As of May 30, Ukraine has sown 5.5 million hectares with spring grains and legumes, or 97% of the plan, which is actually in line with last year’s figures — 5.5 million hectares, or 98%, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported on Friday.
According to its data, 0.2 million hectares were sown during the week, and the lag behind the 2024 schedule has been reduced.
As noted by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, 3.94 million hectares have already been sown with corn (3.76 million hectares a week earlier), 744,400 hectares with barley (743,600 hectares), 217,100 hectares with spring wheat (215,300 hectares), 212,100 hectares with peas (212,000 hectares), and 158,600 hectares with oats (158,400 hectares). ha (215.3 thousand ha), peas – 212.1 thousand ha (212 thousand ha), oats – 158.6 thousand ha (158.4 thousand ha), buckwheat – 66.0 thousand ha (49.7 thousand ha), millet – 66.1 thousand ha (43.9 thousand ha).
According to the plan, corn sowing reached 98%, barley – 96%, spring wheat – 95%, peas – 98%, oats – 98%, buckwheat – 75%, millet – 87%.
Last year, as of May 31, corn was sown on 3.895 million hectares, barley – on 782.6 thousand hectares, spring wheat – on 252.5 thousand hectares, peas – on 162.5 thousand hectares, oats – on 163.7 thousand hectares, buckwheat – on 97.7 thousand hectares, millet – on 63.6 thousand hectares. ha, millet – 63.6 thousand ha.
According to information from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the leaders in terms of sowing rates are Poltava region – 557,300 hectares, Chernihiv region – 489,700 hectares, Vinnytsia region – 393,800 hectares, Sumy region – 390,600 hectares, and Cherkasy region – 387,700 hectares.
Technical crops have been sown on an area of 7.38 million hectares (93%) compared to 6.8 million hectares a week earlier and 7.05 million hectares last year on the same date.
In particular, sunflower crops reached 4.73 million hectares (3.9 million hectares a week ago and 5.12 million hectares last year), soybeans – 2.23 million hectares (2 million hectares and 1.93 million hectares) and sugar beets – 0.22 million hectares (0.22 million hectares and 0.25 million hectares).
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy notes that sunflower crops currently account for 93% of the plan, soybeans – 92%, while sugar beets – 99%, but their sowing has already been completed.
Ukrainian airline SkyUp Airlines will begin regular flights from two airports in Romania on June 16, the airline’s press service said on Thursday.
Starting June 16, SkyUp will begin operating flights from Bucharest International Airport (OTP) to Heraklion (Crete, Greece). Tickets will cost from EUR52 one way. Starting June 20, flights to Larnaca (Cyprus) will be added, with tickets costing from EUR53. Also, starting June 20, SkyUp will begin flights to Larnaca from another Romanian international airport, Avram Iancu (CLJ) in Cluj-Napoca. Tickets will cost from EUR57.
“As we continue to expand our presence in Europe, we are focused on building a sustainable business that meets today’s challenges and creates new opportunities for our customers and partners. Together with our strategic partner, tour operator Join UP!, we are strengthening our position in the international market by expanding our presence in promising European destinations,” said SkyUp CEO Dmytro Serokhov.
Earlier it was reported that SkyUp Airlines began operating regular flights from two airports in Poland on May 27.
In April 2025, SkyUp launched regular flights from Chisinau to the following destinations: Paris, Nice (France), Lisbon (Portugal), Barcelona, Alicante, and Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Larnaca (Cyprus), as well as Thessaloniki, Athens, and Heraklion (Greece).
The airline subsequently added three more destinations from Chisinau: in June, it will begin flights to Berlin (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden), and Prague (Czech Republic).
In 2024, SkyUp increased passenger traffic by 61.6% compared to 2023, to 2.5 million passengers.
The Ukrainian chain of one-dollar stores Aurora (Vygidna Pokupka LLC) is expected to reach $1 billion in revenue by the end of 2025, according to the company’s co-founder Lev Zhydenko.
“Mathematically, last year it was ($1 billion in revenue – IF-U), if you count VAT. Without VAT, it will be this amount,” Zhydenko said at the Forbes Ukraine Business Breakfast on Thursday.
According to him, over the next five years, the company plans to develop as a management platform, whose goal, among other things, is to support Ukrainian manufacturers and represent them in foreign markets.
In addition, Aurora plans to further develop in countries where it is logistically convenient to deliver goods from Ukraine, Zhydenko explained.
As reported, Aurora’s revenue for 2024 increased by 42.5% to UAH 38.5 billion (excluding VAT). In the first quarter of 2025, revenue grew by 32.5% to UAH 10.6 billion.
Aurora was founded in 2011 by Zhydenko, Taras Panasenko, and Lesya Klymenko. At the end of 2024, the chain had over 1,600 stores in Ukraine and 30 in Romania. The retail chain’s head office is located in Poltava.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Vygidna Kupivlya LLC, which develops the chain, is the Cypriot company Avrorailt Investmens Limited, whose beneficiary is Zhydenko.
