Employers offered jobs to 1,554 Ukrainians aged 50 and older as part of the government’s “Experience Matters” program; as of June 22, 2026, 841 participants had successfully found employment, and another 713 are currently undergoing internships.
According to a statement on the website of the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine, more than 2,300 candidates have joined the initiative overall, while employers have posted nearly 2,600 job openings.
Kyiv, as well as the Lviv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions, have shown the highest activity in terms of the number of candidates. The regions with the highest number of job openings are Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Rivne. The greatest demand is for salespeople of food and non-food items, accountants, drivers, unskilled laborers, cooks, office cleaners, security guards, seamstresses, janitors, and administrators.
The ministry notes that, given the labor shortage, workers aged 50 and older are an important group for the labor market; however, some of them face age-based stereotypes, the need to update their skills, or difficulties after a long break from work. To overcome these barriers, the program combines career counseling, assistance from the employment service, internships, and direct contact with employers.
Training, which began in the second half of June, is a separate component of the program. Specifically, the course on collaboration in intergenerational teams attracted 1,350 registrations, the course on digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI) received 1,100 applications, and the course on career strategy drew 883 applications.
The ministry added that the Ministry of Economy, the State Employment Service (SES), the Astarta agro-industrial holding, the Zhiznelub Charitable Foundation, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU), as well as the multi-donor initiative Skills4Recovery, Skills Alliance, and other partners are involved in implementing and funding the program.
As previously reported, the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture, together with its partners, launched the “Experience Matters” internship project for adults on May 11, 2026. The initiative is being implemented as part of the National Accessibility Strategy for 2026 and aims to address the labor shortage that, according to the EBA, affects 75% of companies in Ukraine. The project model is based on three components: a training program to update resumes and prepare for job interviews; face-to-face meetings with business representatives to discuss collaboration opportunities; and a hands-on internship lasting up to 10 days to assess mutual compatibility before making a hiring decision.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) plans to put priority assets up for sale by the end of this year, specifically the Odesa Port Plant (OPP), the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, and the “Ocean Plaza” shopping mall in Kyiv, said Fund Head Dmytro Natalukha at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) in Gdańsk, Poland, on Thursday.
“There are assets that were nationalized, either from Russia or from Russian citizens subject to sanctions. These include fertilizer production facilities, chemical plants, heavy machinery manufacturers, and so on. What they have in common is that they are large-scale and require fairly multi-level investment—capital investment—and we can identify which ones can be sold more quickly. And we plan to divest 7–8% of these assets this year,” he said during the conference.
Natalukha reported that, in particular, the Odesa Port Plant (OPZ) will be put up for sale in the third quarter.
He also noted that the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, “a shopping complex nationalized from the Rotterberg brothers in Kyiv, and other valuable assets” are currently up for sale.
As previously reported, the published plan for preparing assets prioritized for sale in 2026 provides, in particular, the sale in September–October 2026 of OPZ JSC with a starting price of 4.3 billion UAH and Demurinsky Mining and Processing Plant LLC for 1.8 billion UAH, as well as the Kyiv-based “Ocean Plaza” shopping and entertainment center for 11.3 billion UAH in November–December.
In addition, an auction for the sale of Nikolayev Alumina Plant LLC is also scheduled for November–December.
Meanwhile, an auction is scheduled for August–September to sell Glukhiv Quartzite Quarry LLC with a starting price of 50 million UAH, and for September–October—Sumykhimprom JSC for 1.01 billion UAH and Motordetal-Konotop LLC for 390 million UAH.
Veteran and civic activist Oleksandr Budko (Teren) has opened a franchise of the “Muza” ready-meal delivery service in Rivne, co-founded by chef Yevhen Klopotenko, according to Klopotenko’s press office.
“We spent a long time refining the ‘Muza’ franchise model before we began scaling it through partners. It’s important to me that people who open a franchise don’t just invest in the business, but also share our values. Oleksandr is exactly that kind of person,” commented Yevhen Klopotenko.
According to Teren, the decision to open a franchise was driven by a desire to influence the culinary culture in his hometown.
Klopotenko’s “Muza” delivery service specializes in restaurant-quality Ukrainian cuisine and is expanding through a franchise model. Rivne became the third city to host a location, following Kyiv and Lviv. The new location is at 32 Soborna St., Rivne. Orders can be placed via Glovo and Bolt Food, and customers can also pick up their orders in person.
Currently, the chain has 17 active locations (16 dark kitchens and one brick-and-mortar restaurant in Kyiv) and fulfills over 10,000 orders per month.
