Revenues from the tourist tax to local budgets in January-May 2025 reached UAH 132 million, while in the same period in 2024 it amounted to UAH 98.6 million, the State Tax Service (STS) reports.
“Kyiv is the most attractive city for tourists. 25% of the paid tourist tax falls on the capital (UAH 33 million),” the service said in a statement on its website on Thursday.
Lviv (UAH 24.7 million), Ivano-Frankivsk (UAH 21.2 million) and Zakarpattia region (UAH 10.5 million) also became leaders in the period under review.
The State Tax Service reminded that the tourist tax is paid to tax agents by citizens of Ukraine, foreigners and stateless persons in advance before temporary accommodation in places of residence. In turn, tax agents (i.e., business entities that provide temporary accommodation services in places of residence/overnight stay: hotels, hostels, rest homes, etc.) transfer it to the local budget.
It is emphasized that the list of tax agents collecting the tourist tax is published on the websites of local councils.
The Service also emphasized that the tax rate is set by local councils independently for each day of stay. It is up to 0.5% of the minimum wage for Ukrainian citizens and up to 5% for foreigners.
Source: https://tax.gov.ua/media-tsentr/novini/909659.html
Norway will allocate 6.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($644 million) to purchase drones and drone equipment from Ukrainian and other European manufacturers for Ukraine’s needs, the government’s website reported on Wednesday.
“Drones play an important role in Ukraine’s struggle for its defense. They are important both for the protection of critical infrastructure and for use on the front line. Norway’s assistance will significantly improve Ukraine’s ability to carry out the necessary surveillance and operations with the help of drones,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was quoted as saying on the website.
According to the information, Norway officially joined the Coalition for the Development of Unmanned Technologies in April and previously announced its intention to increase support for the Ukrainian defense industry and purchase drones for Ukraine.
This is reportedly the first large-scale purchase of drones directly from foreign manufacturers. This is in line with one of the goals underlying the decision made in March of this year by the Storting (Norwegian National Assembly – IF-U) to increase support for Ukraine by 50 billion Norwegian kroner (about $5 billion) by 2025.
The Norwegian government prioritizes meeting military needs based on what Ukraine itself identifies as the most important.
“Funding for the procurement of unmanned aerial vehicles will help to create an independent Ukrainian deterrence system, which will also be important after a potential peace agreement… We will continue to focus our support on maritime security, air defense, unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous systems. We will also prioritize support for the procurement of defense equipment from Ukrainian manufacturers and cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic countries to equip and train new Ukrainian military units,” said Defense Minister Thorbjørn Sandvik.
It is noted that the support provided and “lessons learned from the war in Ukraine will also help strengthen the Armed Forces and defense capabilities of Norway.”
Source: https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/norway-to-provide-nok-6.5-billion-for-procurement-of-drones-for-ukraine/id3111763/
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, is upgrading equipment at Sukha Balka mine.
According to information in DCH Steel’s corporate newspaper on Thursday, the mine has updated the cage for the Yubileynaya mine. It is specified that the cage is ready for lowering and operation.
“Sukha Balka is the only enterprise in Ukraine that uses three-storey mine cages. Currently, Yubileynaya is preparing to replace the unique hoisting unit, the post says.
“The surfaces of the cage had to be well prepared, cleaned, blown out, and then primed and painted. We painted in two layers. We used special coatings – primer and enamel, which are used for surfaces exposed to aggressive environments. The coating, according to the manufacturer, should reliably protect the surface for about 10 years,” explained Maxim Kopeyka, chief mechanic of the mine.
The mine cage is currently in a disassembled state at the warehouse and is ready for transportation to the mine. The new cage is scheduled to be installed in July.
The Yubileynaya mine cage has a capacity of 15 tons and can accommodate 126 people. It has a service life of 5 years.
In addition, the rolling campaign is scheduled to start next week at Rolling Shop No. 2 at DMZ. The shop has prepared equipment for intensive work during the off-peak period.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, cast iron, rolled products and rolled products, such as channels and angles, and special profiles for the machine building and mining industries.
On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy Dnipro Metallurgical Plant.
Source: https://www.dmz-petrovka.dp.ua
For the protesters waving Palestinian flags outside EU buildings in Brussels, it was the moment that everything might change.
An EU report presented to foreign ministers had found there were indications Israel had breached human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, ahead of Thursday’s European Union leaders’ summit.
The European Union is Israel’s biggest trading partner, and the protesters were demanding that the EU suspend its 25-year-old trade accord over Israel’s actions in Gaza.
But their hopes that EU leaders would agree to suspend the agreement with Israel were soon dashed, because despite the report deep divisions remain over the war in Gaza.
The protesters have been backed by more than 100 NGOs and charities.
In 20 months of Israeli military operations more than 55,000 Gazans have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Another 1.9 million people have been displaced.
Israel also imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March, which it partially eased after 11 weeks following pressure from US allies and warnings from global experts that half a million people were facing starvation.
Since then, the UN says more than 400 Palestinians are reported to have been killed by Israeli gunfire or shelling while trying to reach food distribution centres run by a US and Israeli-backed organisation. Another 90 have also reportedly been killed by Israeli forces while attempting to approach convoys of the UN and other aid groups.
“Every red line has been crossed in Gaza” Agnes Bertrand-Sanz from Oxfam told the BBC.
“Every rule has been breached. It really is high time that the European Union acts.”
As the report was made public, it fell to foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to explain what the European Union would do next.
The EU’s first goal would be to “change the situation” on the ground in Gaza, she said. If that did not happen, “further measures” would be discussed next month on how to suspend the association agreement.
“We will contact Israel to, you know, present our finding,” she stumbled in an uncharacteristically faltering manner. “Because that is the focus of the member states, to really, you know… be very, very sure about the feelings that we have here.”
