Andrejus Trofimovas, CEO of Aventus Group, has noted that the scale of world changes and the problems that we have faced did not seem “so serious” just a few weeks ago.
Andrejus writes in a blog post that we all observed: “a real war of this magnitude back in 1939.” He pointed out that for the past 2 years, he had lived in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Russia, in addition to the team (500+ people).
Recently, Aventus Group had also discussed plans for sales “of loans for EUR 1+ billion in 2022, the forecasted net profit for 2022 was more than 60 million euros, but, obviously, in the coming weeks and months, Aventus Group faces completely different tasks – how to reduce expenses, how to settle with investors on time, how to keep business in warring countries, how to transfer people from war to more peaceful places, how to help the Ukrainian army, and colleagues who are literally under fire every day.”
Some of their colleagues from the first days are “fighting in the Ukrainian army, including defending our freedom with you. Everything has completely changed,” Andrejus noted.
He added:
“We expect that the coming days and weeks will be the most difficult for our Group and the world in general. Why? The fact is that a big part of our business is located in Ukraine, where it is difficult to talk about business in general right now. In Russia, where we also have a big business, the euro exchange rate has changed from 85 to 140 per euro, i.e. in rubles, our Russian companies will have to pay 65% more than earlier.”
At Aventus Group, from the first days of the war, they claim to have “realized what kind of problems we faced, and therefore we immediately began to act.” The first days, they all devoted together to “the emergency relocation of personnel to Lithuania and Poland, took out a lot of our employees and their families, transferred more than EUR 100 000 to help the Ukrainian army, and then began to optimize processes.”
He also mentioned that before the war, they had 2 000 people on their team. Unfortunately, they “had to reduce our team by 400 colleagues (mostly in early-stage startups, IT, and HQ – it is easiest for them to find a new job, and the cost of their salaries was the largest).”
He also noted:
“Our main focus now is on profitable companies operating in Poland, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Vietnam, and Russia. All other companies of the Group are currently operating in collection mode to repay loans to investors. In Ukraine, we also collect some repayments of loans daily. We collect from 15% to 30% of pre-war volumes per day, which is surprising for us since we did not think that in wartime in Ukraine someone would pay at all. That is, that money is being accumulated on accounts in Ukraine right now.”
He confirmed that it “is important to highlight, that all companies in Poland, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Moldova, and Russia, are operating in an absolutely normal mode, as before the war, earning a profit.”
He added that on March 8, “the total debt of Aventus Group to PeerBerry investors amounted to EUR 67,8 million.” The total Group’s portfolio “is EUR 165 million (real estate is not included).”
He also shared:
“A good portfolio amounted to EUR 84,3 million (real estate is not included). Currently, about EUR 5 million are on companies’ accounts. Aventus Group also owns real estate in Kyiv and Moscow, which purchase price was EUR 20 million (market value before the war: more than EUR 30 million). This property for development was bought exclusively from the profits of Aventus Group, no external funds were used, and Aventus Group, of course, if necessary, will sell it to settle with investors after the situation gets stable.”
He also mentioned that it is “very important to note that the planned profit of Aventus Group companies (without Ukraine and Russia) for 2022 is EUR 24 million.”
He continued:
“We will be further looking for options to transfer money from Ukraine and Russia to PeerBerry to cover the debt to investors sooner, but so far, currently, there are none. We must wait for the end of the war, currently, there is no other option.”
In a separate update, it was confirmed that as a response to the overall volatility in investment markets due to the war in Ukraine, PeerBerry business partners “are increasing interest rates in markets that are not affected.”
Interest rates on the PeerBerry platform from March 8 can be viewed here.
In another recent announcement, the PeerBerry team noted:
“Current events in Ukraine have redrawn the geopolitical map and shook our perception of what a few weeks ago seemed unrealistic. Unfortunately, Russia’s war on Ukraine is going 12th day, and our business partners in Ukraine – 9 well-established and profitable companies – are at the epicenter of the war. Sadly, there is nothing we can do to stop it. Just hope it will end soon.”
To review the full update, check here.