July 11 | Kyiv
Every day, agribusiness is adapting to a new reality – reduced budgets, information overload, unstable logistics. And it is marketing, PR and content that are becoming tools for survival and growth.
That’s why we’re bringing together the best of the best for COMMBINE 2025:
a conference for marketers, communicators, brand owners, creators and everyone who promotes agriculture in the conditions of “permanent turbulence”.
The program includes:
25+ speakers – about TikTok, branding, PR, and fakaps
200+ participants – marketers, farmers, bloggers
1000+ ideas for advertising, field events, and content
12 hours of live networking and agri-brainstorming
COMMBINE 2025 is a field where ideas germinate.
Details and registration: commbine.fun
COMMBINE 2025: the main agromarketing event of the year – already on July 11 in Kyiv!
The agricultural sector continues to adapt to the new reality: reduced budgets, unstable logistics, dynamic markets, and information overload. In this situation, agromarketers, communicators, creatives, and PR specialists are coming up with new ways to turn challenges into opportunities every day.
That is why Aggeek Agency and Agro Marketing Agency are gathering leading market players for the agromarketing conference COMMODITY 2025, which will be held on July 11 in Kyiv.
COMMBINE 2025 is a field where ideas germinate, tools are tested, strategies are developed, and a community is formed that is able to lead agribusiness forward – even in turbulent times. Here people speak frankly, share their experience, joke about the budget and… make money.
The program:
25+ speakers – agro-evangelists of content, brands, reputation, and data
200+ participants – marketers, farmers, owners, media professionals, bloggers
1000+ ideas for promotional campaigns, branding, SMM and field events
12 hours of networking, coffee, craft thinking and joint agri-brainstorming
Key topics:
Agromarketing in conditions of permanent instability
How to talk to a farmer so that he can hear
TikTok, YouTube, Insta – which platforms work in the field
Agribranding: where to start and how to keep the style
Content plans and creativity in the season “without a budget”
PR without illusions: reputation in agriculture is not born in a day
Anti-cases and facts that are not written about on LinkedIn
COMMBINE 2025 is for those who:
promotes an agribusiness, product or brand
builds communication within an agricultural company
creates content, manages pages, organizes events
looking for inspiration, new approaches and useful contacts
Don’t miss it! If you want to harvest more than just a crop, you are welcome at KOMMBINE 2025.
Date: July 11, 2025
Location: Kyiv
Details and registration: https://commbine.fun/
Aggeek Agency, AGRIBUSINESS, Agro Marketing Agency, COMMBINE 2025
The introduction of new exams in Ukrainian and foreign languages for postgraduate students by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine violates their rights and will be appealed in court, states Roman Serhiyenko, a postgraduate student and the head of the charitable organization “Charitable Foundation ‘Let’s Change Our Lives’.”
“Postgraduate students have been working for more than a year to defend their legal and constitutional rights. Because last year’s initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, which aimed to introduce additional control measures for postgraduate students who are already studying, poses a rather threatening character for science in Ukraine and is aimed at violating the law and the constitutional rights of Ukrainian citizens, the constitutional rights of scholars, particularly those rights which cannot be restricted during the legal regime of martial law,” said Serhiyenko during a press conference on the topic “The issue of expediency and legality of the initiatives of the government and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine regarding postgraduate students.”
According to him, this is already the third attempt by postgraduate students to defend their rights, with the first two having been rejected. “What is the essence of the problem? It lies in the fact that this unified state exam, which the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine wants to introduce for postgraduate students who have completed their second year of study… in Ukrainian and foreign languages, although this type of control is not stipulated by any educational programs or documents,” noted the postgraduate student.
Serhiyenko emphasizes that the introduction of an additional control measure in such a form violates the constitutional and legal rights of postgraduate students, as well as the laws of Ukraine “On Education” and “On Higher Education.” Furthermore, the possibility of introducing control in the form of a unified state exam in Ukrainian and foreign languages is not stipulated by the National Qualifications Framework, as it is merely a description that does not provide for the implementation of additional control measures.
“Therefore, we were forced this year to file a lawsuit in court to annul the resolution adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in order to protect the rights of postgraduate students,” he said.
Lawyer and senior partner of the law firm “Kravets and Partners,” Rostyslav Kravets, declared that there is “systematic activity by the Ministry of Education aimed at destroying science and education in Ukraine.”
“Today, we have a very strange situation with the Ministry of Education and Science, where the minister himself declares that education is used solely for the purpose, as I understand it, not of gaining knowledge, achievements, developing science, or progress in Ukraine, but exclusively for avoiding military service. Moreover, this is done quite provocatively and openly,” said Kravets during the press conference.
Since these initiatives of the Ministry of Education are, in fact, not aimed at developing science in Ukraine and entail the violation of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, it was decided to challenge these actions in court and to ask the court to recognize as illegal and invalid the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 8, 2025, No. 426, in the part of the changes that are aimed at violating the rights and freedoms of postgraduate students, it was noted during the press conference.
Also, in parliament, signatures are being collected among members of parliament under a collective appeal to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.
Source: Interfax-Ukraine
Ministry of Education of Ukraine, Postgraduate students, Rostislav Kravets, Роман Сергиенко
The independent rating agency Credit-Rating has announced that the long-term credit rating of JSC OTP BANK has been affirmed at uaAAA, with a stable outlook.