NGOs said the EU had missed an opportunity to take action and that the response was feeble.
The Israeli foreign ministry called the review “a complete moral and methodological failure.”
For some of the EU’s critics, the episode was a vivid example of how the EU can talk a good game about being the biggest global humanitarian aid donor to Gaza, but badly struggles to present any coherent or powerful voice to match it.
As the world’s biggest market of 450 million people, the EU carries great economic weight but it is not translating into political clout.
“The fact that European countries and the UK are not doing more to put pressure on Israel and to enforce international humanitarian law, it makes it very difficult for these countries to be credible,” said Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights.
“War crimes are being committed at a very large scale In Gaza, there is debate about whether this amounts to genocide, but even if there’s no genocide there is a duty to act.”
De Schutter fears the EU’s soft power is being lost and its inaction makes it much harder for it to persuade to countries in Africa, Asia in Latin America to back Europe on condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine, for example.
Israel maintains it acts within international law and that its mission is to destroy Hamas and bring home the remaining hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack, which triggered Israel’s offensive on Gaza.
As a union of 27 countries, the domestic political reality in Europe makes it unlikely that EU leaders will back the views of the majority of member states on Gaza.
Eleven EU countries have recognised Palestine as a state, and among them Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia and Sweden had pushed for the European Union’s agreement with Israel to be suspended.
At the heart of the EU’s foreign policy decision-making in Brussels is the fact that decisions have to be unanimous, and so just one dissenting voice can block the EU from taking action.
In this case Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are all opposed.
Austria hopes the EU’s review will spark action, but not necessarily a suspension of the treaty with Israel.
“Everything I’ve heard in this regard will not help the people in Gaza,” said Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger. “What it would however cause is a deterioration, if not a complete breakdown of the dialogue we currently have with Israel.”
Germany’s position on Israel has often been shaped by its role in the Holocaust and World War Two.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the “current level of attacks on Gaza can no longer be justified by the fight against Hamas”, but he has refused to consider suspending or terminating the agreement.
Slovakia and Hungary are considered more closely aligned politically to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu than many other EU countries.
Among the key players advocating tougher measures against Netanyahu’s government is Ireland.
Its foreign affairs minister, Simon Harris, condemned the EU’s handling of the review.
“Our response in relation to Gaza has been much too slow and far too many people have been left to die as genocide has been carried out,” he said.
Israel rejects the charge of genocide and when it closed its embassy in Dublin last December it accused Ireland of antisemitism.
Europe has recently found itself sidelined by Washington on big global issues, notably Ukraine and Iran – with President Donald Trump in favour of direct talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US may not be in listening mood, but on Gaza the EU has struggled to muster a unified voice on Gaza, let alone make it heard.
At the checkpoint “Ugrinov” temporarily suspended registration of all categories of vehicles due to technical faults in the database, reported the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBSU).
“Due to technical malfunctions in the database temporarily suspended registration of all categories of vehicles at the checkpoint ”Ugrinov” in both directions. Restoration work is already underway. Take this information into account when planning a trip”, – stated in the message of the State security service in Telegram on Thursday.
The GPSU also noted that due to the summer tourist season, the load on the checkpoints of Lviv region has increased: passenger traffic has increased by 25%, and at the height of the season is expected – up to 40%.
“As of now there is an accumulation of transport at the checkpoints: ”Shehyni“, ”Krakovets“, ‘Hrushev’, ”Rava-Russkaya“, ”Ugrinov”. “Nizhankovichi” and ‘Smilnitsa’ work without queues”, – added in the state Border service.
Ponova by OTP Bank loan marketplace for used cars took third place in the nomination “Best CX Case in Service Design” at the Ukrainian CX Excellence’2025 Customer Experience Awards. The award ceremony took place on June 20, 2025 in Kyiv.
“Ponova by OTP Bank was launched in 2022 as a response to real customer pain: chaos in the used car market, distrust of sellers, incomprehensible tools for finding and buying used cars, and a complicated car loan process. Our team relied on convenience, transparency, and technology, and we were right. This award confirms that we are on the right track, as we are changing the experience of buying and selling cars in Ukraine for the better,” said Mykyta Alfiorov, Product Owner of Ponova by OTP Bank.
This fintech product already covers 69% of the Ukrainian used car market. The network of Ponova by OTP Bank partners includes more than 550 car lots in 45 cities of Ukraine and is constantly growing. The online catalog of the marketplace includes more and more used cars of the most popular brands: Volkswagen, Skoda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Kia, Chevrolet, Ford, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault. In addition, almost 30 thousand different cars are presented with a discount of up to -30%.A wide selection of cars by category, technical parameters, and year of manufacture allows you to find the perfect option for each buyer. Convenient filters help you quickly select a car by key criteria: brand, model, price, year, etc. The option of ordering a customized car from the USA, Europe, and other countries is available.
You can buy a car immediately by paying the full amount or on credit. For buyers who purchase a car with financing through the Ponova by OTP Bank marketplace, vehicle registration is free of charge.
A convenient Ponova bot will help the client quickly determine the personal loan amount for a car, and OTP Bank will finance it. The Bank’s specialists will consult in detail and select the optimal term and amount of monthly payments.
Details at the link. Find information on the terms of lending for used cars here.
The Ukrainian CX Excellence’2025 All-Ukrainian Customer Experience Award brought together leading Ukrainian companies that submitted more than 60 customer experience cases in 13 nominations. The industries represented include e-commerce, banks, insurance companies, logistics, energy, HoReCa, retail, gas stations, and even agriculture. The cases were evaluated in two stages: first, a written essay, and then an online defense during a two-day CX marathon. The expert council of the All-Ukrainian Customer Experience Award included 55 independent experts.
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