzherelna, Forbes Ukraine reports.
According to the report, the investment company Fiala is already designing a new plant for the production of Truskavetska. Prior to that, it acquired two existing producers of this brand. The reason for the construction of the new plant is the inability to increase the existing capacity.
The new mineral water plant will be located on the territory of the Bobernia tract, next to the Solonytsia River, which flows into the Truskavets Reservoir. The plant will occupy an area of 20 hectares, but the final size of the site will depend on the results of the design. The production will be located near the Truskavets Ring Road.
“It’s good for logistics,” Fiala said, adding that the Aqua-Eco plant, which is already owned by Dragon Capital, is located nearby.
The company does not disclose the amount of future investments. “They amount to more than EUR35 million in the plant,” said Andriy Kulchynsky, mayor of Truskavets.
According to Serhiy Ustenko, owner of Carpathian Mineral Waters, the amount will be more modest – about EUR20 million.
For the company, such an investment is very significant, as the total revenue of Aqua-Eco LLC and Firm T.S.B. LLC in 2023 amounted to UAH 487.9 million. At the same time, only Firm T.S.B. LLC made a net profit of – UAH 6.7 million, the publication cited data from the YouControl service.
The company with foreign direct investment, Aqua-Eco LLC, is engaged in bottling mineral table water under the brands Truskavetska Aqua-Eco, Truskavetska Kryshtaleva, and Truskavetska Zapovedna. Since 1827, Truskavetska natural mineral water has been produced from the wells of the landscape reserve in the resort of Truskavets, Lviv region.
As reported, in August 2021, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) allowed Dragon Capital Investments Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) to buy Frolovia Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus), which owns the Truskavets Mineral Water Plant (Aqua-Eco LLC) in Ukraine, which bottles mineral water under the Truskavetska brand.
According to the website of IDS Borjomi Ukraine, as of August 2021, the group of companies included the Morshyn Mineral Water Plant Oscar and Truskavets Mineral Water Plant (both in Lviv region), Myrhorod Mineral Water Plant (Poltava region), IDS Aqua Service distribution company, and the Holoprystan Plant of Nova Kom (Kherson region).
Dragon Capital Investments Limited is a part of the Dragon Capital group of companies, the ultimate beneficiary of which is businessman Tomas Fiala.
Dragon Capital is one of the largest investment groups in Ukraine in the field of investment and financial services, providing a full range of investment banking and brokerage services, private equity, asset management for institutional, corporate and private clients. The company was founded in 2000 in Kyiv. One of Dragon Capital’s key business areas is real estate investments.
CONSTRUCTION, DRAGON CAPITAL, LVIV REGION, PLANT, Truskavetska
Swire Coca-Cola has started construction of a plant in Guangdong Province, China, Xinhua reports.
The Coca-Cola bottler’s investment in this project will amount to 1.25 billion yuan ($176 million).
The enterprise will cover an area of about 128 thousand square meters and will be equipped with 11 bottling lines, warehouses and other auxiliary facilities. Once the plant is up and running, the Chinese company’s production capacity is expected to increase by about 66% compared to the current level.
Swire Coca-Cola Managing Director Su Wei said that the company will continue to increase its investments in China. From 2023 to 2032, the planned volume of investments in the Chinese market will exceed 12 billion yuan.
“Expanding our operations in such a dynamic and fast-growing market is really exciting and exciting for us,” she said.
Swire Coca-Cola is the fifth largest bottler of Coca-Cola Co. in the world in terms of sales. The company has five bottling plants in Guangdong province with 14 production lines.
