Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border in the week of December 28-January 3 fell by 22.7% compared to the previous week, to 508,000. According to the State Border Guard Service’s Facebook post, this is primarily due to a sharp decline on the last day of the old year and the first day of the new, when the flow was only 42,000 and 26,000, respectively, while before Christmas it reached 133,000-136,000 people a day.
The number of exit crossings decreased from 325 thousand to 273 thousand, while the number of entry crossings dropped more dramatically – from 332 thousand to 235 thousand.
The number of vehicles crossing the checkpoints dropped from 117,000 to 93,000 over the week, while the flow of vehicles carrying humanitarian aid dropped from 471,000 to 418,000.
According to the State Border Guard Service, this Sunday, the largest number of vehicles leaving Ukraine on the border with Poland was observed at the Krakovets checkpoint – 50 cars and 25 buses, Ustyluh – 20 cars and Shehyni – 9 buses.
On the border with Hungary, the longest queue is at Luzhanka with 20 cars, while Tisa and Kosyno have 5 cars each, and on the border with Slovakia, 10 cars have accumulated at Uhorod.
The total number of people crossing the border during the New Year’s week is higher than last year’s: 251 thousand people left Ukraine and 224 thousand entered during the same seven days, with a traffic of 90 thousand cars. Last year, during this week, passenger traffic decreased by 18.4%, while the following week it increased by 6.7%.
As reported, on May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the outbreak of war, was replaced by an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022 and amounted to 409 thousand people. However, since the end of September, possibly under the influence of news about mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, and then massive shelling of energy infrastructure, the number of people leaving has been exceeding the number of people entering. It temporarily stopped in the second half of December and early January during the holidays, but then resumed again and reached a total of 223 thousand people from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war.
During the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings out of Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service, exceeded the number of crossings in by 25 thousand, while since the beginning of the third year, the number of crossings in has increased by another 229 thousand.
As Deputy Economy Minister Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March 2023, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP. In its macroeconomic forecast for 2024, the Ministry of Economy has included the return of 1.5 million people to Ukraine.
At the same time, the National Bank, in its October inflation report, again downgraded its forecast for the outflow from Ukraine in 2024 from 0.4 million to 0.5 million. In absolute terms, the number of migrants staying abroad is expected to increase to 6.8 million in 2024.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe was estimated at 6.254 million as of December 16, 2024, and 6.814 million in the world as a whole, which is 28 thousand more than as of November 18.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data as of August 2024, there were 3.669 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), which is 121 thousand more than in April.
Italy has a complex and multi-level taxation system that includes taxes for individuals and legal entities, as well as various indirect taxes. Let’s take a look at the main aspects of the Italian tax system as of the end of 2024 – beginning of 2025.
Taxes for individuals:
Taxes for legal entities:
Italy also has an interesting example of incentivizing the acquisition of Italian residency – a flat tax for new residents. Foreigners moving to Italy can take advantage of a special regime by paying a flat tax of €100,000 per year on foreign income, which exempts them from the standard income tax.
In 2024, Italy implemented a tax reform aimed at simplifying the system and reducing the tax burden for certain categories of citizens. In particular, IRPEF rates were revised and additional benefits for families with children were introduced. Italy has double taxation treaties with more than 100 countries, which allows avoiding double taxation of income for residents and non-residents.
The Italian tax system is characterized by progressive rates and a variety of different taxes and fees. When planning to relocate or do business in Italy, it is recommended that you carefully study the current tax obligations and, if necessary, seek advice from professional tax advisors.
Source: http://relocation.com.ua/niuansy-systemy-opodatkuvannia-italii/
Serbia has launched a new program to support business and attract investment, let’s take a look at some of them: 1 Financial incentives: The government will increase the volume of soft loans and subsidies for entrepreneurs. The focus is on IT, agriculture, eco-technology, and other key industries.
2 Less bureaucracy: In 2025, a single digital platform for business registration and permits will be launched. This will speed up the process of starting a company and obtaining a residence permit for foreign founders.
