Grocery supermarket chain Varus will invest UAH 150 million in the installation of rooftop solar power plants (SPP) at 48 of its 115 facilities, the Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers (UCC) has reported.
According to the report, the total capacity of the SPP will reach 4.8 thousand kWh, which will generate more than 5 million kW of electricity per year. The payback period of the project is estimated at two years.
The planned generation will amount to 21% of the annual consumption of supermarkets, with annual savings of UAH 50 million. It is noted that the company has chosen the model of direct consumption of generated energy due to the high cost of storage systems. The SPP will cover 95% of supermarkets’ electricity needs during the day.
The company plans to further expand the project to the entire supermarket chain and explore the possibility of installing gas diesel generators.
As reported, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has issued a $25 million loan to Varus for the reconstruction and modernization of equipment in existing stores, lease of a new warehouse, and installation of a solar power plant to reduce dependence on the grid.
Varus is a national supermarket chain represented on the Ukrainian grocery retail market by Omega. The chain’s first store was opened in 2003 in Dnipro, and the total number of its stores is 114 in different cities of Ukraine, including a DarkStore in Kyiv. The chain operates in several formats: classic supermarkets, To Go stores and the online store varus.ua.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Omega LLC is Cyprus-based Weigant Enterprises Limited, with Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak listed as the ultimate beneficiaries.
According to the company’s financial results for 2024, its revenue increased by 14.3% compared to the previous year and amounted to UAH 20 billion. The company’s net profit decreased by 80.9% to UAH 38.2 million.
The National Bank of Ukraine has fined Aventus Ukraine LLC 2.448 million hryvnia for violations identified during an inspection.
According to the NBU website, this measure was taken for violating the requirements of the Law “On Consumer Lending” and the provisions on establishing additional requirements for interaction with consumers of financial services and other persons in the settlement of overdue debts (ethical conduct requirements).
Aventus Ukraine LLC is required to pay the fine within one month of the date this decision comes into force.
Furthermore, the company received a written warning from the regulator for violating the requirements of the Law “On Consumer Lending,” the provisions on licensing and registration of financial service providers and the conditions for their activities in the provision of financial services, and the provisions on the authorization of financial service providers and the conditions for their activities in the provision of financial services.
Aventus Ukraine LLC must take measures to eliminate the causes and conditions that contributed to these violations.
These decisions were made by the Committee for Supervision and Regulation of Non-Bank Financial Services Markets on July 14, 2025, based on the results of scheduled inspections.
Aventus Ukraine LLC was registered in January 2017. The company’s authorized capital is UAH 20 million.
In June 2025, the Export Credit Agency (ECA) supported UAH 885.5 million of exports by insuring 11 loans worth UAH 106.4 million issued by Ukrainian banks to entrepreneurs to fulfill export contracts.
According to the ECA website, the agency’s largest partners among banks in this period were Oschadbank (UAH 64.4 million in financing), Creditwest Bank (UAH 20 million), and Pivdenny Bank (UAH 20 million).
In June, exporters in Odesa region (UAH 386.7 million of future export revenues), Kyiv (UAH 232.8 million), and Dnipropetrovs’k region (UAH 153 million) were the most likely to use ECA services.
The largest contracts during this period were for the supply of Ukrainian goods to Switzerland, Estonia, and the Czech Republic, and the most popular export commodity groups were flour, wood products, and ferrous metal products.
The Export Credit Agency of Ukraine (ECA) is a government agency that supports non-resource exports by insuring the risks of enterprises and banks. The agency insures foreign trade contracts, export credits, bank guarantees, and investment loans against war risks.
In January-June 2025, Ukraine reduced exports of sunflower oil to 2.407 mln tonnes and revenues to $2.77 bln, down 33.5% and 2.4%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service, the main buyers of Ukrainian sunflower oil in January-June this year were Spain and Italy, which accounted for 12.88% and 12.18% of exports, respectively, and India with a share of 11.77%. These countries spent $356.945 mln, $337.494 mln and $326.071 mln on the purchase of sunflower oil from Ukraine, respectively.
Exports of rapeseed oil decreased by 3.6 times in this period compared to January-June 2024, to 19.992 mln tonnes, while the revenue was 2.9 times lower and amounted to $58.015 mln.
At the same time, this year Ukraine increased exports of soybean oil by 52% in the first half of the year compared to 287.052 mln tonnes a year ago and doubled the revenue to $295.034 mln.
The main buyers of Ukrainian rapeseed oil were the Netherlands, which accounted for 39.29% of the exported volume, bringing Ukraine $7.750 million, Germany – 21.44% and $4.23 million, Slovakia – 13.13% and $2.591 million, respectively.
