Agro-industrial holding Astarta plans to sell sugar assets in Kharkiv region – Savyntsi and Novoivanivsky refineries, co-owner of the holding Viktor Ivanchyk has said.
“Last year we worked without Savyntsi refinery, and this year without Novoivanivsky refinery in Kharkiv region. Sugar beet is not grown around these enterprises due to the weather conditions. Kharkiv region is one of the regions where the drought is felt most acutely,” he said in an interview with NV.
At the same time, Ivanchyk did not indicate at what amount the enterprises are being evaluated. He also did not rule out that Astarta may announce their sale by the end of the year.
When asked whether the company is interested in investing in leased land, the co-owner of the holding said: “Yes, if these are long-term lease agreements.”
“When the relevant legislation comes into force and we are allowed to do this [to buy land], then we can think about whether it is profitable for us to invest in this long-term asset and what rate of return we could consider acceptable for ourselves comparable with the opportunities that we have when leasing land,” he said.
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ED & F Man, one of the world’s largest commodities trader, is planning to sell some of its sugar assets, Bloomberg has reported, referring to a source.
According to Bloomberg, the decision was made as the business struggles to make money amid thin industry margins.
Kyiv office of the company gave no comments on the issue. London-based office said that the company doesn’t comment on “industry speculation” and added that the company continually evaluates its business and operations and explores potential opportunities that may arise.
ED & F Man started operating in Ukraine in 2007. It owns the Zasillia sugar refinery with an annual production capacity of 50,000 tonnes. In March 2018, the company decided to suspend operations of Zasillia sugar refinery expecting a surplus of sugar on the Ukrainian market in the medium term outlook.
ED & F Man’s subsidiary, Ukrainian Sugar company, jointly with Agro-Delo agrarian trade firm started planting sugar beets for sugar production in 2012.
The regional office of ED & F Man was opened in Kyiv in March 2017 to coordinate all business processes of the company in the Black Sea region.
Over the period of its operations in Ukraine the company has invested over $150 million in development.