3 Assistance to the regions: A special priority is provincial development. Business owners willing to open branches outside Belgrade will be able to count on additional grants.
What experts say:
◦ The Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry believes that they have been waiting for the simplification of procedures for a long time.
Analysts call for further reforms of the judicial and legal systems to make serious investors more willing to come to the country.
Why it is important for relocation: The new program is a great reason to pay attention to Serbia. Fewer formalities and more favorable business conditions = a real incentive to relocate.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” sold 2.39 million cubic meters of timber at auction in the fourth quarter of 2024, shipped 2.24 million cubic meters of timber at the end of the quarter and brought the percentage of contract fulfillment to 94%, said Yuriy Bolokhovets, CEO of the state enterprise, on Facebook.
“The Ukrainian Energy Exchange (UEEX) announced a 90% level of contract fulfillment. In fact, this figure is even higher. After all, if the buyer refuses to buy the contracted products, we put the resource up for auction again. Therefore, the actual percentage of sales by the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” exceeds 94%,” he said.
Bolokhovets added, referring to the exchange’s data, that the figure for municipal forestries is 75%, and for other forest users – 41%.
He recalled that in 2023, the percentage of contract fulfillment by the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” was less than 90%.
According to him, out of 150 thousand cubic meters of the undelivered volume, 80 thousand cubic meters are military supplies. While the military used to choose mostly round timber of small diameters (15-19 cm, 20-24 cm), which is less popular with businesses, to cover dugouts, they have recently been actively ordering large diameter products (30-34 cm, 35-39 cm) for the manufacture of lumber for trench construction. Military orders are given top priority, the CEO explained.
He also emphasized that harvesters work in a shortage of personnel, crews are not booked, workers are mobilized, sometimes en masse, and therefore the contractor cannot always provide the required volume of harvesting in time for objective reasons. In addition, sanitary felling may not pass the approval procedure for one reason or another.
“Our regional branches are tasked with minimizing the negative consequences for customers in such cases. A hotline operates at the central office level: a solution must be found for each problem situation that will satisfy the company’s client,” the CEO summarized.
As reported, Ukraine launched a forestry reform in 2016. It has already introduced the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions. Since 2021, an interactive map of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
The industry has implemented the Forest in a Smartphone project, which contains a list of logging tickets for timber harvesting and allows you to check the legality of logging on the agency’s online map.
On June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber. In addition, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has launched a pilot project to procure timber harvesting services through the electronic platform Prozorro.
Change in prices of food raw materials from Ukraine (forecast up to 2025), %
Open4Business.com.ua
Northern Mining and Processing Plant (Northern GOK, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro region), a part of Metinvest Group, invested UAH 122 million in overhaul of railway equipment and machinery in 2024.
According to the plant, a new two-section 2TE10M mainline diesel locomotive has recently been put into operation at Pivdennyi GOK after overhaul. It transports rock mass in the Pervomaisky open pit.
The locomotive was overhauled for more than three years by specialists from Daugavpol Locomotive Repair Plant. All key components and assemblies in two sections were upgraded to meet the passport parameters. The performance characteristics and service life of all equipment units have been updated, which will extend the service life of the locomotives for another six years.
The repaired locomotive was tested for rock haulage. To date, the equipment has already transported 1.1 thousand tons of ore per trip.
“Given the numerous restrictions and challenges of the war, maintaining the equipment’s performance remains one of the company’s priorities. This is especially important as business plans are expanding. The plant continues to upgrade its rolling stock to ensure the reliability and efficiency of rock transportation. The experience of cooperation between the company’s enterprises and Latvian repairmen began in 2017 and continues due to the high quality of the work performed,” explains Vladimir Nazarenko, head of the Southern GOK’s maintenance department.
Yenakiieve Mining is part of Metinvest Group, whose main shareholders are System Capital Management (SCM, Donetsk) (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%). Metinvest Group’s management company is Metinvest Holding LLC.
