The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Bribery has invited Ukraine to join the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and become a full member of the relevant Working Group.
According to Serhiy Ionushas, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chair of the parliamentary committee on law enforcement, the basis for this process was bill No. 11443, which was prepared by the committee and adopted by the Verkhovna Rada.
“Cooperation between Ukraine and the OECD is important for our country, because accession to the Convention will allow us to expand international cooperation in the investigation of corruption offences. In addition, it will strengthen Ukraine’s reputation as a reliable partner and at the same time contribute to attracting investment to our country. It is noteworthy that our partners have noted Ukraine’s significant progress in the fight against corruption and the implementation of the necessary anti-corruption mechanisms,” the politician said.
According to him, this was made possible, in particular, thanks to the coordinated work of the committee members with representatives of the working group under the President of Ukraine, led by the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, during the drafting of bill No. 11443.
“We have made serious efforts to ensure that Ukraine becomes a full member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Working Group on Bribery. And now the Committee continues to work in this direction, introducing international standards into domestic legislation,” Ionushas emphasized.
A total of 38 leading economies are members of the OECD. The organization already provides Ukraine with expert support and analytics.
As reported, on December 4, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of bill No. 11443 on improving mechanisms for holding legal entities accountable for bribing foreign officials. As noted in the explanatory note to the document, the law ensures Ukraine’s fulfillment of its obligations to implement the OECD Council’s recommendation on further combating bribery of foreign officials in international business transactions and introducing an effective mechanism for holding legal entities accountable, which will comply with the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials in International Business Transactions.
In particular, the bill provides for the possibility of applying special confiscation on the basis of a court decision to apply criminal law measures to a legal entity. According to the draft law, additional (non-financial) criminal law measures may be applied to a legal entity in the form of a temporary restriction on the activities of the legal entity or a temporary restriction on the acquisition of rights and/or benefits.
The draft law also provides for an increase in the amount of fines imposed on legal entities as the main criminal law measure.
The Tourist Organization of Tivat recorded an increase in tourist traffic over the first nine months of 2025, the organization said at a press conference. According to TOT, 125,000 tourist arrivals were registered in Tivat over eight months, which is 4% more than in the same period of 2024. The total number of overnight stays reached 1.05 million, reports the Telegram channel “Serbian Economist.”
The most numerous guests were tourists from Serbia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Germany, and Israel, with a noticeable increase in the number of travelers from the United States, said TOT director Nina Lakičević.
According to TOT surveys, most tourists in Tivat are high-income visitors. Around 60% of visitors had returned to Tivat more than twice, while for one third of tourists it was their first visit, but the majority plan to come again.
The tourism sector remains a key driver of Montenegro’s economy, accounting for around 25% of the country’s GDP. In 2025 there has been recovery and growth after the difficult years of 2020–2021, with a gradual shift of focus from mass tourism to sustainable and high-end tourism.
According to Monstat and the Ministry of Tourism, Montenegro received more than 2.4 million tourists in January–September 2025, which is 6% more than a year earlier. The country is seeing growing investment in high-class hotels, yachting and gastronomic tourism (including projects in Porto Montenegro, Luštica Bay, and Budva).
Experts note that further growth will depend on modernization of infrastructure, transport accessibility, development of regional airports, and eco-certification of accommodation facilities.
Source – https://t.me/relocationrs
As of October 24, farmers harvested 37.560 million tons of grain and legumes from 8.400 million hectares, which is 73% of the area sown with these crops, according to the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture on its website.
Last year, on the same date, 45.1 million tons of grain were harvested from 9.7 million hectares, meaning that this year’s figures are 16.7% and 13.4% lower, respectively, mainly due to the later start of the corn harvest.
As noted by the Ministry of Economy, 7.71 million tons of corn have been harvested from 1.31 million hectares, while last year at approximately the same date, 15.4 million tons were harvested from 2.7 million hectares.
As for wheat, its harvest is slightly higher than last year’s – 22.80 million tons from 5.05 million hectares compared to 22.30 million tons from 4.9 million hectares, while barley is slightly lower – 5.37 million tons from 1.35 million hectares compared to 5.50 million tons from 1.41 million hectares.
