The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has announced the start of selling Christmas trees, the press service of the state enterprise reported in a telegram.
According to the report, prices for Christmas trees remain unchanged in 2024 – on average, 1 meter costs UAH 135. The price may vary by region. You can buy trees in the forestries of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
“Foresters grow these trees on special plantations in each region. The growing period is four to eight years. This “New Year’s harvest” is the fastest ripening. Trees usually grow for 60 years or more, depending on the species. Also, Christmas trees and pines are harvested during the felling of forest formation and rehabilitation, so there will be no harm to the ecosystem, only benefit,” the statement says.
The Forests of Ukraine also suggests paying attention to potted Christmas trees and pines. After the holidays, they can be transplanted into the ground and grown.
“When you buy a tree officially, you pay taxes that form the budget of your community and the entire country,” the state enterprise summarized.
Standing on the rooftop of a 16-storey residential apartment building in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, Valerii Pyndyk pointed to several rows of solar panels.
Pyndyk hopes the installation – one of the first of its kind by residents in Kyiv – will help about 1,000 families living in the building get through what could prove Ukraine’s most difficult winter since the start of Russia’s invasion.
“The idea was born when we had electricity cut-offs in summer. We – the housing association board – realised that if we had blackouts in summer, then in winter they will not be shorter but longer,” said Pyndyk, 49, who heads the association.
The two previous winters of the war were already challenging, but Russia has now intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with at least 11 major missile and drone strikes since March.
About half of Ukraine’s generating capacity was knocked out and distribution networks were also damaged.
In Kyiv, daily blackouts of eight hours are common and people plan their days around when power is scheduled to be available, including waiting in cafes for elevators to work if they live near the top of high-rise buildings.
Some residents and businesses have rushed to install new generating capacity in an attempt to access energy independently of the central energy system.
“Overall in Ukraine there is a steady trend towards energy independence, starting from small (consumer) clients and ending with business,” said Serhiy Kovalenko, CEO of Yasno, a leading energy supplier.
Analysts said strategies included more electricity imports from Ukraine’s Western neighbours, purchases of generators and alternative energy sources including solar panels, batteries and small gas turbine generators.
Yasno, which supplies electricity and gas to more than 3.5 million consumers and up to 100,000 businesses, provides options that include solar panels and accumulating batteries and inverters.
“Demand is very high,” Kovalenko told Reuters. “This autumn we installed up to eight megawatts, next year we will install up to 30-35 megawatts.”
Eight megawatts is enough to supply around a dozen enterprises in this case, the company said.
Russia has damaged or destroyed all of Ukraine’s thermal and hydropower plants.
In monetary terms, total damage to Ukraine’s energy sector exceeds $56 billion, including $16 billion in direct physical destruction and over $40 billion in indirect financial losses, according to estimates from the Kyiv School of Economics.
The country has to rely increasingly on nuclear generation, which makes it difficult to balance the amount of electricity on the grid, especially during peak morning and evening hours when retail consumption jumps.
Ukraine has tried to defend its energy system by building protective structures, setting up mobile drone-hunting groups and working with partners to bring in more air defence systems.
But it still lacks sufficient resources to protect facilities across the country.
After each Russian strike, the government, energy companies, engineers and Ukraine’s partners scramble to recover and rebuild what they can. Winter weather can complicate matters.
“If we have a cold winter, consumption will be much more than last winter. Last winter, maximum consumption was 18 gigawatts (GW), so this year we think that if it is cold… it will be 19 gigawatts,” said Olena Lapenko, general manager for energy security at a Kyiv-based think-tank, DIXI group.
Once the lights go off, the immediate fix for many is to turn on the generators.
“We need this electricity… to bake bread, to make croissants, cakes… We took a lot of steps to be ready – we bought powerful generators,” said Stanislav Zavertailo, co-owner of Honey confectioneries and Zavertailo pastry shops in Kyiv.
As his team refuelled an industrial generator at their production site, Zavertailo said electricity was driving up costs.
“One kilowatt-hour is five to six times more expensive than the usual one.”
Generators work better for small- and medium-sized enterprises and offer only a temporary solution, analysts said.
Looking for ways to help bigger businesses, the government agreed with Ukraine’s central European neighbours to increase imports to 2.1 GW at any given time from Dec. 1. But imports are also expensive, said Lapenko.
Dozens of financial programmes supported by Kyiv’s Western allies have been launched to shift Ukraine’s energy mix to a cleaner and more sustainable model. Legislative changes were also introduced to simplify equipment purchases and imports.
Solar panels have started to appear on roofs of private houses, residential buildings, schools, hospitals and other public buildings.
Pyndyk said the cost of the installation on his building was about 950,000 hryvnias ($23,000) and that the government and Kyiv municipality had offset about two-thirds of that amount.
He and his residents plan to install more panels on other buildings next year.
Official data showed that about 1.5 GW of new solar generation has been installed. But given Ukraine’s needs and the scale of wartime damage to energy infrastructure, such changes are only the beginning.
“This problem is not only a challenge for this winter. Coal generation is outdated and we need to change something,” said Lapenko of DIXI group.
“This is the prospect for three, four or five years to replace what was destroyed and gradually replace that outdated generation.”
