The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is considering closing nearly 30 diplomatic missions around the world, including two consulates in Bosnia and Herzegovina – in Mostar and Banja Luka. This was reported by the Serbian Economist with reference to an internal document of the US State Department.
The plans to reduce the diplomatic presence are related to the Trump administration’s intention to optimize federal budget expenditures. According to The New York Times, the closure of 10 embassies and 17 consulates is being considered, as well as the reduction or consolidation of staff in other foreign missions.
In Europe, the embassies in Luxembourg and Malta, as well as consulates in France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom are under threat of closure. In Africa, embassies in the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Gambia, Lesotho, the Republic of Congo and South Sudan are to be closed.
The authorities of Republika Srpska, one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, commented on the possible closure of US consulates as part of the US economic strategy. The Chairman of the
Republika Srpska National Assembly Chairman Nenad Stevandic noted that this reflects a change in Washington’s political course.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Sarajevo said it had no information about plans to close consulates and was continuing to operate as usual.
Source: https://t.me/relocationrs/840
In 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia’s quarries extracted about 1.3 million cubic meters(1,288.43 thousand cubic meters) of non-metallic minerals (excluding underground water).
Production in 2024 exceeded the volume of 2023 by 1.9% (1264.29 thousand cubic meters), but did not reach the level of 2021 (1556.19 thousand cubic meters).
In 2024, production was recorded at 12 out of 19 open pits; as of April 2025, subsoil use is carried out by 13 production units. Due to the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, two mining assets of Ukrzaliznytsia from 2022 are located in the temporarily occupied territory (Khlebodarovskiy and Trudovskiy).
The largest volumes of extraction (more than 100 thousand cubic meters in solids each) were shown by Hlystunivskyi (Cherkasy region), Kryukivskyi (Poltava region), Znamenskyi (Kirovograd region), Penizyvitskyi (Zhytomyr region), Kamyanitskyi (Zakarpattya region), Tomashhorodskyi (Rivne region), Redutskyi quarries (Poltava region).
Hlystunovskiy quarry has been the leader in terms of the volume of mined material for all four years. This production unit extracted the most in 2023 – 275.26 thousand cubic meters, in 2024 production decreased to 213.45 thousand cubic meters. This quarry is also the leader in production and sales of crushed stone products (see below).
The largest increase in production in 2024 was shown by Penyzevitsky quarry (+146.6% compared to 2023).
Top 5 quarries of Ukrzaliznytsia by production volumes in 2024:
Kryukivskyi, Korolevskyi and Samchynetskyi quarries demonstrated stable upward dynamics of production in 2022-24.
The total volume of products (except water) produced by Ukrzaliznytsia JSC quarries in 2024 amounted to 3,376.45 thousand tons (+2.1% to 2023).
Top 5 quarries of Ukrzaliznytsia in terms of the volume of products produced in 2024:
The most rapid increase in production (against the background of low comparative base of 2023) was recorded at Bechovskiy (+422%) and Klesovskiy (+141%) quarries.
Total sales of products (except water) in 2024 amounted to 2,289.35 thousand tons (-10.7% vs. 2023).
Top 5 quarries of Ukrzaliznytsia by volume of sold products in 2024:
Heads
The PMU also reported the names of the heads of mining production units as of April 2025:
There is no data on the heads of Khlebodarivskyi and Trudivskyi quarries, which are located in the temporarily occupied territory.
The main production of the railroad quarries is crushed stone of 25-60 mm fraction for the needs of Ukrzaliznytsia.
Since February 2025. The PMU has been headed by Oleg Lapyuk, the former head of the Kryukiv and Tomashgorod quarries. His predecessor Vladimir Naumenko headed the branch in 2023-2025.
In 2020-2021, against the background of multimillion losses of mining divisions (-200 million UAH in 11 months of 2020), Ukrzaliznytsia announced its intention to put some quarries for privatization.
Ukrzaliznytsia is also a producer of bottled water.
