According to the results of 2024, JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya paid UAH 22.28 billion in rent payments to the consolidated budget of the country.
According to the company’s website, 5% of this amount, or UAH 1.114 billion, went to the local and regional budgets in the regions where the company produces hydrocarbons.
As for the distribution of funds, Kharkiv region received UAH 580 million, Poltava region – UAH 441.3 million, Lviv region – UAH 45 million, Dnipropetrovs’k region – UAH 22.5 million, and others – UAH 25.2 million.
As reported earlier, in January-September 2024, Ukrgasvydobuvannya increased commercial gas production by 6.5% compared to the same period in 2023, up to 10.4 bcm, and liquid hydrocarbons by 26%, up to 372 thousand tons.
In 2023, the company produced 13.224 bcm of commercial gas, which is 0.679 bcm more than in 2022.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine owns 100% of Ukrgasvydobuvannya shares.
All major services of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Organizations (USR) portal have been restored, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has announced.
“All the main services of the USR portal have been restored after a large-scale cyberattack by the Russian Federation,” the Ministry said in a statement.
In particular, the following services are available on the portal again: free search for information in the registry; generation of extracts; obtaining the results of administrative services by access code; access of state bodies to information from the registry through access identifiers.
Earlier, on January 9, the Ministry of Justice reported that the Unified State Register of Legal Entities had resumed operation after a Russian cyberattack.
As reported, on December 19, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine announced a large-scale failure at the level of the network infrastructure serving state registries.
Later, the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olha Stefanyshyna said that Russia had launched a cyberattack on state registries under the Ministry of Justice’s jurisdiction to disrupt critical infrastructure, and their work was temporarily suspended. She noted that the time for priority restoration would be approximately two weeks.
On December 20, Stefanyshyna said that all data in the registers would be restored, but it would take some time, and that no personal data leakage had been confirmed as a result of the Russian cyberattack on the network infrastructure of the Ministry of Justice that serves the state registers.
The land of the Hryshko National Botanical Garden in Kyiv has been transferred for residential development despite a ban, the press service of the State Audit Service of Ukraine reported.
The release notes that during an audit of the implementation of budget programs by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and its institutions, the State Audit Service found violations in the financial activities of the Hryshko National Botanical Garden.
Namely, contrary to a direct legal prohibition, the land plot of the National Botanical Garden at 1 Sadovo-Botanichna (Timiryazevska) Street in Kyiv became the subject of an investment agreement, which provided for the construction of residential and non-residential buildings, part of which was to be acquired by the botanical garden.
For the past six years, the developer has been unable to implement the agreement because of the special security regime for the territory of the National Botanical Garden. At the same time, the institution has received cash, services, and other goods (including tulip bulbs and soil) worth UAH 2.6 million from the investor.
The release emphasizes that the M.M. Hryshko National Botanical Garden is a part of the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine, is an object of comprehensive protection and belongs to the lands of natural, historical and cultural designation, which are protected as a national treasure. The Law “On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine” (Article 16) prohibits any economic and other activities that contradict the purpose of the reserve, including the construction of structures not related to its functioning.
Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, has completed the processing season of 2024, which lasted 133 days and was marked by a number of records, the company’s press service reports on its Facebook page.
“Astarta’s five sugar factories produced 380 thousand tons of sugar, which is the highest figure in the holding over the past seven years. In total, the companies processed more than 2.5 million tons of sugar beet grown on the fields of the agro-industrial holding and by our partners, agricultural producers,” the statement said.
Despite the difficulties with the quality of raw materials caused by abnormal weather conditions, the holding’s sugar yield was 14.96% (the average value in Ukraine was 14.06% as of January 01, 2025). According to the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine, this is the best industry indicator in the 2024 processing season.
“An important event of the season was the commissioning of a new sugar storage silo with a capacity of 60 thousand tons. This will significantly improve the quality of sugar storage and optimize logistics,” Astarta added.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
In 2023, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million.
The ruling coalition in Romania has decided on the date of the new presidential elections, which will be held in Romania on May 4 and May 18, Reuters reports, citing sources in the Liberal Party of Romania.
According to the coalition parties, they have agreed to support a single presidential candidate to prevent the far-right from winning, and today their candidate is Crin Antonescu, the former leader of the Liberals, but experts suggest that another candidate from the ruling coalition may be nominated.
According to Politico, despite the cancellation of the results of the previous elections, pro-Russian candidate Kelin Georgescu remains popular in Romania, as evidenced by a poll conducted by Digi 24 at the request of Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, who also plans to run for president of Romania as an independent candidate in the re-election. The poll showed that at least 40 percent of Romanians plan to vote for Dănăsca, Dan told Digi24, without specifying how many people were interviewed.
On Wednesday, Elena Lascone, the leader of the liberal progressive party “Union for the Salvation of Romania”, which came in second in the previous elections with 19.18% of the vote, promised to run again.
As reported, in December 2024, the Romanian Supreme Court overturned the results of the first round of the November 24 presidential election due to allegations of foreign interference after the victory of pro-Russian candidate Kelin Georgescu.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank released a video about the most important elections in the world, the video is available here – https://youtu.be/73DB0GbJy4M?si=zWf7UqPASklCy5nr
Prices for raw milk in Ukraine declined in early January due to a decrease in demand from dairy processing companies during the New Year holidays, the Association of Milk Producers (AMP) reported.
The industry association noted that the average purchase price of extra milk as of January 6 was 19.10 UAH/kg excluding VAT, which is 0.60 UAH less than a month earlier, while the price of premium milk was 18.35 UAH/kg excluding VAT (-0.35 UAH), and the price of first grade remained unchanged at 17.65 UAH/kg excluding VAT. The weighted average price of the three milk grades was fixed at 18.37 UAH/kg excluding VAT, which is 0.32 UAH less than in December.
“The decline in raw milk prices in Ukraine at the beginning of the year led to a drop in butter prices. A drop in consumer activity in the market is also traditionally observed during the New Year holidays. In addition, Ukrainian companies reduced the volume of butter exports in December due to lower prices for the product on foreign markets. (…) The domestic market has seen a surplus of raw milk, and maximum prices for extra and premium milk have gone down due to reduced demand from dairy processing companies,” explained AVM analyst Giorgi Kukhaleishvili.
The AMP reported that Ukraine is also experiencing a decline in butter prices, coupled with a halt in the growth of prices for fermented dairy products due to limited purchasing power of the population and reduced demand for dairy products in the domestic market. Due to high prices for domestic dairy products, imports of processed dairy products, including cheese, increased in December.
“A significant reduction in purchase prices in Ukraine is unlikely due to the increase in the cost of milk production due to rising feed costs and the need to meet EU environmental requirements,” the industry association said.
It is likely that in 2025 the global dairy market will move to a new price corridor – from $40 to $50 per 100 kg of raw milk. In 2024, the average price of raw milk in Ukraine was $42.45 per 100 kg, which is 20% higher than in 2023. The price of raw milk in Ukraine grew throughout 2024, unlike in the EU, the US and New Zealand. In 2025, the average milk price in Ukraine is likely to increase to $45-46 per 100 kg of raw milk. In the absence of force majeure, a certain decrease in purchase prices is likely in late April – early May this year as a result of a seasonal increase in milk production in households, the AMP predicts.