The “Muza” concept is “a restaurant at home without the cooking.” All dishes are created using Klopotenko’s original recipes. The menu features over 30 traditional Ukrainian dishes: borscht with smoked pear, bograch, varenyky, meat and fish cutlets, Poltava-style cutlet, as well as breakfasts, desserts, and signature fruit compotes and fruit drinks. The service’s pricing is designed for daily consumption. Prices for first courses start at 188 UAH, main courses at 225 UAH, and baked goods at 145 UAH.
The partners plan to launch an exclusive line called “Muza by Teren,” with the menu to be developed with the direct involvement of Oleksandr, who holds a degree in food technology.
In addition to Rivne, the “Musa” team is considering Dnipro, Odesa, Cherkasy, and Vinnytsia as priority cities for the project’s further development.
Ukraine ranks last among European countries in terms of the affordability of purchasing GTA VI, according to a visualization by Maven Mapping, which compares the number of working hours required to buy the game based on the average hourly wage.
According to the study, the average Ukrainian worker would need about 31.12 hours to buy the new Grand Theft Auto game. That’s nearly four full workdays based on a standard eight-hour workday.
By comparison, in Northern and Western European countries, purchasing GTA VI is equivalent to just a few hours of work. In Denmark, it takes about 1.7 hours; in Norway, 1.77 hours; in the Netherlands, 2.2 hours; in Germany, 2.32 hours; and in France, 2.67 hours.
In Central and Southeastern Europe, the figure is significantly higher. In Croatia, it takes about 4.94 hours to buy the game; in Serbia, 16.95 hours; in Romania, 17.64 hours; in Montenegro—17.92 hours, in Bulgaria—18.77 hours, in Turkey—23.52 hours, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina—23.89 hours.
Ukraine, with a figure of 31.12 hours, ranks at the very bottom of the list. This reflects not so much the price of a specific game as the gap in purchasing power between the Ukrainian market and the wealthier countries of Europe. While for a worker in Denmark or Germany such a purchase is comparable to a few hours of work, for a Ukrainian it represents an expense equivalent to nearly half a workweek.
Such rankings are not official economic statistics, as they depend on the selected game price, the method used to calculate wages, and exchange rates. However, they clearly illustrate how global prices for digital goods are perceived in countries with different income levels.
Source: Maven Mapping – https://www.threads.com/@maven.mapping/post/DaACB90iNhn/number-of-hours-needed-to-buy-gta-vi/
Following the deaths of demining specialists as a result of Russian shelling in the Kherson region, the Ukrainian Red Cross (URC) stresses the need to comply with international humanitarian law (IHL).
“Humanitarian workers risk their lives every day to save others, assist the civilian population, and make Ukrainian soil safer. They must never be targeted. The Ukrainian Red Cross once again emphasizes the need to comply with the norms of international humanitarian law,” the URC stated in a Facebook post on Thursday.
The Ukrainian Red Cross expressed its condolences to the team at Norwegian People’s Aid Ukraine, as well as to the families, loved ones, and colleagues of those who died.
As previously reported, on June 24, a staff member of the international humanitarian organization Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) was killed as a result of Russian shelling in the Kherson region; another deminer died in the hospital from severe injuries. Three specialists were wounded.
In just over 24 hours, floodwaters in Ukraine have claimed the lives of 17 people, including nine children; the search for four more people is ongoing, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
“The tragedies occurred in 12 regions of Ukraine… Unfortunately, these terrible figures may rise—the search is currently underway in three regions for four people, including three children,” said Viktor Vitovetsky, director of the Department of Civil Protection and Preventive Activities at the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
According to available statistics from rescue services, as of early May 2026, 135 people—including 10 children—had died in Ukraine’s water bodies since the beginning of the year. At that time, the State Emergency Service reported that 74 people, including 23 children, had been rescued since the start of the year.
With the start of the summer season, the statistics have deteriorated sharply. According to the State Emergency Service, from the beginning of June through June 21 alone, 64 emergencies occurred while people were swimming in Ukraine’s water bodies, resulting in the deaths of 53 people, including nine children.
Taking into account the new data on 17 deaths over the past 24 hours, the number of victims in water bodies since the start of the year may be at least 205. However, the State Emergency Service has not provided an updated total figure for the period from the start of 2026 through June 25 in a public statement.
Rescuers remind the public that most water-related tragedies occur due to swimming in unequipped areas, overestimating one’s abilities, alcohol consumption, violations of water safety rules, and a lack of supervision of children.
The State Emergency Service emphasizes that children should only be near water under constant adult supervision.
