Page 56 - UKRRptAug18

(and rose 37.3% y/y) to 386.6 tonnes; grain sales increased 44.6% q/q (or a 64.3% y/y increase) to 1.57mn tonnes; and export terminals' throughput rose 6.4% q/q (or a 12.6% y/y increase) to 1.61mn tonnes in 4QFY18. FY2018 crushing volumes rose 6.0% y/y to 3.14mn tonnes, a record for the company’s history. It resulted in bulk oil sales increasing by 20.1% y/y to 1.30mn tonnes in FY2018.
Ukrainian egg producer Ovostar Union reduced shell egg production by 3.4% year-on-year to 787mn units in January-June , according to the company’s operating update. The company’s total hen flock decreased 6.3% y/y to 7.4mn and laying hen flock dropped 7.5% y/y to 6.2mn. Ovostar's shell egg sales jumped 31.1% y/y to 787mn units and its egg export volume more than doubled y/y to 294mn units in January-June. Its shell egg prices increased 42.8% y/y to UAH1.86 ($0.07) per unit in the first half of the year. Ovostar processed 280mn eggs and sold 5,867 tonnes of liquid egg products (a 20.6% growth y/y), while the export volume of liquid egg products increased 57% y/y to 2,904 tonnes in January-June. On the other hand, the sales of dry egg product dropped 24.8% y/y to 1,382 tonnes, while export volumes increased by 30.1% y/y to 980 tonnes in the first half of 2018. In April-June, the company’s egg production decreased 2.4% y/y to 401mn units (or 3.9% growth quarter-on-quarter).
Ukraine's agricultural giant Astarta increased sugar sales by 13% year-on-year to 91.7 tonnes in April-June, according to its operating update published on July 20. The farmer's average sugar price decreased 23% y/y to UAH10,450 ($392) per tonne. At the same time, Astarta's total sales of key crops (wheat, corn, barley and sunflower) dropped 36% y/y to 125.5 tonnes in the second quarter of 2018, while their average price increased 29% y/y in UAH terms. The company’s soybean oil sales dropped 14% y/y to 9.2 tonnes (at an average price of 2% less y/y in UAH terms) and of soybean meal 11% y/y to 26.4 tonnes (at a 15% higher average price). The company's milk sales decreased 1% y/y to 26.4 tonnes, while the average price grew 11% y/y in UAH terms. Based on the published operating data, Kyiv-based brokerage Concorde Capital estimates that Astarta’s revenue amounts to €85.5mn in April-June (down 16% y/y) and €176.1mn in January-June (down 30% y/y), Alexander Paraschiy of Concorde wrote in a note on July 23.
9.2.7 TMT corporate news
Beetroot, the Swedish-based IT outsourcing company, is expanding across Ukraine , opening two new locations – Ivano-Frankivsk and Kharkiv – to add to its bases in Kyiv, Odesa and Poltava. Fueling this expansion is last year’s 80% growth in revenues, which allowed the company to add 100 workers, a two thirds increase. Beetroot Academy, the company’s IT training network, is expanding from five cities in 2017 to 20 in 2021. Working closing with employers, Beetroot has seen 70% of its graduates land jobs in IT. In Ukraine, the average IT salary is $1,600 a month, about five times the national average.
Booking service major Booking.com has stopped processing bookings on the Crimea peninsula that was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 and is subject to international sanctions, Vedomosti daily reported on July 17 citing local news agencies. Previously limiting Booking.com's work in Russia was discussed by Russian lawmakers as part of possible retaliatory measures
56 UKRAINE Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com