Read more at: https://nadra.info/2025/04/ukrzaliznytsias-quarries-how-much-was-mined-produced-and-sold-in-2021-2024/
Moldovan parliamentary elections scheduled for September 28Moldovan parliamentary elections will be held on September 28, a decision to this effect was adopted at a parliamentary session on Thursday.
Moldova has a parliamentary form of government, under which the powers of the president are limited. Parliamentary elections are held every four years.
The last one was held on July 11, 2021. According to the legislation, the next elections must be held within 90 days after the four-year anniversary of the approval of the mandates of elected deputies. This means that the elections must be held between July 26 and October 26, 2025.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank released a video analysis dedicated to the most important elections in the world in 2025, for more details see here –
Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for €1, in 01.12.2024-31.12.2024)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
The market of steel structures for construction purposes in Ukraine grew by 15% to 91 thousand tons in 2024, according to a study by the Ukrainian Steel Construction Center (USCC) association.
According to a presentation on Thursday, the construction segment of Ukraine in 2024, according to Metinvest SMC, accounted for 24% of the structure of rolled steel consumption, which is equal to the figures for 2023, small consumers and retail trade – 32% (up 2% by 2023), machine building and mining – 14% (minus 1%), hardware industry – 11% (-1%), metalworking and profiling – 13% (+2%) and the pipe industry – 7% (-2%).
It is noted that the steel structures market in Ukraine continues to recover from the crisis caused by the war and economic challenges. The growth in consumption of steel structures is due to an increase in imports last year compared to 2023. Also, in the first half of last year, there was a positive trend due to the implementation of infrastructure projects.
Despite the positive trends, the steel structures market faces a number of challenges, such as electricity shortages at enterprises due to massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities, a shortage of skilled workers due to increased mobilization and outflow of labor, and logistical difficulties.
In 2025, the USCC experts forecast continued growth in steel consumption of 10-12% – up to 102 thousand tons by the end of the year, provided that the economy stabilizes and further financing of the country’s reconstruction is provided. At the same time, it is noted that the existing challenges require active support from the government and international partners to ensure the stable development of the industry in the future.
The main trends for 2025 are an increase in public procurement for infrastructure projects, the restoration of the energy sector, and the construction of logistics and industrial centers.
It is also reported that in 2024, according to Metipol, the growth in consumption of galvanized steel was 5.6%, but slowed down compared to 2023, when the market grew by 45.5%. However, it is clarified that last year, almost half of the galvanized steel (45.6%) was imported from Turkey, while Ukrainian producers provided only 35.4% of the consumed steel.
In 2024, the volume of apparent consumption of polymer-coated metal in Ukraine increased by 5.4% compared to 2023, to 292.2 thousand tons, which is 15% less than in 2021. Consumption growth has been recorded for the second year in a row, but last year it was much slower than in 2023, according to the study. Consumption of Ukrainian rolled products increased by 48% to 87.7 thousand tons in 2024. The volume of imported polymer-coated rolled products consumed in Ukraine decreased by 6.5% to 204.5 thousand tons, while exports increased by 39%.
The USCC is an association of steel market participants whose members include leading manufacturers and distributors of rolled steel, steel structures, roofing and facade systems, industry design and research organizations, installation and construction companies. Today it includes more than 60 specialized companies.
The number of housing starts in the United States in March fell by 11.4% compared to the previous month and amounted to 1.324 million in annualized terms, the country’s Commerce Department reported.
This is the maximum decline in the last year.
According to the revised data, in February the number of new buildings amounted to 1.494 million, not 1.501 million, as previously reported.
Analysts on average had forecast a 5.4% decline from the previously announced February level, to 1.42 million, according to Trading Economics.
The construction of single-family homes fell by 14.2% last month to 940 thousand. At the same time, the number of new apartment buildings (including apartments and condominiums), a more volatile segment of the market, remained unchanged at 371 thousand.
The number of permits for the construction of new homes in March increased by 1.6% to 1.482 million in terms of annualized rates. Experts expected an average of 1.45 million.
The number of building permits for single-family homes decreased by 2% to 978 thousand, while the number of apartment buildings jumped by 10.1% to 445 thousand.
The number of new buildings in the US last month was 1.9% higher than in March 2024.
