The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has granted a loan of up to EUR50 million to Nova Poshta LLC, part of the Nova Group, to finance part of its capital investment program for 2025-2026.
According to the bank’s press release on Friday, the loan will be multi-currency with the option of drawing funds in hryvnia and euros and will consist of two tranches: the first tranche of EUR35 million will be provided upon signing, and the second tranche of EUR15 million will be reserved by the bank at its sole discretion.
According to the release, Nova Poshta’s development strategy supported by the loan includes improving physical infrastructure, optimizing and expanding the network, modernizing IT systems, improving energy management and restoring human capital, as well as decarbonization and wider access for women.
The total cost of the project is EUR69.1 million, according to the announcement.
The EBRD financing is guaranteed by a first loss guarantee covering 15% of the EBRD loan amount provided by the European Union (EU) under the Ukraine Investment Framework for Municipal Infrastructure and Industrial Resilience (UIF MIIR).
An investment grant of up to EUR1.5 million is also expected to be provided to support decarbonization and human capital restoration programs supported by the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund and the Crisis Response Special Fund (CRSF).
According to the release, in 2024, Nova Poshta set a new record by delivering 429 million shipments, 16% more than in 2023, and the significant growth in demand, in turn, created a need for further expansion.
Nova Poshta is the main operating subsidiary of the Nova Group, which is owned by two Ukrainian businessmen, Vyacheslav Klimov and Volodymyr Poperechnyuk. It operates a network of over 39,000 service points and has around 33,000 employees in Ukraine, serving over 11 million customers every month.
The EBRD has been successfully cooperating with Nova Poshta since 2018, financing four of its projects during this time.
According to Nova Poshta’s financial report for the first quarter of 2025, its consolidated net income increased by 20.7% compared to the first quarter of last year, to UAH 14.3332 billion, while net profit decreased by 21.4%, to UAH 567.7 million. The ultimate beneficial owners of the company are Volodymyr Poperechnyuk and Vyacheslav Klimov.
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Italy, Andriy Sybiga and Antonio Tajani, signed a Declaration of Intent within the framework of the Tallinn Mechanism on the sidelines of the URC2025 Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports.
“The document confirms Italy’s continued support in strengthening Ukraine’s civilian cyber resilience and in facilitating the post-war recovery of our country. It also stipulates the intentions of the parties to deepen cooperation in the field of cybersecurity, digital transformation and the implementation of long-term initiatives and projects under the Tallinn Mechanism,” the telegram channel said.
It is noted that for this purpose, Italy has declared the allocation of 1 million euros to finance relevant projects.
In January-June this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased their consumption of rolled metal products by 11.65% year-on-year to 1 million 938.7 thousand tons.
According to a press release issued by Ukrmetallurgprom on Friday, 716.7 thousand tons, or 36.97% of the domestic rolled metal consumption market, were imported during this period.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in the first six months of 2025, steelmakers produced 3.070 million tonnes of rolled steel (97.8% compared to the same period in 2024), of which, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, about 1.848 million tonnes, or 60.2%, were exported. In January-June 2024, the share of exports amounted to 63.6% (1.996 million tons with a total production of 3.140 million tons of rolled metal products).
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries in January-June 2025 was 30.90%, which is significantly lower than in January-June 2024 (45.39%). The share of flat products in export deliveries in January-June 2025 is significantly higher than in January-June 2024 (46.81% and 41.73%, respectively). The share of long products is also significantly higher than in January-May 2024 (22.29% in 2025 vs. 12.88% in 2024).
The structure of imports in January-June 2025 is still characterized by a significant dominance of flat products over long products (77.31% and 20.96%, respectively); in January-June 2024, the dominance of flat products over long products was also significant (80.06% and 18.30%, respectively).
“In the first six months of 2025, the domestic market capacity amounted to 1938.7 thousand tons of rolled steel, of which 716.7 thousand tons, or 36.97%, were imported. In January-June 2024, the domestic market capacity was 1736.4 thousand tons, of which 592.4 thousand tons, or 34.12%, were imported. Thus, in January-June 2025, there was an 11.65% increase in the domestic market capacity compared to January-June 2024, with a simultaneous increase in the share of the import component by 2.85%,” the press release states.
