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from Ukrnafta in order for its subsidiary to resolve its tax debt issue. Such tactics are risky for Naftogaz’s top management, given that the Ukrainian government does not support Naftogaz’s initiative for Ukrnafta debt resolution. So, Vitrenko’s position may escalate a smoldering conflict between Naftogaz and Cabinet. At the same time, this attempt looks encouraging for Ukrnafta’s prospects to resolve its key risk.”
9.2.3 Transport corporate news
SkyUp, Ukraine’s new discount airline, is to receive three more Boeing 737s in April, part of a planned tripling of its all-Boeing fleet to 12 by the end of this year. Breaking with UIA’s Boryspil hub strategy, SkyUp is launching direct flights this spring from regional airports: Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kherson, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, and Zaporizhia. The flights, largely to vacation destinations, are a mix of charters and regular flights, Dmitry Seroukhov, CEO of JoinUp! travel agency, told reporters Friday.
With ridership on trains to Russia falling by 20% a year, Ukrzaliznytsia has cut frequencies and may drop the Kyiv-St. Petersburg train entirely, Krasnoshtan says in the same interview. By contrast, west bound trains to Poland and Austria have high occupancies and are money makers. The new ‘Four Capitals’ train to Belarus and the Baltics is running at 40% occupancy, but UZ has hopes for more riders this summer.
9.2.5 Retail corporate news
Businessman Vadim Grigoryev has made his second big Kyiv office centre purchase in a year, buying a 28,200 square meter building in western Kyiv currently occupied by Innovecs, the Israeli software outsourcing company. Hryhoryev bought the centre for $13mn at a ProZorro.sale auction of assets owned by the now defunct Ukraine subsidiary of Russia’s VTB bank. Last year, he bought the 17,100 square meter Renaissance Business Centre for $25mn, Kyiv’s largest office purchase of the year. With IT companies grabbing space, office vacancies in Kyiv have fallen to 3%.
9.2.6 Agriculture corporate news
● Astarta Holding
Net loss of Ukraine’s leading sugar producer and farming holding Astarta stood at €21.1mn in 2018 vs €61.8mn a year before, according to the company's annual report published on April 8. The company reported 2018 revenue of €372.2mn, according to its annual report released on Apr. 8. This is a 19% decline year-on-year. Its Ebitda dropped 53% y/y to €56.9mn in 2018. In Astarta’s key segment, sugar and related products, revenue fell 40% y/y to €119.4mn and gross profit dropped 78% y/y to €15.7mn. In its crop segment, revenue decreased 10% y/y to €126.8mn and gross profit slid 4% y/y to €15mn. In its soybean segment, revenue increased 2% y/y to €74.3mn and gross profit improved 14% y/y to €9.6mn. Its net cash generated from operations plunged 88% y/y to €8.5mn, while its CapEx was corrected by just 4% y/y to €49.1mn, forcing the company to increase its debt. Astarta’s net debt reached €295.4mn as of end-2018, which is 2.3x, or €165.2m/ higher y/y. The increase was mostly the result of €75mn in new debt attracted and the
66 UKRAINE Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com