In January–September 2025, the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” increased its revenue from product sales by 25.4% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 21.7 billion, according to the press service of the state-owned enterprise.
According to the report, half of the funds received by Forests of Ukraine were directed to budgets at all levels. The enterprise also increased its tax payments in the current year by almost 70% to UAH 10.7 billion.
“Thanks to the growth in sales revenue, significant savings on purchases, and optimization of expenses, profitability increased from 14.8% to 28.6% compared to last year,” Lisy Ukrainy specified.
In September, the state-owned enterprise harvested the largest volume of timber in the last five months. Harvesting volumes reached 1.07-1.1 million cubic meters per month.
The fulfillment of auction contracts for the supply of timber currently stands at over 90%, and taking into account buyer refusals, 97%. A significant proportion of refusals occur in the frontline, eastern, and northern regions, where the risks of harvesting or delivering products have increased. Forward six-month contracts are almost 100% fulfilled.
The balance of products in the company’s warehouses at the end of the quarter is the lowest since the beginning of the year – 550 thousand cubic meters.
Lesy Ukrainy drew attention to the seasonal increase in demand for firewood for the population, which corresponds to last year’s level. In September, the company harvested over 300,000 cubic meters of firewood. By the end of 2025, it plans to harvest over 900,000 cubic meters more to build up a strategic reserve for the winter period.
“Exchange prices for firewood have risen significantly since last year. For the population and the social sphere, the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” maintains social prices at a stable level. The average cost of firewood in Ukraine, as in the previous year, is approximately 1-1.1 thousand hryvnia per cubic meter,” the state-owned enterprise summarized.
Zinc prices are climbing on worries about a global shortage of the metal, bouncing back from earlier losses and hitting their highest level since last December.
Zinc rose 0.6% to $3,026 per ton during trading in London on Tuesday.
According to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG), zinc production in the first half of 2025 increased by 6.3% year-on-year.
However, due to problems at processing plants, refined zinc output fell by more than 2%.
As a result, zinc stocks on the London Metal Exchange fell to 30,000 tons, although at the beginning of the year they reached 171,500 tons, according to Trading Economics.
In less than a month, professional market participants bought three-year series K bonds of the international financial service NovaPay (TM NovaPay) for a total amount of UAH 100 million.
According to the company’s press release on Tuesday, the issuer was NovaPay’s subsidiary, NovaPay Credit LLC, and the bonds were placed on the Perspektyva stock exchange.
Their term of circulation is until August 6, 2028, with an annual offer, interest is paid quarterly, and the nominal rate in the first year of circulation is 18% per annum.
During 2023-2024, NovaPay issued nine series of bonds, and in 2025, it issued the 10th series and has already announced the issuance of the 12th series, “L.” The volume of each series is UAH 100 million, with the exception of one series, which is UAH 90 million.
Securities of all series, except for three, are used for REPO operations as an alternative to bank deposits and are available for purchase in the NovaPay mobile app. Series C and I bonds, as well as series K bonds, were placed among institutional investors for a total amount of UAH 190 million.
NovaPay was founded in 2001 as an international financial service, part of the Nova group (“Nova Poshta”), providing online and offline financial services at Nova Poshta branches. According to the website, the company employs about 13,000 people in more than 3,600 Nova Poshta branches throughout Ukraine. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, the company accounts for about 35% of the total volume of domestic money transfers.
NovaPay was the first non-bank financial institution in Ukraine to receive an extended license from the NBU in 2023, which allowed it to open accounts and issue cards, and was also the first among non-banks to launch its own financial application with a wide range of financial services at the end of last year.
According to the prospectus, NovaPay Credit plans to increase its interest income to UAH 802.1 million this year and to UAH 1 billion 515.1 million next year, and to earn UAH 518.9 million and UAH 1 billion 30.6 million in net profit, respectively.
Last year, the company’s net profit grew to UAH 89.2 million from UAH 40.3 million a year earlier, with revenue growing to UAH 285.6 million from UAH 95.6 million.
Agrotrade’s agricultural holdings in Sumy and Chernihiv regions have begun harvesting corn from more than 13,000 hectares, with 5% of the area already threshed, according to its press service on Facebook.
The agricultural holding specified that the fields of Chernihiv region are currently showing the best yield — 114% of the planned indicators.
“At the moment, good yields are observed thanks to the correct selection of hybrids for the conditions of the year, timely feeding, and care for the crops. The high-quality work of modern equipment during sowing was also of great importance. For this, we used our new Fendt Momentum seeders with a liquid fertilizer application system,” said Gennady Maly, chief agronomist at Agrotrade, in a press release.
The structural divisions of the agricultural holding are harvesting during periods without precipitation. The campaign is planned to be completed by mid-November, according to the report.
The Agrotrade Group of Companies is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage, and trade in agricultural products). It cultivates more than 70,000 hectares of land. Its main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans, and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a one-time storage capacity of 570,000 tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn, sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20,000 tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of the Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region).
The founder of Agrotrade is Vsevolod Kozhemyako.
At its meeting on September 25, 2025, the Union of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine summed up the results of the admission campaign and discussed ways to improve the rules for admission to universities in 2026.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science, relevant committees, rectors of leading universities from all regions of the country, as well as heads of frontline educational institutions.
The head of the Rectors’ Union, Petro Kulikov, opened the meeting and emphasized the key role of higher education in ensuring national stability during the war:
“Ukrainian universities not only continue education and science, but also form the personnel base for the post-war restoration of the state. Today, the Union of Rectors is a communication platform between universities, parliament, and the government.”
Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykola Trofimenko stressed the importance of institutional strengthening of the Union:
“Today, the Union acts as a key partner of the state in shaping educational policy. We must consider the possibility of transforming it into the Association of Universities of Ukraine, which will allow us to represent the interests of higher education even more effectively.”
Deputy Chairman of the Union, Rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Volodymyr Bugrov stressed the need to update the regulatory framework:
“The 2025 admission campaign was generally successful, but we see a need to improve admission rules and update legislation.”
Rector of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University Viktor Hreshta highlighted the challenges faced by frontline universities and the need for state support for such institutions.
Rector of Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture Oleksii Dniprov emphasized the importance of increasing the transparency of admission procedures.
Viktoria Petrushenko, Rector of Vinnitsa National Medical University named after Pirogov, highlighted the risks of lowering passing scores in medical specialties.
Vadym Tkachuk, Rector of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, drew attention to the problems of indicative cost.
Maksym Tymoshenko, Rector of the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy, called for ensuring the key role of creative competitions in art universities.
The meeting was also attended by members of parliament, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation, deputy ministers, heads of departments of the Ministry of Education and Science, in particular, Oleg Sharov, Director General of the Directorate of Higher Education and Adult Education, who answered questions from participants.
The approved document (decision of the Union of Rectors) states:
The Union of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine is an all-Ukrainian public organization that brings together university leaders to coordinate educational, scientific, and international activities.
Founded in 1992, the organization acts as an advisory partner to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and participates in the development of state educational policy and regulations in the field of higher education.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/projects/1110091.html
Hreshta, KULIKOV, Trofimenko, TYMOSHENKO, Union of Rectors, UNIVERSITY, Бугров, Дніпров, Петрушенко, Ткачук, Шаров
