A memorandum on the merger of the Ukrainian Pulses Association and the Ukrainian Soybean Association and the creation of a new Ukrainian Pulses Association was signed in Kyiv on Thursday as part of World Pulses Day.
The heads of the associations expressed confidence that the merger will allow them to concentrate resources, join forces and work out a unified development strategy for the pulses industry.
“It is very important for us that the associations are effective and that business moves forward. We are now at the stage of transformation, because we see the importance of pulses. And this season, we see sunflower being supplemented with soybeans in processing. This means that livestock farming will develop in parallel,” said Vitalii Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
According to him, in 2024, Ukraine increased exports of soybeans by 4.8% to $1.3 billion, which is 1.6 times or $115 million more than in 2023.
The Minister expressed confidence that with the unification of the two associations, these percentages will increase. He also emphasized the importance of initiatives that should come from business and said that officials would be waiting for new proposals.
Antonina Skliarenko, President of the Bean and Soybean Association of Ukraine, stated that the pulses sector in Ukraine is growing. In 2024, the country harvested 469 thsd tonnes of peas from the area of 212.3 thsd ha, and exports amounted to 364 thsd tonnes. It is expected that in 2025 the area under peas will grow by 20%, and under lentils – by 10-15%. Further expansion of soybean areas is also forecasted.
“The united association is a logical step in the development of the industry, as Ukrainian producers of pulses and soybeans face increased competition in international markets, the need to adapt to European standards and introduce innovations to improve efficiency,” Skliarenko summarized.
In 2025, Agro-Region will increase its total budget for the purchase of inventory by 15%, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
“The total budget for inventories in 2025 will increase by 15%, but this is due to a change in crop rotation: we are increasing the share of corn, which is a more expensive crop. If we consider the costs of each crop separately, the growth will be about 5%, but this is not due to prices, but to the use of more expensive technology (more fertilizers and more expensive plant protection products),” said Dmytro Tarasyuk, Chief Procurement Officer of the agricultural holding.
According to him, fertilizers always account for the largest share of costs in the procurement structure. In the 2025 season, they are about twice as expensive as seeds, fuel or pesticides. However, thanks to early purchases, Agro-Region was able to save significantly on fertilizers. The agroholding purchased most of the fertilizers in June 2024, at the “bottom of the price”. This helped to avoid a shortage of phosphate fertilizers that occurred in July and August, as well as additional costs, as nitrogen fertilizer prices rose by 25% by January. The agricultural holding also split the purchase of nitrogen fertilizers into two parts to avoid financial burden and spread risks.
Tarasiuk noted that Agro-Region also purchases seeds in advance. As early as November 2024, 90% of the need was contracted, taking advantage of the maximum discounts for early contracting. The remaining 10% are test hybrids that the agricultural division is testing.
“We also purchase plant protection products (PPPs) as early as possible, especially seed treatment products, soil herbicides and growth regulators. In addition, we create an “emergency” stock of herbicides and insecticides for possible force majeure, such as the unforeseen appearance of pests. This allows us to be flexible in our production processes,” said the head of the division.
He also said that after the outbreak of war, Agro-Region increased its own fuel storage capacity, which made it possible to ensure seasonal operations even in crisis conditions. Currently, the agricultural holding has about 20% of the fuel requirements for the spring sowing season.
“Unfortunately, oil prices remain at $80 per barrel, so we decided to postpone major purchases. We are watching the market and may switch to spot purchases in small batches this year, as it is likely that the later we buy, the cheaper it will be,” summarized the agricultural holding’s procurement director.
Agro-Region owns a land bank of 39 thousand hectares in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytsky regions. It specializes in crop production. It consists of 11 companies organized into four crop production clusters. It has two elevators – Boryspil elevator with a capacity of 73 thousand tons and Miropil elevator with a capacity of 52 thousand tons.
Agro-Region’s annual harvest of grains and oilseeds is up to 200 thousand tons.
In April 2021, the Swedish company Lobiu Sala AB, owned by the former Minister of Economy of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavičius, received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to buy the Swedish Agro Region Stockholm Holding, which manages the Agro-Region group of companies in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s total public debt in 2024 rose to a new all-time high: by $22.74 billion, or 14.3%, to $166.06 billion in dollar terms, and by UAH 1 trillion 461.3 billion, or 26.5%, to UAH 6 trillion 980.9 billion in hryvnia terms, according to the website of the Ministry of Finance.
According to the data, the direct public debt increased by 16.5% in dollars to $159.20 billion, or UAH 6 trillion 692.4 billion, and accounted for 95.9% of the total public and publicly guaranteed debt.
In 2024, Ukraine’s total external public debt increased by 18.1%, or by $18.38 billion, to $114.88 billion, while the total internal public debt increased by 16.7%, or by UAH 276.0 billion, to UAH 1 trillion 863.1 billion.
