The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) fined Aquapolyana LLC more than UAH 3.3 million for placing information about the medicinal properties of the product on the labels of Shayanska water without proper evidence, which could have given the company an unfair competitive advantage, the committee’s press service reported.
According to the report, during the investigation, the AMCU found that Aqua-Polyana distributed information on its product labels that could mislead consumers. In particular, the packaging of Shayanska water , unconfirmed medical indications for its use were indicated, including the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers, hepatitis, cholecystitis, angiocholitis, chronic pancreatitis, as well as metabolic disorders such as obesity, gout, oxaluria, and phosphaturia.
Aqua-Poliana was unable to provide the AMCU with adequate evidence to confirm the medical indications stated on the Shayanska water label.
According to the Ukrainian Research Institute of Rehabilitation and Balneology of the Ministry of Health, some of these claims were not verified during clinical trials of the product.
In addition, according to a survey conducted by the AMCU, such information could influence consumers’ decisions to purchase water.
As a result, the company could gain a competitive advantage over other mineral water producers not through product quality, but through the dissemination of inaccurate data. For this violation, the company was fined UAH 3,316,752.
The company stopped spreading false info and provided an updated water label. This was taken into account when determining the amount of the fine.
The state-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) has provided the Lviv City Council with a second loan of UAH 668 million for a term of five years to improve energy efficiency and municipal facilities.
“Oschadbank has signed another loan agreement with the Lviv City Council—the second in the last six months—for UAH 668 million,” Oschadbank CEO Serhiy Naumov said on Telegram.
Other terms of the loan have not been disclosed.
The total amount of loans provided by Oschadbank to the Lviv City Council under signed agreements has already exceeded UAH 1.5 billion, the bank said.
It is noted that the funds will be used to develop strategic urban infrastructure, in particular roads and housing and communal services, and one of the main areas of use will be improving energy efficiency.
“The money will go to a biogas plant with combined production of electricity and heat, an electrical substation, a boiler room with connection to a cogeneration unit, and investments in the company Lvivteploenergo,” Naumov added.
As reported, Oschadbank’s share in energy lending in the first quarter of 2025 exceeded 31%. During 2024-2025, contracts worth over EUR 85 million were signed in the corporate business segment with its participation, in particular for projects to develop energy generation and storage. These include the first case on the market of bank lending for a project to install 30 MW of energy storage systems to provide ancillary services, which was implemented by KNESS as part of a tender by NEC Ukrenergo.
Philip Morris Ukraine is considering the possibility of starting to export cigarettes from Ukraine, in particular to geographically close countries, said the company’s CEO Maxim Barabash during a roundtable discussion on “Current issues of Ukraine’s economic recovery and the role of state and business structures in this process” at the company’s new production facility in Lviv region.
“There is no potential for growth in cigarette production in Ukraine because it is a fairly stable market. As before the war, the potential lies in exports. We will look at which countries this can be done in,” he said.
Barabash recalled that before the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, the factory in Kharkiv produced 20 billion cigarettes, half of which were for export, including to Japan.
“Most likely, due to the war, it will be difficult to resume exports to Japan; it will take more time, but this does not mean that we are not looking at other countries. We can start exporting to geographically close countries first,” said the CEO.
As reported, with the start of the full-scale invasion, Philip Morris was forced to shut down its factory in Kharkiv and invested $30 million in opening a new production facility in May 2024 in the Lviv region, which has five production lines with a capacity of 10 billion cigarettes per year and reached its planned capacity this year.
The company also invested an additional UAH 60 million in the construction of its own shelter on the factory premises for 170 employees and local residents.
According to YouControl, Philip Morris Ukraine increased its revenue by 86.7% to UAH 21.62 billion in 2024, while its net loss decreased by 30.1% to UAH 1.20 billion.
As of May 30, Ukraine has sown 5.5 million hectares with spring grains and legumes, or 97% of the plan, which is actually in line with last year’s figures — 5.5 million hectares, or 98%, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported on Friday.
According to its data, 0.2 million hectares were sown during the week, and the lag behind the 2024 schedule has been reduced.
As noted by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, 3.94 million hectares have already been sown with corn (3.76 million hectares a week earlier), 744,400 hectares with barley (743,600 hectares), 217,100 hectares with spring wheat (215,300 hectares), 212,100 hectares with peas (212,000 hectares), and 158,600 hectares with oats (158,400 hectares). ha (215.3 thousand ha), peas – 212.1 thousand ha (212 thousand ha), oats – 158.6 thousand ha (158.4 thousand ha), buckwheat – 66.0 thousand ha (49.7 thousand ha), millet – 66.1 thousand ha (43.9 thousand ha).
