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difficult task. However, it is making progress and returned to profit in the first quarter of this year earning UAH35mn ($1.3mn) in profit in April 2021 after posting a year of losses previously, the company said on May 13. The profits were down to the implementation of an operational anti-crisis plan, but without raising freight rates or reducing the tax burden on the company, the acting head said. Yuryk also said that despite the difficult 2020 year, Ukrzaliznytsia remained one of the largest and most conscientious taxpayers and, by the end of 2020, had transferred more than UAH25bn to the budgets of all levels and funds.
Concorde Capital’s Alexander Paraschiy slammed the issue saying it was too expensive: “The placement rate implies a spread to the sovereign curve of 247 bps, which looks too high for a quasi-sovereign issuer. Two years ago, Ukrainian Railways issued a new bond with a 155 spread to the sovereign curve. In fact, this is the third-worst issue spread in Ukraine’s quasi-sovereign universe over the last 10 years.”
42 UKRAINE Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com