Agro-industrial holding Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, reduced its total revenue to EUR 125 million in January-April 2025, down 25% from the same period last year, due to lower sales prices for a number of products and lower sales volumes, the agro-holding’s press service reported.
“EBITDA amounted to EUR27 million compared to EUR29 million in the first quarter of 2024, while profitability by this indicator increased by 4 percentage points to 21%. Exports of products, amounting to EUR73 million, accounted for 59% of total revenue compared to 69% in the first quarter of 2024,” the company said in a report.
At the same time, revenue from the crop production segment decreased by 49% year-on-year to EUR 37 million due to lower sales volumes. Exports accounted for 71% of the segment’s revenue (-20 percentage points year-on-year).
At the same time, in mid-May, Astarta’s enterprises successfully completed the spring sowing campaign. The final crop structure for 2025 is as follows: sugar beet – 34 thousand hectares (-12% y/y), soybeans – 56 thousand hectares (-21% y/y), winter wheat – 46 thousand hectares (-5% y/y), sunflower – 29 thousand hectares (+57% y/y), rapeseed – 11 thousand hectares (-8% y/y), corn – 11 thousand hectares (-5% y/y). ha (−5% y/y), sunflower – 29 thousand ha (+57% y/y), rapeseed – 11 thousand ha (−8% y/y), corn – 14 thousand ha (almost three times more y/y), organic crops – 2 thousand ha (no change y/y).
Revenue from Astarta’s sugar segment decreased by 5% y-o-y to EUR41 million, due to a 12% y-o-y decline in sugar prices and slightly lower sales volumes of by-products. This was partially offset by an 11% y-o-y increase in sugar sales. Sugar exports accounted for 47% of the segment’s revenue (down 4 p.p. y-o-y).
In volume terms, the company’s sugar exports accounted for 46% of total sugar sales, or 36,000 tons (+9% y-o-y). Almost half of this volume was exported by sea. The main export destinations were Libya, Israel, and the UAE, according to the agricultural holding.
Soybean processing at Astarta remained at last year’s level of EUR29 million. Exports accounted for 92% of the total, compared with 88% in the first quarter of 2024. Soybean processing volume amounted to 63,000 tons (+3% y/y).
The agricultural holding’s livestock production in January-April 2025 increased its revenue by 26% y/y to EUR 17 million, which is explained by higher sales prices. Milk sales amounted to 31 thousand tons (+1% y/y). All products were sold on the domestic market. The average livestock population was 29 thousand heads (+6% y/y). Total milk production amounted to 32 thousand tons (+1% y/y).
In January-April of this year, Astarta continued to develop its ecosystem of responsible partnership, in particular the Common Help Ukraine project, established jointly with the Believe in Yourself charitable foundation. According to the agricultural holding, the total value of charitable and humanitarian aid since the launch of the project has exceeded EUR35.3 million.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares, dairy farms with 22,000 head of cattle, an oil extraction plant in Hlobine (Poltava region), seven elevators, and a biogas complex.
In the first nine months of 2024, Astarta increased its net profit by 35.1% compared to the same period in 2023, to EUR75.60 million. The agricultural holding’s revenue grew by 12.6% to EUR441.46 million, and EBITDA by 12.8% to $131.56 million.
Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border from May 17 to 23 increased by 1.6% to 499,000 with the approach of summer, according to data from the State Border Service on Facebook.
According to the data, the outbound flow increased by 0.8% from 252,000 to 254,000, while the inbound flow increased by 2.5% from 239,000 to 245,000.
The number of vehicles that passed through checkpoints this week increased from 123,000 to 125,000, while the flow of vehicles with humanitarian cargo decreased slightly, from 526 to 517.
According to the State Border Service, as of 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, there were queues at the border crossing points (BCPs) “Ustyluh” (25 vehicles), “Krakivets” and “Shehyni” (10 vehicles each) on the border with Poland. As for other sections of the border, there were 10 cars at the Tisa checkpoint on the border with Hungary and 5 at the Uzhhorod checkpoint on the border with Slovakia, while there were no queues at other checkpoints.
The total number of people crossing the border this year is almost the same as last year: during the same seven days, 254,000 people left Ukraine and 239,000 entered, but the flow of cars was lower – 115,000.
At the same time, last year, the summer increase in passenger traffic began in the last week of May and lasted for six weeks in a row.
As reported, from May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the start of the war, was replaced by an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022, and amounted to 409,000 people. However, since the end of September, possibly influenced by news of mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, followed by massive shelling of energy infrastructure, the number of those leaving exceeded the number of those entering. In total, from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war, it reached 223,000 people.
During the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings to leave Ukraine, according to the State Border Service, exceeded the number of crossings to enter by 25,000, during the third year by 187,000, and since the beginning of the fourth year by 30,000.
As Deputy Minister of Economy Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March 2023, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP.
In its April inflation report, the National Bank again estimated the outflow from Ukraine in 2024 at 0.5 million (according to the State Border Service – 0.315 million). In absolute terms, this means an increase in the number of migrants remaining abroad to 6.8 million in 2024. The NBU also maintained its forecast for the outflow in 2025 at 0.2 million.
According to updated data from the UNHCR, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of April 17, 2025, was estimated at 6.358 million, and 6.918 million worldwide, which is 15,000 fewer than on March 20.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data at the end of last year, there were 3.669 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agro-industrial groups, a leading grain exporter from Ukraine, and a global leader in the production and export of sunflower oil, has received Ukraine’s first commodity agricultural note, the agro-holding’s press service reported on its website.
