Daily monitor

The power distribution company Zaporizhzhyaoblenergo [ZAON UK] plans to pay UAH 4.3 mln in dividends, which amounts to UAH 0.024 per share. This implies a 0.6% dividend yield. The Company decided to allocate 30% of its 2009 net income towards the dividend payout, as recently required by the government.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy is considering ways of covering the sugar shortage in Ukraine, which is estimated to reach 200-250 thsd tonnes by the end of this season (by September). The few options that now exist are importing raw cane sugar from WTO members or importing 100-150 thsd tonnes of sugar from Belarus with an extended duty and VAT repayment period. The government controls the current schedule for importing 230 thsd tonnes of raw cane sugar per week and those importers who fail to import their share until June will lose their quotas.

MHP S.A. [MHPC LI, U/R] a leading vertically-integrated poultry producer in Ukraine, has announced its results for the 2009 financial year ended December 31, 2009, after which it held a conference call presentation and Q&A session.

Kyivenergo [KIEV UK] will consider attracting a USD 220 mln loan facility from the World Bank at its AGM scheduled on April 14, 2010. The Company intends to allocate the needed funds toward electricity grid construction.

According to Interfax, world-leading iron ore producers BHP Billiton and Vale will apply a new iron ore pricing model, based on short-term contracts. The new model should factor in changes in prices on the spot iron ore market.

The Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine, Mykola Prysyazhnyuk, claims that Ukrainian banks are ready to finance agricultural companies with their future harvest as collateral. He noted that, in March 2010, banks provided greater volumes of credit than was the case a year ago. At the same time, the banks have lowered interest rates to 18-20%. As for state support, the government mentioned plans for a sum of USD 150 mln (or UAH 1.2bln) for interest compensation for agricultural companies in 2010.

According to Interfax, the Economic Court of Donetsk Region marginally imposed a ban on Mariupol Illich ISW [MMKI UZ] holding its AGM. The decision was taken to secure claims made by eight former shareholders, which implicates top management of buying out their shares in an underhanded way in the period 1997-2004.

Kruykiv Railcar [KVBZ UZ, BUY] plans to supply 270 railcars to Freight One Ukraine (RZD’s daughter company) in April-May 2010, according to Interfax. According to KVBZ’s Chairman of the Board Evgeniy Khorost, the Plant is in the process of negotiating further cooperation with Freight One.

The Minister of Economy of Ukraine Vasyly Tsushko appealed to the country’s sugar producers to lower the price of sugar on the domestic market to an economically viable level. He noted that, in the case that they are unwilling to cooperate, the Ukrainian Government will move to import an additional amount of raw cane sugar into the country in order to address the situation with the sugar shortage in Ukraine.