Finance

Tuesday, May 11

EnergoReforma’ya göre, Norveç’li Scatec, Ukrenergo’nun Garantili Alıcı biriminin ödemelerindeki gecikmeler ve elektrik satın alma anlaşmalarındaki değişiklikler nedeniyle bir kredi sözleşmesinde temerrüde düştüğünü duyurdu . Scatec’in Ukrayna’da dört faal güneş enerjisi santrali ve 111,4 milyon dolarlık ödenmemiş kredisi var. Şirketin birinci çeyrek raporuna göre, Scatec’in Ukrayna’da sahip olduk...

Ukrenergo lost $1 billion last year, a sharp turnaround from nearly $70 million profit in 2019. The state company says its core activity – power transmission — is profitable. But losses come from subsidizing electricity to low income households and from national rates that do not cover ele...

To open up northern Moldova to Ukrainian trade and tourism , a tender is underway for construction of what would be the second bridge on the 267 km Dniester River border between the two countries. Expected to cost $120 million, the bridge and seven kilometers...

To help pay for Ukraine’s ‘Big Construction’ program, the Cabinet of Minister has extended state guarantees to $360 million worth of hryvnia bonds for Ukravtodor. The Cabinet also approved a list of priority highway projects to be financed with the bonds...

Thursday, May 6

In April 2021, enterprises across most of the surveyed sectors reported worsened outlooks of their business performance. The indices of the industrial, trade and services sectors moved below their neutral levels. Meanwhile, construction companies reported optimistic expectations for the first time since September 2019.

Whilst not yet recovered to the levels of productivity in 2013, industrial enterprises again worsened their estimates of business performance. The sector’s index was 49.8 in April, down from 52.3 in March. Industrial companies expected a surge in raw material and supplies prices and selling prices, while remaining upbeat about the number of ...

Oschadbank’s plan to disburse UAH 2.776bn has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers . UAH 832.897 million (30%) will be allocated to the state Budget for the payment of dividends, UAH 1.8 billion (65%) to cover the accumulated losses of previous years, and UAH 138.8 million (5 %) wil...

In 2020, Agroton increased its net profit by 2.3 when compared to 2019 to $11.76 million, and its EBITDA increased by 14.6 times to $33.04 million, the company has revealed. Its revenue increased to $67.55 million, while gross profit was up 3.2 times, to $ 32.91 million. The assets of “Agroton” last year increased by 5.1% – up t...

Wednesday, May 5

Aerospace firm Firefly, owned by Ukrainian businessman Max Polyakov, raised $200 million in investments as the result of the first round of venture funding. The company’s value has exceeded $1 billion, according to a press release from Firefly.

Major Firefly shareholders includes Dada Holdings, Astera, Canon Ball, Reuben Brothers SMS Capital Investments . Astera spokesman Jed McCaleb will now join Firefly’s Board of Directors.

The company says that by the end of 2021 it hopes to raise another $300 million. They want to start a new round of attracting investments after the launch of the Alpha rocket, which is planned for July 2021.

Former Naftogaz Chief Andriy Kobolev denies accusations of allegedly creating a hole in the 2021 state budget estimated at UAH 10 billion . “We understand that they were counting on our money – for 10 billion UAH. Our plan was to replace dividends with one or another payment (the technology can be discussed – from gove...

The board ex-head stressed that on the date of his dismissal, the company had more than $2 billion of free funds on its account, and 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas owned by Naftogaz in underground storage facilities. “Thus, with the financial plan, which, unfortunately, was not approved for us for this year, we were going to ensure the safety of the next winter, ensure all investments in production and trans...

The company had a very difficult conversation with the Ministry of Finance, “which accused us that we are hiding some money and are not showing something,” according to Kobolev. “As a leader who thinks about winter and other big challenges, such as hindering the completion of the construction of Nord Stream 2, I understood the need to plan our activities in order to ensure that Naftogaz is financially balanced. What is security for next winter? It’s enough money. Out of $2 billion, we are UAH 32 billion, th...

Tuesday, May 4

The National Bank has simplified regulations for Ukrainian companies seeking to issue debt securities on the international market, the NBU said. The following amendments were introduced: “transactions to distribute income on and redeem Eurobonds as well as other issuer transactions for the purpose of placing such securities were ...

“The Ukrainian economy requires additional funds for development more than ever. One of such sources is international loans. The regulator observes increasing interest of Ukrainian companies to the possibility to attract foreign funding, including through Eurobond placement. The amendments approved by the NBU will streamlin...