As a result, the share of total external public debt increased from 70.0% to 72.3% over the year.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the share of liabilities in euros at the end of 2024 increased to 33.01%, in US dollars to 26.81%, in SDRs to 11.39%, in Canadian dollars to 2.83%, in British pounds to 0.11%, while in hryvnia it decreased to 25.33% and in yen to 0.51%.
The agency also clarified that 65.01% of the state debt has a fixed interest rate, while 11.39% is tied to the IMF rate, 12.66% to SOFR, 3.80% to EURIBOR, 0.51% to TORF and 0.10% to SONIA.
The rate for another 2.08% of government debt is tied to the consumer price index, and 4.17% to the NBU discount rate. These are government bonds from the NBU’s portfolio. The newest of these were the securities linked to the key policy rate, which the NBU bought as part of the issue financing of the 2022 budget.
Finally, 0.27% of the state debt has a rate linked to the Ukrainian index of rates on retail deposits, which is used in portfolio guarantee programs.
The Ministry of Finance previously noted that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to a sharp increase in the ratio of public debt to GDP – from 43.3% at the end of 2021 to 79.4% at the end of 2023.
As reported, Ukraine’s public and publicly guaranteed debt increased by $13.4 billion in 2022 and by $33.9 billion in 2023.
The IMF, as part of the sixth review of the EFF Extended Fund Facility program with Ukraine last December, improved its forecast for public debt growth due to higher GDP growth and lower deficits: to 92.2% of GDP by the end of 2024 and to 104.3% by the end of 2025, while in October it estimated it at 95.6% of GDP and 106.6% of GDP, respectively.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank and Maxim Urakin released a video analysis on the state of debt in the world, see more details on the YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/gq7twYrWuqE
The plants of nitrogen holding Ostchem produced 1.8 million tons of mineral fertilizers in 2024, down 13% from 2023, according to a press release from Group DF International’s corporate communications department.
According to the report, Cherkasy-based Azot maintained its production level at 1.4 million tons in 2024, while Rivne Azot reduced its output by 22% and produced 407 thousand tons, down from 528 thousand tons a year earlier.
According to Group DF International, the key products produced by Ostchem’s plants were ammonium nitrate – 760.2 thousand tons (41.9% of the total), UAN – 506.7 thousand tons (27.9%), urea – 401.9 thousand tons (22.2%), and ammonia – 75 thousand tons (4.1%).
The reasons for the decline in production were low grain prices on global markets, power outages, the ongoing war and imports of cheap, low-quality fertilizers.
“Ukrainian farmers are going through difficult times, and the margins of their businesses have fallen significantly. This affects the domestic demand for mineral fertilizers – sometimes priority was given to cheaper fertilizers of dubious quality, which were imported en masse last year. We play the long game, and even in the most difficult times we ensure high international quality of our products and 100% fulfillment of our obligations. Even during the periods of forced shutdowns of Rivne Azot due to power outages, these business values remained unchanged, as Ukrainian farmers could see,” said Sergiy Pavlyuchuk, Chief Operating Officer of Ostchem’s nitrogen business.
The holding reported that in 2024, the average annual capacity utilization of Ostchem did not exceed 70%. Uncontrolled imports did not allow Ukrainian enterprises to operate at full capacity.
“Unfortunately, we were forced to cut staff and optimize costs. According to my estimates, the decline in the chemical industry was about 10%, and this is the result of growing imports and ineffective industrial policy,” Pavliuchuk said.
He added that in 2025, Ostchem has adapted to the military business environment and will continue to focus on developing new industrial sites, energy efficiency, ensuring stable operations and improving product quality in the new environment.
“The key objective for 2025 is to ensure production sustainability in the current unstable energy supply environment, reduce production risks, and replace imports with better quality. Our long-term strategic priority remains the same: import substitution and, consequently, an increase in market share. We will continue to invest in the production of the most popular fertilizers and expand our product line. First of all, we are talking about investment projects related to the launch of urea and industrial gases production,” summarized Pavliuchuk.
Ostchem is a nitrogen holding of Dmitry Firtash’s Group DF that unites the largest mineral fertilizer producers in Ukraine. Since 2011, it has included Rivne Azot and Cherkasy Azot, as well as Sievierodonetsk Azot and Stirol, which are out of operation and located in the occupied territories.
Cherkasy Azot PrJSC (Cherkasy, Ukraine) is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical enterprises. The design production capacity is 962.7 thousand tons per year of ammonia, 970 thousand tons per year of ammonium nitrate, 891.6 thousand tons of urea, and 1 million tons per year of UAN.