According to the report, the document was registered in the Register of Agricultural Notes with the support of PJSC National Depository of Ukraine (NDU), the official administrator of the system.
The commodity agricultural note was deposited with the Central Securities Depository, which ensures its legal status and high liquidity. Thanks to this, the instrument can be used as a reliable collateral in financial transactions and as an alternative to traditional agricultural financing mechanisms, the agricultural holding explained.
“We see the future in the digitization and standardization of processes. The use of agricultural notes is not just a tool, but a foundation for transparent and effective interaction between participants in the agricultural market. We are confident that this decision will allow us to flexibly and quickly support our partners, especially in today’s difficult market conditions,” emphasized Alexander Golovin, Commercial Director for Ukraine at Kernel.
The agricultural note was issued with the support of the IFC project “Developing Ukraine’s Agricultural Sector Access to Capital Markets,” which is being implemented in partnership with the Swiss Confederation. The initiative aims to expand access to finance for agricultural producers by strengthening the agricultural receipt instrument and preparing agricultural notes as a fully-fledged asset class for securitization.
“We sincerely believe that agricultural notes will become one of the key lending instruments for the agricultural sector, especially for covering working capital needs and attracting financing from capital markets,” said IFC Project Manager Kirill Mukhomedzyanov.
“An instrument such as a commodity agricultural note provides high legal transparency and reduces the cost of financing for agricultural producers, which is particularly valuable for small and medium-sized farmers with limited access to investment. Accordingly, in the long term, the use of notes will help boost investor and bank confidence in the sector and allow for free market circulation, opening up new sources of capital,” emphasized Kernel’s head of agribusiness finance, Mykhailo Golubakha.
The agricultural holding emphasized that the launch of agricultural notes is a manifestation of the company’s strategic course towards the digitalization of business processes.
Before the war, Kernel was the world’s leading producer of sunflower oil (about 7% of global production) and its exporter (about 12%). It is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. In addition, it is engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
Ukraine’s second-largest mobile operator, Vodafone Ukraine (VFU), has announced a proposal to buy back its Eurobonds worth $1.11 million in connection with the company’s first monthly dividend payment to shareholder Telco Investments B.V. in the amount of UAH 46.092 million on May 14 this year.
As the company explained in a stock exchange announcement on Friday, according to changes made by the National Bank of Ukraine on December 21, 2024, it is now permitted to pay dividends abroad on a monthly basis in an amount not exceeding EUR 1 million per month.
Accordingly, on April 24, 2025, VFU announced the payment of dividends to its shareholder in the amount of UAH 660.245 million ($15.9 million at the exchange rate specified in the announcement) for 2024 and intends to pay them in separate monthly dividend payments. Each such monthly dividend is expected to amount to the equivalent of EUR1 million in hryvnia.
The company emphasized that, in accordance with the terms of the bond issue, in such a case it must offer all bondholders the opportunity to apply for the sale of their bonds for an amount equal to the amount of dividends paid outside Ukraine.
According to the announced terms, the bonds will be redeemed at 99% of their face value.
VFU recalled that a total of $300 million worth of bonds maturing in February 2027 with a nominal interest rate of 9.625% per annum were issued, of which the company currently holds $0.5 million worth of bonds.
Applications for participation in the buyback will be accepted until June 6 inclusive.
As reported, VFU increased its revenue by 13.1% to UAH 24.44 billion in 2024, while reducing its net profit by 30.1% to UAH 3.54 billion.
In January-March 2025, revenue grew by 14% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 6.59 billion, while net profit fell by 24% to UAH 697 million.
In January-April 2025, DTEK Energy allocated approximately UAH 1.6 billion to repair and restore thermal power plants damaged by massive enemy shelling.
According to a press release from the energy holding company, the repair campaign is currently continuing without interruption, as the scale of the damage remains critical. A year ago, 90% of DTEK Energy’s generating capacity was destroyed or seriously damaged by attacks. On the eve of last winter, energy companies managed to restore more than half of it, but new strikes in November-December again caused serious damage.
“Our main task is not to stop. We are working every day on restoration to ensure the stable operation of the power system in the summer, during peak loads, and to confidently enter the next heating season,” said DTEK Energy CEO Alexander Fomenko.
In 2024, DTEK invested UAH 3.6 billion in the restoration of thermal power plants and another UAH 7.5 billion in the development of domestic coal mining.
Over the past year, Russia has carried out 13 massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector, dealing a serious blow to DTEK Energy’s thermal power plants, among others. In total, since the start of the full-scale invasion, the company’s thermal power plants have been attacked by the enemy 205 times. Fifty-six power plant workers were wounded in the attacks and four were killed.
DTEK Energy provides a closed cycle of electricity production from coal. As of January 2022, the company’s installed thermal generation capacity was 13.3 GW. A complete production cycle has been established in coal mining: coal extraction and enrichment, machine building, and maintenance of mining equipment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree on the decision of the National Security and Defense Council to impose sanctions on nine legal entities and three individuals, all citizens of the Russian Federation, associated with the Pin-Up casino.
The corresponding decree No. 344/2025 was published on the president’s website.
According to the appendix to the decree, sanctions have been imposed on three individuals who are citizens of the Russian Federation: Dmitry Punin, Ivan Bannikov, and Alexander Matyasov.
Sanctions have also been imposed on nine legal entities, three of which are registered in Ukraine: Ukr Game Technology LLC, Tranitadevelopment LLC, and Turbo.Yu LLC.
