By KYIV. Dec 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The IDS Ukraine group of companies, which produces mineral water under the trademarks Morshynska and Mirgorodska, managed to maintain its market share at the level of 2021 in the conditions of the full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, the war had a significant negative impact on the company’s financial performance, its CEO Marco Tkachuk said in response to a request from Interfax-Ukraine.
"As a result of the year, the national producer of drinking water IDS Ukraine, which includes the brands Morshynska, Mirgorodska, Alyaska and Aqua Life, as well as the exclusive distribution of Borjomi, suffered a decrease in financial performance. Thus, revenue fell by 18%, adjusted EBITDA by 67%. The Group expects a net loss for this year," he said.
In addition, this year IDS Ukraine records a 29% reduction in sales by 2021, caused by a drop in demand for bottled water. This is primarily due to the departure from the country of a part of the target audience – women and mothers with children.
As Tkachuk said, the most important goals of the company in 2022 were to provide drinking water to the maximum number of the population and charitable assistance in several areas. According to him, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, IDS Ukraine has donated products worth UAH 61 million for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, hospitals, displaced persons and residents of the de-occupied territories. In addition, UAH 10 million was transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and another UAH 3 million to provide high-quality equipment for their employees who joined the ranks of the defenders of Ukraine.
The producer of mineral water also continues to pay wages to 146 of its employees who defend the country from the Russian invasion. In addition, for the period from January 1 to November 30, 2022, UAH 643 million of taxes were paid to the budgets of all levels.
"Despite the loss of production in the town of Hola Prystan, Kherson region, the company did everything possible so that consumers could purchase a critical product even during the blackout. Self-delivery points from the mywatershop.ua division of the company began operating in the cities of Ukraine, and stocks in the company’s warehouses and trading networks will be enough for at least 20-25 days of sales," Tkachuk said.
According to him, employees of the Morshynska Mineral Water Plant Oscar and the Myrhorod Mineral Water Plant have adapted to the power outage schedules and, if necessary, are bottling mineral water during night shifts and on weekends.
IDS Ukraine is a Ukrainian group of companies founded in 1996, the largest national producer of bottled water. The holding includes the Morshynska mineral water plant Oskar, the Myrhorod mineral water plant, the distribution company IDS and the water delivery operator IDS Aqua Service.
The Group of Companies owns the trademarks Morshynska, Mirgorodska, Alyaska and Aqua Life. It is the exclusive importer to Ukraine of the Georgian mineral water Borjomi.
According to the rating of the 100 most expensive Ukrainian brands compiled by the NV publication and MPP Consulting in 2021, the market value of the Morshynska brand of the IDS Group Ukraine holding amounted to $533 million. The total amount of capital investments of the holding over the past five years reached UAH 2.3 billion.
