Business news from Ukraine

BTA BANK WITHDRAWS ITS SHARE OF ORANTA INSURER

BTA Bank (Kazakhstan), which owns 20.284% of shares in the National Joint-Stock Insurance Company Oranta (Kyiv), has reduced its block of shares to 0%, according to the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
It is specified that the amount of voting shares of NS-Finance LLC (Kyiv) in Oranta increased to 72.389660% from 50.106890%, and their number – up to 95,718,477 from 66,254,700.
As reported, NS-Finance LLC notified of the conclusion of a sale and purchase agreement on December 13, 2021, as a result of which it became the owner of a controlling stake in Oranta in the amount of 50.0035%. After that, NS-Finance sent a public offer to purchase shares from all holders of the insurer’s shares at UAH 1.05 per share. The purchase of shares on its behalf is carried out by DM BROK LLC (Kharkiv).
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, as of the first quarter of 2021, BTA Bank owned 35.17% of shares in Oranta, the Cypriot companies Visiline Limited – 9.424%, Cezavelios Holdings Ltd. – 5.623%, Chilwell Limited – 9.991%, and another 7.1826% – are held by Maria Loseva.
Oranta is the legal successor of Ukrgosstrakh, founded on November 25, 1921. In 1993, Ukrgosstrakh was reorganized, its founder on the part of the state was the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF). In 2007, the SPF sold the last state-owned block of shares to the investor.
The insurer operates on the basis of 33 licenses: 15 compulsory and 18 voluntary types of insurance.

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CHINA ASKS UKRAINE TO RESOLVE CONFLICT SURROUNDING PURCHASE OF MOTOR SICH SHARES BY CHINESE INVESTORS

China asks Ukraine to properly resolve the conflict issue surrounding the purchase of Motor Sich shares by Chinese investors, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a briefing, answering a question from the RIA Novosti Russian state agency about the reaction to possible nationalization enterprises by decree of the President of Ukraine.
“China asks the Ukrainian side to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and investors in accordance with the law and properly resolve the relevant issues,” Chunying said in a transcript of the March 25 briefing on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website.
The spokesperson said that the Foreign Ministry was informed about the relevant documents on Motor Sich.

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SOUTH KOREAN CARIS PLANS TO BUY OUT SHARES OF MINOR SHAREHOLDERS OF CRANE BUILDING COMPANY

Caris Ukraine LLC (Kyiv), controlled by South Korean Caris, intends to buy out the shares of minority shareholders of Strila crane building company (Brovary, Kyiv region), in which it owns 89.837% of shares.
According to the public irrevocable demand published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine, the shares from the minority shareholders will be redeemed at UAH 129.4 per share (with a par value of UAH 110).
The charter capital of JSC Strila is UAH 6.21 million.
At present, Strila plant, which employed ten people by the beginning of this year, does not carry out production activities (since 2015), and receives main income from the sale of materials and partial lease of premises.
Caris, according to its information, has enterprises in many countries of the world, construction, logistics companies, companies for the production of innovative materials and components for road construction and traffic safety, and also has an R&D center that owns patented innovative technologies for the production of polymer and superhard materials used in heat power engineering, industrial electronics and mechanical engineering.

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COMPETITION AGENCY PERMITS AGIMANT TO BUY 100% OF SHARES IN OWNER OF DNEPROMETIZ

