Ukrainian steelmakers reduced steel production by 3.2% in January–June of this year compared to the same period last year, down to 3.566 million metric tons.
According to information released by the “Ukrmetallurgprom” association on Wednesday, 690,800 metric tons of steel were produced in June, 629,400 metric tons in May, 517,300 metric tons in April, 702,300 metric tons in March, in February—515 thousand metric tons, and in January—511.1 thousand metric tons.
As previously reported, Ukraine’s steel companies reduced steel production by 2.2% in 2025, to 7.409 million metric tons.
In 2024, Ukraine increased steel production by 21.6% compared to 2023, reaching 7.575 million metric tons. In 2023, steel production fell by 0.6% to 6.228 million metric tons, and in 2022, it fell by 70.7% to 6.263 million metric tons.
In 2021, before the war, 21.366 million metric tons of steel were produced, or 103.6% of the 2020 level.
New fares for single rides on public transportation will take effect in Kyiv on July 15; a ride on the metro, bus, tram, trolleybus, or funicular will cost 30 UAH.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko signed the corresponding order on July 7; the document was published on the Kyiv City State Administration’s website on Friday, July 10.
Discounts on travel passes are also provided based on the number of trips: 1–9 trips – 30 UAH; 10–19 – 28.90 UAH; 20–29 – 27.80 UAH; 30–39 – 26.60 UAH; 40–49 – 25.50 UAH; 50 trips — 25 UAH.
Starting August 1, a 60-UAH ticket will also be available, allowing for an unlimited number of transfers within 90 minutes.
Tickets purchased before July 14 are valid until September 14. After that, any unused balance will be automatically refunded in cash to the transit card.
As previously reported, five petitions on the Kyiv City Council website calling for a suspension of fare increases on the capital’s public transit system until the end of martial law had already garnered the number of votes required for consideration, but most of them were rejected by city authorities.
On May 18, the Kyiv City State Administration announced plans to update public transit fares. Specifically, the cost of a single trip will depend on the number of trips purchased on the transit card. Specifically, when purchasing 1–9 trips, the fare will be 30 UAH; 10–19 trips—28.90 UAH; 20–29 trips—27.80 UAH; 30–39 trips—26.60 UAH; 40–49 trips—25.50 UAH; and 50 trips—25 UAH. Monthly passes are also available, with the cost per trip ranging from approximately 23.3 to 23.6 UAH. Discounted rates remain in effect for students and schoolchildren: students will pay 50% of the monthly pass price; schoolchildren will ride for free during the school year and receive a 75% discount during the summer. Separately, there are plans to introduce a transfer ticket for 60 UAH, which will allow for unlimited transfers between the metro and surface transit within 90 minutes.
Fares in the capital have not been adjusted since 2018. Starting January 1, 2022, there were plans to raise public transit fares to 20 UAH, and to 12 UAH for holders of the “Kyiv Card.”
At the end of 2021, Klitschko assured the public that public transit fares would not increase until the end of the heating season. In 2023, city officials stated that they did not intend to raise public transportation fares until the end of the war. In September 2025, Klitschko stated that, despite the fact that public transportation in Kyiv is subsidized, the city is looking for ways to avoid raising fares.
Source: https://kyivcity.gov.ua/npa/NPA_1048449/kmda__145_1048450/
The EFI Group investment group plans to launch the second phase of plant-based cellulose packaging production in the first quarter of 2028 as part of the Pulp Master project, doubling production capacity to 100 million units per year, according to EFI Group founder Igor Liski.
“Currently, as part of the first phase of the project, production capacity of 50 million units per year has already been launched. Following the implementation of the second phase of production, scheduled for the first quarter of 2028, we plan to increase packaging production to 100 million units per year,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Liski, the project is being financed through the founders’ own investments and a credit line.
“This model allows us to implement the project in phases, ensuring its stable development and controlled scaling,” Lisk explained.
He noted that Pulp Master has been developed as an export-oriented project from the very beginning: more than 90% of the products manufactured are planned to be supplied to foreign markets.
“Based on the results of a comprehensive market assessment, the company forecasts that even under a scenario of active consumption growth, the capacity of the Ukrainian market in this segment will amount to approximately 10 million units per year. With this in mind, Pulp Master has been developed as an export-oriented project from the very beginning,” said the founder of EFI Group.
According to Liski, raw materials for packaging production are currently sourced from European and Asian countries.
“Sugarcane fiber of Asian origin is primarily used to manufacture disposable tableware, as it best meets the requirements of this product category. The composition of the raw materials will gradually be optimized and adjusted as the project progresses,” he noted, adding that the overall goal of the project is to establish a system in Ukraine for producing pulp from byproducts of crop and fruit cultivation.
As previously reported, the first phase of the Pulp Master project, with a total cost of EUR5 million, recently began operations in Zhytomyr. The project is the group’s fourth in the field of eco-friendly packaging, but the first three production facilities operate on waste paper.
