Business can cope with the problem of staff shortage in Ukraine by investing in technological products and process automation, says Ruslan Shostak, owner of Eva and Varus chains and president of TERWIN Corporation.
“I don’t see a big problem (with staff shortage). Yes, it exists, you can’t turn a blind eye to it, but according to statistics, not so many people left Ukraine. Our whole business was inefficient in terms of human resource utilization, which made us uncompetitive with similar businesses in Europe and the world. But there is one solution for this: money. We don’t have money to reconstruct our production facilities and enterprises. If we have money, software products, new robotic equipment, we will be able to solve this issue,” Shostak told Business Wisdom Summit in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to Shostak, despite a slight outflow of customers, his business is showing growth: last year’s growth was almost 100% in online and 30% in retail. In addition, new logistics hubs are being built in Kyiv, Lviv, and Dnipro.
Shostak noted, while in Ukraine business development is slowed down due to the war and difficult economic situation, global business is undergoing changes and using new opportunities, including artificial intelligence.
“Now we are focusing on geopolitics, but in the next 20 years we will face global economic problems, change of specialties, professions. It is artificial intelligence that is driving the most powerful changes right now,” Shostak believes.
As reported, in October 2023, 17 companies managed by Shostak, which collectively employ 30 thousand people, merged into TERWIN (TERWIN). We are talking about Omega LLC, Rush, Tervin Group, Tixid, Tavria Hub, Instant, Formsite, Digamma, Milton Group, Saltora Plus, Firma Ariant, New Construction 2017, Altair D, Apex N, Aspect D, Lattero, Charitable Foundation Ruslan Shostak BU. The total assets of the corporation are estimated at $1.6 billion. The combined revenue of the companies reached $2 billion in the pre-war period and was expected to reach $1.7 billion in 2023.
In November 2023, Shostak and UkraineInvest CEO Serhiy Tsivkach signed a memorandum on further support of the project for the construction of logistics hubs in four regions of Ukraine (Odessa, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv) with a total investment of more than $500 million.
BUSINESS, INVESTMENTS, staff shortage, TECHNOLOGIES, TERWIN Corporation, UKRAINE
The number of insurance companies in Ukraine in March 2024 has not changed and as of the end of the month there are 86 risk insurers, 12 specializing in life insurance, one insurer with a special status (“Export Credit Agency”), according to the NBU website. At the same time, two insurance brokers are included in the register.
In general, the number of non-banking financial market participants in March decreased from 1,060 (as of February 29, 2024) to 1,056 (as of March 31, 2024).
Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva had a conversation with Diplomatic Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Portugal, Georges Monteiro, via video link, the press service of the President of Ukraine reported on Tuesday.
Ihor Zhovkva thanked Jorge Monteiro for Portugal’s continued support of our country’s fight against Russian aggression.
“We appreciate Portugal’s practical participation in the tank, aviation and maritime coalitions. It is important that the volume and pace of military support continue to increase,” Ihor Zhovkva emphasized.
In the course of the conversation, the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office informed Georges Monteiro on the situation at the frontline and urgent military needs of Ukraine.
The interlocutors agreed to start negotiations on the conclusion of a bilateral security agreement in pursuance of the joint declaration of the Group of Seven on the support of Ukraine in the nearest future.
Particular attention was paid to Portugal’s support for the Ukrainian peace formula, as well as Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. George Monteiro noted Ukraine’s progress in implementing reforms necessary for its future membership in the EU and NATO.
As reported earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Portugal Luis Montenegro instructed to start working on the preparation of a security agreement.
Ukraine and Hungary have agreed to open the Velyka Palad-Nagyhodos checkpoint for passenger vehicles, the press service of the Ministry of Community Development, Territorial and Infrastructure Development (MinRestore) reported on Monday.
In addition, the countries agreed to allow the movement of empty trucks weighing more than 7.5 tons at the Luzhanka-Beregsurany checkpoint.
The relevant amendments to the Agreement between the governments of the countries on border traffic control were signed by the Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine – Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov and the Ambassador of Hungary to Ukraine Heizer Antala.
It is specified that the agreements reached with Hungary require ratification to come into force.
“The signed amendments to the Agreement with Hungary allow us to start planning design and infrastructure works to launch the new Velyka Palad-Nagyhodos checkpoint and ensure the movement of empty trucks at Luzhanka,” Kubrakov said.
According to him, the possibility of building a new cargo checkpoint “Dyida-Berehdaroc” is also being considered to increase the capacity of the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.
Kubrakov also noted that Ukraine is working to start negotiations on the introduction of joint customs and border control with Hungary.
“This will allow us to speed up control procedures and reduce the time for crossing the border,” emphasized Kubrakov.
