Business Briefs
July 02 at 20:19Sea Launch files Chapter 11, plans reorganization
(AP) – Sea Launch Co., a satellite launch services provider owned by Boeing and international partners from Ukraine, Russia and Norway, has filed for bankruptcy protection. In its Chapter 11 filing, the Long Beach, California-based company listed assets of between $100 million and $500 million against liabilities of between $500 million and $1 billion. Sea Launch said it intends to maintain normal business operations and, subject to court approval, will initially use its cash balance to meet operational requirements during reorganization.
Boeing owns 40 percent of Sea Launch. Its partners are RSC Energia of Moscow, SDO Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash, the Soviet-built rocket design and construction companies in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, and Aker ASA Group of Norway. Formed in 1995, the company launches satellites from a seagoing platform that sails from the Port of Long Beach to the equator, where its rockets can lift heavier payloads than would be possible from other locations on Earth’s surface. The company also offers land launches from Kazakhstan for medium-weight satellites.
Kjell Karlsen, president and general manager, sought to reassure customers, employees, suppliers and partners. “Chapter 11 reorganization provides an opportunity for us to continue operations and focus on building our future plans,” he said. The company currently has a backlog of 10 launches. Eight will be conducted at sea and two will be land launches.
Most launches have been successful since the first in 1999. One of its major failures was a 2007 explosion just seconds after ignition that blew a 300-ton gas deflector off the self-propelled Odyssey launch platform. The company’s most recent launch was conducted this month at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
Cadogan’s ex-directors suspected of malice
(Reuters) - Cadogan Petroleum Plc, a London Stock Exchange-listed hydrocarbon production company whose principle assets are in Ukraine, said on June 26 that it had started litigation in the High Court in London against its former chief executive and chief operating officer after an internal probe into potential accounting irregularities.
Cadogan named former CEO Mark Tolley and ex-COO Vasyl Vivcharyk and seven other defendants in the case. “The actions are the first steps in a major campaign to obtain redress for the company arising from the previously announced internal investigation of potential irregularities surrounding the procurement of and payment for certain assets and services,” Cadogan said in a statement. Cadogan said in May that it had identified potential irregular payments of between $5-7 million related to procurement. Cadogan said the seven other defendants include companies controlled by the former executives, two suppliers to Cadogan and some individuals associated with those suppliers.
“The High Court has granted worldwide ‘freezing orders’ against the former executives and their companies,” Cadogan said in a statement. The company said its investigation was continuing.
Tolley stepped down as chief executive on March 19. Vivcharyk resigned as chief operating officer on June 9.
WTO: Ukraine import surcharges unjustified
(Reuters) - A World Trade Organization committee told Ukraine on June 25 to drop its 13 percent surcharge on imported cars and refrigerators by Sept. 7 at the latest, and preferably by mid-July. The balance of payments panel said the surcharge imposed by Kyiv in March in response to the global economic crisis was not justified under WTO rules, which allow governments to restrict imports temporarily if they have balance of payments problems.
Earlier this week, the European Union, Japan, China, the United States, Turkey, Canada, Colombia and Argentina all spoke out against the 13 percent surcharge. The strongest criticism came from Brussels, which said it was clearly a protectionist maneuver meant to help Ukraine’s domestic production of cars and refrigerators and not a measure aimed at shielding its entire economy at an acute moment. Ukraine joined the WTO last year.
Tax office: Ukraine home to 7,423 millionaires
Ukraine is home to 7,423 millionaires, or about 400 more than in 2007, a senior State Tax Administration official said on June 30 citing tax income filings from 2008. “We have about 400 more this year,” Interfax-Ukraine quoted Serhiy Lekar, deputy head of the tax administration, as saying. The figures are based on income in Ukraine’s currency. The hryvnia has held steady this year at 7-8 relative to the US dollar after losing about 40 percent of its value in late 2008.
While several Ukrainian magazines have singled out more than a dozen of the country’s richest men as billionaires in their rankings of their assets, Lekar said no citizens declared incomes above Hr 1 billion. In previous years, some citizens ranked as billionaires in terms of their hryvnia incomes, but the highest income declared this year by one citizen was a bit more than Hr 600 million, according to Lekar.
Lekar cautioned that the country’s richest individuals do not always declare all of their income, using legal tax optimization and illegal tax evasion schemes to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. He said tax authorities have waged cases against 15 wealthy citizens whose cumulative income is estimated to exceed Hr 5 billion. He said that even in times of economic crisis, some affluent citizens can be seen making gifts and purchasing assets far beyond their declared incomes.
Less than 546,000 of Ukraine’s 46 million citizens, slightly more than the 526,000 in the prior year, filed tax declarations for income earned in 2008. Some Hr 22 billion of income from last year was declared by individuals, sharply down from Hr 30 billion in 2007. Tax authorities collected almost the same amount in income tax revenue compared to the prior year, some Hr 806 million.
Dniproavia to expand fleet by 16 aircraft
Dnipropetrovsk-based Dniproavia, one of Ukraine’s mid-sized passenger and cargo airlines, plans to expand its fleet adding another 16 aircraft in the next several years. The head of the carrier’s advertising department, Stanyslav Stadnik, told Interfax-Ukraine that the company’s plans foresee the purchase of 12 Embraer 145s, three Boeing 737s and one Boeing 767. The company’s fleet currently includes Yak 42s, one Boeing 737s, and Embraer 145s.
Stadnik also said that the company finished the clearance procedure for the first Boeing 767, which was delivered to the company in early 2009. “We plan to start its exploitation from July 1. Initially the plane will carry out charter flights from Kyiv to Egypt,” he added. OJSC Dniproavia, which manages Dnipropetrovsk Airport, performs regular and charter flights to countries in Europe, the Middle East, the CIS and domestic destinations.
Detsky Mir curtails Ukraine business
Russia’s Detsky Mir Group, a children’s clothing and toy store chain, is closing down its two stores in Ukraine, in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk, and has postponed plans to develop its chain on the domestic market, Interfax-Ukraine reported citing a company official. “Our plans to enter the Ukrainian market have been postponed for the time being,” said Detsky Mir spokesperson Yevgenia Dorofeyeva.
“The group is ending a one-year pilot project in Ukraine [focused on expansion], because trends show that development of the consumer market in the country are not on par with the group’s expectation,” she added.