According to the State Customs Service, the main export markets for Ukrainian rolled metal products in the first six months of 2025 are the European Union (83.1%), the rest of Europe (7.5%) and the CIS (6.7%).
In January-May 2025, the first place among metallurgical importers was taken by other European countries (57.4%), followed by the EU-27 (23.3%), and the third place by Asian countries (18.7%).
As reported, Ukraine’s rolled steel market in 2024 decreased by 6.26% year-on-year to 3 million 288.4 thousand tons, while in 2023 it increased 2.19 times compared to 2022 to 3 million 505.6 thousand tons.
Imports of tractors to Ukraine in January-June 2025 amounted to $421.05 million, which is slightly less than in the same period in 2024 ($425 million), according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the published statistics, tractors were mainly imported from the United States (18.9% of total imports of this equipment, or $79.7 million), China (17.5% or $73.8 million) and Germany (17.4% or $73.1 million), while a year ago it was Germany ($68.6 million), the Netherlands ($60.6 million) and China ($55.6 million).
In June of this year, imports of tractors increased by 21% compared to June 2024 to $63.6 million, which is also 3.6% more than the volume of imports in May of this year.
According to statistics, in January-June this year, tractors worth almost $3 million were exported, mainly to Romania (38%), Germany and Zambia.
As reported, imports of tractors to Ukraine in 2024 amounted to almost $784 million, which is 5.6% less than a year earlier, while exports amounted to $5.44 million against $5.74 million.
Brazil’s Ministry of Finance has raised its GDP growth forecast for 2025, but expects the economic upturn to slow down as a result of the country’s central bank’s tight monetary policy.
The GDP growth forecast for the current year has been raised to 2.5% from the 2.4% expected in May, and for 2026 it has been lowered to 2.4% from 2.5%.
The forecasts do not take into account the consequences of Washington’s introduction of 50% tariffs on all imports from Brazil, the Ministry of Finance notes. Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that these tariffs would take effect on August 1.
“The tariffs are unlikely to have a significant impact on GDP growth in 2025, although certain industries may suffer quite severely,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
In the first quarter of this year, Brazil’s GDP increased by 1.4% compared to the previous three months, the highest in three quarters. GDP growth in annual terms was 2.9%.
Earlier, the Experts Club information and analytical center made a video analysis of the prospects for the Ukrainian and global economies. For more details, see the video at https://youtu.be/kQsH3lUvMKo?si=F4IOLdLuVbYmEh5P
Bosnian investment group ASA Group has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Zito Backa flour mill in Kula, Serbia. This was stated in the company’s official press release published on Friday.
According to ASA Group, the deal makes its subsidiary ASA Trading a leader in Serbia’s grain sector in terms of grain trading volume, storage capacity, and processing capacity.
“This is a logical continuation of our expansion strategy in key sectors of the region. Zito Backa has more than a century of tradition, reliable quality, and infrastructure that matches our international ambitions,” said ASA Group CEO Eldin Hadzislimovic.
The company emphasized that it is building on its previous experience in asset integration, including the purchase of the Zitoprodukt mill in Bačka Palanka in 2018. According to ASA Group representatives, the new acquisition will complement the ecosystem in the consumer goods segment and strengthen the group’s export potential in Southeast Europe.
In addition to the grain sector, the holding company is actively developing projects in other industries, including date and vegetable oil production in Morocco and Turkey, as well as renewable energy in Bosnia and Herzegovina (solar power plants in Bosanski Petrovac).
Zito Backa is one of Serbia’s oldest flour milling companies. It was founded over 100 years ago. In 2013, the plant in Kula was modernized: capacity was increased to 220 tons of flour per day (in wheat equivalent) and a 50,000-ton grain storage facility was built. The company is known for its high-quality flour and stable supplies to domestic and export markets.
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