The owner of the UFuture group, businessman Vasyl Khmelnitsky, has said that he and his family have no plans to leave Ukraine and go abroad, and expressed confidence that there will be no full-scale war and its threats are not justified.
“Me and my whole family (mother, wife, children and grandchildren) stay in Ukraine. We continue to live our usual lives and do not plan to go abroad. My whole team also remains in the country. We continue to work, create value and invest in Ukraine,” Khmelnytsky wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
He said that he speaks exclusively as an entrepreneur, and his position is based on an understanding of many internal and external processes.
“But these are political processes, and I don’t want to discuss them publicly,” he said.
Khmelnytsky expressed the opinion that today, the most real threat that paralyzes all processes is panic.
“What can we do now to at least slightly stabilize the situation: 1. Continue to work effectively and live a familiar full life. 2. Maintain critical thinking, common sense and a cool head,” the businessman said.
“Whatever storms occur in the country and the world, I will leave my ship last,” he added.
A day earlier, a similar public post was posted by Andriy Stavnitser, co-owner of the TIS terminal group and the towing company P&O Maritime Ukraine, calling for “constructive calm activity.”
“We can’t let this crisis go to waste, it should make us stronger… I don’t believe in a full-fledged invasion, but I better be ready,” the businessman wrote.
UFuture is a holding company that brings together Khmelnytsky’s business and social projects. It has a diversified portfolio of assets in real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and IT. The value of UFuture’s assets is estimated at $500 million. The total capitalization of the businesses in which it has invested is up to $1 billion.
Ukrainian entrepreneurs Vasyl Khmelnytsky and Andriy Ivanov have reached an agreement on splitting management of joint investment projects, in particular, Ivanov’s Quarter Partners will manage investments in the projects of UDP development company and the Kyiv airport, while Khmelnytsky via UFuture remains the majority shareholder of these companies with the power of veto.According to a joint press release issued on Thursday, UFuture holding company controls interests in all joint businesses and social projects of Khmelnytsky and Quarter Partners investment fund – in the projects of Ivanov. “We are in the final stage of restructuring and managing our investments. Today, I focus on global innovation and impact projects that are changing the country,” Khmelnytsky said.
He said that they are UNIT.City in Kyiv and Kharkiv, Biopharma, Bila Tserkva Industrial Park, Kyiv International Economic Forum, and the others.
“I have founded Quarter Partners as a new-model investment fund that combines both portfolio and venture capital projects. In addition to managing existing projects, our team is already looking for and developing promising new businesses, including startups,” Ivanov said.
He said that the focus is on IT-projects that can scale and complement each other, creating new value for their clients and society. There are many strong teams working here to develop high-quality products for consumers around the world, he said.
According to the press release, the management structure of Kyiv Airport and its development program have not changed, but UDP does intend to significantly enhance its profile activities. Conversely, UDP has changed its management structure and will announce several new projects in the near future.
Serhiy Bogoslavskyi, who has been working in the Ukrainian real estate market for over 15 years, has been appointed the President of UDP. Vitaliy Melnyk, CEO of UDP, will continue managing the development of innovative parks in Ukraine as UDP Vice President.
UFuture is a holding company of Ukrainian entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky that integrates his business and impact-investment projects. The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in the fields of real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and IT. Currently, UFuture’s assets are estimated at $550 million, and the total capitalization of the businesses it invested in is more than $1 billion.
UFuture is a majority shareholder in UDP development company (specializing in large infrastructure projects), Kyiv Sikorsky International Airport (the second international airport in Ukraine by passenger traffic), national operator of outdoor advertising RTM-Ukraine, and a group of IT companies and an ecosystem of tech solutions ITernal. UFuture is a strategic investor in the pharmaceutical company Biopharma and UDP Renewables, renewable energy investment and development company. UFuture is also developing new business projects including UNIT.City innovation parks in Kyiv and Kharkiv, LvivTech.City in Lviv; Bila Tserkva industrial park and a manufacturer of modern electrotechnical systems, Plank Electrotechnic.
UFuture supports social projects in the fields of education and economics, including the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF), Lean Institute Ukraine, UNIT School of Business, UNIT Factory innovative IT-schools in Kyiv and Kharkiv, INDAX accelerator, Novopecherska School, the all-Ukrainian online platform iLearn, K.Fund Books and #bestread publishing projects.
Quarter Partners, a private fund that invests in businesses with a high potential for growth and then resells these businesses to strategic investors. It was founded as a diversified investment group in 1992. The fund has made large deals on attracting share capital as well as selling businesses to strategic investors. Today, Quarter Partners focuses on finding and developing IT-projects (eCommerce, MedTech, FoodTech, Logistics) as well as the projects in pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, and real estate.
The investment portfolio includes Kyiv Sikorsky International Airport, UDP development company, UDP Renewables, Biopharma pharmaceutical company, operator of outdoor advertising, RTM-Ukraine, as well as several venture projects in Ukraine and abroad. The total investment in these projects is $520 million.
UFuture investment group of Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky plans to implement residential complex construction projects as part of the innovation parks in Lviv (LvivTech.City) and Kharkiv.
