In 2024, Ukraine managed to reduce the volume of the shadow tobacco market to 12.6% from 25.7%, Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, said on Telegram.
“Thanks to joint work with law enforcement and tax authorities, we managed to reduce the volume of the shadow tobacco market from 25.7% to 12.6%,” he wrote.
Hetmantsev added that in June-December 2024, importers and manufacturers of tobacco products paid UAH 16.1 billion more in excise tax to the budget (+33.7%) than in the same period in 2023.
In June-October, manufacturers produced 2 billion more cigarettes than in the same period of 2023.
In addition, the development of the e-liquids market resulted in a 30-fold increase in the volume of ordered excise stamps in the third quarter compared to the first quarter of 2024.
As reported, in December 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Bill No. 11090 on the revision of excise tax rates on tobacco products. The document provides for an equivalent increase in specific excise tax rates on cigarettes for tobacco, industrial tobacco substitutes and a reduction in their amount for tobacco-containing products for electric heating, as well as clarification of certain provisions of the administration of excise tax on tobacco products.
MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Holos faction) said that the adopted document was not signed by the President of Ukraine and was not published on the parliament’s website, which calls into question the revision of tobacco prices from January 1, 2025.
On January 1, the Law “On Agricultural Notes” came into force in Ukraine, which provides for the establishment of a separate Register of Agricultural Notes.
It is expected that the register will contain information on the issuance, content and change of details of agrarian notes, termination and encumbrance of agrarian notes, and the commencement of enforcement of obligations under agrarian notes on the basis of a special extract from the register.
The Registry, in turn, will ensure transparency, efficiency and convenience of operations with agricultural notes by automating the processes of forming the details of agricultural notes, making changes, issuing and terminating them. Automated work will simplify the interaction between agricultural producers, creditors, and investors.
In addition, the digitalization of processes in the Registry will reduce transaction costs associated with the issuance and termination of agricultural notes, making the instrument cheap and easy to use.
Oleksiy Yudin, Chairman of the Board of the National Depository of Ukraine (NDU), previously expressed confidence that the project would be an important step in building the digital infrastructure of the agricultural sector, help attract additional investment and ensure sustainable economic growth.
“This project is an important step for the digitalization of the capital market and the agricultural sector in Ukraine. The development of the Agricultural Notes Register will not only help strengthen our country’s position in the global agricultural market, but also create new opportunities for investors,” said Ruslan Magomedov, Chairman of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
The NSSM added that this decision is an important infrastructure element and a central component of the entire ecosystem of agricultural notes, without which the full implementation of the new instrument in the market is impossible.
As reported, in October 2024, the International Finance Corporation (IFC, a member of the World Bank Group) and the National Depository of Ukraine signed a grant agreement under which NDU will receive up to $300 thousand to create and implement an innovative Register of Agricultural Notes.
In 2024, the Ukrainian agricultural sector set a second historical record of $24.5 billion in foreign exchange earnings from the export of agricultural products, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval said in an interview with Ukrainian Radio.
“To summarize the 24th year, it brought us the second best result in terms of foreign exchange earnings from exports. We set the second historical record – the country received $24.5 billion from the export of agricultural products. This is a good indicator,” he said.
The Minister recalled that the best year in terms of foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports was 2021, when the agricultural sector earned $27.7 billion due to a good harvest.
Koval noted that compared to 2023, the agricultural sector’s foreign exchange earnings from exports increased by more than $2 billion.
“I think 2024 was a year of resilience for the entire agricultural sector. Ukrainian agrarians withstood, persevered and proved to be the best. The fact that we harvested a good crop, 75 million tons of grains and oilseeds, despite the mined land and hostilities is a good result, given that the year was dry and we had to admit the loss of yields. But in general, Ukraine has not only resisted, but also increased its agricultural power,” the Minister of Agrarian Policy summarized.
In 2025, Ukraine exported goods worth $41.627 billion, up $5.44 billion, or 15%, compared to 2023, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said.
“In terms of weight, exports amounted to 131.179 million tons. This is 30.8 million tons more, which means an increase of 30.8%. Imports also increased by 8.6% to $69 billion,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
Kachka specified that imports of electricity increased by 333% to $669 million, batteries by 103% to $950 million, transformers by 108% to $596 million, and UAVs by 77% to $1.2 billion.
“The top imports are petroleum products ($6.8 billion) and “miscellaneous” ($4.5 billion), which are directly related to war and defense. So energy challenges and defense are the main drivers of imports. The drivers are not at all inelastic. A significant reduction in the trade deficit is directly related to the development of the defense industry and the restoration of energy infrastructure,” the trade representative emphasized.
Regarding exports, Kachka noted that due to the opening of navigation in ports, iron ore became the leader in terms of exports – 33.6 million tons, which is 89% more compared to 2023, and in monetary terms, the growth was 58% – up to $ 2.8 billion.
According to him, the second position in terms of volume was taken by corn – 29 million tons, which is 12.3% more than in 2023, but in monetary terms the increase was only 2.3%, up to $5.07 billion.
The Trade Representative emphasized that the situation is the opposite in poultry exports: in physical terms, it increased by only 5.6% to 448.4 thousand tons, but in monetary terms – by 20% to $961 million.
“Among the goods whose exports amounted to more than a billion dollars, I would like to emphasize cable products, whose exports increased by 60% to $1.27 billion,” added Kachka.