Metinvest’s desired acquisition of the Dnipro Metallurigcal Plant is drawing attention from Ukraine’s antimonopoly regulator. “The Committee is considering the case of concentration in the form of indirect acquisition by Metinvest BV Netherlands of assets in the form of an integral property complex, which together prov...

Monday, May 3

Ukraine has successfully completed a $1.25 billion Eurobond placement at 6.875% maturing in 2029 , the Ministry of Finance announced on Friday. Joint Book runners included BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International and JP Morgan. “The funds were transferred to the account of the Stat...

Reflecting high demand for Ukraine assets among global investors, the offering attracted over $3.3 billion from 223 investors . The investor base included asset management firms which accounted for 84% of the issue, followed by hedge funds at 9%, insurance and pension funds at 5% and banks at 2%.

Investors from the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU comprised the bulk of demand for the offering – 42%, 34% and 21%, respectively. Investors from Asia and MENA accounted for 3%.

Yuriy Butsa, the Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management, noted that despite the return to the trajectory of fiscal consolidation, Ukraine’s funding needs are still high compared to previous years. “Having successfully implemented a local borrowing strategy in the first quarter, we returned to international capital markets after stabilization to cover some of our foreign exchange needs this year...

Ukrainian Railways is under intense scrutiny by the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada, which said that the company has performed unsatisfactorily, VSK head and MP Yulia Grishina announced on Facbeook. The body intends to appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers to dismiss the company’s acting...

Fitch Ratings revises Ukrainian Railway’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating, senior unsecured debt, and its SPVs on Rating Watch Negative, the agency announced on April 29. The change reflects the company’s weakened liquidity position, according to the agency’s assessments. As of April, Ukrainian Railway’s liquidity coverage ratio, calcu...

Ukrainian Railways continues to be effected by the Covid-19 pandemic shock to Ukraine’s economy, including a GDP contraction of 4.2% in 2020, ongoing lockdown measures and currency depreciation. “We project the economy to rebound in 2021 with growth of up to 4.1%, but there are material downside ...

Fitch Ratings affirms MHP’s long-term issuer default rating in foreign and national currencies at “B +” with a stable outlook. “The Long-term Local Currency IDR of MHP SE at ‘B +’ reflects a growing share of profits outside the country, as well as a strong business profile of MHP with a reasonable scale and ...

“The confirmation reflects our expectation of a recovery in EBITDA which has been driven by higher poultry prices after a significant drop in 2H 2019 and 2020. Together with the expected rebound, profit in the crop sector, which was hit hard in 2020 by adverse weathe...

Farmak, a leading Ukrainian pharmaceuticals company, will donate $500,000 to the Kiev School of Economics (KSE) to fund a new campus and improve existing programs , the company said in a press release. “By supporting such projects, we are contributing to the achievement of the Global Sustainable Development Goals, one of the tasks of which is to improve t...

Friday, April 30

Ukroboronprom, the defense industry conglomerate, has reorganized its structure to eliminate Mustafa Nayem, the reformer who worked for two years as Deputy General Director for Asset Management. “Today is my last day at Ukroboronprom,” Nayem wrote yesterday on Facebook. Of his work, he wrote: “Our tea...

Wednesday, April 28

Naftogaz veered from a $93 million profit in 2019 to a $685 million loss in 2020 , the state oil and gas company reported. Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev said the company turned a net profit during the first quarter of this year. “The company bottomed out and started generating profi...

Adamant Capital yesterday wrote: “The placement occurred with a small (10-20bps) yield premium to the market, suggesting that it was well received, despite the apparent delays in the state’s program with the IMF. The timing suggests ...

Concorde Capital’s Alexander Paraschiy wrote that the new issue “looks like a success.” He added: “It is too naive to expect Ukraine would be able to get more than one IMF tranche this year. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance’s reliance on such financing looks too optimistic, and most li...

The Finance Ministry raised the equivalent of $370 million at its weekly auction yesterday, the Ministry reported on its Facebook page. Yields in hryvnia reflect the Central Bank’s increase in the nation’s prime rate 10 days ago to 7.5%. The yields were: 6-month – 9%; 1-year – 11.2%; 1.5 yea...

Two Citibank strategists recommend investors buy Ukraine’s GDP warrants, saying they could rise from 105.5c today, to 125c. In a note to investors Luis Costa and Dumitru Vicol wrote: “Mounting fiscal pressures to finance the planned 5.5%/GDP deficit for 2021 are likely to ...