This year’s pea harvest is significantly higher – 662,300 tons from 271,500 hectares compared to 465,300 tons from 212,200 hectares last year, while buckwheat and millet are still significantly lower – 83,300 tons versus 126,900 tons and 61,500 tons versus 159,500 tons, respectively.
The harvest of other cereals and legumes this year reached 876,700 tons from 317,600 hectares as of October 24, while last year it amounted to 1.1 million tons on the same date.
It is noted that among the leaders are, in particular, the Odesa region – 3.80 million tons from an area of 1.14 million hectares, Poltava – 2.86 million tons from 603.3 thousand hectares, Khmelnytskyi region – 2.55 million tons from 365,200 hectares, and Chernihiv region – 2.52 million tons from 407,700 hectares.
The harvest of wheat, barley, and peas has been completed, according to the Ministry of Economy.
As for oilseeds, the rapeseed harvest has already been completed, and it turned out to be only slightly less than last year’s – 3.32 million tons against 3.5 million tons from almost equal areas of about 1.3 million hectares.
However, the harvest of soybeans and sunflowers is still ongoing, and there is a significant lag: 3.50 million tons of soybeans have been harvested from 1.52 million hectares, compared to 5.6 million tons from 2.5 million hectares on the same date last year, while sunflower seeds – 7.84 million tons from 4.24 million hectares compared to 9.5 million tons from 4.6 million hectares.
In addition, sugar beet harvesting is also lagging behind: 5.64 million tons have been harvested from an area of 108,100 hectares, compared to 8.3 million tons from 170,600 hectares on the same date last year.
According to the Ministry of Economy, sunflowers have been harvested from 82% of the sown area, soybeans from 70%, and sugar beets from 55%.
In its Inflation Report published at the end of July, the National Bank of Ukraine lowered its forecast for this year’s grain harvest from 61.7 million tons to 57.9 million tons, and for oilseeds from 22 million tons to 21 million tons.
The NBU recalled that last year, the grain harvest in Ukraine fell to 56.2 million tons from 59.8 million tons in 2023, while oilseeds fell from 21.7 million tons to 20 million tons.
According to forecasts by Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Vysotsky, this year’s grain harvest will be around 56 million tons, the same as last year.
Export changes in % to previous period in 2024-2025
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
JSC Ukrenergomashiny, more than 75.22% of whose shares are owned by the state, has planned capital investments of UAH 125 million for the current year, in particular for the organization and costs of relocating part of its production facilities to the Zakarpattia region, according to the company’s interim financial report for the first half of 2025.
“The total volume of planned capital investments for 2025 is UAH 125 million, including the organization of events and expenses for the relocation of part of the production facilities to the Zakarpattia region, which are planned to be covered by funds from the budget reserve fund in accordance with the relevant resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers,” the published report states.
As reported, in April 2024, the company announced without details its decision to establish branches in the western regions of Ukraine: Lviv, Zakarpattia, and Chernivtsi. However, the press service clarified at the time that the company would remain in Kharkiv, and the branches would be created to speed up the production of electric traction equipment and logistics processes in order to quickly deliver equipment under export contracts.
According to the financial report for the first half of this year, in 2025, the largest investments are planned for the development of existing production facilities, in particular, the purchase of new equipment, overhaul, and modernization of existing equipment. In particular, UAH 38.4 million is planned to be allocated to provide production with the necessary organizational and technical equipment and tools, and UAH 7.4 million to develop auxiliary production and a laboratory and experimental base.
“These measures are partially financed from our own funds and from funds attracted from the budget reserve fund,” the company said.
Ukrenergomashini reports that in the second quarter of this year, UAH 1.76 million was spent, including UAH 675,000 on the purchase of new equipment.
At the same time, it is emphasized that in order to preserve the production capacities of a strategic enterprise that is of particular importance for Ukraine’s energy sector, work is underway to relocate part of the equipment to western regions.
