Former State Secretary for Financial Affairs and experienced diplomat Heiko Thoms will become Germany’s ambassador to Ukraine, replacing Martin Eger, who will now head the Federal Intelligence Service, Die Welt reported on Tuesday.
“Former State Secretary for Financial Affairs Heiko Thoms will represent Germany as ambassador to Ukraine in the future… The cabinet is expected to approve the appointment on Wednesday,” the publication said on its website.
Until this year’s government change, Thoms was State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance.
He will replace Martin Eger, who will become the new head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND). Eger also received Foreign Minister Johann Wazewsky during his visit to Ukraine this week.
According to reports, the 57-year-old Toms is an experienced diplomat. From 2020 to 2023, he was Germany’s ambassador to Brazil, and before that, he was deputy head of the German mission to NATO.
The European Investment Fund (EIF), a member of the European Investment Bank (EIB) group, and Finland’s official export credit agency, Finnvera, have signed a EUR 30 million guarantee agreement to support exports of Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to Ukraine.
According to the European Commission, the pilot project was signed under the InvestEU program and is part of the EU’s broader efforts to strengthen economic ties with Ukraine and support its recovery and accession process.
“The agreement allows Finnvera to issue export credit facilities to Finnish companies trading with Ukraine under the EIF guarantee under the InvestEU export credit guarantee facility. This is one of 13 agreements being prepared with national export credit agencies in EU member states under this mechanism,” the European Commission said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
It is noted that the pilot project will support Finnish SMEs and medium-sized companies with fewer than 500 employees to help manage risks and access new opportunities in Ukraine, even in times of war. The EIF guarantee complements the national loss-sharing mechanism introduced by the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, which allows Finnvera to issue export guarantees to Ukraine under exceptional conditions.
“I welcome this agreement… Thanks to the support of the EU budget and the EIF, the export program helps EU companies to continue trading and strengthen our economic ties with Ukraine. In this way, it contributes to the further integration of the EU and Ukrainian economies, as well as to Ukraine’s recovery. I hope that more deals will be concluded through this program in the near future, benefiting both EU businesses and the Ukrainian economy,” commented Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economic and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification.
EIF Executive Director Marjut Falkstedt noted that the fund had made significant efforts to launch this program quickly, recognizing its potential to strengthen EU SMEs and support Ukraine’s economic stability at a critical time. She noted that the introduction of the guarantee is an important step, and similar agreements in other EU countries will further extend its impact.
In addition, according to Finnvera’s CEO, it is extremely important from the export credit agency’s point of view that it is possible to support Ukraine’s recovery efforts while creating opportunities for Finnish companies.
In April 2025, Ukrainian banks issued 458 mortgage loans in the amount of UAH 834.8 million, which is 5.1% more than in March, when 427 loans were issued for UAH 689.4 million, according to the results of a monthly survey by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
“The quality of the mortgage portfolio is good: the share of non-performing loans remains at 15%,” the NBU commented on the results.
According to the central bank, the volume of loans issued has almost halved compared to April 2024. According to the NBU, out of 38 banks surveyed, 11 financial institutions issued mortgage loans in March. Most of the deals were made in the primary housing market: 261 in April for the amount of UAH 492.2 million, compared to 232 in February for the amount of UAH 436.5 million. On the secondary housing market, 197 transactions were concluded for UAH 342.5 million, while in March the number of transactions amounted to 195 for a total amount of UAH 358.1 million.
The weighted average effective interest rate in April did not actually increase to 8.01% p.a. from 8.00% in February.
The survey data show that most loans were issued in Kyiv and Kyiv region in April – 259 for UAH 511.9 million (34.5% of the total volume). They are followed by: Lviv region – 26 loans worth UAH 48.8 million, Ivano-Frankivsk region – 17 loans worth UAH 30.8 million, and Dnipropetrovs’k region – 16 loans worth UAH 28.9 million.
As of July 1, 2024-2025 marketing year (July-June), Ukraine exported 40.499 mln tonnes of grains and pulses, of which 2.217 mln tonnes were shipped in June, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported, citing data from the State Customs Service.
According to the report, as of June 28 last year, the total shipments were estimated at 50.553 million tons, including 3.621 million tons in June.
According to the preliminary estimates, in 2024/25 season, Ukraine exported 15.704 mln tonnes of wheat (18.3 mln tonnes in 2023/24 MY), 2.318 mln tonnes of barley (2.477 mln tonnes), 10.8 thsd tonnes of rye (1.6 thsd tonnes), and 21.788 mln tonnes of corn (29.233 mln tonnes).
The total exports of Ukrainian flour in 2024/25 MY are estimated at 70.4 thsd tonnes (in 2023/24 MY – 97.8 thsd tonnes), including 65.8 thsd tonnes of wheat (92.4 thsd tonnes).
Thus, in the season-2024/25, the grain exports were down by 19.9% in general, by 14.2% for wheat, by 6.4% for barley, by 25.5% for corn, by 28.1% for flour, including 28.8% for wheat. At the same time, in 2024/25 MY Ukraine increased rye exports by 6.8 times.
As reported, in the season-24/25, the domestic market faced the deficit of rye. Flour mills and bakeries started importing it in winter 2025. The main countries supplying rye and rye flour to Ukraine are the Baltic states and Poland. Industry associations predict that in 2025/26 MY Ukraine will face a 100% deficit of rye due to the further reduction of the production area under this crop. According to experts, this will lead to a 20% rise in bread prices.
On June 26, the National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine announced its intention to conclude a contract with IC “Innovative Insurance Capital” (Kiev) for life and health insurance services for journalists and other employees of JSC “NOTU” under martial law.
According to the company’s message in the system of electronic procurement Prozorro, its price offer amounted to 495 thousand UAH against the expected cost of 692 thousand UAH.
The term of the contract is 12 months.
The tender was also attended by insurance companies “Ultra Alliance” with an offer of UAH 293.7 thousand and IC “Kraina” – UAH 657.4 thousand.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada in July 2022 obliged the heads of the media to provide armored vests, helmets and first aid kits for journalists sent to work in the war zone, as well as to provide for them insurance at the expense of the employer.
As stated on the company’s website, Innovative Insurance Capital has been operating in the insurance market of Ukraine for 17 years and has 26 licenses for insurance activities, including 17 for voluntary insurance and nine for compulsory insurance.
The authorized capital of the company is UAH 100 mln.
Imports of tractors to Ukraine in January-May 2025 amounted to $355.9 million, which is 3.8% less than in the same period in 2024, according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the published statistics, tractors were mainly imported from the United States (19.7% of total imports of this equipment, or $70.1 million), Germany (17.3% or $61.4 million) and China (17.2% or $61.3 million), while a year earlier it was Germany ($59.7 million), the Netherlands ($53.6 million) and China ($44.2 million).
In May of this year, imports of tractors decreased by 10% to $60.2 million by May 2024, which is also 29% less than the volume of imports in April of this year.
According to statistics, only $2.5 million worth of tractors were exported in the first five months of this year, mostly to Romania, Zambia and Germany.
As reported, imports of tractors to Ukraine in 2024 amounted to almost $784 million, which is 5.6% less than a year earlier, while exports amounted to $5.44 million against $5.74 million.
