iToxy Signs Agreement to Acquire Stake in Berezan Float Glass Plant in Ukraine... Reconstruction Project Progressing Smoothly

From the left, Jeon Bonggyu, CEO of iToxy, and Mr. Valerii Kodetskyi, Chairman of City One Development.

iToxy (CEO Jeon Bonggyu) announced on April 28 (local time) that it had signed a contract to acquire a 25% stake in BFG (Berezan Float Glass), Ukraine's only float glass manufacturing plant, and held a joint venture signing ceremony with City One Development, one of Ukraine's top five construction groups (Chairman Mr. Valerii Kodetskyi), in Kyiv, Ukraine.

City One Development (hereafter City One) is one of Ukraine's top five construction groups, having rapidly risen in prominence by successfully selling six luxury residential town projects in Kyiv, the capital, over the past five years. Notably, City One recently completed "Novopecherski Lypky" (known as the Korean version of Tower Palace), a high-end residential town located in the heart of Kyiv. The complex, situated on a 25-hectare (approximately 85,000 pyeong) site, consists of 3,800 high-rise apartment units, as well as a subway station, schools, and hospitals within the development. It has become highly popular among political figures and the wealthy.

Chairman Kodetskyi of City One earned a master's degree in civil engineering from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and co-founded UDP in 2002 with his partners, which grew into one of Ukraine's top three construction companies. In 2017, he established City One, which has since become the most successful real estate development company in Kyiv. Chairman Kodetskyi stated that he plans to visit Korea soon with a Ukrainian government delegation to meet with Korean government officials and construction companies.

This BFG stake acquisition agreement is iToxy's first joint investment in construction raw materials since establishing its local subsidiary (ITOXI UA) in Ukraine in November 2023. Since December last year, iToxy has completed due diligence on BFG through global accounting firm Kreston and established a local subsidiary, BFG Partners, to invest in the float glass plant and to import and distribute Asian float glass in Ukraine.

Before the war, Ukraine imported more than 70% of its float glass mainly from Russia and Belarus. The only domestic float glass plant, Glasskomerts, located in Donetsk in the east, was occupied by Russia, leaving Ukraine without any domestic float glass production capacity. Since the war, demand for float glass for reconstruction has surged, and Ukraine has been importing from neighboring countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Turkey. However, due to soaring local demand, supply remains severely insufficient.

BFG is a core project within the "City of Glass" (glass industry cluster), one of the reconstruction clusters designated by the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Restoration. The project began in the second half of 2022 and aims for completion by 2027. The "City of Glass" is a one-stop cluster covering everything from float glass production to processing, coating, and transportation on a 20-hectare site. BFG is located at the center of the "City of Glass" cluster in Berezan City, 70 km east of Kyiv. The project has completed site foundation work, obtained establishment permits, and secured contracts for electricity and natural gas supply, which are essential for float glass production.

The BFG project is highly significant as it is the first project to establish a domestic supply chain capable of producing float glass, which is essential for the restoration of buildings damaged by the war. Ukraine has more than 60 glass processing companies and over 350 window manufacturing companies, all of which currently rely 100% on imported float glass for production. This has created strong demand for a more stable and affordable supply of domestically produced float glass raw materials.

Jeon Bonggyu, CEO of iToxy, stated, "Through this BFG stake acquisition agreement, we have decided to actively pursue the construction raw materials business in Ukraine with our local partner, City One," and added, "We have agreed to first promote a distribution business to export Asian float glass to Ukraine."