According to his data, the growth in export revenues for key metallurgical products was 52% for semi-finished products to $927 million, 38.9% for hot-rolled products to $809 million, 125% for pipes to $590 million, 6.1% for pig iron to $500 million and 19.3% for bars to $156 million.
“Confectionery is a certain indicator of the food processing industry’s performance. There is a 38% increase in revenue from chocolate ($264 million), 26.9% growth for biscuits ($269 million), 15.6% for candy without chocolate ($215 million),” the trade representative also wrote.
In timber processing, he drew attention to the fact that the export of boards (sawn timber) decreased in volume, but still remained above 1 million tons, and in revenue – by 1.2%, to $400.9 million, but glued plywood was exported by 95% more – $125.3 million.
“There are also good indicators in the consumer goods sector. Exports of suits, sets, jackets, trousers, overalls for men amounted to $99 million. This is 646% … more than in 2023. Exports of suits, sets, jackets, dresses, skirts for women amounted to $71.3 million, which is 114.2% growth,” Kachka wrote.
According to him, geographically, Ukrainian exports are becoming more and more EU-centric: exports to the EU grew by 5.9% to $24.7 billion. The top five EU members in terms of exports were Poland ($4.7 billion), Spain ($2.8 billion), Germany ($2.8 billion), the Netherlands ($1.98 billion), and Italy ($1.93 billion). At the same time, exports to Germany grew by 40.5%, while exports to Poland decreased by 1.1%, the trade representative said.
“In general, trade with Poland is declining, as Ukraine imported 6.8% less from it than in 2023. At the same time, Poland continues to be the leader in the supply of goods from the EU – $6.8 billion out of $34.3 billion of total imports from the EU,” Kachka stated.
He noted that trade with Turkey is also declining – by 7.2% in exports and 13.5% in imports.
According to him, imports from China are growing at a significant pace: last year they increased by 37.4% to $14.3 billion.
“And this is the main area of turbulence in our trade policy, because trade with China may undergo radical changes due to the expected measures of the new US administration, which will go viral and lead to the recalibration of tariff rates within the WTO. If the US states that it has the right to revise its tariff rates, Ukraine has even more rights to do so, as we joined the WTO on the basis of unfulfilled expectations of lowering tariffs by other WTO member states,” Kachka emphasized.
After raising the official hryvnia exchange rate by 1 kopeck on December 31, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) strengthened it by another 5 kopecks on January 1 to 41.9725 UAH/$1, according to the regulator’s website.
The NBU set the reference rate at 12:00 on Wednesday at 41.9787 UAH/$1 against 42.0247 UAH/$1 a day earlier.
On the cash market, the US dollar went up by 1 kopeck on the first day of the new year, to 42.40 UAH/$1, and remained at 42.50 UAH/$1 on sale.
The official hryvnia exchange rate against the US dollar weakened by 10.6%, or UAH 4.02, in 2024, and by 14.9%, or UAH 5.46, since the National Bank switched to a managed flexibility regime on October 3, 2023.
Last week, the NBU’s net sales of foreign currency on the interbank market rose to a record high since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – to $1 billion 625.9 million, and in December – to $5.28 billion, which was also a record high.
As reported, in 2023, the official hryvnia exchange rate devalued by 4.5% to 37.9824 UAH/$1, while the government had budgeted for an average annual rate of 42.2 UAH/$1 in 2023 and 45.8 UAH/$1 at the end of the year. In the state budget for 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers set an average annual rate of 40.7 UAH/$1, and at the end of the year – 42.1 UAH/$1, while the budget for the current year set an average annual rate of 45 UAH/$1.
Initial registrations of new passenger cars in Ukraine in 2024 increased by 14% compared to 2023 to 69.6 thousand units, Ukravtoprom reported on its telegram channel.
The bestseller of the year was the Renault Duster compact crossover – 6,826 thousand vehicles of this model joined the domestic fleet.
Toyota became the sales leader last year with 10.731 thousand units, Renault took second place with 7.266 thousand units, Skoda was third with 5.033 thousand units, Volkswagen was fourth with 4.899 thousand units, and BMW was fifth with 4.833 thousand units.
The top ten new passenger cars registered for the year also included Nissan – 2.777 thousand units, Hyundai – 2.618 thousand units, Peugeot – 2.474 thousand units, Suzuki – 2.301 thousand units and Mazda – 2.256 thousand units.
According to the report, in particular, in December, Ukrainians purchased more than 5.5 thousand new passenger cars, which is 6% less than in December 2023, but 5.7% more than in November 2024.
In December, Japanese Toyota retained its leadership in the market with 810 units, Skoda took second place with 628 units, and Renault was third with 526 units. VW (435 units) and Peugeot (380 units) also entered the top five.
At the same time, according to the Auto-Consulting information and analytical group, 71.3 thousand new passenger cars were sold in Ukraine last year, which is 9.8% more than in 2023 and almost equal to the result of 2018.
“In December, we were a little short, although the market started very cheerfully and was heading for a better result, but the loss of registries slightly spoiled the final chord,” Group Director Oleg Omelnitsky wrote on Facebook.
As reported, in 2023, according to Ukravtoprom, the first registrations of new passenger cars in Ukraine increased by 60.6% compared to 2022, to almost 61 thousand units, AUTO-Consulting recorded a 62.4% increase in sales, to more than 65 thousand units.
