KyivStar GSM was recognized by Invest Gazeta's rankings as the company that has developed most rapidly among national firms between 2000 and 2002. According to the ratings, released Nov. 18, Metalen joint venture, which operates a metallurgical plant in Donetsk oblast, occupies second place.
KyivStar GSM was recognized by Invest Gazeta’s rankings as the company that has developed most rapidly among national firms between 2000 and 2002. According to the ratings, released on Nov.18 ,Ukrainian-Swiss Metalen joint venture ,which operates the Enakiyivsky Metallurgical Plant in Donetsk oblast, occupies second place. Dzerdzinsky Dneprovsky Metallurgical Plant is in third place.
Sverdlovskantratsit coal mine and sun seed oil producer Cargill occupy fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Invest Gazeta’s Chief Editor Ihor Lyashenko said that the newspaper has chosen the 100 Ukrainian companies, out of 1000, that they consider to have developed the most rapidly.
The rankings, he said, were based on revenues and profits earned within three years. Banks and insurance companies were judged by assets and insurance payments, respectively.
Invest Gazeta said that Kyivstar GSM made significant progress within the three year period, increasing the number of its subscribers from 300,000 in 2000 to 2.7 million.
It was the first domestic issuer of Eurobonds, and covers 800 Ukrainian cities with its network, amounting to 65 percent of the country’s territory.
Kyivstar GSM president Ihor Lytovchenko said the high rate of development reflects a sound development strategy, as formulated by the company’s shareholders.
It is also, he said, a product of transparent marketing and sufficient financing.
“We issued $100 million in Eurobonds and then added to that sum by issuing $60 million in Eurobonds,” Lytovchenko said.
“Demand for our bonds was so high that we had to decline the sale of bonds to some investors. It enabled us to decrease interest rates.”
Lytovchenko said that in the first three quarters of 2003, the company earned $63 million in profit, an increase of 31 percent in comparison with the same period in 2002.
In 2002, Kyivstar’s profit was $63.3 million.
“Kyivstar will increase these numbers significantly in 2003 to maintain its position as market leader, this year and next year,” Lytovchenko said.
Another large mobile phone operator, UMC, occupies tenth place in the rating.
“The company’s revenue has not been growing as fast as its rival’s revenue,” Invest Gazeta wrote. “But UMC has the chance to become a leader in the market.”
Entering the market along with Jeans, a new service, UMC attracted more subscribers than Kyivstar for the first time in recent years, Invest Gazeta reported.
Ukrtelecom, the state-owned operator of fixed telephone connections, is fourteenth on the list.
In addition to rating the most rapidly growing Ukrainian companies, Invest Gazeta rated the growth of firms involved in consumer goods production, and the biggest companies according to revenues.
“Producers of consumer goods and providers of services … develop the fastest. It inspired us to separately rate these companies,” Lyashenko said.
“Forty of the 100 companies included in the rating produce consumer goods or provide people with different services,” Lyashenko said.
“These companies are telecommunication and construction companies; sun seed, confectionary, tobacco, beer and car producers; and railways and banks,” Invest Gazeta wrote.
According to Lyashenko, that’s a new phenomenon. Before, heavy industries oriented toward external markets were the biggest producers among national companies.
“Consumer goods producers have been responding to the increased demand,” Invest Gazeta wrote. As these producers “expand their range of products, invest to develop production and launch new products and brands, their revenue increases and, as a result, their market capacity grows.”
For the first time, Invest Gazeta rated 21 consumer goods industries, including tourism and publishing companies.
“Marshall Cavendish Ukraina, a subsidiary of Marshall Cavendish Great Britain, earned Hr 40 million of revenue by producing children’s books,” Lyashenko said. The company was recognized by Invest Gazeta as the most rapidly growing in Ukraine’s publishing industry. Also, the company earned the highest revenues within the sector.
