U.S.-UKRAINE BUSINESS COUNCIL (USUBC)
Washington, D.C.

TO:   Members, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC)
DATE:  Wednesday, September 26, 2007

 

1. KRAFT FOODS UKRAINE TO OPEN REPRESENTATION IN BELARUS THIS YEAR

Interfax - Ukraine Business, Kyiv, Ukraine, August 22, 2007

KYIV  - CJSC Kraft Foods Ukraine,Ukraine's largest confectionery producer, is to open a representative office in Belarus by the end of the year.  As the company said in a press release,the company previously supplied products to Belarus via distributors.

George Logush,the managing director of Kraft Foods Ukraine,believes that opening the representative office in Belarus will allow the company to receive quality information about the Belarus market and its potential,to better understand needs and tastes of the consumer,and have an opportunity to cooperate with authorities and government agencies.

Currently,Kraft Foods Ukraine has a representative office on Moldova. The company is also engaged in active exports of produce to Georgia,Armenia,Azerbaijan and Russia.

Kraft Foods Ukraine has been operating on the Ukrainian market since 1994.
It incorporates the Trostianets-based Ukraina chocolate factory and a Vyshgorod facility for the production of potato chips and snacks and packing instant coffee.

 

2.  WESTINGHOUSE: NSDC MIGHT ORDER ENERGY MINISTRY TO OPERATE THREE UKRAINIAN REACTORS ON NON RUSSIAN-MADE FUEL BY 2011, NEWSPAPER REPORTS

Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, September 21, 2007

KYIV - The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council plans to order on Friday that the Energy Ministry and the Energoatom national nuclear power generation company ensure that three of the country's nuclear reactors by
2011 use fuel other than that provided by Russia, according to Kommersant newspaper, which quoted a draft resolution of the NSDC.

U.S. firm Westinghouse could be one of alternative sources of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian reactors. Energoatom is currently testing fuel made by Westinghouse at the third reactor of the Uzhnoukrainsk NPP.

However, NSDC Deputy Secretary Yuriy Prodan, who oversees issues related to the energy sector, told Interfax-Ukraine had no knowledge of such a draft resolution. He said he had not met with representatives of the newspaper ahead of the publication of the article.

Meantime, the newspaper quoted Prodan as saying that the National Security and Defense Council planned to transfer some reactors to using Westinghouse fuel, since the fuel has been certified in Ukraine.

Prodan further told Interfax-Ukraine that the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council scheduled for Friday had been cancelled. He admitted that the National Security and Defense Council meeting was supposed to concern the development of the nuclear industry and nuclear power generation sector in Ukraine.

Russia's TVEL is currently the only supplier of nuclear fuel to Ukrainian NPPs.

 

3.  UKRAINIAN CARGO AIRWAYS NEGOTIATES PURCHASE OF TWO CARGO PLANES FROM BOEING

Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 17, 2007

KYIV - Defense Ministry state enterprise Ukrainian Cargo Airways (UCA) is holding talks with the Boeing corporation on purchasing two cargo planes, UCA president Vitaliy Popov told journalists during a press conference last week.

According to him, the company needs the planes to secure Ukraine's participation in NATO and UN programs that have special requirements that Ukrainian planes cannot meet.

According to Popov, UCA is taking part in a tender for the UN for transporting troops in Sudan. The company is also developing a program for the modernization of Il-76 planes used in Ukraine, which will extend their working life by about 30 years.

 

4.  ALICO AIG LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY INCREASES STATUTORY FUND TO UAH 157.93 Million

Ukrainian News Service, Wednesday, September 26, 2007

KYIV - The shareholders of the Kyiv-based ALICO AIG Life insurance company at the meeting on September 26 decided to increase statutory fund of the insurance company by UAH 36.4 million to UAH 157.93 million. This reads the statement of the insurance company.

The company will additionally issue 3.64 billion simple registered shares with a nominal value of UAH 0.01. Presently the company's statutory fund amounts to UAH 121.53 million. ALICO AIG Life insurance company was registered as a closed joint-stock company

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, ALICO AIG Life majority stockholder is the resident of the Unites States, American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) with the stake of 99.99%. The insurer was registered on July 16, 2002.

 

5.  UKRAINE: CARGILL A.T. CALLS ROZYCKI AS BOARD CHAIRMAN

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, August 1, 2007

KYIV - During their July 30 meeting, shareholders of a major grain trader company, Cargill A.T. (Kyiv), relieved Andreas Rickmers of duties as the company board chairman, and appointed Andrzej Rozycki in his place.
Ukrainian News learned this from the company's press release.

Rickmers has been holding this post for three years, having no company stakes [Rickmers is moving to a new position in Cargill in Geneva] . Rozycki is the director general of the Cargill Poland company, holding no stakes either.

As Ukrainian News reported, Cargill A.T. engages in wholesale trade in grain and animal feed, as well as in fuel and chemical products.

The company finished 2005 with a profit of UAH 28.957 million, having increased net revenues by 29.8% or by UAH 390.476 million to UAH 1,701.442 million compared to 2004. 100% of the shares in Cargill A.T. belong to US company Cargill Incorporated.

 

6.  AMERICAN CISCO APPOINTS MIKHNEVYCH AS DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR CIS COUNTRIES

Ukrainian News Service, Kyiv, Ukraine, June 18, 2007

KYIV - American Cisco company, which specializes in network technologies and Internet equipment, has appointed Serhii Mikhnevych as the director general for CIS countries (except for Russia).  Cisco press service disclosed this to Ukrainian News.

"The post was introduced due to fast growth of Cisco business in the region (CIS countries) and also due to increasing importance of the region for our company," Cisc? Systems press service head in CIS countries Oleksandr Palladin said.

Before the appointment, Mikhnevych had occupied the post of regional manager in CIS countries since 2005. In particular, Mikhnevych developed business of the company in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bilorus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Being on the new post, Mikhnevych intends to strengthen Cisco position in the CIS countries opening new offices and representations of the company in the largest cities and strengthening regional system integrators, distributors and resellers.

Currently, Cisco representations work in Kyiv, Almaty, Baku and Tashkent.

 

7.  WJ HOLDING: KHERSON BREAD MILL TO INVEST UAH 47M INTO ELEVATOR MODERNIZATION

Interfax, Kyiv, Ukraine, May 16, 2007

KYIV - OJSC Kherson Bread Mill is to invest UAH 47 million into the modernization and reconstruction of its elevator,the company told Interfax-Ukraine.

As the company reported,in accordance with a feasibility study,the elevator's capacity will be boosted by 60%,to 160,000 tonnes (currently it is 100,000 tonnes). It is planned that elevator modernization will start in mid-summer and will last for 1.5 years.

Under the modernization program,it is also planned to expand grain-processing capacity from 40,000 to 60,000 tonnes.

As reported,stockholders,at a meeting on April 26,decided to increase the company's statutory fund by 50.2%,to UAH 67.585 million via an additional issue of shares worth UAH 22.3 million.

The issue is aimed at the expansion and reconstruction of the elevator complex of the enterprise,along with replenishing its circulating assets.
Kherson bread mill processes grain,stores and transports over ten types of farm produce,and packages grain in sacks.

According to the enterprise,an 83.3% stake in Kherson bread mill belongs to Cyprus-based WJ Holding Limited. The statutory fund of the enterprise is UAH 44.385 million.