The State Forestry Agency is working on several major projects that will increase transparency of processes and counteract corruption schemes, said Viktor Smal, head of the agency, during a joint briefing with Hamlet Poghosyan, director general of the state-owned LIAZ, at the Media Center Ukraine.
“In just a few years, we have digitized the main permits. Currently, we have an e-felling ticket, an e-certificate of origin, an e-consignment note, which is mandatory for all forest users, and photo recording of all cargoes. And the use of the electronic timber accounting system (ETS) is mandatory for all forest users,” Smal said.
According to him, the digitalization of key processes in the forest industry is ongoing. The team is currently working on several large projects.
“We have started working on a system of global control over the movement of all timber trucks in the country, as well as on the creation of a new generation of EDI. We are creating one of the best timber traceability chains in Europe,” Smal explained.
According to him, the main task in the reform process is to minimize the human factor. In particular, this refers to possible interference with databases by EDI operators. According to him, in 2024, the State Forestry Agency initiated an internal audit for internal security reasons to determine the likelihood of such facts.
“Then all the materials of the inspections were transferred to law enforcement agencies and cyber police were involved to change the security policy of information handling,” Smal assured.
He added that the new management of the State Enterprise “LIAC”, which ensures the operation of the electronic timber circulation system, is working to establish control over all operations related to entering data into the system.
“I would like to emphasize that since the end of 2024, not a single fact of illegal interference has been recorded in the EOD system. This is not a coincidence or a temporary phenomenon, but the result of deep systematic work carried out by the new team of the State Enterprise “LIAC”, – said Hamlet Poghosyan.
According to him, the system has accumulated vulnerabilities over the years that could be exploited by dishonest employees. However, the new team of the State Enterprise “LIAC” eliminated these problems in just a few months of work, in particular, a new procedure for making changes to the EDI and an electronic monitoring system are already in place, and the Internal Security Sector has been created.
“I emphasize once again: we do not tolerate any form of dishonesty. Maximum transparency of individual systems and the industry as a whole is our goal. And step by step we are approaching it,” summarized the head of the State Forestry Agency.
The market of elevator equipment in Ukraine has undergone dramatic changes over the past eight to nine years, with the share of Ukrainian equipment currently at 80% and foreign equipment at 20%, the press service of KMZ Industries reports.
The company noted that in 2016, the share of Ukrainian equipment was only 20%, and foreign equipment – 80%, and as of 2025, the situation is mirrored in key product segments.
“Ukrainian farmers have gradually rethought their approaches to choosing suppliers: they have tried domestically produced equipment and made sure that it is not only on par with imported equipment in terms of quality, but also has a number of additional significant advantages. These include service availability, design for climatic conditions, knowledge of the local context, and the manufacturer’s ability to work in war conditions on an equal footing with the client,” explained Natalia Kulakovska, Marketing Director at KMZ Industries.
She noted that the state program of partial compensation of 25% of the cost of Ukrainian-made equipment played a major role in this market transformation, which allowed farmers to “try their hand at it.” After the first purchase, most of them did not return to imported elevator equipment.
“According to an independent study, in 2024, the share of Ukrainian transport equipment for elevators was 48.8% in monetary terms. If we talk about metal storage silos, the growth is even more significant: in 2024, Ukrainian producers already owned 81.4% of the market. These are not just numbers – it is a proof of trust in domestic production and its ability to meet the modern needs of elevator storage infrastructure for agricultural producers and agro-processors,” Kulakovska summarized.
KMZ Industries is the largest manufacturer of elevator equipment in Ukraine and produces a full range of equipment, including silos, grain dryers, transport equipment and separators, as well as provides automation and installation services.
According to the company, it has built more than 5 thousand facilities. KMZ Industries has silos in operation with a total capacity of over 12.5 million cubic meters.
In January-June 2025, Ukraine imported $152.018 million worth of “borsch” vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, and onions.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), Ukraine increased its imports of potatoes by 7.9 times to 121.606 thousand tons during this period, purchasing them for $65.145 million, which is 6.9 times more than in the same period in 2024.
It is noted that in the first half of the year, 36.49% of the market of potatoes imported to Ukraine belonged to Poland, which was able to earn $ 23.77 million from its sale. At the same time, Egypt supplied 13.73% of the imported volumes for $ 8.945 million, the Netherlands – 11.66% for $ 7.594 million.
In January-June 2025, Ukraine slightly reduced onion imports by 1.1% to 15.747 thsd tonnes, spending $17.69 mln on the purchase of onions compared to $15.5 mln a year ago.
The top three suppliers of onions to Ukraine were China and Egypt, which accounted for 26.96% and 21.55% of imports, which in monetary terms amounted to $4.769 million and $3.812 million, respectively. The Netherlands closed the top three with a share of 18.85%, supplying this product for $3.335 million.
