ICU AND VR CAPITAL GROUP OPEN THE SECOND LARGEST SOLAR PLANT IN UKRAINE

ICU and VR Capital Group have announced the opening of the second largest power plant in Ukraine with a capacity of 64MW. The power plant is situated in the Kamianets-Podilskyi district of the Khmelnitsky region, in the village Panovtsy. 

The solar power plant is a joint-venture by ICU, an independent asset management, private equity and investment advisory firm specialising in Central and Eastern Europe and VR Capital Group, an alternative asset manager specializing in global emerging markets. The plant has been commissioned by Podilskenergo and represents an investment in materials and construction of approximately US$55m.

The peak capacity of the plant is 63.8MW and the plant will generate approximately 68,200 MW/H of clean energy per year. The electricity generated will supply one-third of all the households in Kamianets-Podilskyi city and will help decrease carbon emissions by 67,000 tonnes annually.

The plant is one of the largest foreign direct investment projects in Ukraine and will assist in the nation’s transition to renewable energy, including meeting Ukraine’s pledge to, by 2030, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent from 1990 levels in accordance with the 2015 Paris accord. 

Richard Deitz, President of VR Capital Group, commented: “Our investment is a tangible expression of support for the structural reforms taking place in Ukraine.  Foreign investors have taken note of the tremendous progress in Ukraine in the face of great adversity since the events of EuroMaidan in 2014. With over US$1 billion invested in Ukraine, we have been one of the largest foreign investors in the country and are proud to continue to support the Ukrainian economy. We are also proud, together with our partners at ICU, to contribute to the development of green energy in Ukraine.”

Commenting on the opening, Makar Paseniuk, Managing Partner of ICU said: “This is an exciting new investment for us and it is one of three joint projects that we are currently working on with VR Capital. We plan to launch soon our second solar power station with a capacity of 35 MW, located in the Kherson region. We are also in the process of building a number of medium-sized solar stations in the Mykolayiv region. We are confident that our projects will provide significant support to achieving energy independence of Ukraine by focusing on alternative energy sources and will help decrease the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere.” 

The power plant will provide full-time employment to 45 workers. In addition, Podilskenergo will also allocate UAH2.6m to the village budget for rent and will become the biggest tax contributor to the local community. These funds will be spent on funding the local community’s welfare and social needs.

ENDS

For further information, please contact Montfort Communications:

Shireen Farhana / Louis Supple

+44 (0)203 770 7906 / +44 (0)203 770 7914

ICU@montfort.london

Notes to Editors   

About VR Capital Group

VR Capital Group Ltd., through its principal subsidiaries including VR Advisory Services Ltd (together, “VR Capital Group”) is an alternative asset manager with assets under management in excess of US$4.5bn. Since commencing operations in 1999, the firm’s investments have been concentrated in global emerging markets with a propensity to allocate capital to regions undergoing periods of macroeconomic stress where investment capital is scarce. VR Capital Group’s external client base is primarily composed of institutional investors from the United States and Western Europe, including university endowments, charitable foundations, family offices and institutional asset allocators. VR Capital Group’s advisory affiliates are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.

About ICU

ICU is an independent asset management and investment advisory firm specialising in the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe.

Founded in 2006 by senior investment professionals from ING, ICU is Ukraine's leading asset manager with over $500m in assets under management. Our current strategy includes significant allocations to venture capital, alternative energy & renewables and distressed debt.

Our veteran investment team has experience in private equity & venture capital, high yield corporate debt, distressed debt, restructurings and other special situations across a number of emerging markets. Investment decisions are supported by robust macroeconomic and sectoral analyses from our in-house team of research economists.

We aim to provide our clients with superior risk-adjusted returns across a number of asset classes. The firm is expanding its reach into key European markets via a combination of organic growth and acquisition and continues to expand the range its investment offerings.

Managing Partners Makar Paseniuk and Konstantin Stetsenko are majority shareholders of ICU.