Where are the most expensive Christmas trees in Ukraine?
More than 1 million conifers were grown on special plantations in 2024, according to the State Forestry Agency. Every second one is a pine tree. The average cost of one tree has increased 1.5 times since 2021. At the same time, fewer trees were bought than before the full-scale program. The Vinnytsia region grew the most trees this year, and the most expensive trees are in Zakarpattia.
This year, 1.07 million coniferous trees were grown by forestry enterprises on special plantations. This is half as many as in 2021 – 2.05 million trees. Of these, 52% are pine trees, and another 44% are fir trees. The remaining 4.5% are other coniferous species.
Most of the trees for sale were grown in the forests of Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions – 20% and 16%, respectively.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, sales of Christmas trees have halved. Thus, in 2021, 445 thousand trees were sold, and in 2022 – only 206 thousand. Last year, sales increased by 20% to 247.5 thousand.
This year, forestries plan to sell about 200 thousand Christmas trees by the end of the year. 44.5 thousand legal Christmas trees have already been sold as of early December. At the same time, 402 cases of illegal felling of Christmas trees were recorded by December 9 this year. This is twice as many as during the entire New Year’s season last year. However, the year 2021 became the leader in illegal felling with 1932 cases. It is worth noting that we can talk about both individual trees cut down and massive felling.
The average purchase price of a Christmas tree is currently 154 UAH. This is 15% more than last year and 1.5 times higher by 2021. The most expensive trees this year were sold in Zakarpattia region – the average price was UAH 918, while the cheapest ones were sold in Kharkiv region: UAH 92. Last year, the most expensive Christmas trees were in Kyiv region – UAH 414, and the cheapest – in Zhytomyr region: 95 UAH.
When buying a Christmas tree, it is worth checking the seller’s documents, especially if the tree does not come from the forestry of the State Forestry Agency. Each tree must be marked with a label or a tag with an individual number and barcode.
These can be checked on the websiteand the Electronic Timber Accounting System. If there is no information on the number in the system, the tree may be illegal.
By buying legal Christmas trees, you can protect yourself from “conifers” cut down on the territory of the Chornobyl NPP. It also prevents illegal felling of trees in Ukraine.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/legal-christmas-trees-2024
Ukraine’s gas transportation system has been operating without Russian gas since January 1, 2025, international partners have been informed about it in due course, the “Operator of Ukraine’s GTS” said Wednesday morning.
According to his data, the transit agreement with Russia’s Gazprom ended at 7:00 Kiev time on the first day of 2025, accordingly suspended the transportation of natural gas from the entry point “Suja” on the eastern border of Ukraine to the exit points on the western and southern borders of the country.
“OGTSU has prepared the infrastructure in advance for functioning in the zero transit mode and reliable gas supply to Ukrainian consumers. The company’s team is ready to work in the new conditions”, – Dmitry Lippa, General Director of the company, noted.
In particular, in preparation for work in new conditions, OGTSU has agreed to increase guaranteed capacity to ensure the possibility of gas supply to Ukraine and through Ukraine to European consumers. Optimization of a significant number of assets not involved in the operation of the gas transportation system was also carried out.
“All necessary work on the preparation of the system was carried out by the “Operator of the GTS of Ukraine”, so we are absolutely ready for the functioning of our system without transit of Russian gas”, – said the Minister of energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko on the air of the national marathon ‘United news’.
As reported, the contract between NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine and Gazprom for the organization of transportation, the transport agreement between NJSC and OGTSU, as well as the inter-operator agreement between OGTSU and Gazprom were signed on December 30, 2019. The contract on the principle of “pump or pay” provides for transit in 2020 – 65 billion cubic meters of gas, in 2021-2024 – 40 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities in 2024 have repeatedly stated that Ukraine does not intend to sign the transit contract with Russia after its completion. At the same time, it was stated that negotiations are underway to supply Azerbaijani gas to Europe via Russia and Ukraine, although Baku does not have a significant free resource.
The final point on the issue of transit continuation in 2025 was put by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on December 19 on the margins of the EU Summit in Brussels: “we will not be engaged in the extension of Russian gas transit, we will not give the opportunity to earn additional billions on our blood”.
The results of USAID-facilitated stress tests showed that Ukraine’s GTS and UGS are ready to operate under zero-transit conditions.
The European Commission says that the EU is ready to stop transit of Russian gas through Ukraine and that there are alternative routes for non-Russian gas supplies.
In the afternoon of January 1 in most western regions of Ukraine, wind gusts of 15-20 m/s (I level of danger, yellow), warns the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological and Meteorological Center.
It is noted that weather conditions may lead to complications in the work of energy, construction, utility companies and traffic.
U.S. oil exports to China almost halved in 2024, Bloomberg reports, citing Kpler data. The United States exported 81.1 million barrels of oil to China this year, which is 46% lower than the previous year (150.6 million barrels). Thus, China has dropped to sixth place among the largest buyers of US oil from second.
Chinese demand for oil is declining amid a slowdown in the country’s economic growth, the proliferation of electric vehicles and increased LNG consumption. The total volume of oil imports to China this year decreased by 7.2%. At the same time, the share of Russia, Iran, and Venezuela in maritime supplies rose to 26% from 24% a year earlier, with the Middle East accounting for about 60%.
At the same time, Europe has remained the main buyer of American oil at the regional level for three years.
The Netherlands continues to be the leader, importing 194.4 million barrels of oil from the United States in 2024. The second place is taken by South Korea (165.5 million barrels), which is trying to compensate for the decline in supplies from Kazakhstan, which has begun to cooperate more actively with Italy.
