JSC OTP BANK is on the second place in several July ratings of the Settlement Center for servicing contracts in the financial markets. In particular, in the overall rating of clearing members, among clearing members in the securities market and among clearing members in the repo and foreign exchange swap markets, OTP Bank is the second. This information is published on the website of the Settlement Center. OTP Bank is a leader among banking institutions with foreign capital, and it is also ahead of several state-owned banks.
“In the first seven months of 2025, our individual clients purchased government bonds for a total amount of UAH 7.7 billion in equivalent. Up to 99% of all transactions are conducted in the banking application,” said Valeria Ovcharuk, product owner of OTP BANK.
She reminded that thanks to the OTP Bank UA application, you can invest in government bonds directly at auctions of the Ministry of Finance or buy bonds from the Bank’s portfolio 24/7, from anywhere in the world. “Among our clients, 48% go to auctions on their own, while the rest prefer to buy from the portfolio. There is a large selection, and customers can compare rates, maturities, and interest payment options as if in an online store,” said Ovcharuk.
To learn more about investing in domestic government bonds through the OTP Bank UA app, please follow the link.
The consolidated financial result of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) for January-June 2025 amounted to UAH 51.2 billion, which is 2.4 times less than in the same period of 2024, according to the central bank’s report on its website on Wednesday.
According to the report, the National Bank ended the second quarter of this year with a financial result of UAH 36.4 billion, which is 43.6% less than the financial result of the second quarter of last year.
This decrease in profit is explained by the decline in the result from operations with financial assets and liabilities in foreign currency and monetary gold: in the first half of this year, they amounted to UAH 17.1 billion, compared to UAH 95.7 billion in the first half of last year, including UAH 21.0 billion in the second quarter, compared to UAH 49.7 billion.
“The largest impact on the amount of profit was made by the results of transactions with financial instruments in the amount of UAH 25.6 billion, consisting of recognized interest income on non-resident securities and changes in the fair value of financial instruments and the official exchange rate,” the NBU noted.
At the same time, the central bank emphasized that the consolidated profit reflected in the National Bank’s financial statements is not part of the distributable profit to be transferred to the state budget, which will be determined based on the results of the entire 2025 and published in the spring of 2026. In April and May 2025, the National Bank transferred UAH 84.2 billion to the state budget based on the results of 2024.
The central bank also reported that at the end of the first half of the year, its assets increased by 3% to UAH 2,791 billion. The main changes were due to changes in foreign currency-denominated assets, namely: a 54% increase in SDR assets to UAH 71.8 billion; a 10% increase in foreign currency and bank metal funds and deposits to UAH 534 billion.
As the NBU noted, the volume of international reserves it managed in accordance with its mandate increased by 3% to $45.1 billion at the end of the first half of 2025.
The National Bank’s liabilities at the end of the first half of 2025 amounted to UAH 2,171 billion, which is 1.8% more than at the beginning of the year.
Among other things, the volume of funds of state and other institutions increased by 35% to UAH 375.2 billion; at the same time, the volume of liabilities on loans received from the IMF decreased by 34% to UAH 34.8 billion.
According to the report, as of mid-year, hryvnia funds of budgets and budgetary institutions in NBU accounts amounted to UAH 50.5 billion (UAH 101.4 billion at the beginning of the year), while foreign currency funds amounted to UAH 320.9 billion (UAH 171.9 billion).
In the first half of this year, the National Bank reduced its expenses on deposit certificates by 7.6% to UAH 39.9 billion, although in the second quarter they increased by 6.6% to UAH 21.7 billion.
“The 9% increase in the National Bank’s equity capital in the first half of 2025, from UAH 567 billion to UAH 619 billion, was mainly due to the accumulation of profits in the current year,” the National Bank emphasized.
The final amount of the National Bank’s distributable profit to be transferred by the National Bank to the state budget in 2026 will depend on the actual macroeconomic indicators in 2025 and will be determined after confirmation by an external audit and approval by the National Bank Council of the NBU’s annual financial statements for 2025.
According to the report, personnel expenses in the first half of this year increased by 28.8% to UAH 2.28 billion.
PrJSC Carlsberg Ukraine, a producer of beer, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, increased its production by 8% in 2024, which allowed it to increase its net income from sales by 15.5%.
According to a report in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), Carlsberg Ukraine PJSC’s net financial result for 2024 increased by 19.38% and amounted to UAH 2.2 billion.
“The increase was due to revenue from the sale of all types of products, but mainly from the sale of non-alcoholic beverages (+49.6%) and cider (+33.6%),” the company explained, adding that 96.3% of the products manufactured were sold in Ukraine, with the remaining 3.7% exported.
PrJSC Carlsberg Ukraine continued its operations throughout 2024 and exported its products directly from Ukraine to more than 20 countries around the world. At the same time, the company used 100% Ukrainian barley to manufacture its products in order to support local farmers and the Ukrainian economy.
Currently, beer accounts for 86% of Carlsberg Ukraine’s production, cider for 1%, and non-alcoholic beverages for 13%.
According to the company, as a result of modernization and the launch of new lines, by the end of 2024, its market share by segment within the framework of innovations was as follows: alcoholic beer – 30%, non-alcoholic beer – 42.7%, kvass – 35%, cider – 55.8%, energy drinks – 6%.
PJSC Carlsberg Ukraine referred to data from the industry association Ukrpivo, according to which the company currently holds 33.3% of the market in the “alcoholic beer” category. The sales leaders in the group’s portfolio for 2024 were products under the Lvivske, S&R’s Garage, and Tuborg brands.
