Grocery supermarket chain Varus will invest UAH 150 million in the installation of rooftop solar power plants (SPP) at 48 of its 115 facilities, the Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers (UCC) has reported.
According to the report, the total capacity of the SPP will reach 4.8 thousand kWh, which will generate more than 5 million kW of electricity per year. The payback period of the project is estimated at two years.
The planned generation will amount to 21% of the annual consumption of supermarkets, with annual savings of UAH 50 million. It is noted that the company has chosen the model of direct consumption of generated energy due to the high cost of storage systems. The SPP will cover 95% of supermarkets’ electricity needs during the day.
The company plans to further expand the project to the entire supermarket chain and explore the possibility of installing gas diesel generators.
As reported, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has issued a $25 million loan to Varus for the reconstruction and modernization of equipment in existing stores, lease of a new warehouse, and installation of a solar power plant to reduce dependence on the grid.
Varus is a national supermarket chain represented on the Ukrainian grocery retail market by Omega. The chain’s first store was opened in 2003 in Dnipro, and the total number of its stores is 114 in different cities of Ukraine, including a DarkStore in Kyiv. The chain operates in several formats: classic supermarkets, To Go stores and the online store varus.ua.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Omega LLC is Cyprus-based Weigant Enterprises Limited, with Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak listed as the ultimate beneficiaries.
According to the company’s financial results for 2024, its revenue increased by 14.3% compared to the previous year and amounted to UAH 20 billion. The company’s net profit decreased by 80.9% to UAH 38.2 million.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing the VARUS Group retail chain with a $25 million loan to expand its retail operations and improve business sustainability, according to the EBRD press service.
This food security project, with a total value of $53.1 million, will receive a 22% first loss risk coverage provided by the EU under the Investment Facility for Ukraine (UIF) through the Municipal, Infrastructure and Industrial Resilience (MIIR) program. To date, the EU has allocated EUR 207 million in guarantees and grants to Ukraine through the EBRD under the Ukraine Investment Facility (UIF), 87% of which has been provided to the private sector.
The guarantee for Varus plays a crucial role in mitigating the heightened macroeconomic and geopolitical risks associated with the investment. The support is provided in recognition of the project’s alignment with the bank’s Green Economy Transition (GET) approach through energy-efficient modernization, the installation of renewable energy sources, and the improvement of sustainable logistics. It includes the installation of solar panels, high-efficiency lighting, and reversible split air conditioning systems with low global warming potential.
VARUS Group is the fifth largest food retail chain in Ukraine. The chain consists of 114 stores, most of which are located in the eastern part of the country, employing around 7,500 people. Despite the closure of some retail outlets due to the war, the group has opened new stores and been able to return to its pre-war size. The EBRD loan will enable further expansion of the VARUS network, the refurbishment and modernization of equipment in existing stores, the lease of a new warehouse, and the installation of photovoltaic systems to reduce dependence on the electricity grid.
Cooperation with the EBRD will help preserve Ukraine’s human capital and the livelihoods of workers despite the ongoing challenges of wartime through technical cooperation. The project will also benefit from a co-investment grant to optimize warehouse logistics, improve energy efficiency, and address urgent human capital needs.
Technical support is funded by the EBRD’s Multilateral Donor Fund “Action for Equality and Gender Equality” (A4EG), while project preparation and the co-investment grant are funded by the Japan-EBRD Cooperation Fund.
In January-June 2024, Varus supermarket chain paid UAH 700 million in taxes and fees to the state budget, the retailer’s press service reports.
“Every hryvnia of taxes paid to the state budget is another brick in building a strong economy of Ukraine. We are grateful to all the customers of Varus supermarkets, thanks to whom we continue to work and contribute to the support of our country,” comments Marina Panina, CFO of Varus.
In the first three quarters of 2024, Varus opened new stores in Pokrov, Zaporizhzhia, two in Odesa and renovated the store in Kryvyi Rih.
The release notes that the expansion of the network and the opening of new stores allows Varus to create and provide jobs for Ukrainians in different regions. The company pays special attention to internally displaced persons. First of all, the company helped evacuate and provided new jobs to its employees from the regions where active hostilities are ongoing. The IDPs are employed in all cities where the chain has stores. In the city of Dnipro alone, more than 500 IDPs have been employed in the chain’s stores.
In 2023, Varus paid UAH 1.1 billion in taxes and fees to the state budget.
The Varus chain has opened its fourth store in Odesa (91 Dacha Kovalevskoho Street), the retailer’s press service reports.