Demand for dollars hit a 4-year high during the recent military standoff between Russia and Ukraine , Bohdan Danylyshyn, chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, announced on the banks Facebook page. Since the start of April, Ukrainians bought $422 million more dollars than they sold, according to ...

Tuesday, April 27

Enjoying a peace window, on Monday Ukraine placed 8-year Eurobonds worth $1.25 billion at 6.875% per annum – the lowest yield of the government’s 11 outstanding Eurobonds, reported Bloomberg. The benchmark was 7-7.25%, but demand was almost three times supply, pushing down the final interest rate, reports Interfax.ru.

ICU wrote yesterday, referring to the government hryvnia bond market: “There has been very important improvement in market sentiment after the risk of escalating hostilities in the east of Ukraine declined, with immediate increase in Eurobonds’ and VRIs’ pri...

J.P. Morgan has predicted that Ukraine’s GDP will grow by 5.6% this year, said the bank in its April commentary. This is higher than Ukraine’s Central Bank, which lowered its forecast last week to 3.8%. The Economy Ministry came out last week with a ‘consensus forecast’ of ...

UIA lost $161 million last year, a sharp reversal from $60 million profit in 2019 , the company reported to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission in advance of the airline’s May 28 2021 shareholders meeting. Accounts receivable almost doubled, to $80 million. UIA says...

Monday, April 26

On Thursday, Odesa’s 12-story Victoria Hotel will be put up for auction by the Deposit Guarantee Fund. Located a 10-minute walk from Arcadia beach, this Black Sea hotel has 229 rooms. The starting price is $7 million. The hotel is one of 862 assets that the Fund will be s...

Ukraine’s goal of quadrupling revenues from the sale of state companies this year “is entirely realistic,” wrote Dmytro Sennychenko, the Head of the State Property Fund, in an Atlantic Council blog: “Ukraine moves closer to large-scale privatization breakthrough.” The $430 million goal will be met through the sa...

The 17 state defense enterprises transferred to the State Property Fund 10 days ago are “the remnants of property that has been torn apart, plundered, ” said Yuriy Husev, Director General of Ukroboronprom, the defense production conglomerate, in an online forum last week. With names like the Ivano-Frankivsk Boiler and Welding Plant, the Transcarpath...

Korrespondent magazine has ranked Ukraine’s five most valuable brands: Kyivstar (mobile) – $225 million; Rozetka (e-commerce) – $210 million; Darnitsa (pharmaceuticals) – $187 million; Morshynska (water) — $173.25 million; Nova Poshta (delivery) &...

Friday, April 23

Ukraine’s GDP warrants and Eurobonds reacted positively to news yesterday that Russia will start to withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s borders . Warrants jumped from 102.5% to 104.4%, and Eurobonds rose by 0.8-2.3 percentage points, depending on maturity dates.

Hours before Russia announced the withdrawal Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Reuters that European foreign ministers should meet Monday and discuss kicking Russia out of the global SWIFT payments system . The US has kept this measure in reserve as a severe financial sanction. As of 2018, around half of all high-value cross-border payments worldwide used the SWIFT network, exchanging an average of 32 ...

The first of seven state-owned flour mills is to be privatized through auction on May 7 , the State Property Fund reports. Often called ‘bakeries’ these Soviet-era complexes mill wheat and corn into flour and animal feed. Located alongside railroad tracks, the seven ‘kombinats’ have elev...

During the first quarter, the State Property Fund conducted 377 privatization auctions, raising $36 million for the Treasury. By July 1, the Fund plans to complete the sale of all 40 properties of Ukrspirt, the former state alcohol monopoly producer.

Bankers are optimistic about lending prospects for the next 12 months , according to the National Bank of Ukraine’s quarterly survey. Of credit managers polled, 78% predict an increase in the loan portfolio of corporations, 82% predicted an increase in loans to househol...

Looking back at the first quarter of this year , the central bank reported: “Demand for loans increased from business and individuals, including mortgage demand was the highest in the history of observations.” Lower interest rates were cited as th...

Thursday, April 22

BlaBlaCar, the Paris-based road travel platform, has acquired Octobus, a Ukrainian cloud platform that allows bus carriers to automate their business processes. The purchase, for an undisclosed sum, comes as the car-sharing service seeks combine on one platform carpooling and bus offerings for its 90 million users worldwide. In 2019, BlaBlaCar acquired Busfor...

Cutting into UZ’s scrap metal mountain, the railroad sold 141,000 tons of ferrous scrap during the first quarter, netting almost same amount as during all of last year. Benefitting from high steel prices, UZ made $37 million from 31 auctions on ProZorro.