In 2025, Ukraine exported goods worth $41.627 billion, up $5.44 billion, or 15%, compared to 2023, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said.
“In terms of weight, exports amounted to 131.179 million tons. This is 30.8 million tons more, which means an increase of 30.8%. Imports also increased by 8.6% to $69 billion,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
Kachka specified that imports of electricity increased by 333% to $669 million, batteries by 103% to $950 million, transformers by 108% to $596 million, and UAVs by 77% to $1.2 billion.
“The top imports are petroleum products ($6.8 billion) and “miscellaneous” ($4.5 billion), which are directly related to war and defense. So energy challenges and defense are the main drivers of imports. The drivers are not at all inelastic. A significant reduction in the trade deficit is directly related to the development of the defense industry and the restoration of energy infrastructure,” the trade representative emphasized.
Regarding exports, Kachka noted that due to the opening of navigation in ports, iron ore became the leader in terms of exports – 33.6 million tons, which is 89% more compared to 2023, and in monetary terms, the growth was 58% – up to $ 2.8 billion.
According to him, the second position in terms of volume was taken by corn – 29 million tons, which is 12.3% more than in 2023, but in monetary terms the increase was only 2.3%, up to $5.07 billion.
The Trade Representative emphasized that the situation is the opposite in poultry exports: in physical terms, it increased by only 5.6% to 448.4 thousand tons, but in monetary terms – by 20% to $961 million.
“Among the goods whose exports amounted to more than a billion dollars, I would like to emphasize cable products, whose exports increased by 60% to $1.27 billion,” added Kachka.
According to his data, the growth in export revenues for key metallurgical products was 52% for semi-finished products to $927 million, 38.9% for hot-rolled products to $809 million, 125% for pipes to $590 million, 6.1% for pig iron to $500 million and 19.3% for bars to $156 million.
“Confectionery is a certain indicator of the food processing industry’s performance. There is a 38% increase in revenue from chocolate ($264 million), 26.9% growth for biscuits ($269 million), 15.6% for candy without chocolate ($215 million),” the trade representative also wrote.
In timber processing, he drew attention to the fact that the export of boards (sawn timber) decreased in volume, but still remained above 1 million tons, and in revenue – by 1.2%, to $400.9 million, but glued plywood was exported by 95% more – $125.3 million.
“There are also good indicators in the consumer goods sector. Exports of suits, sets, jackets, trousers, overalls for men amounted to $99 million. This is 646% … more than in 2023. Exports of suits, sets, jackets, dresses, skirts for women amounted to $71.3 million, which is 114.2% growth,” Kachka wrote.
According to him, geographically, Ukrainian exports are becoming more and more EU-centric: exports to the EU grew by 5.9% to $24.7 billion. The top five EU members in terms of exports were Poland ($4.7 billion), Spain ($2.8 billion), Germany ($2.8 billion), the Netherlands ($1.98 billion), and Italy ($1.93 billion). At the same time, exports to Germany grew by 40.5%, while exports to Poland decreased by 1.1%, the trade representative said.
“In general, trade with Poland is declining, as Ukraine imported 6.8% less from it than in 2023. At the same time, Poland continues to be the leader in the supply of goods from the EU – $6.8 billion out of $34.3 billion of total imports from the EU,” Kachka stated.
He noted that trade with Turkey is also declining – by 7.2% in exports and 13.5% in imports.
According to him, imports from China are growing at a significant pace: last year they increased by 37.4% to $14.3 billion.
“And this is the main area of turbulence in our trade policy, because trade with China may undergo radical changes due to the expected measures of the new US administration, which will go viral and lead to the recalibration of tariff rates within the WTO. If the US states that it has the right to revise its tariff rates, Ukraine has even more rights to do so, as we joined the WTO on the basis of unfulfilled expectations of lowering tariffs by other WTO member states,” Kachka emphasized.
Who is under the attention of the Tax Service?
The State Tax Service has planned 4.7 thousand business inspections for 2025. The State Tax Service will pay most attention to companies from Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipro regions. About 400 businesses will be inspected every month, with the most visits scheduled for October.
Of the 4.7 thousand inspections, about 3.7 thousand are for companies, and the rest are for individual entrepreneurs. Financial institutions and non-residents will also be inspected. The State Tax Service will also visit 266 businesses that have questions about personal income tax, military duty, and unified social tax.
The State Tax Service will pay most attention to companies from Kyiv – 18% of the total number of inspections. Odesa region will be in second place, and Dnipropetrovs’k region will be in third place: 12% and 10% respectively.
Wholesale companies will face the most inspections – 20.7%. Agriculture and hunting will account for another 15% of inspections. Food production rounds out the top three with 6.2%.
