Astarta to Buy 10% of Leased Land in 2008 if Moratorium Lifted

Astarta (AST PW: N/R) said Friday that it plans to acquire 13 ths ha of land that it leases (about 10% of land the company currently leases) in 2008 if the moratorium on land sales is abolished. The coalition agreement between the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine provides for abolishing the moratorium this year. The company also announced that it is planning to increase sugar output by 25% yoy to 200 ths mt this year and produce 10% of all Ukrainian sugar. Olha Pankiv: Astarta’s CEO, Viktor Ivanchik, said that the company estimates purchase price to be 10-25% of the cadastral price for the land. The cadastral price is currently about USD 2,000 per ha on average in Ukraine. Officially, the moratorium on land sales was prolonged until the relevant land legislation is adopted, but as before, we continue to expect it to be lifted in 2008-2009.