Accounts of Astarta subsidiaries unblocked by court decision

A Kyiv local court ruled on Sept. 29 to unblock the
accounts of all the subsidiaries of Ukraine’s leading sugar producer Astarta
(AST PW), the company reported on Oct. 2. The accounts of three subsidiaries
were frozen in late August as part of a criminal investigation by the
Prosecutor General’s Office that was subsequently closed in late September.
Astarta “is continuing its stable work in all business lines, as well as
launches of new investment projects for the development of its grain and sugar
infrastructure,” the company reported.

Alexander Paraschiy: Astarta has emerged from this criminal case stronger and with better
immunity to further similar pressure by the government. Since the negative
consequences of the criminal investigation (determined to be groundless by a
court) have been extinguished, so have been eliminated the company’s risks of
having any bottlenecks during its most important period of the year, which is
sugar production. We remain bullish on Astarta stock.