Consumer prices in Turkey increased by 47.09% on an annualized basis in November, the country’s statistical institute (Turkstat) said in a report. The growth rate slowed from 48.58% in October and was the lowest since June 2023. The weakening of inflation was noted at the end of the sixth consecutive month.
The consensus forecast of experts, quoted by Trading Economics, assumed an even more significant slowdown in consumer price growth – to 46.6%.
The increase in the cost of alcohol and tobacco products in November slowed to 39.32% from 52.15% in October, communication services – to 35.71% from 37.77%, utilities – to 74.45% from 89.39%. Prices in hotels, cafes and restaurants rose by 59.39% (+62.09% a month earlier). Meanwhile, food and non-alcoholic beverages rose the most in four months, up 48.57% (+45.28% in October).
Core inflation last month was the lowest since May 2023 at 47.13% compared to 47.75% a month earlier.
Consumer prices in Turkey increased by a five-month low of 2.24% in November relative to the previous month, following an increase of 2.88% in October.
Producer prices (PPI) in the country last month rose by the lowest since February 2021 by 29.47% in annualized terms and by the lowest since May 2023 by 0.66% in monthly terms, Turkstat said. They rose 32.24% and 1.29% in October, respectively.
The Turkish Central Bank has kept its key interest rate at 50% since March this year, and the tight monetary policy has helped ease inflation. Back in June 2023, the rate was at 8.5%. Earlier Expert Club analytical center released another video analysis about the economy of Ukraine and the world. You can see more details here – https://youtu.be/grE5wjPaItI?si=8krsv_56bafIY2h_
The Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFU) gathered CCIFU members, diplomats, friends and partners in Kyiv at the Parkovy Exhibition and Convention Center for its traditional annual Beaujolais Nouveau charity event. For the second year in a row, CCIFU will support the UNBROKEN Ukraine Foundation and its project “Prostheses for the unbroken”.
This year, the Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also celebrates an important anniversary – 30 years of activity in Ukraine!
The event was held under the high patronage and with the participation of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Ukraine, Mr. Gael Vessier, and gathered about a thousand guests.
Every year, on the third Thursday of November, all of France celebrates Beaujolais Nouveau, a festival of young wine that marks the end of the grape harvest and the beginning of a new wine year.
At this time, in the small Beaujolais region, located in the north of Lyon, one of the first grapes to ripen is the Gamay variety, which is black with white flesh.
Beaujolais nouveau wine is different from other wines in that it goes on sale immediately after the fermentation process, six weeks after harvest, and is stored for no more than six months. The tradition of this celebration was born in 1951.
The Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ukraine (Chambre de commerce française en Ukraine, CCIFU) is a non-profit association designed to promote the growth of French companies’ investments in the Ukrainian economy and create favorable conditions for the development of French companies present on the Ukrainian market or wishing to start their business in Ukraine.
The Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ukraine unites more than 130 companies from the agricultural sector (Limagrain[en], Euralis, Mas Seeds), banking (Credit Agricole, Ukrsibbank), automotive industry (Renault, Michelin), machine building (Schneider Electric), hospitality (InterContinental Kyiv), tourism and entertainment (France Groupe, Club Med), healthcare (Sanofi), transportation (Air France), trade and other services (Auchan, L’Oreal, Chanel, Danone, Lactalis, Leroy Merlin).
In January-November of this year, Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works increased its rolled steel output by 18.65% year-on-year to 2 million 192.6 thousand tons from 1 million 847.9 thousand tons.
According to the company, steel production for the period increased by 18.6% to 2 million 645.3 thousand tons, and pig iron production by 15% to 2 million 821.6 thousand tons.
In November, Zaporizhstal produced 259.6 thousand tons of iron, 227.3 thousand tons of steel, and shipped 191.4 thousand tons of rolled products.
It is also recalled that in 2023, the plant operated at an average of 70% of its capacity.
As reported, in 2023, Zaporizhstal increased its rolled steel output by 57.2% compared to 2022, to 2 million 54.7 thousand tons, steel by 65.4%, to 2 million 466.9 thousand tons, and pig iron by 35.3%, to 2 million 718.9 thousand tons.
“Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine, whose products are widely known and in demand in the domestic market and in many countries of the world.
“Zaporizhstal is in the process of integration into Metinvest Group, whose major shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%).
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In November 2024, Ukraine exported 6.2 million tons of agricultural products, which is 6.5% less than the same indicator of the previous month, but it is still a good monthly export figure, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB).
According to the report, in November 2024, Ukraine increased grain exports by 3%, of which corn accounted for 63%, wheat – 33%, and barley – 4%.
Supplies of oilseeds to foreign markets decreased by 32% to 0.8 mln tons (soybeans – 58% and rapeseed – 41%), vegetable oils – by 8% to 541.2 thsd tonnes. tons (sunflower oil – 89%, soybean oil – 9% and rapeseed oil – 2%), cake after extraction of vegetable oils – by 19% to 383.3 thousand tons (sunflower oil – 78%, soybean oil – 12%), other types of agricultural products – by 5% to 398.5 thousand tons.
“The growth is observed only in the grain group, while the rest of the categories show a decline. The biggest decline was in oilseeds, which decreased by one third. The main reason is the slowdown in rapeseed exports, as the lion’s share of it has already been exported,” commented UCAB.
