The share of imported fireproofing materials decreased from 80% in 2016 to 20% in 2024, Kovlar Group CEO Kostiantyn Kalafat said in an interview withInterfax-Ukraine.
He recalled that when the company was launched in 2015, it aimed to use the experience of American builders to create an affordable domestic material for fire protection of steel structures. The company’s first product was the Ammokote GP-240 plaster mix. The company then invested in organizing its own workshop and warehouses, purchasing the necessary equipment, setting up a research laboratory, and developing and testing new fire protection materials, which currently include more than 20 items.
“The availability of high-quality Ammokote fire protection products in the country has created objective conditions for positive changes in the direction of import substitution. Since Kovlar Group entered the Ukrainian fire protection market, there has been a steady decline in the share of fire protection materials imported to Ukraine, from 80% in 2016 to 20% in 2024,” said Mr. Kalafat.
He emphasized that the company has received support and assistance from Kyiv business on its way to becoming a major player.
“We produced the first batches of fireproof plaster at Ukrvermiculite, and fireproof paints at Kompozit, a leading Ukrainian manufacturer. Our company also fruitfully cooperates with the institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on scientific research to develop new innovative fire protection products. On a voluntary basis, we help Ukrainian scientists in organizing pilot production and implementing scientific results,” said Kalafat.
Kovlar Group LLC was founded in 2015, its authorized capital is UAH 1.2 million, and its ultimate beneficiaries are Kostiantyn Kalafat (40%), Andriy Ozeychuk (35%), and Liubov Vakhitova (25%). According to the company’s annual reports, in the first three quarters of 2024, the company received UAH 73 million 726.4 thousand in revenue and a net profit of UAH 10 million 228.6 thousand.
The full text of the interview with Konstantin Kalafat will be published on the Interfax-Ukraine website.
Ukrainian drogerie chain EVA (Rush LLC) increased its revenue by 28.6% to UAH 27 billion in 2024, its press service reports.
According to the report, the share of own brands in the company’s sales last year amounted to 36.1%, compared to 33.9% in 2023. In addition, EVA has launched eight new private labels, bringing the total number to 65. The company plans to further develop its product portfolio: in February 2025, it will launch Bingo (pet products), followed by brands in the hair care segment.
In addition, last year, 70.4% of online checks were electronic.
It is noted that the virtual makeup service VISUAL by EVA increased its coverage by 25% (to 251 stores), and the number of sessions increased by 250% compared to 2023.
Rusch LLC, which manages the EVA chain, was founded in 2002. At the end of 2024, the chain had 1109 operating stores.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Rush LLC is Cyprus-based Incetera Holdings Limited (100%), with Ruslan Shostak and Valeriy Kiptyk as the ultimate beneficiaries.
According to the results of three quarters of 2024, Rush’s revenue amounted to UAH 19.2 billion and net profit amounted to UAH 1.2 billion. In 2023, the company’s revenue increased by 33.7% to UAH 21 billion compared to 2022, while net profit increased by 26% to UAH 2.2 billion.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has supported more than 200,000 rural families and more than 15,000 farmers and agricultural enterprises over the three years of full-scale war, providing seeds, grants, generators, financial assistance and other critical resources to help them maintain production, adapt to new realities and continue to work despite all the challenges, FAO said.
“Ukraine is an agrarian country, but today farmers and rural residents are forced to fight not only for their harvests, but also for their own survival. The war has destroyed infrastructure and complicated access to fertilizers, machinery, and markets. Almost 60% of households say that their main need is to restore their livelihoods,” FAO emphasized on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
FAO said that in 2025 it intends to support 406,900 people to meet these challenges, including providing seeds to farm families, helping to restore irrigation systems and grain storage facilities, providing livestock with fodder and covering urgent food needs. To implement this support, FAO needs $53 million.
“Ukraine’s agricultural sector is not only a matter of food security within the country, but also a key factor in global stability. But above all, it is people. Rural families who work hard every day to provide themselves with food, take care of their livestock and maintain their farms even in the most difficult conditions. By supporting them, we are not just helping them to restore their livelihoods – we are saving lives and giving them the opportunity to build a future,” FAO summarized and assured that they would continue to work in Ukraine.
Imports of transformers, inductors and chokes to Ukraine in January 2025 increased almost sixfold compared to the same month in 2024 to $127.9 million, according to statistics from the State Customs Service (SCS).
According to the statistics, in January this year, these products were mainly imported from China – for $116.07 million (90.75% of total imports of these goods), while a year earlier, transformers and chokes were imported from this country for $12.9 million (59.7%). That is, their imports increased almost ninefold last month.
