State-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) transferred UAH 32.1 billion in dividends to the state budget, which is more than half of all dividend income from state-owned and municipal enterprises planned for 2025.
According to a statement released by the bank on Thursday, PrivatBank, following a decision by its shareholder, transferred UAH 32.1 billion to the budget, which was transferred in full to the treasury accounts.
It is noted that the state budget of Ukraine for 2025 provides for UAH 50 billion in dividend income from state-owned and municipal enterprises.
In accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers’ decision on the distribution of profits, PrivatBank transferred 80% of its net profit for 2024, which amounted to UAH 40.1 billion, to the budget. Thus, the amount of dividends from the bank reached UAH 32.1 billion.
In addition, PrivatBank paid almost UAH 41 billion in income tax in 2024, which is the highest figure among all banks in Ukraine.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of April 1, 2025, PrivatBank ranked first in terms of total assets with UAH 945.4 billion, or 25.2% among 61 banks.
As reported, PrivatBank topped the ranking of the most profitable banks in the first quarter of 2025 with a net profit of UAH 16.8 billion.
Today, June 12, the Council of the European Union recognized the equivalence of Ukrainian standards for the production of beet, sunflower, rapeseed, and soybean seeds with European requirements, according to the press service of the Council of the EU.
According to this decision, seeds of these crops produced in Ukraine will be able to enter the EU market. This means that EU-based companies will be able to diversify their seed production areas. The new rules will also help to maintain a continuous supply of high-quality seeds to the EU.
“The decision grants equivalence to beet, sunflower, turnip, and soybean seeds produced and certified in Ukraine, fodder plant seeds produced in the Republic of Moldova and officially certified by its authorities, as well as to the corresponding field inspections carried out. The equivalence confirms that the national procedures of the two countries offer the same guarantees regarding seed characteristics and rules for seed examination, identification, and control as those applicable to seeds harvested in the EU,” the statement said.
Moldova has received similar permission for fodder plant seeds.
The decision will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
Businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, together with other shareholders of Sukha Balka (Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region), which is part of the DCH group, have joined forces and acquired a controlling stake of 99.7%, presumably for the compulsory buyout of shares from minority shareholders through a squeeze-out procedure.
According to a report by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) shareholder Artem Alexandrov (Kyiv), acting as an authorized representative of persons acting jointly, regarding the acquisition of a controlling stake in PJSC “Sukha Balka” taking into account the number of shares owned by their affiliates, directly acquired ownership of 834 million 927.002 thousand shares of the company, which is 99.706% of the company’s authorized capital.
It is specified that the shareholders act jointly on the basis of a joint activity agreement dated June 10, 2025.
According to Aleksandrov, as of June 10 of this year, he directly owns 15.2% of the shares, and a total of 15.217212% of the mine (including indirect ownership).
Yaroslavsky, who is a citizen of the United Kingdom, directly owns 77.4193% of the mine’s shares, and a total of 77.68895%.
Ukrainian citizen Alexander Chorny directly and collectively owns 2%, Motor Development Group LLC (beneficial owner Gennady Piontkovsky) – 4.7999%, PJSC Closed Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund Smart Capital (beneficial owner Yaroslavsky) – 0.2868%.
The Sukha Balka mine is one of the leading mining companies in Ukraine. It extracts iron ore using underground methods. It includes the Yuvileina and Frunze mines.
In May 2017, the DCH Group acquired the mine from the Evraz Group.
According to the NDU for the first quarter of 2025, Yaroslavsky, who is designated as a non-resident of Ukraine (a citizen of Great Britain), directly owns 77.4193% of the mine’s shares, and Artem Alexandrov, a resident individual, owns 20%.
The authorized capital of Sukha Balka is UAH 41.869 million, with a share par value of UAH 0.05.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and the World Bank plan to expand cooperation in the development of Ukraine’s agribusiness sector.
The agreement was reached following talks between Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval and World Bank Managing Director for Operations Anna Bjerde, the ministry’s press service reported.
According to the report, the parties agreed to expand cooperation in three areas: preparing analytical data for decision-making in the agribusiness sector; institutional support for the Ministry of Agrarian Policy with a focus on integration into EU policies and standards; implementation of programs for more than 200,000 small and medium-sized farmers as the basis for Ukraine’s agricultural sustainability.
“Our goal is not only to preserve but also to transform Ukrainian agriculture in line with EU standards and opportunities. And the advocacy platform provided today by the World Bank team in Vienna is actually the key to faster and more successful European integration,” Koval emphasized.