JSC Ukrenergomashyny reminds that it is one of the largest enterprises in the world and the only designer and manufacturer in Ukraine of a wide range of equipment for the energy sector, but during the war, it has mastered the production of a wide range of other special products, in particular, for urban transport (customer: Tatra-YUG LLC), an electric motor has been designed and launched into serial production. A number of products have also been mastered for Friendly Wind Technologies LLC.
In addition, the design of an automatic reversing switch and switch for trams and trolleybuses is being completed, a control unit for diesel locomotives has been developed, and the production of traction units has been established.
As reported, the company ended January-June of this year with a net profit of UAH 0.49 million, while for the same period last year it was UAH 20.81 million, with a slight decrease in net income to UAH 468.85 million.
According to the report, sales in the second quarter amounted to UAH 243.55 million, of which UAH 132.255 million were export deliveries (54.3% of sales), with products exported to Kazakhstan, India, Armenia, Bulgaria, and Hungary.
The main customers (more than 5% of total revenue) include Ukrhydroenergo, NAEK Energoatom, Centrenergo, Mykolaiv Locomotive Repair Plant, Kryukiv Railway Car Building Works, DTRZ, Tatra-Yug, as well as Kozloduy NPP (Bulgaria), Paks NPP (Hungary), AAEK (Armenia), and KBI Energy (Kazakhstan).
At the same time, the value of concluded but not yet executed agreements (contracts) as of the end of the second quarter of 2025 exceeds UAH 8 billion, and the total amount of payments remaining to be paid under these contracts is UAH 2.86 billion.
Ukrenergomashyny JSC names foreign companies Andritz (Austria), Voith (Germany), General Electric (USA), and Bharat Heavy Electric Ltd. (India) as its main competitors and assesses competition in the markets as high.
JSC Ukrenergomashiny is the only manufacturer of turbine equipment for hydro, thermal, and nuclear power plants in Ukraine. It also produces electric motors for rail and urban transport.
As of July 1, 2025, the company employed nearly 2,600 people.
The second-largest Ukrainian mobile operator, VF Ukraine (Vodafone Ukraine, VFU), which redeemed its own Eurobonds worth almost $7 million at the end of May in connection with the payment of dividends, has announced for the sixth time an increase in the redemption price at the fourth such tender – to 98% of par value from 96% two weeks earlier, 95% four weeks earlier, and 85% in the initial offer on August 13.
As stated in the company’s announcement on the Irish Stock Exchange, the maximum redemption amount has been increased by $2.9 million to $9.691 million.
The deadline for accepting applications has been extended from October 23 to November 6, and settlements are now planned for approximately November 13.
In the first two tenders, Vodafone Ukraine repurchased bonds worth EUR1 million. The debut repurchase was announced at 99% of par value, and the second at 90% of par value. The company did not announce the results of the second buyback on the stock exchange, while the scaling factor for the first buyback was 0.0040355668.
According to the results of the third tender, where the redemption price was reduced to 85% of the nominal value and the offer was limited to $4.67 million, Vodafone Ukraine received bids for $53.395 million and satisfied them in the amount of $5.208 million. The scaling factor was 0.1315451889487317.
Bonds maturing in February 2027 with a nominal interest rate of 9.625% per annum were issued for $300 million. After the cancellation of the redeemed bonds, the total nominal value of the bonds remaining in circulation is $292.532 million.
The redemption of Eurobonds is related to the fact that on April 24, 2025, VFU announced the payment of dividends to its shareholder in the amount of UAH 660.245 million ($15.9 million at the exchange rate specified in the announcement) for 2024. According to the restrictions of the National Bank, they will be paid in separate monthly dividend payments. Each such monthly dividend is expected to amount to UAH 1 million. The company emphasized that under the terms of the bond issue, in this case, it must offer all bondholders to submit an application for their sale for an amount equal to the amount of dividends paid outside Ukraine. Since then, six monthly dividend payments have been made, each equivalent to approximately EUR 1 million.
As reported, VFU reduced its net profit by 13% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, to UAH 1.705 billion, while its revenue grew by 15%, to UAH 13.518 billion.
