A new educational center, the Higher School of Lobbying, a structural subdivision of the National Association of Lobbyists of Ukraine, has opened in the capital. The project’s mission is to form a professional community of lobbyists in the country in accordance with EU, US, and UK standards. The premiere took place at the Hyatt Regency Kyiv, bringing together over 100 participants, including about 50 members of parliament, diplomats, representatives of international business, and academia.
A special feature of the launch is the participation of practicing lobbyists from the US and the UK, who will conduct classes together with Ukrainian experts. The program is designed as a practical track for working in the EU and US markets.
Project director Oleksiy Shevchuk said: “Lobbying is about transparent rules, competition of ideas, and investment. We are launching a school that provides tools for legal influence and open dialogue with the authorities. Our graduates must be equally confident in defending their clients’ positions in Kyiv, Brussels, and Washington, relying on facts, ethics, and compliance.”
The professional principles of the new school are:
1) Legality and transparency — working only within the public legal field, with a clear mandate and client disclosure
2) Ethics — prevention of conflicts of interest, internal compliance, and codes of conduct
3) Expertise — analytics, data, impact assessment, proposals for regulation
4) Equal access — inclusion of business, NGOs, and regions in dialogue with the state
5) Measurability — goals, KPIs, and reporting on advocacy results
Recruitment for the first cohort has begun. International mentors, workshops on preparing position papers for EU and US institutions, and analysis of real-life cases of interaction with regulators have been announced. The organizers emphasize that the school is results-oriented — graduates should bring new partnerships, investments, and sustainable changes to the rules of the game to the economy.
Historical background: how lobbying developed in the US and Europe
US. The American model is the most institutionalized. In the 19th century, the term “lobbyist” came into use to describe individuals who communicated with congressmen behind the scenes.
The modern system is based on mandatory registration of lobbyists, reporting on clients, budgets, and topics of influence, public registries, and compliance.
Principles: transparency of contacts with officials, disclosure of expenses, restrictions on gifts and travel funding, disciplinary responsibility for covert activities.
Europe. In the EU, lobbying is formalized as the participation of interested parties in policy-making. The European Commission and European Parliament have a Common Transparency Register, which requires disclosure of information about organizations and consultants, their goals and resources, and meetings with high-ranking officials are published online.
National regimes vary, but common standards include public registers, codes of ethics, tracking of influence on regulation, and impact assessments for new legislation.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/projects/1119422.html
Prices for construction and installation works in Ukraine in September 2025 increased by 5.2% compared to September 2024, the State Statistics Service (Gosstat) reported. According to the State Statistics Service, in September-2025 compared to September-2024 prices increased in all segments of construction: in residential construction by 5.6%, in non-residential – by 5.3%, in engineering – by 4.9%. At the same time, compared to August this year, prices rose by 0.1% in each segment.
Relative to December-2024, prices in September-2025 for construction and installation work rose 4.1%, while construction prices rose 5.9% in the first nine months of 2025 and 5.3% in the third quarter compared to the same period a year ago.
As reported, in 2024, prices for construction and installation work increased by 7.9% year-on-year, while in 2023 they increased by 15.8% relative to 2022. The State Statistics Committee noted that the figures are given without taking into account the temporarily occupied territories and part of the territories where hostilities are (were) conducted.
2022-2024 goods trade balance forecast (USD billion)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
The insurance company PJSC IC “ROM Ukraine” (Kyiv) in January-September 2025 has attracted UAH 2,376 billion of premiums, which is UAH 731 million or 44,4% more compared to the corresponding period of 2024, according to the press-release of the company.
The largest increase in payments at the end of the reporting period was recorded in the segment of compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles (MTPL) – by 71%, up to UAH 788 million, or 33% of the total volume, CASCO – by 29%, up to UAH 398 million, or 17% of the total volume.
The company has attracted UAH 659 mln of insurance premiums under “Green Card” policies in the nine months of 2025, which is 28% of the total volume of receipts of the insurer, and by 60% exceeds the corresponding indicator of the same period of 2024.
