Ukrainian bakery chain Lviv Croissants is entering the Norwegian market, according to the chain’s Instagram page.
It is specified that the first outlet will open in Oslo (Arbeidersamfunnets Plass, 1) on November 16, 2025.
According to the company’s website, the brand entered the European market in September 2022.
Currently, the chain has 178 outlets throughout Ukraine, 11 in Poland, and one each in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In April 2025, the Lviv Croissants chain opened its first establishment in South Korea. Korean franchisees invested about $250,000 in the bakery, and the total investment in the opening was about $500,000.
Sales of new buses (excluding minibuses) in Ukraine in January-September this year increased by 20% compared to the same period in 2024, reaching 613 units, of which 91% were small buses, according to Mykyta Haidamaha, head of the Temsa project at Auto-Region.
“2025 was a year of quiet but important changes for the Ukrainian bus market. After two years of uncertainty and declining purchases by the private sector, the market is gradually recovering – not thanks to large contracts or foreign investment, but through local decisions, municipal tenders, and transport renewal programs for communities,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
He emphasized that school, municipal, and suburban transportation account for most of the demand and keep the market afloat, whereas five years ago, private carriers and travel companies were the main players.
In addition, businesses and private and state-owned enterprises use buses to transport personnel.
According to data provided by Haidamaha, domestic manufacturers were the leaders in the bus segment in January-September: Ataman from the Cherkasy Bus factory with 244 units, followed by ZAZ buses manufactured by the Zaporizhzhia Automobile Plant with 136 units, and in third place were Etalon buses manufactured by the Chernihiv Automobile Plant, with 120 units.
“This demand is facilitated by the school vehicle fleet renewal program, which continues even in wartime,” the expert noted.
At the same time, he noted unexpectedly active dynamics in the sales of large-class buses: in the first nine months of 2025, sales increased 2.7 times – to 37 units, or 6% of the market.
“Isuzu Citiport (20 units), Iveco Urbanway (5), and Troliga Pegasus (6) are reappearing on the roads, mostly in cities that are gradually upgrading their public transport,” said Haidamaka.
He added that the process is not yet large-scale, but it is indicative: city authorities are beginning to think of large buses not as a “luxury” but as an element of infrastructure. Technical requirements are also gradually changing—today, Euro6 diesel engines predominate, but electric solutions are being tested in parallel.
Another interesting factor, according to him, is passenger capacity: while the 16-25 seat segment remains the largest (68%), the 26-29 seat segment has become the most dynamic: its share has grown from 20% (25 units) in September 2024 to 35.8% (39 units) in September this year.
“Such buses are more convenient for suburban routes — more passengers without additional fuel costs, and carriers are looking for the right balance,” says Haidamaha.
Speaking about the presence of Turkish manufacturer Temsa’s buses on the market, he noted that seven buses of this brand were registered in Ukraine in nine months, compared to 15 last year, but the trend towards purchasing models with Euro6 engines continues, so there is a possibility that demand will grow.
Haidamaha also provided statistics on bus registrations by region – the most active is the Sumy region (65 units), followed by Kyiv (63), Lviv (53), and Mykolaiv (41) regions.
At the same time, the highest growth in registrations was in Rivne region (6.6 times), Ternopil region (5.5 times), Sumy region (2.8 times), and Lviv region (+71%).
“These are the regions where communities are most active in attracting state programs and grant funds. The capital, on the other hand, is the focus of imported supplies — more than 60% of Kyiv’s buses are of foreign origin,” he stressed.
Touching on the topic of electric buses, Haidamaka noted that only two electric buses were registered in the first nine months of 2025.
“They are already operating on routes. Ukrainian cities are only just forming the infrastructure for charging, and it is these isolated registrations that show the direction of movement towards the Green Deal,” Haidamaka believes.
In his opinion, 2026 will be a year of contrasts: school buses will remain a stable source of domestic demand, while city operators will gradually begin to transition to new environmentally friendly solutions — Euro6, hybrids, and electric.