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine permitted Cypriot Agimant Limited of the Ukrainian businessman Sergiy Tigipko to acquire 100% of Dealzone Holding Ltd. (Rod Town, British Virgin Islands), which owns 98.6578% of shares of one of the largest enterprises for the production of metal products in Ukraine PrJSC Dneprometiz.
“On October 8, the committee granted Agimant Limited permission to acquire sole control over Dealzone Holding Ltd. by concluding a shareholder agreement between Agimant Limited and Sartorius Limited,” the committee said in a statement.
According to the report, Sartorius Limited controlled Dealzone Holding Ltd. thanks to the availability of a veto.
The committee also said that Sartorius Limited, which intends to transfer control, is not bound by control relations with Tigipko’s TAS Group or any business entities-residents of the Russian Federation, which are subject to special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions).
According to the public register, Oleh Artemiev from Dnipro is the beneficiary of Sartorius Limited. Through this company, he controls Granit Invest-Rokytne LLC and Rokytne Granit Quarry in Kyiv region with revenue UAH 7 million and UAH 3.1 million in 2019 respectively.
Sartorius Limited for some period this year was also the owner of Rubezh Invest LLC after the company whose beneficiary was Tigipko, but now Yevhenia Kurnosenko from Dnipro is the beneficiary of this limited liability company through Technoprom SKD LLC.
In the public register, Tigipko is listed as the beneficiary of Dneprometiz; earlier, Alexey Mordashov, co-owner of Severstal (Russia), acted as the beneficiary.
According to the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission for the second quarter of 2020, Dealzone Holding Ltd. held 98.6578% of the shares of Dneprometiz.
As reported, the Antimonopoly Committee on April 25, 2019 considered the issue of the purchase of the Dneprometiz enterprise by the TAS group from the sanctioned Severstal and admitted violations of the legislation on the protection of economic competition in the transaction, imposing a fine of UAH 55 million on the TAS group.
The Kyiv business court overturned the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee to impose the fine and refuse to grant this acquisition.

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STATE-OWNED PRIVATBANK WANTS TO SELL SHARES IN LARGEST SKI RESORT IN UKRAINE

State-owned PrivatBank intends to involve an adviser in the preparation and sale of the financial institution’s shares in Bukovel, the largest ski resort in Ukraine, Deputy Head of PrivatBank Halyna Pakhachuk has said. “The bank owns two-thirds of the complex, which consists of 64 facilities, one-third is Skorzonera LLC,” she said.
Pakhachuk reported that this list of objects is not an integral property complex; in addition to the hotel, it includes 104 hectares of land and part of the lifts.
According to the deputy head of PrivatBank, when these objects were initially put on the bank’s balance sheet, their value was estimated at UAH 12.6 billion, including the Radisson Blu Bukovel hotel (Zirka Bukovelia) at UAH 1.62 billion, but their real market value differs from these indicators.
Pakhachuk also said that in recent years the bank has been renting its facilities in Bukovel to the Parktur LLC resort operator (Polianytsia, Yaremche, Ivano-Frankivsk region). In 2019, the rent amounted to UAH 110.5 million, including UAH 47.5 million per hotel, and in 2020 it will increase to UAH 117.5 million, including UAH 50.5 million per hotel.
The deputy head of the bank reminded that these facilities are non-core for the financial institution, and according to the standards introduced by the National Bank in the future, they will have to be taken into account at zero cost.
Radisson Blu Bukovel hotel increased its net income by 9.1%, to UAH 221 million, and the net loss decreased by 36.7%, to UAH 39.33 million in 2018. According to the state register, the beneficiaries of this enterprise are former owners of PrivatBank Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov.
The revenue of Parktur LLC increased by 71.9%, to UAH 425.35 million, net profit increased by 6.2 times, to UAH 86.14 million in 2018, the owner is Vitaliy Kovalchuk, registered in Kolomyia (Ivano-Frankivsk region).

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QUARTER PARTNERS BUYS PART OF SHARES IN DOC.UA SERVICE

Quarter Partners, a private investment fund, has bought shares in the DOC.UA online medical service, the fund said in a press release. The amount of the transaction is not disclosed.
According to Quarter Partners, in 2020 it is planned to launch the DOC.UA service in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Moldova. The markets of Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Baltic countries and the UAE are also under development.
The head of the supervisory board of EFI GROUP (a group of companies that is the majority owner of the service), Ihor Liski noted that attracting such investments will bring the service to a new level.
“We continue to improve our innovative practices, strengthen the team and its effectiveness. Therefore, Quarter Partners is a reliable partner for us, able to support bringing the project to a new level,” he said.
EFI GROUP (Effective Investments) operates in various sectors of the economy: pulp industry, gas industry, energy, agriculture, woodworking, creative industry, and healthcare.
The DOC.UA service monthly serves more than 700,000 requests. A base of more than 10,000 doctors and 1,700 medical institutions in Ukraine is available to DOC.UA customers.
Quarter Partners fund invests in businesses with a high growth potential for their development and subsequent sale to strategic investors. The founder of the fund is Ukrainian investor Andriy Ivanov. Quarter Partners completed deals on equity raising and selling to strategic investors totaling over $5 billion.

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