Somersby cider and Kvas Taras continue to occupy leading positions in their product categories.
According to the State Fiscal Service, Carlsberg Ukraine PJSC was included in the list of Ukraine’s largest taxpayers in 2024 and paid UAH 3.401 billion to the country’s budgets at all levels in the form of taxes and fees.
The company’s management emphasized that there is only one significant factor of uncertainty that could raise significant doubts about the company’s ability to continue its operations without interruption: a further significant escalation of military action, which could destabilize operations in Ukraine. In such a case, the Ukrainian representative office relies on the parent company having sufficient resources to continue its operations. At the same time, the Ukrainian division has promised to make every effort and take all possible measures to minimize any negative consequences.
According to data from Opendatabot, in 2024, Carlsberg Ukraine PJSC increased its revenue by 15.5% to UAH 12.488 billion, net profit by 19.4% to UAH 2.18 billion, debt obligations by 34.9% to UAH 5.11 billion, and assets by 33.1% to UAH 13.84 billion. The company currently employs 1,310 people.
Carlsberg Ukraine is part of the Carlsberg Group, one of the world’s leading brewery groups with a large portfolio of beer and other beverage brands. Carlsberg Ukraine includes factories in Zaporizhia, Kyiv, and Lviv. Carlsberg’s portfolio in Ukraine includes beer, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages of such brands as Lvivske, Robert Doms, Baltika, Carlsberg, Tuborg, Kronenbourg 1664, Arsenal, Kvas Taras, Somersby, etc.
In July 2025, Express Insurance settled insurance claims under CASCO contracts in Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, France, and the Czech Republic.
According to the company’s website, the total amount of payments reached UAH 1.883 million.
It should be noted that in most cases, these were traffic accidents or damage caused by unlawful actions of third parties.
For example, a nighttime encounter with a wild moose while traveling between settlements in Poland resulted in damage to the hood, front bumper, right front door, mirror, windshield, and other elements of the front of the car. The company paid out UAH 1.1 million.
In addition, the company paid UAH 271,800 for damage to the windshields of customers traveling on the roads of Spain, Italy, Germany, and Poland caused by stones flying out from under the wheels of other cars.
While driving out of one of the streets in the old part of Barcelona, a customer accidentally hit a fence and a curb, damaging the front bumper, right rear fender, and plastic trim under the right sill. The CASCO payment amounted to over UAH 40,000.
Express Insurance was founded in 2008. It is part of the UkrAVTO group of companies. It specializes in car insurance. The consistently high speed of settlement of claims at the insurance company is ensured by optimal interaction with partner service stations.
Ukrainian sugar factories are capable of producing 2.2 million tons of sugar, but processors are currently unable to sell all their products, so they are maintaining production at 1.2-1.3 million tons. However, this can only happen if domestic consumption returns to pre-war levels and new export markets open up, said Yana Kavushevska, head of the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine “Ukrtsukor.”
“If we have 30 factories that can produce sugar, probably 2.2 million, if we had markets where we could sell this sugar steadily and with some profit that satisfies producers, that would be quite good. This is what we can optimally grow and process. The optimal capacity of existing sugar factories is 2.2 million tons,” she said on Ukrainian Radio.
She noted that the main problem for sugar producers now is export markets, as the domestic market will not be able to absorb the entire volume of production.
“We really hope that the domestic market will recover to at least its pre-war level by 2022. That would be 1.2-1.3 million tons,” Kaushevska said.
The expert clarified that before the full-scale invasion, even after the loss of part of the territories in Donetsk, Luhansk regions, and Crimea, domestic sugar consumption in Ukraine amounted to 1.2-1.3 million tons. However, after the start of the full-scale invasion, domestic consumption fell to 900,000 tons. Thanks to the opening of the European market during the autonomous trade measures (2022-2024 – IF-U), sugar producers were able to supply 300,000 tons to Europe.
“We now have restrictions (on sugar supplies to the EU – IF-U), and accordingly, we need to decide where to send these 300,000 tons,” she said.
The head of Ukrtsukor stated that in 2025, Ukrainian farmers reduced the area under sugar beet cultivation to 220,000 hectares, which is 15.4% less than last year’s figures.
According to her, Ukrainian processors were very disappointed with the quotas for sugar supplies to the European Union, which were announced in the spring of 2025 and were planned at 67,000 tons. Currently, this volume has been increased to 107,000 tons of sugar, but in previous years, deliveries to the EU reached 473,000 tons.
The head of the industry association recalled that in 2024, the sugar industry showed record export figures – over 740,000 tons, thanks to which Ukraine received over $420 million.
Three Ukrainian citizens have been detained in Croatia on suspicion of participating in an organized international fraud scheme; they were arrested in Dubrovnik on August 8 while attempting to obtain €1.3 million in cash from the victim, according to the Croatian anti-corruption agency USKOK. According to the investigation, they had previously managed to get their hands on more than €800,000.
The investigation believes that the group operated not only in Croatia, but also in Spain, Poland, and the UK, posing as representatives of financial institutions and offering to “return” funds lost in online trading in exchange for large commissions and deposits.
USKOK has opened a formal investigation; those detained are charged with attempted multi-million dollar fraud and participation in a criminal organization. The names of the suspects have not been disclosed, their procedural status is “under investigation,” and the presumption of innocence applies.
Source: Serbian Economist.