Former Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko was a member of a criminal organization involved in large-scale money laundering, in particular at NAEK Energoatom, which was exposed as part of the NABU/SAP operation “Midas.” He was given the pseudonyms ‘Sigismund’ or “Professor,” according to SAPO prosecutor Serhiy Savitsky.
“All members of the criminal organization were aware of the risk of exposure, so pseudonyms were established for individuals for the purpose of conspiracy. For the Minister of Energy – ‘Sigismund’ or, in conversation with Mironyuk and Basov – ”Professor,“ for Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshov – Che Guevara,” Savitsky said while reading the Midas case materials in the High Anti-Corruption Court, which is currently deciding on a preventive measure for one of the defendants in the case, Igor Mironyuk.
In the NABU/SAPO investigation, he is referred to as a former advisor to the Minister of Energy.
Mironyuk himself called himself Galushchenko’s lawyer in court.
The SAPO prosecutor also noted that Timur Mindich, whom the PO participants called its leader, like Mikhail Zuckerman, had influence over Galushchenko and former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
The SAPO prosecutor is requesting that Myronyuk be taken into custody as a preventive measure due to the risk of him fleeing abroad.
As reported, one of the figures in the case, a member of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (NKREKU), left Ukraine last night. Sources from the Energorforma internet portal in the government claim that he had been approved for a business trip to Warsaw until the end of the week. We are awaiting a response to the official request from the NEURC.
Attacks on critical infrastructure during the Russia-Ukraine war are leaving civilians vulnerable ahead of winter, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regional director for Europe and Central Asia, Ariane Bauer, said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Light, heat, water. These services are vital for people to survive the cold months ahead. Yet their access to these life-saving services is limited or disappears with each blow that damages water pipelines, power plants and other critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure that makes vital services, including water and electricity, possible for the population is protected under international humanitarian law. All precautions should be taken to ensure the safety of both civilians and the vital services on which they depend,” it emphasized.
The statement noted that as winter approaches, strikes on critical infrastructure “increase the strain on systems that, after several years of Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict, are already operating at the limits of their capacity.”
Indonesia’s Finance Ministry is considering issuing its first yuan-denominated government bonds (panda bonds) in 2026, the Financial Times reported, citing two sources.
The interest in panda bonds comes as Beijing promotes the use of its currency in international trade and finance to increase global influence and reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar.
Earlier this year, Brazil, Pakistan and Slovenia announced plans to issue panda bonds.
“From the perspective of international issuers, it provides more opportunities, broadens the investor base in the long term and helps lower the cost of financing for the country,” said OCBC Asia macroeconomic research head Tommy Xie. – “People want to move away from the dollar and look at other markets.
Panda bonds have become increasingly popular since 2023, thanks to Beijing’s regulatory reforms and lower financing costs. In 2024, panda bond issuance reached a record 195 billion yuan ($27 billion), according to Wind. However, it still represents only a fraction of China’s debt market.
Panda bond issuance is expected to grow significantly in the coming years and will be an important factor in the globalization of the yuan, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in a report earlier this year.
Analysts also forecast the issuance of “dim sum” (bonds denominated in yuan but issued outside mainland China, mainly in Hong Kong) to rise to a record this year. Specifically, Indonesia issued its first such bonds worth 6 billion yuan in October and plans to continue issuing “dim sum” next year, sources told the FT.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), in September 2025, sales of real estate to foreigners in Turkey fell by 7.7% year-on-year to 1,867 properties. The share of transactions with foreigners in the total volume was 1.2%. Most purchases were made in Istanbul (744), followed by Antalya (557) and Mersin (124).
Among foreign buyers, Russians took first place with 267 properties, followed by Iranians with 202 and Iraqis with 146. The top five also included citizens of Germany with 121 and Ukraine with 118. In January-September, foreigners purchased 14,944 properties, which is 12.6% less than a year earlier.
A total of 150,657 residential units were sold on the Turkish market in September, which is 6.9% more than in September 2024.
