“Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, and its parent company VEON have confirmed their intention to invest a total of $1 billion in the country between 2023 and 2027, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said following a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) with VEON CEO and founder Augie Fabella.
“No less important is the potential listing of Kyivstar on Nasdaq, which will open Ukraine’s access to global capital markets. In addition, global technology partnerships with companies such as Starlink will support sustainable growth,” Svyrydenko said in a post on X.
Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov, who took part in the meeting, toldInterfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the Davos Ukrainian Breakfast organized by the Pinchuk Foundation that the company has already invested more than $400 million of the $1 billion in investments it had declared.
“We are planning to continue, nothing has changed,” Komarov emphasized, speaking about increasing these investments to $1 billion.
The CEO noted that the first priority is to invest in critical infrastructure, network, and new technologies. According to him, Kyivstar is on track to meet its 2024 target, and the results achieved, in particular in terms of increasing data transfer speeds, are encouraging.
Komarov added that the company is also taking steps towards possible inorganic business expansion. According to him, Kyivstar has made a purchase of a small fixed-line operator in 2024.
“We are looking at other goals, including those within the digital ecosystem,” the CEO said.
He also said that an important task for the Ukrainian government is to attract domestic and foreign investors and unite with business to improve the investment climate and business opportunities.
“Kyivstar – as of September 2024, Kyivstar served about 23.3 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million home Internet subscribers in Ukraine. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc.
In mid-January this year, VEON announced the signing of a protocol of intent to place a part of Kyivstar shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange through the SPAC company Cohen Circle Acquisition Corp (CCIRU).
On Friday, Forbes Ukraine reported that Kyivstar had filed an application with the Antimonopoly Committee late last year to buy Uklon, a digital taxi service.
In 2024, the number of cattle in Ukraine decreased by 126.7 thousand heads due to the challenges of war and the forced relocation of farms from the frontline regions, the Association of Milk Producers (AMP) reported.
“The number of cows decreased mainly in households. However, dairy farms continue to work to increase productivity in the face of war and increased the number of cows in December,” said Giorgi Kukhaleishvili, an analyst at the Dairy Association.
The industry association referred to the data of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, according to which as of January 1, 2025, 2 million 29.5 thousand heads of cattle, including 1 million 177.7 thousand cows, are kept in the private and industrial sector of Ukraine. At the same time, the number of cattle in Ukraine decreased by 149.2 thousand heads (-7%) compared to December 1, 2024, and the number of cows decreased by 39 thousand heads (-3%), compared to January 2024 – by 126.7 thousand heads (-6%), including cows – by 85.2 thousand heads (-7%).
The AMP clarified that about 45% of animals are kept at industrial enterprises, and 55% – in households.
The industrial sector contains 917.6 thousand heads of cattle, which is 300 heads (+0.03%) more than as of December 1, 2024. The number of cows amounted to 378.5 thousand cows and increased by 3 thousand heads (+0.8%) over the past month. Over the past year, the number of cattle at the enterprises decreased by 2.2 thousand heads (-0.2%). The number of cows on dairy farms decreased by 3.7 thousand heads (-1%).
There are 1 million 111.9 thousand cattle in the private household sector, which is 149.5 thousand heads (-13%) less than on December 1, 2024. As of January 1, 2025, the number of cows in households amounted to 799.2 thousand heads, which is 42.2 thousand heads (-5%) less than a month ago. Over the past year, the number of cattle in households has decreased by 124.5 thousand heads (-11%), and the number of cows has decreased by 81.5 thousand heads (-10%).
Kukhaleishvili noted that the reduction of cattle has been taking place in Ukraine for many years due to the lack of an effective state program to support dairy farming. The decline in the number of cattle accelerated after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. A typical situation for the frontline regions is the death of a certain number of cattle as a result of shelling by the Russian occupiers. In addition, farmers have left many cows in the occupied territories that are not accounted for.
“Today, there are prerequisites for the relocation of farms from Dnipropetrovs’k and Sumy regions to other regions of Ukraine in the context of intensified Russian missile and bomb attacks on border and frontline settlements. Farmers will only be able to transfer part of their livestock, as most farms in Ukraine were built in the 70s and 80s and no longer meet the requirements for keeping animals. The lack of premises suitable for keeping cows creates preconditions for further reduction of the number of cows,” the AMP noted.
The business association emphasized that many farmers do not invest in increasing the number of cows during the war and experience a shortage of working capital. In addition, farmers’ production costs are rising faster than the price of finished products due to rising feed costs, electricity costs, hryvnia devaluation, and a decline in the purchasing power of the population. Household farms are the most vulnerable to these challenges, as the decline in cattle numbers is occurring at a faster pace. Enterprises, on the other hand, proved to be more resilient to the effects of the war.