The ALVIVA GROUP, owner of Ukraine’s leading bakery products manufacturer Kyivkhlib LLC, has announced a strategic expansion of its activities and entry into the Ukrainian agricultural market, according to the company’s press service.
“This step will allow the group to establish complete control over the entire agricultural production cycle,” the company’s press service said in a statement.
In 2024, the group formed a land bank of 4,000 hectares in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, and this year it expects its first harvest of wheat and sunflowers.
“In 2025, wheat will occupy 26% of the sown area, and by 2026, 100% of the group’s land bank will be allocated to it,” said Artem Chernysh, the company’s agricultural director.
The company also expressed confidence that investments in agricultural production will enable the group’s enterprises to secure their own high-quality raw materials, which will not only optimize production processes and guarantee stable supplies, but also ensure the high quality of the final product and allow control over its cost price.
“Today, ALVIVA GROUP exports finished products to more than 30 countries around the world. That is why the launch of the agricultural division is a logical and strategically important step. After all, combining experience in the food industry with the potential of the Ukrainian agricultural sector will open up new opportunities for growth and strengthen the group’s position both in Ukraine and abroad. This is an investment in the future that demonstrates ALVIVA GROUP’s commitment to sustainable development and support for the country’s economy,” the company said.
ALVIVA offers products in categories such as dry breakfasts (KYIVMLYN), croissants (Tendi), snacks (Mr Snex), cookies (Honey Moon, Kyivkhlib), bread (Kyivkhlib, Super Tost), flour (KYIVMLYN, Naturavo), water and beverages (Rosynka), cakes and pastries (Tarta, BKK).
Alviva Group is an international group of companies in the food technology and services sector that manufactures bakery products under the brands Kyivkhlib, Tarta, Tendi, Norden Brod, British Sandwich, Mr Snex, Naturavo, Honey Moon, and Kyivmlyn.
The group’s annual turnover exceeds UAH 9 billion, and its tax and fee payments to the state budget amount to over UAH 1.2 billion. It employs over 6,000 people.
Earlier it was reported that in August 2023, the owner of the group, Vyacheslav Suprunenko, privatized the former Rosinka non-alcoholic beverage plant in the capital. In November of the same year, the businessman registered Kyivkhlib and its plants under his name.
The manufacturer of agricultural and special-purpose machinery, JSC “Fregat Plant” (Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv region), increased its losses by 21.3% in January-March 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 15.1 million.
According to the company’s financial report published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, net sales revenue decreased 6.9 times to UAH 8.4 million.
The company received UAH 1.2 million in gross profit (UAH 19 million a year earlier), and operating losses amounted to UAH 13.7 million compared to a profit of UAH 6.8 million in January-March 2024.
“The martial law in Ukraine, which was introduced in connection with the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine, is leading to unstable operations and a reduction in production. The company is continuing its production activities, but not all production capacities are operating, as a result of which not the entire range of products is being manufactured,” the report says.
According to the plant, during the reporting period, the production of agricultural machinery for crop production amounted to 0.47% of the plant’s commercial output, equipment for the processing industries of the agro-industrial complex was not produced, and other types of products accounted for 99.5%.
The Fregat plant specializes in the production of irrigation systems, road barriers, metal structures, as well as machine-building products and special-purpose machines.
As of April 1, the average number of employees at the plant was 140, with another 88 people working in the Eastern branch and 9 in the Dnipro branch. The average salary is 13,080 UAH.
As reported, in 2024, the plant increased its losses by 58% compared to 2023, to UAH 60.4 million, while net income grew by 34.6%, to UAH 188.6 million.
TAD has completed construction of a new complex for the production of special trailers for transporting oversized cargo in Volochysk (Khmelnytskyi region), which will enable it to double its production volumes, according to Dmytro Kysilevsky, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic development.
“The new production complex covers an area of 8,000 square meters and will create 250 additional jobs. The investment in the new production complex amounted to $8 million. This project will enable TAD to launch the production of a new type of product—modular special trailers,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
He recalled that TAD specializes in the transportation of oversized cargo and the production of special trailers. TAD trailers have between two and 25 axles with a maximum load of up to 300 tons. The company employs 650 people.
“To attract new employees, TAD has agreed with the Volochysk city authorities to build a residential complex. In particular, the company is recruiting welders, CNC machine operators, and electricians to work at the new production complex,” Kysilevsky said.
He also noted that the company uses, in particular, loans under the “5-7-9” program, and its products are sold with a 15% compensation program for the cost of Ukrainian-made equipment. In addition, the company’s products are subject to localization requirements in public procurement (in 2025 – 25% – IF-U).
TAD (PP Trans-Auto-D), founded in 2006, is a leading manufacturer of special trailers in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, according to its website. It uses components from global manufacturers such as BPW, SAF, WABCO, TRIDEC, Pewag, and Rud.
According to the Clarity Project, in 2024, it increased its net profit by 42.7% compared to 2023, to UAH 51.1 million, with revenue growing by 25.4% to UAH 1.28 billion.
The company is co-owned by two local entrepreneurs, Vitaliy Melnyk (87.5%) and Andriy Babkin (12.5%).