Rivne Azot is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical companies in Western Ukraine. On April 12, 2024, Group DF and South Korean Hyundai Engineering signed an agreement to build a chemical hub in Rivne. The project envisages the construction of green ammonia and hydrogen plants based on renewable energy sources; new enterprises and production sites for nitrogen fertilizers and chemical derivatives.
In October-December 2024, state-owned Ukreximbank, Oschabank, and Ukrgasbank (all based in Kyiv) issued loans from two to five years worth about UAH 2.04 billion in the equivalent to five city councils at floating rates, according to the Ministry of Finance.
According to this information, Ukreximbank issued the most loans during this period: two in foreign currency and three in hryvnia.
In particular, in late October and early November last year, the state-owned bank financed the Brovary City Council for EUR 2.2 million at a floating rate of EURIBOR 6M + 3.58% and the Stryi City Council (Lviv region) for EUR 850 thousand at a rate of EURIBOR 6M + 3.63%. In both cases, it is specified that the interest rate, according to the terms of the agreement, cannot exceed 8%. Both loans were issued for five years with a grace period during the first year.
In December, Exim also issued three loans in the national currency: UAH 200 million at UIRD 3M +3.03% to Zaporizhzhia City Council, UAH 125 million to Mukachevo City Council at a slightly higher rate of UIRD 3M +4.73%, and UAH 16.96 million to Sheptytska City Council (Lviv region) at UIRD 3M +4.41%. Mukachevo City Council received a loan for a year, while Sheptytsky and Zaporizhzhia City Councils received loans for five years, with a grace period of up to a year for the former and up to a year and a half for the latter.
The agreements also state that at the time of issuance, these floating rates were 16.3% for Zaporizhzhia, 17.45% for Sheptytska, and 18% for Mukachevo, and should not exceed 21%, 23%, and 25% per annum, respectively.
In turn, at the end of December 2024, Oschadbank issued UAH 840 million to the Lviv City Council under UIRD 3M +3.0%, with the rate being reviewed quarterly. The loan was issued for five years, with a grace period of two years.
This state-owned bank also provided two loans in November: UAH 500 million to the Dnipro City Council at a variable rate with quarterly review of UIRD 3M +2.97%, and UAH 120.8 million to the Kamianske City Council (Dnipropetrovska oblast) at a fixed rate of 13.5% p.a. for the first year and UIRD 3M +3.0% from the second year with quarterly review. Both loans were issued for a five-year term with a 12-month grace period.
Under the terms of the three loan agreements, the interest rate cannot exceed 22% in all cases.
At the end of November 2024, the state-owned Ukrgasbank financed the Dnipro City Council for UAH 100 million: the first year the fixed rate is 13.5% per annum, and from the second year onwards, the floating rate UIRD 12M +3%, but not more than 23%. The loan was issued for a period of 5 years, of which one year is a grace period.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, paid UAH 498.9 million in taxes in 2024, down 24.1% from UAH 657 million in 2023.
According to DCH Steel’s corporate newspaper on Thursday, in 2024, DMZ paid UAH 196.7 million in value added tax, UAH 92.9 million in land rent, UAH 88.1 million in unified social tax, and UAH 77.3 million in personal income tax.
In addition, Sukha Balka mine (Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovska oblast), which is also part of Aleksandr Yaroslavskyi’s DCH group, paid UAH 404.5 million in taxes. The most significant payments in the mine’s payment structure are rent for subsoil use – UAH 162.1 million, personal income tax – UAH 117.3 million, and unified social tax – UAH 76.1 million.
In 2024, DMZ and Sukha Balka mine paid a total of UAH 903.4 million in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels.
As reported, in the first half of 2024, DMZ paid UAH 292 million in taxes, including UAH 129 million in VAT, UAH 28 million in income tax, UAH 43 million in unified social tax, UAH 38 million in personal income tax and UAH 54 million in other taxes.
The total amount of taxes paid by Sukha Balka Mine in this period amounted to UAH 167 million. In particular, it includes rent for the use of subsoil for the extraction of minerals (iron ore) – UAH 80 million, unified social tax – UAH 37 million, personal income tax – UAH 34 million, and other taxes – UAH 16 million.
In 2023, DMZ paid more than UAH 657 million in taxes, up 64% compared to 2022. In the structure of payments to the budgets of all levels, the largest amount of value added tax was UAH 277.5 million.
Income tax amounted to UAH 122 million, and unified social tax, rent and other contributions amounted to UAH 257 million.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, cast iron, rolled products and products made from them. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy DMZ from Evraz.
Sukha Balka mine is one of the leading mining companies in Ukraine. It produces iron ore by underground mining. It includes Yubileynaya and Frunze mines. DCH Group acquired the mine from Evraz Group in May 2017.
