Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that German construction materials company Fixit has received investment insurance from the German government to build a second plant in Ukraine.
“We want German business to invest in Ukraine, to invest in recovery, and within the framework of the forum we are signing important documents… The building materials company Fixit will build a second plant in Ukraine and will receive investment insurance from the German government for this purpose, which will be signed here on the sidelines of the business conference,” Shmyhal said at a press conference at the sixth German-Ukrainian Economic Forum in Berlin on Tuesday.
According to the prime minister, Fixit will also receive a EUR12 million loan from the German bank KfW. “This is a very important and significant project,” he emphasized.
BUILD, CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL, Fixit, GERMANY, INSURANCE, PLANT
Investment company Concorde Capital, which acquired the plant “Kuznya na Rybalskogo” at the end of 2022, is developing the concept of a new development project on the territory of the plant, said the head of Concorde Capital Igor Mazepa in a commentary to the publication “Economic Pravda”.
According to Mazepa, the concept is being developed jointly with foreign architectural agencies. The businessman expects to start construction after the completion of legal proceedings around the bankruptcy of “Kuzna na Rybalskogo”.
He also indicated that Concorde Capital is considering participation in joint investment in the project.
“Our initial plan was to attract an investor to resell the project. Now the situation has changed, so we do not rule out participation in joint investment,” Mazepa said.
He did not disclose the amount of the deal to acquire the plant “Kuznya na Rybalskogo”, previously owned by Sergei Tihipko, but indicated that the deal included assets encumbered by debts of the owner company Ewins Limited.
As reported, in the fall of 2018, co-owner of the TAS Group, businessman Sergei Tihipko acquired from Petro Poroshenko, at that time the President of Ukraine, PJSC “Plant “Kuznya na Rybalskoe” (formerly – PJSC “Leninskaya Kuznya”) – one of the well-known in the market of shipbuilding enterprises of Ukraine.
Until mid-November 2018, the main shareholder of PJSC “ZNKIF “Prime Assets Capital” (formerly – “Petro Poroshenko Fund”, Kiev) was the main shareholder with a 73.9067% stake in the shipyard privatized in 1995, the second largest shareholder with a 20.1280% stake was PJSC “ZNKIF “VIK”, which concentrated the assets of MP Igor Kononenko.
In December 2022, the Economic Court of Kyiv opened a bankruptcy case against PJSC “Plant “Kuznya na Rybalskogo” (Kyiv).
As reported, the TAS group planned to realize on the unused territory of the plant the Lipki Island City Resort project in partnership with the developer City One Development.
According to the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market, as of the second quarter of 2023, the main shareholder of Zavod Kuznya na Rybalskoe is Ewins Limited (94.0347%).
Biopharma is exploring the possibility of building a new plant by 2027, the company’s president Konstantin Efimenko said.
“We have already processed almost 300 thousand liters of plasma, the company’s turnover is slightly more than $100 million, and we need to triple the company’s turnover in four years. But it will not be possible to increase capacity further, we need to build a new plant. The new plant should be ready by 2027. To make it ready by 2027, we need to start tomorrow,” he said during the forum “Dialogues on Sustainability. How Business Develops in Times of War” forum in Kyiv on Thursday.
Efymenko also said that Biopharma plans to build a plant in Romania, but this is not a strategy to reduce dependence on Ukraine, but a way to “increase turnover.”
At the same time, Efimenko noted that attracting investments to Ukraine is currently hampered, in particular, by the issues of war risk insurance and the withdrawal of dividends.
“Biopharma is concerned about this issue, but not so much, because we are here with the foundation of the White Church, with the land. We are already here and will be here. But I am worried about other investors coming here, because the question will arise who needs our country,” he said.
As reported, Biopharma plans to triple the number of its plasma centers to 30 by 2027.
UBC Group (Kharkiv), a commercial and industrial holding company operating in the field of refrigeration equipment and promotional products, has started construction of the second stage of a 5,000 sq m refrigeration equipment plant in Vinnytsia, according to Andriy Ocheretnyi, deputy mayor of Vinnytsia.
“This will create about 200 new jobs in Vinnytsia. The main work is scheduled for 2024. Currently, the project documentation is being finalized and preparations for the expert review are underway,” he wrote on Facebook.
In addition, a solar power plant with a capacity of 600 kW has been launched at the Green Cool plant. The solar panels were built in two stages. The first was completed in August and the second in September. In total, the company has installed 1080 solar panels.
“They will ensure the consumption of our own electrical installations and minimize the load on the power grid of the whole country. We are already talking about 100% replacement of our own consumption of electricity generated by renewable energy sources between April and September,” said Ocheretyanyi, adding that Green Cool sets “a great example of working towards green energy.”
The deputy mayor of Vinnytsia reminded that Green Cool, which operates on the basis of the Vinnytsia Refrigeration Engineering Cluster Industrial Park, produces refrigeration equipment that is exported to more than 20 countries. In 2023, the manufacturer expanded its sales geography and launched exports to North Africa and Latin America.
“This enterprise is one of the most powerful in the machine-building industry in the Vinnytsia community. More than 800 people work here and the staff will continue to expand,” the official added.
