Consumer goods

According to the National Association of Ukrainian Sugar Producers “Ukrsugar”, the amount of arable land cultivated with sugar beet will possibly shrink by at least 11.4% YoY to 350 thsd ha in the 2009/10 marketing year.

According to Mr. Vintoniak, the CEO of the consulting agency “Infagro”, the production of milk in Ukraine will drastically shrink in 2009.

According to Interfax, Coca-Cola is going to acquire the non-alcoholic beverage plant in Zaporizhzhia.

Last week, the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yuschenko, endorsed the law on a 13% increase to the import duty on all goods, except goods falling in the critical imports category (i.e. for items such as oil products, gas, etc.)

Slavutych [SLAV UZ, BUY] held a conference on February 19, 2009. The company has continued to outperform the overall growth on the beer market, showing a growth of 16.2% vs. the 0.4% figure for domestic market growth. In 2008, total Slavutych turnover amounted to 8.2 mln gal (+19% YoY).

Myronivskiy Khliboprodukt [MHPC LI, HOLD], one of the Ukrainian leading companies in the consumer and agricultural sectors, has released its operational results for 2H09.

The Kyiv Cardboard Paper Mill [KIKP UZ, N/R] in Obukhiv (Kyiv Region) – a leading Ukrainian pulp and paper producer – has released a statement regarding its financial results for 2008. The company recorded a net profit of UAH 46.477 mln.

Kovelmoloko [KMOL UZ, U/R], a Ukrainian dairy producer that is affiliated with the Western Milk Group, decreased its net income by 2.4 times to USD 0.19 mln in 2008. The company’s assets increased by 41% to 58.7 mln. Kovelmoloko is going to hold an AGM on March 27, 2009 in order to review its 2008 financial results.

The Creativ Group [4C8A GR, N/R], a Ukrainian vegetable oil and fat producer, increased its net income in 2008 by 90.7% YoY to USD 0.5 mln. The company’s assets totaled USD 19.3 mln.

System Capital Management (SCM) has officially stated that it is no longer a major shareholder in the Luhansk brewery. SCM sold its beer asset to Keg Service Ltd., the deal details for which have not yet been disclosed.