OREANDA-NEWS. July 27, 2010. According to local media reports, on July 14, the Kharkiv Economic Court initiated proceedings to reorganize the Kupyansky Sugar Plant, which is controlled by Ukrros (UX: UROS UK). The court appointed a reorganization manager for the firm, imposing a three month deadline to submit a reorganization plan with a mandate of one year to turn the plant around. The plant did not operate in 2009/2010 due to a lack of raw materials for processing; the plant has a processing capacity of 4 ths mt of sugar per day.

Concorde Capital: in our view, the news is neutral for Ukrros in the short-term as Kupyansky Sugar Plant (~11% of UROS’s total capacity) is one of the two facilities in Kharkiv region the company decided to sell in 2009. The decision was based on the lack of nearby land to grow beets, which has resulted in lower profitability compared to the company’s other refineries. Given the low strategic importance of the Kupyansky refinery to Ukrros on the whole, the reorganization could testify to progress in the sale of the facility, which we assume might be finalized in 2011. Based on the plant’s capacity, we estimate the potential value at USD 3.8-4 mln.