Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has proposed creating a transport corridor linking the Greek port of Alexandroupolis with Odessa in Ukraine via Varna in Bulgaria and Constanta in Romania.
“I would like Odessa to be at one end of an ambitious, comprehensive project to develop connections that would start in the port of Alexandroupolis, pass through Varna, Constanta, and finally reach Odessa. This is a project that could be proposed for EU funding,” he said at the 4th Ukraine-South-East Europe Summit in Odessa on Wednesday.
According to the prime minister, the corridor would include transport railways, power lines, and gas pipelines, and it would be a project that “would provide an additional transport corridor for Ukraine, much faster than transporting goods by sea.” He also said that the project would provide “a clear and tangible vision of how Ukraine’s integration into the EU can really change the lives of Ukrainians.”
Mitsotakis also assured that Greece would always be ready to contribute any expert or technical support to bring EU candidates closer to accession.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić arrived in Odessa to participate in the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit. This is his first visit to Ukraine in 12 years in office.
The event, organized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was attended by leaders from 12 countries in the region. After the official talks, Vucic and Zelensky held a private meeting.
During the discussion, they discussed assistance in rebuilding Ukraine after the destruction caused by Russian missile and drone strikes. Vucic also expressed Serbia’s readiness to contribute to the restoration of infrastructure, stressing the importance of restoring regional balance and stability.
Source: https://t.me/relocationrs/1065
The DIM Group of Companies is launching its own long-term installment program in hryvnia with an annual interest rate of 10% for the purchase of housing in the developer’s projects, the group’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
“We are approached by buyers who dream of owning their own apartment or need to improve their living conditions, but for one reason or another do not qualify for government programs. It is for them that we have developed a new product to meet the growing demand among Ukrainians who cannot take advantage of the state program “eOselya” but are interested in purchasing quality housing in the “comfort+” segment and above,” said Alexander Nasirovsky, managing partner of the DIM group of companies, in a statement.
Under the terms of the program, the installment plan is provided for a period of 10 years with the possibility of early repayment. The price per square meter is fixed in the contract in hryvnia. The down payment is 30% of the cost. The interest rate is 10% per annum, and for military personnel, State Emergency
Service employees, and military medics, it is 8%.
The developer will test the pilot installment plan in the capital’s residential complexes Metropolis, Lucky Land, and Park Lake City, as well as on a limited basis in the Olegiv Podil club house in June-July to assess real demand among citizens. DIM plans to scale the program to all of the developer’s residential projects.
As reported, the DIM group of companies notes the advisability of increasing the maximum loan amount issued under the state program “eOselya” in proportion to the growth in the cost per square meter. According to Nasykovsky, in 2025, the cost of housing will grow by 15-20%.
The DIM development company’s portfolio consists of real estate in Kiev and the surrounding area with a total area of more than 900,000 square meters. More than 3,600 apartments have been commissioned, and more than 356,000 square meters of residential and commercial space has been built. Six projects with a total area of over 346,000 square meters are currently under construction.
As of June 11, Ukraine had exported 39.256 million tons of grains and legumes since the beginning of the 2024-2025 marketing year (July-June), of which 884,000 tons were shipped since the beginning of the current month, according to the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, citing data from the State Customs Service.
According to the report, as of June 12 last year, total shipments were estimated at 48.381 million tons, including 1.449 million tons in June.
At the same time, since the beginning of the current season, 15.184 million tons of wheat (17.839 million tons in 2023/2024 MY) have been exported, 2.312 million tons of barley (2.437 million tons), 10.8 thousand tons of rye (1.6 thousand tons), and 21.169 million tons of corn (27.57 million tons). (1.6 thousand tons), corn – 21.169 million tons (27.57 million tons).
Total exports of Ukrainian flour since the beginning of the season as of June 11 are estimated at 66.7 thousand tons (in 2023/24 MY – 94.6 thousand tons), including wheat flour – 62.3 thousand tons (89.3 thousand tons).
On June 11, Kirovogradoblenergo announced a tender for compulsory motor third-party liability insurance.
According to the Prozorro electronic procurement system, the expected price for the services is UAH 900,000. The deadline for submitting applications is July 19. The winner of a similar tender a year ago was SK VUSO.
The All-Ukrainian Bakers Association (VAP) expects bread prices in the country to rise by 20% by the end of 2025, but this is unlikely to undermine the budget of Ukrainian families, its head Oleksandr Taranenko said in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens. Everything is moving in that direction,” he said.
“I won’t be surprised if that happens. Everything is heading in that direction,” he said.
Speaking about the 20% prospect of bread price increases, Taranenko said that the current wholesale price of 1 kg of bread from a bakery is slightly more than 40 hryvnia. At the same time, supermarkets’ margins on bread, using various marketing mechanisms, sometimes reach 30%, although by law they should not exceed 10%.
“Let’s not take domestic statistics into account — they do not reflect reality due to the existence of a ‘shadow’ market and other nuances. Objectively, Ukrainians currently consume 150-200 g of bread per day, or about 5 kg per month. Thus, every month, Ukrainian citizens spend 200-210 UAH on bread. If the price increases by 20% per year, people will spend 40 UAH more on bread every month. Yes, for our pensioners and other low-income groups, 40 hryvnia is a lot of money. However, to say that 40 hryvnia per month will undermine the budget of a Ukrainian family would probably be an exaggeration,” the expert stressed.
Among the reasons for the rise in bread prices, he cited increases in the prices of all components of the product—flour, yeast, fats, and sugar. Added to these are the cost of electricity, logistics, and the state’s requirement for enterprises that are critical to the economy and have the right to reserve personnel to raise salaries to 20,000 hryvnia.
“After taxes, people will receive 16,000 hryvnia. Previously, the average salary in our business was 13-15-16 thousand hryvnia, regardless of the enterprise. You must agree that this is not a high salary. But when someone says that bakers are getting rich, this is not the case at all. A salary increase of even 20-30% is a significant increase in production costs, while we are unable to increase our income,” the expert explained, adding that the profitability of the bread business is currently slightly above zero, and for some types of bread, it is below zero.
Taranenko cited State Statistics Service data, according to which there are over 3,000 registered bread producers in Ukraine.
“Let’s say that not all of them are currently operating for various reasons, but even if only 2,000 of them are operating, it is nonsense to imagine that they have all conspired to make excessive profits,” said the head of the VPP, rejecting the idea of an industry conspiracy to raise bread prices in Ukraine.
