Karol Nawrocki, candidate from the Law and Justice party, has won the second round of the presidential election in Poland, according to Gazeta Wyborcza.
According to the Polish National Electoral Commission, after 100% of the votes were counted, he received 50.89%.
It is noted that his opponent, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, received 49.1% of the vote.
A week before the election, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called presidential candidate Nawrocki’s statement that Poland would never support Ukraine’s accession to NATO treason.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank released a video analysis dedicated to the most important elections in the world in 2025. For more details, see here — https://youtu.be/u1NMbFCCRx0?si=6L76qeuNamxg6py1
ECONOMY, EXPERTS_CLUB, Karol Navrotsky, POLITICS, PRESIDENT OF POLAND, URAKIN
The Concorde Capital investment group plans to invest EUR120 million in energy projects by the end of this year and expects to build an energy company worth more than $1 billion in “a couple of years,” according to founder and owner Igor Mazepa.
“By the end of the year, we will invest EUR120 million. The market is a ‘blue ocean’ with no competition, so it’s just a matter of getting started. The IRR in this case is 35%, which means a return on investment in 2.5-3 years,” Mazepa said at the Forbes Money forum in Kyiv.
According to him, the market expects gas prices to rise and electricity prices to fall, but with a projected payback period of 2-3 years, investors will already feel more confident.
Mazepa noted that he first invested in the energy sector in August 2024, investing EUR 32 million in a pilot project, and is already seeing the first results of this investment, which confirm the correctness of this strategy.
In his opinion, such prospects are related to the fact that 10 GW of power capacity has been destroyed by the aggressor, and this is mainly maneuverable capacity, which is the most expensive and for which the market pays a premium price.
“There has never been such a price, not once, not in a single year that I can remember in the last 25 years.
It is even higher than in some Eastern European countries. It’s an amazing market, huge, worth billions of dollars!“ emphasized the owner of Concorde Capital, adding that gas and electricity prices are expected to rise further.
”I think that in a couple of years we will build just such a billion-dollar company in the energy sector,” he concluded.
As reported, Mazepa, with the help of four unnamed partners, acquired a 50 MW energy storage system for EUR 32 million in early 2025 and plans to then contract equipment for a gas-fired power plant worth EUR 30 million to create a single energy complex.
Alexei Timofeev, a member of the board of directors of BGV Group Management, who spoke alongside Mazepa, agreed that there are attractive investment opportunities in the energy sector, where the group has also accepted five projects – wind, batteries, gas cogeneration, and investments in the energy efficiency of utility networks through an energy service company. At the same time, he stressed that these are short-term and relatively small projects, and that this “hot” market is not about billions in investments.
“This is simply an illustration of the approach that exists, which does not work in the long term. Because it is impossible to make long-term forecasts based on peak prices without taking into account factors such as the return or non-return of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the restoration or non-restoration of coal-fired power generation… In general, when you jump above zero in three years, you can afford such things, but no billions will come here – there is nowhere to go,” the expert believes.
He added that Ukraine does not need to restore 10 GW of destroyed energy capacity because it does not have such a deficit. “Ukraine’s energy sector was in surplus before the war, and everything that has been destroyed is reflected in the fact that we have deindustrialization, loss of territory, and loss of population,” Timofeev said.
Karol Nawrocki, candidate for the Law and Justice party, has won the second round of the presidential election in Poland, according to Gazeta Wyborcza.
According to the Polish National Electoral Commission, after 100% of the votes were counted, he received 50.89% of the vote, or 10,606,628 votes.
His opponent, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, received 49.1% of the vote.
Change in prices of food raw materials from Ukraine (forecast up to 2025), %
Ukrproduct Group, a major Ukrainian producer of packaged butter and processed cheese, reported a net loss of GBP 2.04 million for 2024, compared with a net profit of GBP 0.39 million in 2023.
“Financial expenses in 2024 increased by 253% compared to the previous year to GBP 2.8 million, which was caused by significant accruals of commission for deferral on a loan from the EBRD, applied retrospectively for the period from October 2016 to December 2024,” the company explained in its annual report on the London Stock Exchange.
According to the report, in December 2024, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) decided to exercise its right under the loan agreement and charged a commission of GBP 2.0 million, increasing the company’s liability to the bank to GBP 8.1 million.
The group’s gross profit for the past year increased by 3.9% to GBP7.12 million, while operating profit fell by 36.6% to GBP1.08 million, and EBITDA by 29% to GBP1.7 million.
As for Ukrproduct’s revenue, it grew by 13% in hryvnia over the past year, while in British pounds sterling, the increase was only 0.2% to GBP37.08 million.
“The processed cheese segment generated revenue of GBP 21.2 million in 2024, down 15% from the previous year. This was largely due to a reduction in price promotions at the national level due to rapid cost increases caused by sharp fluctuations in the dairy raw materials market and the risk of loss-making sales,” the company explained.
According to the report, the butter segment achieved revenue of GBP 5.2 million in 2024, compared to GBP 3.1 million in the previous year. This 70% growth was primarily driven by increased production following a period of slight stagnation, with the market becoming receptive to higher supply.
Sales of spreads fell by 12% to GBP 4.0 million, reflecting increased competition in the market and changing consumer preferences.