The new supermarket has the Varus Home format and was developed for the chain by YUDIN Design studio. The total area of the store is 1050 square meters, of which 622.31 square meters is the sales area, and in addition to standard cash desks, there will be self-service cash desks.
“The Varus Home format is an opportunity for our customers to buy their favorite products in a home atmosphere. The stylish design emphasizes the vector for continuous development and improvement, and it is also designed to make the time spent in the store even more enjoyable,” Anna Luganskaya, Varus Marketing Director, was quoted in the release.
She noted that more and more renovated supermarkets, in addition to a wide range of goods, offer products of their own production. The culinary department offers dozens of meat, vegetarian, diet and seasonal dishes. For lovers of pastries and hot pizza, Varus Cafe offers pizza and bread of its own production. The supermarket also has coffee machines that allow customers to make their own coffee.
Varus is a national supermarket chain represented on the Ukrainian grocery retail market by Omega. Omega’s authorized capital is UAH 111 million 129 thousand, owned by Weigant Enterprises Limited (Cyprus), with Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak as ultimate beneficiaries. In 2023, Omega’s revenue amounted to UAH 17.51 billion, which is 20% higher than in 2022, and net profit amounted to UAH 200 million, which is 69.5% higher than in 2022.
The first store of the chain was opened in 2003 in Dnipro, and the total number of its stores is 109 in different cities of Ukraine and a DarkStore in Kyiv.
The chain operates in several formats: classic supermarkets, To Go stores and the varus.ua conscious shopping service.
UT Company, created by co-owners of EVA and Varus chains Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak, has won a tender of the State Logistics Operator (DOT) for the supply of food to military units in one of Ukraine’s regions, the press service of Terwin Group reports.
“Ukrainian Transparent Company has committed itself to supplying food to military units in one of Ukraine’s regions by offering the best conditions at the tender held by the State Logistics Service. This is a pilot project that will last for two months and will significantly save the state budget,” the press release says.
The company did not disclose the cost of the tender. According to Shostak, the company aims to help the state make the procurement process transparent and efficient.
“Our main task is to restore trust in the state and business pride in cooperation with the authorities. And I want to emphasize that we supply products directly from domestic manufacturers to soldiers without extra charges; we finance all administrative costs on our own, we do not add them to the price – this is our contribution,” Shostak was quoted as saying in the press release.
According to Forbes Ukraine, the supplies will be delivered to military units in Zaporizhzhia region.
As reported, in October 2023, 17 companies managed by Shostak, employing a total of 30,000 people, merged into TERWIN. These are Omega LLC, Rusch, Tervin Group, Tixid, Tavria Hub, Mizhtneva, Formsite, Digamma, Milton Group, Saltora Plus, Firm Ariant, Novoe Stroitelstvo 2017, Altair D, Apex H, Aspect D, Lattero, and the Ruslan Shostak Charitable Foundation. The total assets of the corporation are estimated at $1.6 billion. The total revenue of the companies in the pre-war period reached $2 billion, and in 2023 it was expected to reach $1.7 billion.
ARMED FORCES, EVA, FOOD, VARUS
State-owned Oschadbank has provided a UAH 297 million revolving credit line to Omega LLC, the owner of the Varus supermarket chain, under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%,” the bank said in a statement on Friday.
“This is the fourth retail chain to receive financing from Oschad in the period from February 2022 to May 2023,” the release said.
According to the release, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the state bank has entered into loan agreements for grocery retail in the corporate business segment for UAH 1.6 billion, thus increasing the volume of financing for this sector by almost 3.5 times.
It is noted that Oschadbank has been cooperating with the VARUS network since 2014. The credit line was opened to replenish working capital for a period of 12 months.
As the state bank recalled, in 2022, Oschad entered into loan agreements with large corporate clients worth almost UAH 14 billion, while the corresponding loan portfolio increased by 24% and amounted to UAH 56.6 billion at the beginning of 2023. It is noted that since the beginning of this year, the volume of loan agreements has reached UAH 14.7 billion.
Omega LLC was established in 2000, the beneficiaries are Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak. The first Varus supermarket was opened in 2003 in Dnipro. According to the website, the chain currently has 103 supermarkets in five regions of Ukraine and the capital, with a retail area of 89.4 thousand square meters. Varus employs seven thousand people.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of July 1, 2023, Oschadbank ranked 2nd in terms of assets (UAH 324.74 billion) among 65 banks operating in the country, and first in terms of the number of branches in the country (1183).
