Dynamics of reserves of Ukraine from 2012 to 2024, million USD
Open4Business.com.ua
In 2024, the Ukrainian agricultural sector set a second historical record of $24.5 billion in foreign exchange earnings from the export of agricultural products, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval said in an interview with Ukrainian Radio.
“To summarize the 24th year, it brought us the second best result in terms of foreign exchange earnings from exports. We set the second historical record – the country received $24.5 billion from the export of agricultural products. This is a good indicator,” he said.
The Minister recalled that the best year in terms of foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports was 2021, when the agricultural sector earned $27.7 billion due to a good harvest.
Koval noted that compared to 2023, the agricultural sector’s foreign exchange earnings from exports increased by more than $2 billion.
“I think 2024 was a year of resilience for the entire agricultural sector. Ukrainian agrarians withstood, persevered and proved to be the best. The fact that we harvested a good crop, 75 million tons of grains and oilseeds, despite the mined land and hostilities is a good result, given that the year was dry and we had to admit the loss of yields. But in general, Ukraine has not only resisted, but also increased its agricultural power,” the Minister of Agrarian Policy summarized.
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.