Ukrproduct recalled that in the fourth quarter of 2023, it expanded its range of products with a longer shelf life to include a new category of sandwich spreads, which showed profitable growth: sales in 2024 amounted to GBP 1.2 million.
Sales of skimmed milk powder increased by 8% last year to GBP 1.4 million, but declined by 23% in volume terms. It is noted that prices for skimmed milk powder had only limited upside potential in 2024, and the group minimized the release of this product for sale in favor of using semi-finished milk protein as an ingredient in the production of processed cheese.
Sales of kvass and other beverages increased by 31% year-on-year to GBP 2.3 million in 2024, thanks to positive kombucha sales dynamics, supported by new product launches and strong brand positioning.
Ukrproduct noted that administrative and commercial expenses in 2024 increased by 4% year-on-year to GBP4.2 million.
This increase was mainly due to higher payroll and related expenses, as well as higher insurance and consulting expenses. Other operating expenses increased to GBP 1.8 million in 2024 compared to GBP 1.1 million in the previous year.
In light of the expected deterioration in the business outlook and increased future risks, the group recognized a net impairment loss of GBP 1.1 million on financial assets, reflecting provisions made for receivables and prepayments to suppliers. In addition, this line includes a write-off of goods in the amount of GBP 0.1 million and a provision of GBP 0.4 million for blocked VAT invoices.
Ukrproduct’s net assets as of December 31, 2024, amounted to GBP 2.0 million, down from GBP 4.5 million a year earlier, while cash balances decreased to GBP 0.1 million.
According to the agricultural holding, it has been in dialogue with the EBRD since 2021 regarding the potential restructuring of the loan and accrued interest and fees, and discussions are ongoing. At present, the EBRD has not taken any action to accelerate the repayment of the accumulated loan.
Assessing its prospects for 2025, Ukrproduct assumes that the business environment will remain unstable due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and financial pressure.
“The Group will continue to pursue a prudent capital allocation policy, prioritize liquidity preservation, seek new financing opportunities, and focus on meeting its existing commitments.
EBRD, LOAN, LOSS, UKRPRODUCT
The share of revenue not from the core telecommunications business of Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator Kyivstar, which will amount to about 20% by the end of this year, is expected to reach 50% in five years thanks to planned investments of $1 billion over the next three years, said Zoya Dronchkevich, Kyivstar’s business development director and member of the supervisory boards of Helsi.me and Uklon.
“In five years, we aim to have around 50% of the group’s revenue coming from non-telecom sources with our investments of around $1 billion over three years. That is our goal,” said Dronchkevich at the Forbes Money forum in Kyiv.
Among the areas of investment for Kyivstar, which this year acquired Uklon and bought out the minority stake in Helsi, she named healthcare, education, fintech, entertainment, and advertising.
“We have a number of interesting organic experiments that could grow into inorganic ones. And we have strategic bets on certain industries that will help us make up the missing percentage to achieve our goal,” added the business development director.
She also emphasized that the most important task is to increase revenue through synergies between these businesses.
“Our strategy is not to tell telecom companies what to do, but to give them access to capital, enable them to leverage synergies from telecom and the ecosystem, create new value, and scale Ukrainian products abroad,” Droshkevich described Kyivstar’s approach to cooperation with partners.
Commenting on the acquisition of up to 100% of Helsi, she said that this is not the last deal in the healthcare sector.
“We will definitely be developing healthcare for several years. And it will be a whole ecosystem in itself. In addition to being part of the larger Kyivstar ecosystem and galaxy,” the director emphasized.
According to her, this involves both the development of B2C areas, where customers will soon see new products in the Helsi app, and investments in B2B. “For example, a few months ago, we approved a separate investment in private clinics and will compete there as well,” said Dronshkevich, also mentioning medical insurance.
She added that the company is also investing in R&D for overseas expansion, and certain elements of the ecosystem will be expanded to the markets of VEON, Kyivstar’s parent company.
“We have already grown the second player in the entertainment market, OTT TV Kyivstar TV, and we will continue to develop this area.
We are definitely very interested in fintech, which fits very organically into the ecosystem. This is far from a simple story,” said the Kyivstar business development director, listing the next areas of focus. She clarified that in fintech, there is a choice between an organic and inorganic scenario.
Droshkevich also mentioned investments in delivery, where, thanks to the acquisition of Uklon, the company already has a few percent of revenue.
“Advertising Tech is also an area of interest for us, where our clients, our data, and the presence of our ecosystem are a competitive advantage for this business. And it will help it generate additional revenue,” the director noted.
According to her, Kyivstar is also interested in B2B SAS solutions and fundamental B2B infrastructure areas. She recalled that the operator has already become the largest Microsoft distributor in Ukraine, and this major strategic partnership will continue to develop.
Droshkevich also acknowledged Kyivstar’s significant interest in the education sector and said that she had already interviewed 17 founders of LMS (Learning Management System) companies in Ukraine.
“I have met with eight different founders over the past month. We have selected the top three, who are in completely different segments. Perhaps we will start with commercial partnerships, perhaps we will start directly with a joint venture, and education is definitely of interest to us,” said the director.