During this period, Ukraine imported cabbage 2.5 times more than a year ago – 47.252 thousand tons versus 18.969 thousand tons, respectively, spending 2.4 times more on its purchase than in the first half of 2024 – $42.075 million versus $17.804 million. Its main suppliers were Macedonia (33.3% of supplies worth $14.022 million), Poland (24.9% worth $10.481 million) and the Netherlands (13.47% worth $5.668 million).
In January-June 2025, Ukraine increased imports of carrots, beets and celery by 7.9 times compared to the same period last year – up to 43.065 thsd tonnes, spending $27.108 mln against $4.36 mln respectively.
The main suppliers of these goods were Poland, Moldova and the Netherlands, which accounted for 47.04%, 13.53% and 11.93% of the imported volumes, respectively. In monetary terms, these countries earned $12.752 million, $3.667 million and $3.235 million, respectively, from the supply of root crops to Ukraine.
Bank Lviv (Lviv) has signed agreements with the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Investment Fund (EIF), the Belgian Development Organization for Developing Countries (BIO) and the Bank of the Council of Europe (CoE) totaling EUR 103 million, which will allow it to expand financing to the private sector through credit lines, guarantees and support for micro-entrepreneurs.
“Within the framework of international partnerships, Lviv Bank has signed four strategic agreements with international financial institutions – for a total of more than EUR100 million to support Ukrainian private companies, SMEs and entrepreneurs!” Volodymyr Kuzio, deputy chairman of the bank’s board, said on Facebook on Tuesday.
He noted that Lviv Bank has attracted EUR 60 million from the EIB in the form of a multi-currency credit line, including local currency financing, to improve access to finance for the private sector.
Another EUR 35 million was provided by the EIF in the form of portfolio guarantees, which will reduce collateral requirements for Ukrainian private sector clients to 70% and at the same time strengthen the capital of Bank Lviv.
In addition, the bank will receive EUR 5 million from the Belgian development organization BIO, the first transaction in the institution’s history in Ukraine.
Another EUR 3 million is being provided by the Council of Europe Development Bank to support micro-entrepreneurs across the country.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of April, Lviv Bank ranked 23rd in terms of total assets among 60 operating banks with UAH 14.8 billion, or 0.4% of the banking sector.
At URC-2025, SCM Group’s Intech investment company umgi has presented a project to build a grain terminal in Pivdennyi port with a planned annual transshipment capacity of 9 million tons and the ability to receive Post-Panamax vessels at its own berths. According to the press release, the estimated cost of the project is $200 million.
“We are pleased to join the recovery process. One of umgi’s initiatives was included in the Catalog of Investment Projects presented at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 in Rome,” the company said in a statement.
It is specified that due to its strategic location and efficient infrastructure, such a terminal will play a key role in the export of Ukrainian agricultural products. This is a unique opportunity to invest in Ukraine’s strategic infrastructure, expand grain transportation capacity, and strengthen the country’s role in global trade.
Overall, the investment potential of key sectors of the Ukrainian economy over the next decade exceeds $300 billion. This figure includes rebuilding the destroyed sectors, transforming the economy and building a stable and environmentally friendly future. Realizing this potential will create a demand for equipment worth EUR33.8 billion annually in Ukraine.
A catalog with 250 current projects can be found here: https://kse.ua/…/07/Investment-catalog-Ukraine-2025.pdf
umgi is an investment company focused on the development of businesses in the raw materials and processing industries. It was founded in 2006 by SCM Group. Investment focus: mining; by-product and waste management; production of industrial goods and services. The total value of the portfolio companies is estimated at over $500 million.
Ukraine continues to strengthen its position in the European transit space. Thus, in the second quarter of 2025, the State Customs Service of Ukraine issued almost 34 thousand transit declarations under the common transit procedure (NCTS). This is 8 thousand more than in the previous quarter and 9 thousand more than in the second quarter of 2024.
This is the highest quarterly increase since Ukraine joined the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure.
More than 23 thousand movements initiated by Ukrainian customs have been successfully completed in the countries party to the Convention. In turn, 10.7 thousand transit movements initiated in other countries were completed in Ukraine, which is almost 50% more than in the previous quarter.
In total, since the start of the international application of the joint transit procedure on October 1, 2022, the State Customs Service has issued almost 196 thousand declarations, of which 149 thousand were issued as a customs office of departure and 47 thousand as a customs office of destination.
In addition, domestic companies are actively using Ukrainian general guarantees in T1 declarations to move transit goods in other countries party to the Convention. For example, in the second quarter of 2025, general guarantees were used in almost 106 thousand T1 declarations transported through the customs territory of the European Union (since January 1, 2025 – more than 183 thousand such declarations).
Regarding guarantees under the common transit procedure, in the second quarter of 2025, the State Customs Service registered 28 general guarantees in the NCTS guarantee management system. As of the beginning of July 2025, 94 general guarantees totaling more than EUR 320 million and 4,947 individual guarantees totaling EUR 218.45 million were in force.
Such dynamics confirms the growth of business confidence in the common transit procedure and demonstrates an increase in the number of foreign economic operators seeking to work in accordance with EU standards.
