Soybean exports from Ukraine in the 2025-2026 marketing year (MY, July-June) may decrease by more than a third and amount to about 2.7 million tons due to the expected reduction in crop production, the possible impact of export duties, and the continued attractiveness of processing, according to the information and analytical agency APK-Inform.
Experts recalled that Ukraine exported 3.97 million tons of soybeans during September-July 2024-2025 MY, which is 28% more than in the same period last year and set a new record for the season.
“The significant increase in export rates was achieved primarily thanks to the record harvest of this crop in the country in 2024, as well as attractive prices and geographical proximity to key global importers,” analysts explained.
At the same time, in their opinion, the record pace of soybean shipments in the summer may be stimulated by the expected introduction of a 10% duty on soybeans from September 2025, if the Ukrainian president signs the relevant bill.
Among the top buyers of Ukrainian soybeans in the current season, experts named Turkey (968,600 tons, up 39% from the previous season), Egypt (673,000 tons, down 31%), and the Netherlands (546,000 tons, up 2.7 times).
“In total, in the 2024/25 season, soybean exports from Ukraine could reach about 4.1-4.2 million tons (+26%), which could be a new record for the industry,” APK-Inform concluded.
The loan portfolio of the international financial service NovaPay (TM NovaPay) has grown by 60% since the beginning of the year and reached UAH 1.35 billion as of early August, the company said on Wednesday.
“More than 50,000 customers have active loans, more than 85% of which are consumer loans. Our portfolio has grown by 60% since the beginning of the year,” said Bogdan Gryvko, NovaPay’s risk management director, in a press release.
The company added that customers most often choose installment plans for their loans: the portfolio for this product amounts to UAH 607 million.
In addition to installment plans, UAH 232 million in the portfolio consists of customer obligations on credit cards, the number of which has reached 30,000 since the launch in May, according to the release.
As NovaPay reminded, since last summer, the company has been lending to sole proprietors and businesses, with more than 250 customers already taking out loans worth UAH 144 million.
As reported, NovaPay issued UAH 1.7 billion in loans in 2024. In particular, the amount of loans issued last year to small and medium-sized businesses amounted to UAH 281.4 million.
Since the launch of installment services in July 2024, 97,000 loans totaling UAH 600 million were issued by the end of last year. NovaPay is an international financial service founded in 2001. It is part of the Nova group and provides online and offline financial services at Nova Poshta branches.
It was the first non-bank financial institution in Ukraine to receive an extended license from the NBU in 2023, which allowed it to open accounts and issue cards, and was also the first non-bank to launch its own financial app at the end of last year.
According to YouControl, NovaPay’s revenue in the first half of this year grew by 9.3% to UAH 4.53975 billion, while net profit fell by 42.1% to UAH 966.98 million.
Loan services are also provided by a subsidiary, NovaPay Credit, which actively raises money through bond placements. According to reports on its website, NovaPay Credit increased its net profit in the first half of this year by 52.2% compared to the first half of last year, to UAH 53.92 million, with revenue growing 2.7 times, to UAH 260.36 million.
Ferrexpo plc, a mining company with its main assets in Ukraine, reduced capital investments by 49.1% in January-June this year compared to the same period last year, from $55 million to $28 million.
According to the company’s interim report on Wednesday, of the total amount spent in the first half of 2025, capital expenditures for maintenance and modernization amounted to $15 million (in the first half of 2024 – $19 million), covering the activities of all the group’s main business units.
It is also reported that investments in strategic development projects in the reporting period amounted to $13 million (in the first half of 2024 – $36 million).
In total, 55% of capital investments were directed to supporting projects and 45% to development.
It is specified that the largest strategic capital investments included additional funds for a new press filtration complex and a new concentrate conveyor line, which amounted to $5 million and $3 million, respectively.
The aim of these projects is to increase the production of high-quality iron ore products so that the business can make its production portfolio more flexible and adapt to short-term changes in demand for various products.
The Group also funded $2 million for development work for future production and $1 million for the development and exploration of the Belanivsky deposit.
Given the decline in cash flow generation, no ordinary dividends were declared or paid during the first half of fiscal years 2025 and 2024.
The group has a shareholder return policy that sets out the group’s intention to pay up to 30% of free cash flow as dividends for a given year. The group’s ability to pay dividends also depends on developments in ongoing litigation in Ukraine, the report said.
