According to Serbian Economist, the island hotel Sveti Stefan near Budva, which is iconic for Montenegrin tourism, may resume operations by May 1, 2026, after many years of inactivity, as the Montenegrin government and the complex’s tenant, Adriatic Properties, are close to reaching an agreement on its reopening.
According to the draft agreement, existing contracts with the tenant and Aman Resorts will remain in force, the parties waive their claims in arbitration proceedings, and each party bears its own costs in London, with the exception of Adriatic Properties’ obligation to compensate Sveti Stefan Hotels for approximately £50,800 previously paid to the arbitration court.
A key element of the project is the obligation of the tenant and Aman to prepare the complex for opening no later than May 2026, with the lease term extended for another four years to compensate for the period of downtime and lost revenue.
A separate section sets out obligations to work with the local community: priority employment for residents of Budva and Paštrovici, purchasing products from local producers, regular fairs for local goods, educational and scholarship programs for young people, and year-round tours of the region. A new advisory body, tentatively called the “Bankada Council,” will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of these points and will report annually to the government. It may be headed by Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, which, according to Vijesti sources, will give the project additional publicity and credibility.
According to media reports, Djokovic has been acting as an informal mediator between the Montenegrin government, Aman Resorts, and Adriatic Properties in the dispute over Sveti Stefan since early 2025 and is discussing the possibility of participating in the project as an investor and representative of the Aman hotel chain.
The Sveti Stefan complex, which includes the island hotel of the same name, the Milocer villa, and the adjacent beaches, has been closed since 2021 amid a conflict between the state and the tenant over beach access and guest privacy.
Sveti Stefan is a historic fortified island village on the Adriatic coast a few kilometers from Budva, which was transformed in the mid-20th century into an elite resort where European monarchs, world politicians, and Hollywood actors vacationed over the years. In 2007, the Montenegrin government signed a 30-year lease agreement for the Sveti Stefan-Milocer complex with Adriatic Properties, a company linked to Greek businessman Petros Stathis, and operational management was transferred to Singapore-based luxury operator Aman Resorts. In 2015, the lease was extended until 2049, with the annual rent reduced to approximately €1.1 million.
https://t.me/relocationrs/1886
According to Serbian Economist, Serbia has once again become one of the leading foreign investors in Montenegro’s economy, ranking second in terms of direct investment in January-August 2025, behind only Turkey.
According to preliminary data from the Central Bank of Montenegro, the total inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the eight months of 2025 amounted to €595.58 million, which is 3.46% more than in the same period last year. Net investment inflows reached €314.39 million, down 4.75% year-on-year.
Of this, €376.83 million (63.3% of total inflows) was accounted for by partial investments, mainly in real estate (around €308.9 million, +8.4%), while investments in companies and banks declined to less than €68 million. Approximately €197.1 million (33.1%) accounted for intercompany debt.
In terms of country structure, Turkey was the leader with €92.2 million, of which more than half accounted for intra-group debt, and approximately €35.5 million accounted for real estate purchases. Serbia came in second with €91.84 million, with Serbian investors investing around €60.9 million in real estate in Montenegro. Next came Germany (€43.5 million), the US (€41.6 million), and Cyprus (around €40 million).
The United Arab Emirates invested about €30.7 million, dividing the funds roughly equally between real estate and intercompany financing.
Russia, which was previously among Montenegro’s largest investors, has fallen to seventh place.
In terms of direct investment, Ukraine is not among the top five foreign investors in Montenegro, but Ukraine’s presence in the country’s economy is gradually expanding. According to data from Montenegro’s tax and customs authorities, in 2022 alone, Ukrainian citizens founded about 200 companies, which is about 3% of the total number of new companies created by foreigners during the year.
Earlier it was reported that against the backdrop of the war and the relocation of businesses to Montenegro, the number of Ukrainian citizens who received temporary and permanent residence permits has increased significantly, with Ukrainian companies mainly operating in the service, IT, and small business sectors.