According to the plan, corn sowing reached 98%, barley – 96%, spring wheat – 95%, peas – 98%, oats – 98%, buckwheat – 75%, millet – 87%.
Last year, as of May 31, corn was sown on 3.895 million hectares, barley – on 782.6 thousand hectares, spring wheat – on 252.5 thousand hectares, peas – on 162.5 thousand hectares, oats – on 163.7 thousand hectares, buckwheat – on 97.7 thousand hectares, millet – on 63.6 thousand hectares. ha, millet – 63.6 thousand ha.
According to information from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the leaders in terms of sowing rates are Poltava region – 557,300 hectares, Chernihiv region – 489,700 hectares, Vinnytsia region – 393,800 hectares, Sumy region – 390,600 hectares, and Cherkasy region – 387,700 hectares.
Technical crops have been sown on an area of 7.38 million hectares (93%) compared to 6.8 million hectares a week earlier and 7.05 million hectares last year on the same date.
In particular, sunflower crops reached 4.73 million hectares (3.9 million hectares a week ago and 5.12 million hectares last year), soybeans – 2.23 million hectares (2 million hectares and 1.93 million hectares) and sugar beets – 0.22 million hectares (0.22 million hectares and 0.25 million hectares).
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy notes that sunflower crops currently account for 93% of the plan, soybeans – 92%, while sugar beets – 99%, but their sowing has already been completed.
Ukrainian airline SkyUp Airlines will begin regular flights from two airports in Romania on June 16, the airline’s press service said on Thursday.
Starting June 16, SkyUp will begin operating flights from Bucharest International Airport (OTP) to Heraklion (Crete, Greece). Tickets will cost from EUR52 one way. Starting June 20, flights to Larnaca (Cyprus) will be added, with tickets costing from EUR53. Also, starting June 20, SkyUp will begin flights to Larnaca from another Romanian international airport, Avram Iancu (CLJ) in Cluj-Napoca. Tickets will cost from EUR57.
“As we continue to expand our presence in Europe, we are focused on building a sustainable business that meets today’s challenges and creates new opportunities for our customers and partners. Together with our strategic partner, tour operator Join UP!, we are strengthening our position in the international market by expanding our presence in promising European destinations,” said SkyUp CEO Dmytro Serokhov.
Earlier it was reported that SkyUp Airlines began operating regular flights from two airports in Poland on May 27.
In April 2025, SkyUp launched regular flights from Chisinau to the following destinations: Paris, Nice (France), Lisbon (Portugal), Barcelona, Alicante, and Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Larnaca (Cyprus), as well as Thessaloniki, Athens, and Heraklion (Greece).
The airline subsequently added three more destinations from Chisinau: in June, it will begin flights to Berlin (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden), and Prague (Czech Republic).
In 2024, SkyUp increased passenger traffic by 61.6% compared to 2023, to 2.5 million passengers.
The Ukrainian chain of one-dollar stores Aurora (Vygidna Pokupka LLC) is expected to reach $1 billion in revenue by the end of 2025, according to the company’s co-founder Lev Zhydenko.
“Mathematically, last year it was ($1 billion in revenue – IF-U), if you count VAT. Without VAT, it will be this amount,” Zhydenko said at the Forbes Ukraine Business Breakfast on Thursday.
According to him, over the next five years, the company plans to develop as a management platform, whose goal, among other things, is to support Ukrainian manufacturers and represent them in foreign markets.
In addition, Aurora plans to further develop in countries where it is logistically convenient to deliver goods from Ukraine, Zhydenko explained.
As reported, Aurora’s revenue for 2024 increased by 42.5% to UAH 38.5 billion (excluding VAT). In the first quarter of 2025, revenue grew by 32.5% to UAH 10.6 billion.
Aurora was founded in 2011 by Zhydenko, Taras Panasenko, and Lesya Klymenko. At the end of 2024, the chain had over 1,600 stores in Ukraine and 30 in Romania. The retail chain’s head office is located in Poltava.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Vygidna Kupivlya LLC, which develops the chain, is the Cypriot company Avrorailt Investmens Limited, whose beneficiary is Zhydenko.