The share of health insurance in the company’s portfolio amounted to 10%, under contracts of which in the specified period IC has collected UAH 229 mln of payments (+46%).
The volume of receipts of IC ROM Ukraine under other insurance contracts following the results of the nine months of 2025 has amounted to UAH 301 mln.
Private JSC IC ROM Ukraine has been working in the market of Ukraine since 1993. It is supported by one of the largest insurance groups of Central and Eastern Europe – PZU Group (which includes the parent company of PJSC IC ROM Ukraine – PZU S.A.).
According to Serbian Economist, Serbian National Assembly President Ana Brnabić is visiting Ukraine on November 10. The program includes meetings in the Verkhovna Rada and talks with Ukraine’s top leadership, according to the Serbian Parliament’s press service.
During her visit, Brnabić stated that Serbia supports Ukraine on its European path and is ready to share its experience of parliamentary and technical integration with the EU. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk expressed his gratitude for interparliamentary cooperation and support.
The heads of the parliaments have been in contact since the summer of 2025 — in August, the parties agreed on positions on the international agenda and interparliamentary cooperation.
Source: https://t.me/relocationrs/1720
IMK Agricultural Holding supplies about 20% of agricultural products to the European Union market during 2022-2024 and 2025 and therefore depends on the European market and insights that it applies in practice, despite constant shelling and losses due to the war, said its CEO Oleksandr Verzhikhovsky.
“If we talk about the export of our products and take a look at 2022-2023-2024 and the current 2025, then about 20% of our exports went to the European market. These were mainly wheat and corn. We export 600,000 tons annually, and about 20% of that traditionally goes to the European market,” he said at a conference during the Agritechnika-2025 exhibition in Hanover, Germany.
Verzhikhovsky added that at the same time, there is a clear downward trend in the share of products supplied to the European market.
At the same time, he acknowledged that IMC depends on imports from the EU for all components of its agribusiness: fertilizers, plant protection products, and equipment.
“In fact, we are preparing to join the European community — in fact, for us, there is no alternative. We are preparing within the framework of the Smart Green Strategy, approved for 10 years until 2033. It is aimed at preparing for the high environmental standards dictated by the European market,” said the CEO of the agricultural holding.
The agroholding’s Smart Green Strategy aims to make agribusiness more environmentally friendly, which is an additional bonus to increasing efficiency. As an example, he cited the abandonment of plowing in the Poltava region due to the need to preserve moisture in the soil and reduce the carbon footprint.
Verzhikhovsky added that it is difficult to talk about further prospects at the moment due to the military actions in the regions where IMC operates.
According to him, it is extremely difficult to work due to constant power outages caused by Russian shelling of the Ukrainian power grid. IMC was forced to suspend grain drying due to a fire in the dryer after the shelling. In addition, a few weeks ago, as a result of a drone attack, the agricultural holding lost 200 cubic meters of diesel fuel at its enterprise in the Chernihiv region.
“Of course, we are moving forward with the Smart Green Strategy to implement the ‘green agenda’, but in between problems and the need to solve more urgent and routine issues imposed on us by the situation in which Ukraine lives and works,” summarized the SEO of IMC.
As reported, Alex Lissitsa, advisor to the directors of the agricultural holding, said that IMC will not launch new investment projects in 2026, but will allocate about $25 million to upgrade its equipment.
IMK Agroholding is an integrated group of companies operating in the Sumy, Poltava, and Chernihiv regions (northern and central Ukraine) in the segments of crop production, elevators, and warehouses. The land bank is 116,000 hectares, storage capacity is 554,000 tons, and the 2024 harvest is 864,000 tons.
IMK ended 2024 with a net profit of $54.54 million, compared to a net loss of $21.03 million in 2023. Revenue grew by 52% to $211.29 million, gross profit quadrupled to $109.10 million, and normalized EBITDA increased 25-fold to $86.11 million.
