KIEV, May 17 - Astarta Holding N.V., the mother company of a large Ukrainian sugar market participant, Astarta-Kiev, earned EUR 1.767 million in net profits in January to March 2007, which is 22.3% down year-on-year.

As Interfax-Ukraine learned from the group, the main reason for the reduction in revenues was the unfavorable situation on the domestic sugar market.