In addition, during the meeting with World Bank representatives led by Regional Director for Sustainable Development in Europe and Central Asia Sameh Wahba, the possibility of deepening cooperation in the field of irrigation was discussed. In particular, they talked about restarting the irrigation system development plan to get help in more regions of Ukraine.
Cool weather with short-term rains and thunderstorms will continue in Ukraine in the coming days, in particular on June 13 – at night in the northern regions, during the day, except for Transcarpathia, the Carpathians and the southern part, short-term rains, in some places thunderstorms, the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center reported.
The wind will be mainly northwesterly, 7-12 m/s, during the day in Ukraine, except in the far west, with gusts of 15-20 m/s. The temperature in the south of the country will be 11-16° at night and 21-26° during the day; in the rest of the country, it will be 8-13° at night and 15-20° during the day (in the Carpathians, it will be 1-6° at night and 10-15° during the day).
In Kyiv on June 13, there will be light rain at night and moderate short-term rain during the day. The wind will be northwesterly, 7-12 m/s, with gusts of 15-18 m/s during the day. The temperature at night will be 10-12°, during the day 17-19°.
According to the Boris Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory in Kyiv, on June 13, the highest daytime temperature was 33.6°C in 1946, and the lowest nighttime temperature was 4.8°C in 1885.
On Saturday, June 14, there will be no precipitation at night, and moderate precipitation during the day in Ukraine, with light short-term rains in some western regions and thunderstorms in some places. The wind will be northwesterly, 7-12 m/s, with gusts of 15-20 m/s in some places in the northeast of the country during the day. The temperature at night will be 10-15°, during the day 18-23°, in the south of the country up to 25°; in the
Carpathians at night 4-9° above zero, during the day 12-17°.
In Kyiv, June 14 will be dry at night, with short showers during the day. The wind will be northwesterly, 7-12 m/s.
The temperature at night will be 12-14°, during the day 20-22°.
Ukraine’s first residential complex with individual five-second safety zones will appear in Lviv, according to the press service of the complex’s developer, Lviv City, an architectural company Archimatika.
“The most common damage during shelling is debris caused by shock waves. A safety room is an individual room that provides additional protection from such debris. In Ukraine, there is currently no experience in designing and implementing such rooms. Together with the customer, we consulted with the State Emergency Service and studied Israeli experience. In general, this development is a cooperation between several parties and the adaptation of foreign experience to Ukrainian realities,” said architect Oleksandr Stolovyi.
According to the company, the Lviv City complex from VD Group (on the territory of the former Lvivprylad) will have, like other Ukrainian new buildings, a standard shelter, but with expanded functionality—a medical unit, a children’s room, a room for cooking, etc. In addition, each apartment will be equipped with an individual additional protection zone — a safety room. In the event of an unexpected threat, it can be reached in 5 seconds — the time it takes to get behind “two walls.” Like standard shelters (SPP), safety rooms do not protect against direct missile strikes, but they provide additional protection against the most common types of damage.
Safety rooms are grouped around an inter-apartment corridor, i.e., as far as possible from the outer walls, deep inside the apartments. This minimizes the impact of the blast wave and the debris it causes.
Each such room is equipped with thick reinforced concrete walls, reinforced doors, an autonomous ventilation system, and an alarm. When there is no shelling, the room can be used as a regular room—an office, a closet, a storage room, etc.
Equally important, the reinforced walls of the safe rooms grouped around the inter-apartment corridor also act as additional stiffening diaphragms. In other words, they increase the rigidity and stability of the entire building.
“It’s a kind of internal core. Under physical impact within the normal load limits from an explosion, except for a direct hit, it will not collapse. It gives people an extra chance if there is no time to get to the main shelter. If the blast-proof doors that close the room are blocked, there is an alarm. A person can signal that they are inside and need to be rescued. This is an additional measure that is not yet standardized in Ukraine. Therefore, we urge everyone to follow safety rules and use the shelters at the parking lot level,” Stolovoy concluded.
As reported, in 2024, the western Ukrainian developer VD Group bought the LvivTech.City project from Ukrainian entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytskyi UFuture. After being redesigned, the project is being implemented under the Lviv.City brand. There are five phases planned, with 11 buildings ranging from 7 to 11 stories high, a total of 500 apartments, as well as a modern preschool, hospital, coworking areas, and an extensive commercial component.
The construction company VD Group (EDRPOU code 39475589) has been operating since 2017, with Vasyl Kavlak as the ultimate beneficiary. The developer is implementing projects in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Bukovel, with four already commissioned and 13 under construction.