As reported, Ferrexpo maintained its capital investments in 2024 at the previous year’s level of $101.688 million (in 2023 – $101.247 million, in 2022 – $161.010 million, and $361 million in 2021). In particular, capital expenditures for maintenance and modernization in 2024 amounted to $37 million (in 2023 – $31 million, in 2022 – $57 million, and in 2021 – $113 million). At the same time, the group reviewed the timing of investments in strategic development projects, resulting in expenditures of $65 million compared to $70 million in 2023.
Some of the larger capital expenditures included additional funds for a new press filtration complex and a new concentrate conveyor line along the production circuit, which amounted to $24 million and $2 million, respectively. These investments will enable the group to increase production of high-quality products in the near term when production returns to full capacity and to produce iron ore concentrate and pellets simultaneously.
In addition, the group spent $9 million in 2024 (2023: $22 million) on stripping work for future production growth and $18 million on a concentrator and pelletizer project (2023: $22 million) as part of the first wave (Wave 1) of the production expansion program.
The group also spent $3 million on the development and exploration of the Belanivskoye deposit (2023: $3 million) and $1 million on a hydrolysis plant (2023: $1 million) to test the use of hydrogen as fuel in the group’s granulator.
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine. Ferrexpo owns 100% of Poltava Mining, 100% of Yeristovo Mining, and 99.9% of Bilanivsky Mining.
During a telephone conversation with Brazilian Special Assistant to the President for International Affairs Celso Amorim, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi exchanged views on the “crisis in Ukraine,” with Wang noting that “the process of resolving the crisis is now at a decisive stage,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“Russia and Ukraine have taken an important step forward by starting negotiations. The crisis settlement process is now at a decisive stage,” he said.
The head of the foreign ministry added that China and Pakistan can continue to maintain communication and make joint efforts to promote the “Friends of Peace” group with the aim of further bringing together the consensus of the global South on “ceasing fire, end the war, convince people of the need for peace, and promote negotiations to play their role in the political settlement of the crisis.”
Zaporizhia enterprises of the mining and metallurgical group Metinvest – Zaporizhstal, Zaporizhogneupor, Zaporizhkox, and Zaporizhzhya Foundry and Mechanical Plant (ZLMP) – increased their transfers to budgets of all levels by 20% in January-June this year compared to the same period last year, totaling almost UAH 1.7 billion in taxes and fees.
According to a press release issued by the group on Wednesday, Metinvest Group companies also remain among the largest taxpayers in Zaporizhia. Tax revenues to local budgets for the first half of 2025 amounted to over UAH 543 million, which is 10% higher than in the first six months of 2024.
In the structure of taxes and fees for this period, the largest in terms of volume were single income tax and single social contribution payments. It should be noted that in April 2025, Metinvest raised salaries for employees of production and service enterprises, including in Zaporizhia, by up to 20%.
A significant share of deductions also falls on environmental and land taxes, as well as military levies.
Taking into account associated companies and joint ventures, Metinvest Group paid UAH 9.3 billion in taxes and fees to budgets of all levels in Ukraine in the first half of 2025.
Zaporizhstal is a joint venture of the Metinvest Group, whose main shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Steel Limited (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
As of August 1, 2025, Ukraine has exhausted its ability to export dry milk to the European Union, with butter and milk fats next in line, whose quotas will be exhausted in the third decade of August, according to Ekonomichna Pravda, citing information from the Ukrainian Dairy Industry Association (SMU).
“As of August 1, there is no possibility of exporting dry milk originating in Ukraine to the EU within the quotas. According to the European Commission, as of July 30, the quota (including volumes expected to be allocated) was more than 91% filled, with only about 0.28 thousand tons remaining out of a quota of 2.92 thousand tons,” the publication said.
According to the industry association, the volumes of dry milk already awaiting clearance at the EU border exceed the available quota. From August 1, it no longer makes economic sense to send consignments of dry milk to the EU – they will have to be returned.
Quotas for imports of butter and milk fats to the EU will last a little longer. Currently, they are already more than two-thirds full. If butter exports to the EU remain at the same level in the coming weeks, the quota could be filled by the beginning of the third decade of August.
“The changes have already affected milk prices in Ukraine: in the second half of July, they rose by more than 5%. The reason for this is an attempt by processors to make a profit before the quotas are exhausted. This market trend may change if Brussels does not take new decisions on quotas,” the SMU emphasized.