Among the most active buyers of Ukrainian soybean oil were Poland – 63.97% of exports worth $188.736 mln, India – 9.02% worth $26.616 mln, and Germany – 4.04% worth $11.925 mln.
In the reporting period, exports of other non-volatile fats and vegetable oils also increased by 1.9 times to 988 thsd tonnes, which is $2.409 mln in monetary terms compared to $2.124 mln a year ago.
At the same time, the import of palm oil to Ukraine in January-June 2025 increased by 2% compared to the first half of 2024 – up to 50.708 thsd tonnes. In monetary terms, the imports amounted to $71.651 mln (+15.2%). Ukraine purchased palm oil from Malaysia – 59.79% of imports of this product, worth $42.839 million, India – 35.7%, worth $25.581 million, and Sweden – 4.17%, worth $2.99 million.
Ukraine’s purchases of olive oil increased by 60.9% to 1.083 million tons, and the cost of purchasing it also increased by 3.5% to $8.277 million. Its main suppliers were Italy (42.55%), Spain (29.62%) and Greece (23.2%). They earned $3.522 million, $2.452 million, and $1.92 million from sales to Ukraine, respectively.
The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) conducted an online survey of Ukrainians about their experience of crossing the state border when entering Ukraine in the spring of 2025.
The purpose of the study was to find out how much time citizens spend on border procedures, as well as to assess the level of organization of the process of crossing through Ukrainian and foreign checkpoints.
The results(http://tfdialogue.ier.com.ua/archives/7810) show that most respondents crossed the border quite quickly. In particular, 64.7% reported that waiting in front of a Ukrainian checkpoint lasted no more than 30 minutes. It took about the same amount of time to get to the checkpoint.
At foreign checkpoints, there was a wide variation in the experience of crossing the border. Thus, 49% of respondents said they had waited in line for up to 30 minutes, but at the same time, almost one in five respondents (19.6%) had been in line for more than three hours.
The organization of the state border crossing process on the Ukrainian side received higher marks than on the foreign side. The average level of satisfaction with the actions of Ukrainian services was 3.9 points on a five-point scale, with 43% of respondents giving their experience the highest rating.
By comparison, foreign checkpoints received an average score of 3.5 points, with only 21% of respondents giving the maximum 5 points.
This result is largely due to the systematic modernization of customs control procedures and the introduction of modern technological solutions.
In particular, Ukrainian customs officers are increasingly using the latest scanners and other modern control tools. This allows not only to speed up the inspection process, but also to maintain its effectiveness even in the face of existing security challenges.
Please note that due to the seasonal increase in the number of travelers, waiting times at checkpoints in the summer may exceed the figures recorded in the spring of 2025. For our part, we are doing everything possible to ensure that the border crossing process remains fast, convenient and comfortable for citizens – regardless of the circumstances.
VUSO Insurance Company has changed its approach to health insurance by launching the eDoctor service with a mobile application, artificial intelligence, the ability to get a consultation, order medicines and receive notifications in just a few minutes.
“Nowadays, when every minute is worth its weight in gold, people are increasingly striving to get high-quality medical care simply and quickly, without long queues and unnecessary worries. This is what prompted VUSO to change its approach to health insurance – to make it not only reliable but also as convenient as possible for everyone,” says Oksana Arbuzova, Director of the VUSO Medical Service Organization Department.
According to her, the eDoctor service is built on the principle of self-service. AI takes over some of the routine work previously performed by operators. As a result, the client receives a continuous service: online consultation, registration of results, ordering medicines – all within a few minutes.
At the same time, the service has a hybrid model. A simple request is processed automatically by the bot. If the case is complicated, a medical specialist is involved. The client chooses whether he wants to do it quickly and independently or needs live communication. It’s a balance between technology and care.
According to Arbuzova, the service has already seen clear improvements. First, the number of calls has decreased, which has relieved operators. Secondly, the time from requesting to receiving assistance has been reduced from more than two hours to 3-8 minutes. And thirdly, resources have been optimized: less manual work means more time for complex cases.
“This approach did not go unnoticed: in 2025, VUSO received the Ukrainian CX Excellence (UCXE) award, a prestigious award that annually recognizes the best customer experience cases in Ukraine,” emphasized the department director.
She also said that the company is moving towards creating a digital ecosystem where each request is automatically routed to the right channel. Routine tasks are assigned to bots and robots, and complex ones to operators. More automation, more integrations, and most importantly, even closer contact with customers through their feedback are planned.
VUSO is a Ukrainian insurance company that is one of the four market leaders. The company is a member of the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU), the Kyiv Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine, and the Nuclear Insurance Pool of Ukraine.