EFI Group was founded in 2007. It focuses on implementing business projects in Ukraine. Its investment areas include healthcare and medtech, the paper, food, and woodworking industries, and the supply of agricultural products.
Its portfolio includes Feednova, a manufacturer of animal fats and feed additives; the “Beehive” honey production plant; the “Medical Star” honey retail chain; the Zhytomyr Cardboard Plant; “Sem Ecopack,” the timber processor “Forest Technology,” the agricultural products supplier “Efi Agro,” the online medical hub Doc.ua, and others.
The full text of the interview with Liski will be published on the website of the “Interfax-Ukraine” agency.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has so far rejected the idea of mobile gas stations in order to protect consumers from low-quality fuel and avoid risks related to tax payments, but gas station operating schedules will be revised, according to Serhiy Kuyun, director of the consulting firm “A-95.”
“The idea of mobile gas stations has been put on hold to avoid facing the situation currently unfolding in Russia, where many people no longer drive anywhere due to the authorization to sell low-quality fuel. Moreover, the state’s need for fuel taxes hasn’t gone away, and in this chaos, it will be even harder to collect them,” Kuyun wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.
At the same time, as he noted, certain measures regarding gas station operations under shelling were discussed at a recent meeting with the prime minister.
“At the meeting, representatives of the gas station network assured that they would continue operating, as they have gradually adapted to the new realities. But operating hours will obviously be changed (shortened), and service operations in dangerous areas will be temporarily suspended… The less often and the less time you spend at a gas station, the better,” Kuyun noted.
He also noted that the issue of fuel delivery remains critical, as the enemy has begun targeting fuel tankers.
The director of “A-95” noted that, according to estimates, up to 200 gas stations and oil depots have already been damaged, including four oil depots and nine “OKKO” gas stations, 22 “WOG” facilities, and 12 “Ukrnafta” facilities.
As previously reported, on July 7, the Prime Minister of Ukraine held a meeting with oil traders to discuss the necessary measures to ensure continued fuel supplies to frontline regions amid ongoing Russian attacks on gas stations and fuel complexes.
At the time, Danylo Getmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada’s Tax Committee, noted following the meeting that the government and market representatives have a clear plan of action to ensure uninterrupted supplies and prevent losses. He also announced that the necessary decisions would be adopted in the near future.
Ukraine has received $3.35 billion as part of the First Labor Market Development and Private Sector Growth Program, implemented jointly with the World Bank; the funds have already been transferred to the state budget and will be used to support macrofinancial stability and finance priority expenditures under martial law, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced.
According to her, the funds were the result of agreements signed by Ukraine and the World Bank on June 24 as part of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026).
“This funding was made possible by a large-scale reform package. To fulfill the program’s conditions, the government and the Verkhovna Rada adopted 13 laws and 7 subordinate regulatory acts,” Svyrydenko stated in a post published on Facebook.
The reforms covered a number of areas, including improving the public procurement system, developing factoring, integrating energy markets with the European Union, transforming the agricultural sector, supporting veteran entrepreneurship, developing housing policy, modernizing preschool and vocational education, and restoring the system for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.
“The next phase of the program provides for the allocation of an additional $1 billion by the end of 2026, subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions,” the prime minister noted.
She also reported that part of the funding under the program is backed by guarantees from the governments of the United Kingdom and Japan.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18v8tuSZnE/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Agroenergy Group plans to implement a project in the Kyiv region to build a deep-processing plant for yellow peas with a total cost of $24.2 million, of which $20.6 million is expected to be raised through financing.
According to the Ukraine Investment Guide 2026, presented at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 (URC2026) in Gdańsk, the plant will have a design capacity of 35,000 metric tons of yellow peas per year.
Once operational, the plant will produce approximately 8,800 metric tons of protein concentrate, 22,000 metric tons of pea starch, as well as pea flour, fiber, and other processed products. The primary target markets are Ukraine, European Union countries, the United States, and Canada.
The catalog states that the project is based on “dry” fractionation technology and involves the creation of a vertically integrated complex that will cover the full cycle of raw material processing and the production of five types of value-added products.
A preliminary feasibility study has already been completed, and the project is ready for implementation. The payback period is 6.5 years at an IRR of 18.3%. The estimated project implementation period is two years.
Agro Energy Group is a diversified Ukrainian agro-industrial group operating in crop production, livestock farming, seed production, agricultural processing, and bioenergy. The group’s land bank totals approximately 10,000 hectares, with its main production facilities located in the Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, and Zhytomyr regions.
The group owns a farm with a herd of 900 head of cattle, including nearly 350 dairy cows.
The group consists of the following companies: Urozhay LLC, Nasinnya LLC, Iskra LLC, Veremiyivka LLC, and Enerhiya LLC.