They were also imported from Turkey (by $4.5 million) and the United States (by $1.75 million).
In January 2024, the Czech Republic ($1.9 million) and Italy (almost $1 million) were among the largest importing countries, in addition to China.
At the same time, Ukraine exported transformers, inductors, and chokes worth $2.05 million in January 2025, compared to $1.24 million in January 2024, mainly to Hungary, Germany, and Azerbaijan.
According to the State Customs Service, imports of transformers, inductors and chokes to Ukraine more than doubled in 2024 compared to 2023, to $596.11 million, while China imported 2.5 times more of them, by $400.48 million.
The volume of cattle slaughter in Ukraine in January 2025 amounted to 13.8 thousand tons, which is 13 thousand tons less (-49%) compared to December 2024 and 100 tons less (-1%) compared to January 2024, the Association of Milk Producers (AMP) reported, citing data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.
The industry association noted that in January 2025, enterprises produced 51% of beef from the total slaughter volume, and 49% in households.
According to preliminary data of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, in January 2025, the volume of cattle slaughter at enterprises amounted to 7.1 thousand tons, which is 1 thousand tons more (+8%) than in December 2024 and 1 thousand tons more (+9%) than in January 2024.
Instead, in households, the volume of cattle slaughter in January 2025 amounted to 6.7 thousand tons, which is 14 thousand tons less (-67%) compared to December and 1 thousand tons less (-9%) compared to January 2024.
The total slaughter of farm animals, not only cattle, but also pigs, sheep, and birds in January 2025 amounted to 279.9 thousand tons, which is almost equal to the previous year (-0.1%).
According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, in January 2025, the volume of live animal sales for slaughter increased most significantly at agricultural enterprises in the Zakarpattia region (+200%), Zaporizhzhia region (+100%), Kharkiv region (+63%), Rivne region (+50%), Mykolaiv region (+50%) compared to the previous year.
Most of the animals were sold for slaughter at agricultural enterprises in Vinnytsia (51.9 thousand tons), Cherkasy (35.1 thousand tons), Dnipropetrovs’k (31.9 thousand tons), Lviv (15.3 thousand tons) and Kyiv (11.4 thousand tons) regions.
In 2022-24, omnichannel retailer Foxtrot expanded its network from 90 to 124 stores, the company’s press service reports.
“Since February 24, 2022, the company has chosen a development strategy: to continue working, support the economy, organize the processes inherent in peacetime, taking into account the security component of wartime, and help the defenders of Ukraine. The events of the last three years have only strengthened the company, made us more flexible, adaptive to daily challenges and accelerated the process of implementing changes and innovations as much as possible,” said Oleksiy Zozulya, CEO of the retailer.
“Foxtrot continued to expand and renovate its existing stores (including after enemy missile attacks), paying attention to barrier-free and inclusive environment. Thus, while the company operated 90 stores in March 2022, as of the beginning of 2025, the chain has 124 retail outlets in 66 cities, including Kherson, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. The company was the first in the electronics market to launch a sign language service for deaf people, which operates in 30 stores on Foxtrot.ua and continues to scale. In addition, as part of the development of barrier-free accessibility, the company has started adapting the retail space in its stores.
The company has paid almost UAH 1.9 billion in taxes since the beginning of the full-scale war, including almost UAH 1 billion in 2024. Considerable attention is paid to e-commerce, with the turnover of the Foxtrot.ua online store growing by 42% last year.
The retailer’s most significant social initiative is systematic direct assistance to the Ukrainian Defense Forces. Currently, the total amount of equipment donated by Foxtrot to the defenders is over UAH 43.5 million, which includes 8882 units of equipment. As part of the campaign, Foxtrot together with the Aerorazvidka NGO raised almost UAH 700 thousand to train the military in IT tools. To support children affected by Russian aggression, the Give a Piece of Goodness campaign continues. As part of the project “Eat to Support Indestructible Animals”, we purchased UAH 2 million worth of food, medicines, and kennels for residents of 63 shelters.
“Foxtrot is one of the largest omnichannel retail chains in Ukraine in terms of the number of stores and sales of electronics and household appliances. The company operates 124 stores in 66 cities, including the frontline cities of Kherson, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, an online platform Foxtrot.ua and a mobile application of the same name.
According to Opendatabot, the net income of FTD-Retail LLC (Kyiv), which develops the chain, amounted to UAH 9.9 billion in 9M2024, with a net loss of UAH 110 million.
The Foxtrot brand is developed by the Foxtrot group of companies. The co-founders are Valery Makovetsky and Gennady Vykhodtsev.