“There is a cautious optimism about the increase in the number of dairy farms in relatively safe regions of Ukraine, which, despite the war, are modernizing existing and new facilities and increasing the number of highly productive cows,” summarized the AMP and added that at least 40 farms are currently implementing these measures.
In 2024, TAS Insurance Group (Kyiv) paid UAH 1.975 billion under the concluded insurance contracts, which is 47.3% more than the company’s indemnities for 2023.
According to the insurer’s website, more than a quarter of the total volume of payments, or 27.3%, fell on hull insurance – UAH 540 million, which is 34.1% higher than the corresponding figure for the previous year, 32.5%, or UAH 642.3 million, on MTPL (+30.7%), 21.8%, or UAH 430.8 million, on Green Card (+81%).
The share of VHI in the group’s claims portfolio amounted to 14.9%, or UAH 293.6 million (+74.5%) in 2024.
Under property insurance contracts, TAS Group paid UAH 12.92 million (+20.5%) in the reporting period. Other insurance contracts paid UAH 55.7 million (+84.4%).
TAS Insurance Group was registered in 1998. It is a universal company offering more than 80 types of insurance products in various types of voluntary and compulsory insurance. It has an extensive regional network: 28 regional directorates and branches and 450 sales offices throughout Ukraine.
PJSC Ukrnafta is working on implementing projects to generate energy from its own gas with a total capacity of up to 370 MW.
According to the company’s press release, this was announced by Duncan Nightingale, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Ukrnafta, during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
He thanked the governments of Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and the United States, as well as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for their support on the path to sustainable development and invited new partners to join the implementation of ambitious promising projects.
“We need to invest in Ukraine now. If you wait for the war to end, you may lose the most profitable projects,” Nightingale emphasized.
For his part, EBRD Vice President Matteo Patrone noted the positive financial results achieved by the company and improvements in the management system.
“They (Ukrnafta – IF-U) have demonstrated not only excellent financial results, but also true corporate governance. This is the achievement of Sergiy (Koretsky) and the Board. If two years ago I had been asked whether we would support Ukrnafta, I would have said no. But what has happened over the past 18 months is simply amazing,” he said.
“Ukrnafta is Ukraine’s largest oil producer and operator of a national network of filling stations. In March 2024, the company took over the management of Glusco’s assets and operates 547 filling stations – 462 owned and 85 managed.
The company is implementing a comprehensive program to restore operations and update the format of its filling stations. Since February 2023, the company has been issuing its own fuel coupons and NAFTAKarta cards, which are sold to legal entities and individuals through Ukrnafta-Postach LLC.
“Ukrnafta holds 92 special permits for commercial development of fields. It has 1832 oil and 154 gas production wells on its balance sheet.
Ukrnafta’s largest shareholder is Naftogaz of Ukraine with a 50%+1 share.
In November 2022, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to transfer to the state a share of corporate rights of the company owned by private owners, which is currently managed by the Ministry of Defense.
Ukraine is planning to open refugee return centers in several European countries, Denik N reported on Friday.
“After almost three years of full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine is preparing plans to return some of the millions of refugees to their homeland. Therefore, it intends to open centers in several European countries to facilitate their return,” Denik N reports.
Last week, Ukraine opened its first center in Berlin in cooperation with Germany. Ukraine has also discussed this project with Poland. Another similar center may be established in the Czech Republic. According to Denik N, a meeting of officials from the two countries to discuss the creation of a similar center is scheduled for next week in Prague.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyy said that this year in Ukraine should again work several airports, because “there are technical and other opportunities for this,” however, did not specify which airports we are talking about, reports Lviv media hub “Your Misto”.
“It is unambiguous that this year in Ukraine will start working several airports. There are technical and other opportunities for this. There must be a political decision. Apparently, it will be,” – said in an interview Sadovy.
Sadovyi added that “if a country is present on the aviation map, it is in principle present on the map of the world. This is a matter of security of our state.”
The mayor cited the example of Israel, where “once made a political decision that during the war the airport of Tel Aviv began to work – it was the only bridge connecting Tel Aviv with the world.”
As reported in November 2024, Marsh McLennan senior partner Crispin Ellison said at the 10th Kiev International Forum (KMEF) that flights at one of Ukraine’s airports – Lviv or Boryspil – will resume by the end of January 2025.
Earlier it was reported that the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories with the support of the US Embassy has developed a roadmap for opening the airspace of Ukraine under martial law.