As reported, UBC Group’s business in 2022 decreased by about 43% due to the war. The group moved one of its plants from Kharkiv to Vinnytsia, which took about 400 vehicles. It was launched in May last year, but the number of employees there was about 300, compared to 1,000 in Kharkiv. The second plant in Kharkiv is gradually starting to operate, but the number of employees there has also decreased significantly.
For relocation, UBC Group built the first phase of its refrigeration equipment plant in Vinnytsia on an area of 20,000 square meters. Investments in its construction amounted to EUR 18 million. The first phase of the plant’s capacity to produce refrigerators with glass doors and ice cream chests was 60 thousand units per year.
During the construction phase, UBC Group announced a further expansion of the production building to 35 thousand square meters. The second stage will produce refrigerated cabinets, and with it, the group will reach a capacity of 150 thousand units per year. Capital investments in the second stage will amount to about EUR 10-12 million.
Prior to the Russian military invasion, UBC Group, which has been operating in the market for over 20 years and supplies products to 120 countries, had several divisions.
UBC Cool was engaged in the development and production of refrigeration equipment for beverages and food at the UBC Cool plant in Dergachi and the UBC Green Cool plant in Vinnytsia.
UBC Promo specialized in the development and production of promotional materials under the Promo brand at its plants in Kharkiv and Dergachi.
UBC Engineering was engaged in providing installation and commissioning services in the food and processing industry, UBC Service in providing maintenance and refurbishment services, UBC Distribution in selling products and services of the group of companies, UBC Armature in designing and installing equipment and processes, and distributing industrial valves and consumables.
UBC Group also owns the Ukrainian Beer Company (Kharkiv) and the Stargorod brewery restaurant chain in the CIS and Baltic countries.
The owner of UBC Group is Igor Humennyi.
EUR60 mln will be invested in the construction of the Monsanto plant in Pochuiki village (Popelnyansky district, Zhytomyr region) by Bayer to produce corn seeds, said the head of Zhytomyr regional military administration Vitaliy Bunechko.
“Today together with the director of “Monsanto-seeds” LLC Vladimir Onishchenko laid a symbolic “time capsule” at the site of construction of new capacities of this enterprise. More than EUR60 million of additional investments during the war is the best evidence not only of international support for Ukraine, but also of the fact that large investors believe in our victory,” he wrote in Telegram.
Bunechko emphasized that Monsanto Seeds is already one of the largest seed plants in Eastern Europe. It provides corn hybrids not only to Ukrainian farmers, but also to agrarians in Romania, Hungary and France. After the construction of additional capacity, its potential will increase even more.
“Expansion of production is simultaneously the creation of new jobs in Zhytomyr region, increase of tax revenues to the budget, as well as foreign currency earnings, which is very important for the Ukrainian economy in war conditions,” he said.
At the same time, the head of Zhytomyr OVA noted the responsible position of Bayer, which in 2022, two months after the start of the full-scale invasion to support farmers who were sowing in super difficult conditions, gave them free of charge 140 tons of corn seeds of Monsanto selection.
The investment will reportedly be used to build a new seed dryer, purchase modern farming equipment, build storage facilities and two bomb shelters for employees. The plant employs about 100 full-time employees and 250 to 300 seasonal workers. The plant is one of the largest in the region.
Bayer is a multinational company that operates in the fields of medicine and agriculture. The company is headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany. In 2022, Bayer Group employed about 101 thousand people and its sales amounted to EUR50.7 bln.
The company has been operating in Ukraine since 1992 and is represented by the pharmaceutical division, OTC department, as well as the agricultural division. The total number of employees is 700.
Velta group of companies with titanium ore mining assets in Novomyrhorod (Kirovograd region) has signed an agreement with international consulting company Hatch to design a titanium powder plant in the United States.
According to a press release on Tuesday, the agreement was signed between Velta Holding US Inc and Hatch.
It is noted that the new plant will be one of the first in the U.S. to operate based on Ukrainian low carbon footprint technology developed at Velta’s research center.
“This partnership agreement brings the Velta team closer to presenting the solution of Ukrainian scientists to the US titanium market, which is dangerously dependent on external supply chains,” the press service quotes Velta CEO Andriy Brodsky as saying.
At the same time, he expressed confidence that thanks to Hatch’s design expertise, the plant will be able to quickly and efficiently meet the demand for titanium for the countries that are Ukraine’s allies in the war.
The capacity of the first plant is designed for 1,000 tons per year of titanium powder with the potential to scale up in the future.
The company also emphasizes its intentions to build a similar plant in Ukraine.
Hatch is a leading consulting company for project design and implementation. The company’s professional experience includes projects in more than 150 countries in the metals, energy and infrastructure sectors, including four major TiO2 projects in Canada, South Africa and Senegal. The company also works closely with the communities where it operates its projects to avoid negative environmental impacts and promote economic development.
Velta Holding US, Inc. owns Velta LLC, a Ukrainian titanium feedstock producer that has built a titanium mining complex in Ukraine.
“Velta launched its R&D center in 2017 to develop a new method of titanium production. To date, the technology has already received two patents in the US.
PKF Velta LLC was registered in April 2000. The main activity is mining and production of ilmenite concentrate.
LLC VELTA Holding owns 100% of LLC PKF VELTA. The ultimate beneficiaries are three individuals: Andrey Brodsky (60%), Vadim Moskalenko (20%) and Vitaly Malakhov (20%).