The Bila Romashka pharmacy chain (part of Fozzy Group) opened its first wellness space in the village of Lisnyky near Kyiv on Thursday, the company’s press service reported.
“We have created an offline space that differs from a regular pharmacy or cosmetics store with a special assortment that previously could only be ordered online,” explained Natalia Smaglyuk, CEO of the Bila Romashka chain, whose words are quoted in the release.
The new Bila Romashka space is an offline store for health and beauty products with a wide selection of certified dietary supplements, vitamins, CBD, natural skincare cosmetics, hygiene products, and balanced nutrition products. Currently, the assortment includes almost 2,000 items from 43 brands from the US, France, Korea, Spain, Greece, and Ukraine. Among them are Thorne, Solaray, Nature’s Way, Apivita, Weleda, Now, VVBETTER, Dr. Althea, Panfruit, The Elements, and others. The store will also exclusively feature products from the Ukrainian brand Vitalis Balance. The entire range has been carefully selected by specialists with pharmaceutical expertise.
A consultant will work alongside the pharmacist in the store.
The Bila Romashka pharmacy chain (Fozzy Farm LLC) was established in 2001 and is part of the Fozzy Group. Currently, the chain has 95 pharmacies and one wellness space in 47 locations across Ukraine.
According to YouControl, at the end of the third quarter of 2025, the company received a net income of UAH 1.1 billion, which is 25% higher than in the same period last year, and its net loss amounted to UAH 110 million 567 thousand against UAH 61 million 708 thousand in the third quarter of 2024.
Forecast of changes in discount rate of National bank of Ukraine, %
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
The Cabinet of Ministers has adopted a resolution introducing a mechanism for monitoring soybean and rapeseed exports, according to the press service of the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.
“We are introducing a transparent mechanism that allows producers, rather than intermediaries, to be exempt from export duties. The funds that the state will receive from traders’ duties will replenish a special budget fund and will be directed to programs to support frontline territories, where farmers work in the most difficult conditions, grants for processing, greenhouses, orchards, and insurance against military risks,” said Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture Taras Vysotsky, whose words are quoted in a statement on the ministry’s website.
The Ministry of Economy noted that the document aims to ensure the fair application of export duty exemptions for certain categories of agricultural producers.
The new procedure establishes a monthly monitoring mechanism to be implemented by the Ministry of Economy to verify the compliance of exported product volumes with the data contained in the State Agrarian Register (SAR) regarding the actual products grown. If discrepancies are found between the declared and actual volumes grown, the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is obliged to cancel the expert conclusions.
“The introduction of such a mechanism ensures that only those exporters who have actually grown the products themselves will benefit from the exemption from export duties,” the ministry added.
The resolution ensures transparent and fair administration of the export duty exemption, prevents abuse during the export of soybeans and rapeseed, provides equal and fair conditions of competition for agricultural producers, and ensures state support for farmers, as only traders, not producers, will pay the duty, the statement said.
The government’s decision is expected to strengthen state control, ensure targeted budget revenues, and contribute to the stability of the agricultural sector. Monitoring will make it possible to simultaneously support conscientious producers and guarantee the replenishment of a special fund for the implementation of key agricultural development programs.
As reported, in September 2025, a law was passed introducing a 10% export duty on soybeans and rapeseed. Agricultural producers and cooperatives that export their own products are exempt from paying the duty. The duty is paid by traders and other exporters who are not producers. The mechanism is aimed at supporting farmers, stimulating domestic processing, and filling a special state budget fund to finance agricultural programs.
Omnichannel electronics and home appliances retailer Foxtrot recorded a 2.6-fold increase in total turnover and a 215% increase in online sales compared to the previous week during Black Friday (November 24 to December 1), according to the retailer’s press service.
Traffic on Foxtrot.ua during this period also increased 2.6 times (week-on-week) and 1.5 times year-on-year; the average check was UAH 9,348 (+134%). The longest check had 43 items, and the most expensive purchase was UAH 630,000 (Samsung QE115QN90FUXUA TV).