This year, the United Kingdom is in third place (11.8 million barrels), Canada is in fourth place (102.3 million barrels), and Spain is in fifth place (87.3 million barrels). The seventh place is taken by France (81.3 million barrels), and the eighth – by Taiwan (80.4 million barrels).
Analysts of the currency exchange market operator KIT Group together with their colleagues from Globus Bank and Unex Bank (both in Kiev) agree that the average annual exchange rate in 2025 will be close to UAH 45/$1, which corresponds to the figure included in the state budget for the next year.
“The most probable scenario is close to the government forecast, which is reflected in the state budget-2025, the average annual rate of 45 UAH/$1, which allows its fluctuations during the year in the range of 44-46 UAH/$1 with gravitation to a higher mark before the end of the year – so far we have no reason to underestimate the risks of further long-term devaluation”, – said in ‘KIT Group’ at the request of the agency ‘Interfax-Ukraine’.
Experts expect the official exchange rate to weaken to 42.2-42.5 UAH/$1 by the end of this year. They point out that the forecast for the beginning of 2025 depends on macroeconomic factors, in particular on further dynamics of international support, monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve System (FRS) and exchange rate parity in the international markets of the US dollar and euro.
“In the case of stable receipt of financial support from partners and allies and subject to low volatility of external markets, the hryvnia exchange rate will be relatively predictable, although it will hold further devaluation fairway,” analysts emphasize.
In turn, the head of the board of Globus Bank Sergey Mamedov notes that in forecasts of the official exchange rate for the next year, he also predominantly relies on the budgeted figure of 45 UAH/$1.
“We understand that the value of the dollar may depend on a number of factors and circumstances, among which we can highlight the amount of international financial support, which is directed to cover the budget “gap” between expenditures and revenues,” he explains.
Among the important factors affecting the exchange rate dynamics, the banker named GDP growth rate, inflation rate and military actions, which can create pressure on the currency market, prompting more active purchase of foreign currency both in the non-cash and cash markets.
“We cannot rule out that the forecast may not fully come true. However, the weighted average exchange rate of UAH 45/$1 is already a benchmark on which businesses rely when planning their activities for 2025, in particular housing developers who started their projects in the second half of 2024 with planned completion of construction in 2026,” Mamedov cited an example.
According to Globus Bank’s calculations, the hryvnia may weaken to the level of 46-47 UAH/$1 by the end of 2025.
“As of today, the budgeted figures look quite realistic, and at the end of next year, if there are no significant changes in the security situation, the exchange rate range of 45-47 UAH/$1 is highly probable,” Anna Zolotko, director of treasury operations department at Unex Bank, pointed out in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine.
“However, I would not rush into any forecasts right now. The probability that the war will end in 2025 is not zero. And provided that reliable security guarantees are received, the situation in the economy will change rapidly, including with regard to the hryvnia exchange rate,” the banker added.
According to her, in case of realization of a positive scenario – the end of hostilities – we should expect an inflow of foreign investments. In this regard, Zolotko does not exclude that in a certain period there may be a situation when the regulator will have to buy back the currency instead of selling it on the interbank market.
“Obviously, such a scenario looks somewhat fantastic now, but it cannot be ruled out,” summarized Zolotko.
KIT Group analysts explain that the record jump in demand for foreign currency at the end of this year is due to the traditional activation of business settlements on foreign contracts and the growing demand for cash currency among the population.
“However, during the year, we observed a predominantly insignificant spread between buying and selling rates – this is a clear evidence of balance in the market. Whereas in December the spread between buying and selling rates of the dollar reached 0.8-1 UAH, which indicates the growth of pressure on the market,” – experts comment on the situation.
However, due to the importation of record volumes of cash currency and currency interventions of the National Bank, the hryvnia exchange rate managed to keep in relative stability, they point out.
“For next year, an important factor will be an increase in the tax burden on deposits. If banks are unable to offset the decline in deposit yields with interesting offers, there is a high probability of overflow of savings and free hryvnia liquidity into cash currency outside banks, which may also become a powerful factor of pressure on the exchange rate,” the experts explain.
Mamedov notes that, most likely, cash rates of hryvnia to US dollar in 2025 will differ from interbank rates in the range of 0.3-0.5 UAH. Thus, if the rate on the interbank at the end of the year will be at around 46-47 UAH/$1, it may average 46.5-47.5 UAH/$1 on the cash market.
“However, at the moment it is extremely difficult to linearly forecast the situation without taking into account a number of dynamically developing or possible factors,” the banker said.
In turn, Zolotko named among the key factors of record volumes of cash currency imports the increased demand from the population against the background of devaluation expectations, taking into account the restrictions on the purchase of non-cash currency equivalent to UAH 50 thousand/month in one bank, as well as a significant improvement in the channels of cash currency supplies by land transport to Ukraine.
“There is no problem in the numbers themselves. Now the NBU has enough reserves, the projected receipts of international aid, at least for the next year look convincing, so there are enough resources to cover this excess currency demand. At the same time, we should not forget that we are talking primarily about the formation of savings, i.e. some “private” foreign exchange reserves,” the banker emphasized.
As reported, last year the official hryvnia exchange rate devalued by 4.5% – to 37.9824 UAH/$1, while the government laid in the budget-2023 average annual figure of 42.2 UAH/$1, and at the end of the year – 45.8 UAH/$1.
For the current year, the hryvnia has fallen by 10.6% to 42.0390 UAH/$1 as of December 31, while the Cabinet of Ministers laid down an annual average of 40.7 UAH/$1 in the state budget, and 42.1 UAH/$1 at the end of the year.
Analysts KIT Group, annual average rate, GLOBUS BANK, UNEX BANK