There are 5 automobile checkpoints on the border with Hungary. Only the Chop-Záhony checkpoint can handle trucks weighing more than 7.5 tons. Both loaded and empty vehicles go there. Every day, about 220 trucks cross the Chop-Zahony border crossing to leave Ukraine.
Since the beginning of 2024, the demand for neurological drugs, including antidepressants, as well as drugs used to treat dementia, epilepsy and antipsychotics, has been growing, Yevhen Zaika, regional director of the Acino pharma company, shares his observations.
“We see a significant increase in demand for neurological drugs: antidepressants, drugs for the treatment of dementia, epilepsy and antipsychotics,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
Zaika noted an increase in demand for cardiac and endocrinology drugs, as well as an increase in the share of nutritional supplements in the sales structure.
Commenting on the current situation in the pharma market, the expert noted that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, logistics has risen in price by 20-30%. To counteract blackouts, the Pharma Start plant in Kiev, which produces products for Acino, was equipped with two diesel generators, the office and production are provided with Starlink Internet.
Zaika said that Acino currently has 17 new products in development.
At the same time, he emphasized that Ukrainian requirements for the quality and manufacture of drugs are “very severe.”
“For example, the Ukrainian market applies the requirement for separate registration of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which significantly increases the development time of new products, and also increases the cost of both developing and maintaining the active registration status of the product. In Europe, where we all aspire to, there is simply no such thing as AFI registration,” he said.
Commenting on the strategy of the company’s participation in budget procurement, Zaika noted that the volume of tender shipments grows annually in hryvnia equivalent, but the share of budget shipments remains approximately at the same level.
As reported, pharmacy sales in Ukraine in January-February 2024 increased in monetary terms by 21.6% compared to the same period of 2023 – up to UAH 32.331 billion, in physical terms – by 2.9% to 201.828 million packages. Pharmacy sales of medicinal products for two months of 2024 amounted to UAH 25.265 billion, which is 20.65% more than in the same period of 2023. At the same time, sales of drugs in physical terms increased by 2.6% to 142.869 million packs.
Kyivstar, the largest electronic communications operator, and SHERIFF, a holding of security companies, including SHERIFF Demining, which is a certified mine action operator, have signed a memorandum of cooperation.
Ukraine is currently the most mined country in the world. According to the State Emergency Service, about 175 thousand square kilometers of territory are contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance. That is why Kyivstar and SHERIFF Demining are starting to work on a technology for humanitarian demining operators.
The companies will jointly test RTK signal correction services, which will ensure high accuracy of mapping contaminated areas and marking explosive objects.
“Helping to rebuild the country is an important mission not only for Kyivstar, but also for the entire Ukrainian business. To speed up the process of demining and rebuilding the country, we are ready to share our experience in implementing the latest technologies that will save lives of Ukrainians,” comments Ilya Poltakov, Kyivstar’s Director of New Business Development. “In particular, for safe demining it is important to ensure the identification of the exact coordinates of mines and the boundaries of contaminated areas. This requires high-quality GNSS equipment with RTK technology support.”
Kyivstar will provide its partners with access to RTK technology and provide recommendations on the selection and use of GNSS receivers. The company’s specialists will also conduct analytical research to test positioning and location technologies.
“We expect that cooperation with Kyivstar will help us to significantly improve the accuracy of explosive ordnance detection and subsequent demining. This will allow us to clean up contaminated areas faster and safer and return them to peaceful life,” commented Yevhen Antypenko, SHERIFF Director.
About Kyivstar
Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian electronic communications operator, which as of December 2023 served about 24 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, RTK cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc. Kyivstar is developing new telecom technologies in Ukraine and plans to invest USD 600 million in this area over the next three years. The company is helping the country overcome the challenges of wartime and has allocated over UAH 1.8 billion over the past two years to support the Armed Forces, subscribers, local communities, and charitable initiatives. The sole shareholder of Kyivstar is the international VEON Group headquartered in the Netherlands. The Group’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam) stock exchanges. Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for more than 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.
For more information: pr@kyivstar.net, www.kyivstar.ua
About SHERIFF
SHERIFF Security Holding is a national security operator that has been operating in Ukraine since 2003 and is a leader in the security services market. The company offers the maximum portfolio of services in its field: demining (certified mine action operator), a license to provide collection services and a NBU permit for a cash processing and transfer center, physical security, fire alarm maintenance and monitoring, fire extinguisher recharging, installation of video surveillance systems (including analytical systems) and access control, monitoring and response to burglar alarms, as well as Transfer customer support services, cargo escort, armored taxi, and other services. More than 40,000 clients have entrusted their security to SHERIFF.
For more information: pr@sheriff.com.ua, www.sheriff.com.ua