“They [projects in Lviv and Kharkiv] have housing, and innovation campuses, co-working space, schools, institutes,” Khmelnytsky told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
He did not specify who will be partners in these projects, but noted that the UDP company of their UFuture group cooperates with KAN Development only in the UNIT.City project.
The launch of LvivTech.City, according to Khmelnytsky, is planned for 2020.
UDP CEO Vitaliy Melnyk told Interfax-Ukraine that the area of the residential part in LvivTech.City will be 42,000 square meters, while the parameters of housing in the Kharkiv project are not yet known.
According to Managing Partner of UNIT.City Maksym Yakover, UNIT.City is already building residential housing, and the start of sales is planned for September.
“The first phase is now nearing completion [construction at UNIT.City]. We will soon open the B10 campus, and at the end of this year or the beginning of the next year – B11. Housing construction is in full swing, the start of sales will be announced in September,” he said at a press conference.
BUILD, INNOVATION PARKS, RESIDENTIAL HOUSES, VASYL KHMELNYTSKY
Founder of UFuture Investment Group Vasyl Khmelnytsky has appointed Frenchman Dominique Piotet to be Director General of UNIT.City innovation park, reads a press announcement from the company. Following the report, Khmelnytsky will inform about the plans for the development of the innovation park and changes in its management structure together with UNIT.City managing partners, Maksym Yakover and Maksym Bakhmatov, along with new CEO Dominique Piotet.
As reported, UFuture plans within 2019 to increase the investments into various businesses by 20%, up to $60 million.
UNIT.City was officially opened in April 2017 in the territory of the former Kyiv Motorcycle Plant. The co-working space Chasopys-UNIT, the IT school UNIT Factory, three laboratories, a business campus, a foundation and five accelerators are located in its territory.
DIRECTOR GENERAL, DOMINIQUE PIOTET, UFUTURE, UNIT.CITY, VASYL KHMELNYTSKY
UDP Renewables, a part of UFuture Investment Group, has launched its new solar power plant Scythia-Solar-2 in Melitopol (Zaporizhia region).
“UFuture and UDP Renewables continue to consistently realize the economic potential of Ukraine’s southern region following our long-term energy strategy. Now, the share of renewable energy sources in our country’s energy mix is only about 3%, but together we work towards changing this ratio. Our target is more than 160 MW of total production capacity by the end of 2019,” Founder of UFuture, Vasyl Khmelnytsky, said.
Scythia-Solar-2, with a peak capacity of 33.1 MW, occupies land area of 50 ha and consists of more than 91,000 solar modules produced by JA Solar. New PV PP will generate almost 42,000 MWh per year enabling to power 13,300 households.
“Scythia-Solar-2 is a high-tech facility. It is the second phase of our largest project Scythia-Solar, which we have started implementing in 2018. We have traditionally cooperated with Ukrainian equipment manufacturers and providers of respective services worth of UAH 288.5 million. During different stages of PV PP’s construction and operation, we created 315 jobs,” Managing Partner of UDP Renewables, Sergiy Yevtushenko, emphasized.
The project attracted €21.58 million of investments. The total capacity of two phases of Scythia-Solar is 46 MW, and the total investment reached €31.68 million. The launch of Scythia-Solar-2, instead of coal-fired power plants, will prevent 51 thousand tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Its general contractor is a Ukrainian group of companies, KNESS, and the financial partner is Oschadbank.
UDP Renewables is an investment and development company in the Ukrainian renewable energy sector. With diversification in type of renewable power generation and geography, by 2022 UDP Renewables strives to become one of the largest producers of clean energy in Ukraine, with total capacity of more than 300 MW. UDP Renewables is a part of UFuture Investment Group, a Ukrainian private equity firm and group of companies based in Kyiv. It unites businesses and social projects of Ukrainian entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky. Throughout its 20-year history, the group has accumulated a diversified portfolio of assets that spans both traditional sectors and industries of the future, and ranges from real estate, infrastructure and manufacturing to pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and technology.
INVEST, MELITOPOL, SOLAR POWER PLANT, UDP, VASYL KHMELNYTSKY
Spanish-based Acciona Energia Global could acquire over 50% in the solar power plant projects Hudzivka-Solar 1 and Hudzivka-Solar 2 of UDP Renewables of Vasyl Khmelnytsky near Izmail in Odesa region.
According to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, it plans to consider the relevant statement of the Polish company Dymerka Solar Poland Sp. z o.o. controlled by Acciona.
According to UDP Renewables, the capacity of the Hudzivka solar plants being under construction in 2019 is 25.9 MW.
Managing Partner of UDP Renewables Serhiy Yevtushenko told the Interfax-Ukraine agency that UDP Renewables intends to remain in this project after Acciona joins it in order to develop it together. He added that the details of cooperation will be announced later after the successful completion of the transaction.
In early January of this year, the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate reported that it had allowed Hudzivka-Solar 2 LLC to build two solar plants with a capacity of 10 MW each in Izmail.
ACCIONA ENERGIA, SOLAR PLANT, UDP RENEWABLES, VASYL KHMELNYTSKY