“We saw how many buyers were preparing for Black Friday in advance, planning their spending and waiting for discounts. Therefore, we focused on what is really important: to fully meet these expectations by offering the best prices of the year, a wide range of promotional items, free delivery, affordable loans, and high-quality service even in difficult times. And it was this approach that allowed us to achieve decent results in this “sprint,” commented Yuriy Polishchuk, CEO of the Foxtrot chain, whose words are quoted in a press release.
The retailer noted that buyer behavior differed depending on the region. Western regions saw a noticeable uptick starting on Monday, with sales tripling, while shoppers in the center and east became more active in the second half of the week. The highest demand across the country was on Sunday, when the chain recorded its highest sales growth.
The number of active users of the Foxtrot mobile app increased by 176% compared to last year. The top five cities in terms of the number of online orders remain unchanged: Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Odesa, and Kharkiv.
In terms of product categories, smartphones took first place in terms of sales: their sales more than doubled, with premium brands, such as Samsung and Apple, being the most popular.
Televisions, a category that had been declining for several years due to power outages, grew fivefold in turnover and fourfold in the number of units sold compared to a normal week. Large 100-115-inch OLED/QLED/miniLED models were particularly in demand.
Game consoles became another “star” of Black Friday. In three days, Foxtrot customers bought as many PS consoles as they did in half a month last year, or 2.2 times more than in a typical week. Laptops showed the expected growth (threefold), as did vacuum cleaners and built-in appliances, slightly ahead of multi-ovens (fourfold growth) and coffee machines and kitchen combos (3.5 times), while refrigerators and washing machines only doubled.
The trend of the season is “home sets.” Customers bought several items at once: from chargers and headphones to large appliances in a single transaction. Increased demand for charging stations, generators, and power banks has continued for the second month in a row—for this category, Black Friday actually started on October 10.
Accessories and tableware are usually the drivers of sales in quantitative terms on Black Friday, so here the retailer saw its traditional growth – almost threefold. Frying pans and saucepan sets were the most popular purchases.
More than 65% of all purchases were made through the seller’s mobile app. Another indicator of behavioral change is the payment structure: 54% of all sales were cashless. At the same time, almost half of these transactions (47%) were accepted by sellers directly in the sales area: through Tap to Phone, which was scaled across the entire network just before Black Friday (14%), personal POS terminals (32%), and digital payment methods such as LiqPay (2%).
The availability of extended credit programs (up to 24 months) also had a significant impact on demand dynamics: the share of credit purchases rose to 40% of all sales, which is 10% higher than usual.
The release notes that the main technological breakthrough of the year occurred in communications: AI consultants took over some of the routine inquiries. As a result, the share of chat dialogues successfully closed with the help of artificial intelligence increased more than 6 times (+622%) compared to the same period last year, or 28% of all inquiries. In addition, the Foxtrot contact center worked not only as support, but also as a powerful sales channel. The number of orders placed by operators increased by 54%.
Foxtrot is one of Ukraine’s largest omnichannel retail chains in terms of the number of stores and sales of electronics and household appliances. As of November 2025, the company operates 127 stores in 67 cities, the Foxtrot.ua online platform, and the mobile app of the same name. During 2025, the chain added four new stores: in Chabaniv and Brovary in the Kyiv region, in Odesa and Kryvyi Rih, and modernized five retail outlets.
According to Opendatabot, the revenue of FTD-Retail LLC (Kyiv), which develops the chain, amounted to UAH 14 billion 882.632 million at the end of 2024, which is 17.6% more than in 2023, and its net profit was UAH 6 million 721 thousand against UAH 314 million 436 thousand, respectively.
In the first half of 2025, the company received UAH 7.3 billion in revenue and UAH 66.5 million in net losses.
The founders of the omnichannel retailer Foxtrot are Ukrainian businessmen Gennady Vykhodtsev and Valery Makovetsky.