As explained by the agency, this means that OTP Bank has the highest creditworthiness compared to other Ukrainian borrowers or debt instruments. The stable outlook indicates that there are currently no prerequisites for changing the rating during the year.
At the end of 2023, Credit-Rating upgraded OTP Bank’s rating to uaAAA with an “evolving” outlook. Last summer, the outlook was changed to stable and remains so today.
Earlier, the credit rating agency S&P Global upgraded the rating for OTP Bank (Hungary) from BBB-/A-3 to BBB/A-2. This level is higher than the sovereign credit rating of Hungary.
OTP Group is the 4th most stress-resilient banking group in Europe based on the European Banking Stress Test 2023 conducted by the European Banking Authority. OTP Group is also at the top of the Top 100 Banks in Central and Eastern Europe for 2023 and 2024.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to provide a loan of up to EUR 50 million to Nova Poshta LLC of the Nova Group of Companies (GC) to finance part of its capital investment program for 2025-2026, with a focus on improving operational efficiency and supporting the company’s development strategy in Ukraine during the war.
“… includes improving physical infrastructure, optimizing and expanding the network, modernizing IT systems, improving energy management, and restoring human capital,” the bank lists the elements of Nova Poshta’s development strategy on its website.
It is noted that the loan will be multi-currency with the possibility of selecting funds in hryvnia and euros and will consist of two tranches: tranche 1 in the amount of EUR 35 million will be reserved from the moment of signing, tranche 2 in the amount of EUR 15 million will be reserved by the bank solely at its discretion.
The total cost of the project, according to the report, is EUR 69.1 million.
The EBRD reminds that Nova Poshta is the leading private postal and courier operator in Ukraine, with a network of more than 12,000 branches and 27,000 post offices and about 34,000 employees. Every month, the company provides services to more than 11 million customers in Ukraine.
This project, which has passed the final review stage and is awaiting approval, possibly in June, is the fifth in the history of relations between Nova Group and the EBRD.
It is noted that under the existing loan, in May 2025, the company informed the bank of a planned reduction of about 2,900 employees, which is less than 10% of the total number. The EBRD emphasizes that the analysis of this reduction process confirmed that the client complies with the terms of such collective dismissals stipulated in the loan agreement, provided a detailed description of the reduction process, has an effective grievance system and responds appropriately to them without any litigation, and has an effective process of interaction with the trade union, which is informed about the large-scale restructuring plan that will affect employees throughout 2025.
As reported, last August, the EBRD provided a EUR 70 million loan to Nova Group to finance its investment program for 2024.
According to Nova Poshta’s financial report for the first quarter of 2025, its net consolidated revenue increased by 20.7% compared to the first quarter of last year to UAH 14 billion 333.2 million, while net profit decreased by 21.4% to UAH 567.7 million. The ultimate beneficial owners of the company are Volodymyr Popereshnyuk and Viacheslav Klymov.
As noted by the Standard Rating agency, as of the beginning of April this year, with total accounts payable of UAH 13.51 billion, Nova Poshta used, in addition to long-term bank loans, resources raised from the issue of two series of bonds – E and F series of UAH 1 billion each.
The barley market in Ukraine shows the potential for growth, and there is tension in the market due to limited supply, according to the analytical cooperative “Pusk”, created within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council (AAC).
The analysts noted that as of June 23, 2025, barley exports amounted to more than 6 thsd tonnes.
“This is the expected consequence of the low level of stocks at the end of the season. The volume for export is currently limited, which restrains the activity on the foreign markets,” the experts said.
They reminded that the harvesting campaign started in the south of Ukraine, where the yields on the first fields were low and ranged from 1.15-2.5 t/ha.
“Taking into account the weather challenges that have accompanied winter crops since February, the current yields look quite predictable. The average yield of barley in Ukraine is likely to be around 3 t/ha,” the analysts predict.
They stated that the activity on the domestic market is growing, in particular due to the approach of the first shipments in ports. However, supply from producers remains restrained, which creates a shortage in the spot market. This leads to an expected increase in crop prices.
“As of the end of June, the seasonal model shows conditional barley prices in the range of $196-200 per ton, while producers are focused on $200-205. Given the limited supply, this is a very realistic prospect for the coming weeks,” Pusk summarized.
Revenues from the tourist tax to local budgets in January-May 2025 reached UAH 132 million, while in the same period in 2024 it amounted to UAH 98.6 million, the State Tax Service (STS) reports.
“Kyiv is the most attractive city for tourists. 25% of the paid tourist tax falls on the capital (UAH 33 million),” the service said in a statement on its website on Thursday.
Lviv (UAH 24.7 million), Ivano-Frankivsk (UAH 21.2 million) and Zakarpattia region (UAH 10.5 million) also became leaders in the period under review.
The State Tax Service reminded that the tourist tax is paid to tax agents by citizens of Ukraine, foreigners and stateless persons in advance before temporary accommodation in places of residence. In turn, tax agents (i.e., business entities that provide temporary accommodation services in places of residence/overnight stay: hotels, hostels, rest homes, etc.) transfer it to the local budget.
It is emphasized that the list of tax agents collecting the tourist tax is published on the websites of local councils.
The Service also emphasized that the tax rate is set by local councils independently for each day of stay. It is up to 0.5% of the minimum wage for Ukrainian citizens and up to 5% for foreigners.
Source: https://tax.gov.ua/media-tsentr/novini/909659.html
