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revenue in 2022, including three closed hypermarkets, amounted to UAH 10.7B, which is 26.3% lower than 2021's results, the company reported. Auchan Ukraine's losses for 2022 amounted to UAH 1.2B, while in 2021, the network's profit was UAH 296.7M. The company paid UAH 994.5M in taxes last year, which is 14% lower than the figures for 2021 when the network replenished the state treasury by UAH 1.15B. In February, the CEO of Auchan Retail International, Yves Claude, came to Ukraine and expressed his support for the Ukrainian office and declared his readiness to invest in the development of the chain's network in Ukraine. Auchan Ukraine received $25M from the parent company. It was used to restore a location in Odesa that was damaged by a rocket, pay off supplier debts, and provide financial support to employees. Auchan Ukraine awaits another tranche of support from the head office this year.
The largest shopping center will be opened in Ukraine since the war began. On August 25 in Ivano-Frankivsk, the second stage of the Veles shopping center is scheduled to open. The center's total area is 43,000 square meters, with 25,000 square meters of leasable space, said Rostystav Mykhailiv, the director of 555-IF, the project's developer. The total area of the shopping center will increase from 20,000 to 62,000 square meters, and rental space will increase by up to 40,500 square meters. The updated Veles will be among the four largest malls in terms of leasable areas in Western Ukraine. The second stage of Veles opens with 20% vacancy. Major operators include Silpo supermarket, Comfy household appliances, and electronics store, Fly Kids children's and entertainment center, and Movie Land cinema. Veles' previous anchor store, EKO-market supermarket, is closing. Veles becomes Ukraine's largest commercial real estate facility to open during the war.
9.2.6 Agriculture corporate news
Bayer will build a €60M corn seed production plant in the Zhytomyr region. Bayer will invest €60M in the Monsanto plant in the village of Pochuyki, Zhytomyr region, the head of the Zhytomyr OVA, Vitaly Bunechko, said. Investments will be directed to constructing a new seed dryer, purchasing modern agricultural equipment, and constructing warehouses and two bomb shelters for employees. The official emphasized that Monsanto Seeds is already one of the largest seed plants in Eastern Europe. It supplies corn hybrids to Ukrainian farmers and farmers in Romania, Hungary, and France. After the construction of additional capacities, its potential will increase even more. "Expansion of production is simultaneously creating new jobs and increased tax revenue for the budget," Bunechko said. The first phase of the €200M plant was launched in 2018. About 100 full-time and 250 to 300 seasonal employees work at the enterprise. The Bayer plant is one of the largest in the region.
A German company buys another sugar factory in Lutsk. The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine is considering the case of concentration in the form of the acquisition of the assets of the Hnidav Sugar Plant by the company Radekhiv Sugar. The German company Pfeifer & Langen owns Radekhiv Sugar and four other Ternopil region sugar factories - in Zbarazh, Kozova, Khorostkov, and Chortkov. Pfeifer & Langen GmbH & Co. KG is a German family company headquartered in Cologne. For more than 150 years, it has been producing and selling sugar and its derived products. Germany's third largest sugar producer
77 UKRAINE Country Report September 2023 www.intellinews.com