In January, 287 companies will be inspected, and in February another 371. In total, the State Tax Service will visit about 400 businesses every month, with 423 companies being inspected in October.
20 companies from the list were included in the Opendatabot 2024 index:
– D. Trading – UAH 165.6 billion in revenue;
– Okko Express – UAH 61.8 billion;
– Vinnytsia Poultry Farm – UAH 39.2 billion;
– Nova Poshta – UAH 36.4 billion;
– Ukrainian armored vehicles – UAH 32.4 billion;
– SpaceX – UAH 27.9 billion.
– Myronivska Poultry Farm – UAH 21.4 billion;
– Pumb – UAH 16 billion;
– Ukrsibbank – UAH 15.4 billion;
– Poltava Mining and Processing Plant – UAH 15 billion;
– Concorde Consulting – UAH 8.5 billion;
– Enselco Agro – UAH 7.2 billion;
– Institute of Information Technologies Intelias – UAH 4.3 billion;
– Berehove Grain Receiving Enterprise – UAH 4.3 billion;
– ONUR CONSTRUCTION INTERNATIONAL – UAH 2.9 billion;
– Testi Food – UAH 1 billion;
– Three O – UAH 906 million;
– Triumph Media Group – UAH 562 million;
– SC Dnipro-1 – UAH 437 million;
– Star Bukovel – UAH 421 million.
You can find out whether your business or partners are scheduled for inspections for free in the Opportunity Bot. To do this, send the bot the company code. If the business is on the tax plan, the relevant information will appear in the company card.
Instructions.
How to find out if the Tax Service is planning to inspect your business?
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/dps-audits-2025
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
After raising the official hryvnia exchange rate by 1 kopeck on December 31, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) strengthened it by another 5 kopecks on January 1 to 41.9725 UAH/$1, according to the regulator’s website.
The NBU set the reference rate at 12:00 on Wednesday at 41.9787 UAH/$1 against 42.0247 UAH/$1 a day earlier.
On the cash market, the US dollar went up by 1 kopeck on the first day of the new year, to 42.40 UAH/$1, and remained at 42.50 UAH/$1 on sale.
The official hryvnia exchange rate against the US dollar weakened by 10.6%, or UAH 4.02, in 2024, and by 14.9%, or UAH 5.46, since the National Bank switched to a managed flexibility regime on October 3, 2023.
Last week, the NBU’s net sales of foreign currency on the interbank market rose to a record high since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – to $1 billion 625.9 million, and in December – to $5.28 billion, which was also a record high.
As reported, in 2023, the official hryvnia exchange rate devalued by 4.5% to 37.9824 UAH/$1, while the government had budgeted for an average annual rate of 42.2 UAH/$1 in 2023 and 45.8 UAH/$1 at the end of the year. In the state budget for 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers set an average annual rate of 40.7 UAH/$1, and at the end of the year – 42.1 UAH/$1, while the budget for the current year set an average annual rate of 45 UAH/$1.
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.
Initial registrations of new passenger cars in Ukraine in 2024 increased by 14% compared to 2023 to 69.6 thousand units, Ukravtoprom reported on its telegram channel.
The bestseller of the year was the Renault Duster compact crossover – 6,826 thousand vehicles of this model joined the domestic fleet.
Toyota became the sales leader last year with 10.731 thousand units, Renault took second place with 7.266 thousand units, Skoda was third with 5.033 thousand units, Volkswagen was fourth with 4.899 thousand units, and BMW was fifth with 4.833 thousand units.
The top ten new passenger cars registered for the year also included Nissan – 2.777 thousand units, Hyundai – 2.618 thousand units, Peugeot – 2.474 thousand units, Suzuki – 2.301 thousand units and Mazda – 2.256 thousand units.
According to the report, in particular, in December, Ukrainians purchased more than 5.5 thousand new passenger cars, which is 6% less than in December 2023, but 5.7% more than in November 2024.
In December, Japanese Toyota retained its leadership in the market with 810 units, Skoda took second place with 628 units, and Renault was third with 526 units. VW (435 units) and Peugeot (380 units) also entered the top five.
At the same time, according to the Auto-Consulting information and analytical group, 71.3 thousand new passenger cars were sold in Ukraine last year, which is 9.8% more than in 2023 and almost equal to the result of 2018.
“In December, we were a little short, although the market started very cheerfully and was heading for a better result, but the loss of registries slightly spoiled the final chord,” Group Director Oleg Omelnitsky wrote on Facebook.
As reported, in 2023, according to Ukravtoprom, the first registrations of new passenger cars in Ukraine increased by 60.6% compared to 2022, to almost 61 thousand units, AUTO-Consulting recorded a 62.4% increase in sales, to more than 65 thousand units.
