Agrarians in four regions of Ukraine have started harvesting early grains and legumes and have harvested 188 thousand tons of early grains and legumes from an area of 74 thousand hectares, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reports.
The ministry noted that Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Dnipro regions harvested 151 thousand tons of barley (against 33.9 thousand tons a week earlier) from an area of 55 thousand hectares (against 33.9 thousand hectares a week earlier). hectares (13.6 thou hectares) at a yield of 27.4 c/ha, peas – 14 thou tons (0.9 thou tons) from 0.6 thou hectares (8.4 thou hectares) at a yield of 16.9 c/ha, wheat – 22 thou tons from more than 10 thou hectares at a yield of 22.3 c/ha.
Farmers in Mykolaiv and Odesa regions also started harvesting rapeseed, which they harvested 4.6 thou tons from 4.2 thou hectares at a yield of 10.9 cwt/ha.
“The harvesting season has started in Ukraine. This is the fourth harvesting season since the beginning of the full-scale war. (…) This harvest is not just bread. It is proof of the resilience, endurance and strength of our farmers. Even during the war, they work on the land to ensure that Ukraine and the world have bread,” Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval wrote on Telegram.
As reported, as of June 28, 2024, agrarians in sixteen regions of Ukraine harvested 721.4 thousand tons of grain from 209.8 thousand hectares, including 36.2 thousand tons of wheat from 36.2 thousand hectares at a yield of 31.2 c/ha, 545.7 thousand tons of barley from 145.8 thousand hectares at a yield of 37.4 c/ha, 56.3 thousand tons of peas from 25.9 thousand hectares at a yield of 21.7 c/ha.
In addition, seven regions harvested rapeseed, which amounted to 63.6 thou tons from 31.7 thou hectares.
Thus, the pace of harvesting in the 2025 season is 3.8 times lower than last year, and grain yields are significantly lower.
The Cabinet of Ministers on the initiative of the Ministry of Digital Information (Mincifra) has provided operators with tools to combat spam calls and intrusive advertising, said Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology – Minister of Digital Transformation (Mincifra) Mikhail Fedorov.
“Ukrainians will no longer receive spam calls … Over time, operators will block spam, advertising and potentially fraudulent calls. These changes will be introduced gradually to give operators time for technical refinements,” Fyodorov wrote in a telegram channel on Friday.
According to the message, the changes are stipulated by Resolution No. 761 “On Approval of Rules for Providing and Receiving Electronic Communication Services,” which the government approved on June 25, 2025.
“Businesses must enter into an agreement with an operator and register numbers from which they can call. If not – calls from these numbers can be blocked automatically. Already soon the operator will be able to block the number on the user’s request in case of a spam call,” explained the Deputy Prime Minister.
Fedorov also announced a number of changes. In particular, in the near future users will be able to view all their expenses in the personal cabinet, as well as to turn off content services independently, without a request to the operator.
“From now on, the Internet speed must be spelled out in the agreement. If the operator promises 100 Mbit/s, and you get 40 – it is already a violation of the agreement. And if the real speed is lower – you can complain to the NECC or go to court,” – assured Fedorov.
According to him, Ukrainians living in the war zone will not lose communication due to non-payment for services, their SIM-cards will not be blocked. During the first entry into the network, a free package of communication will be provided.
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.
