In the industrial park (IP) “Western Ukrainian Industrial Hub” (Ternopil region), the Babusya Marusya food factory, which produces canned vegetables, pickles, and semi-finished products from vacuum-packed vegetables, has begun shipping its products, according to Dmytro Kysilevsky, deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development.
“The plant has already reached its design production capacity and plans to produce 650 tons of canned goods in 2025,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to the MP, the investment made by PJSC “Agroprodservice” (Nastasiv, Ternopil region) in the launch of the plant amounted to UAH 45 million.
The construction of industrial premises with a total area of 1,700 square meters and the installation of production lines lasted from 2024 to 2025. The enterprise has created 30 jobs, and plans to increase its staff by 50% in the near future. The plans include establishing export supplies to the Baltic countries, Israel, Turkey, and Italy.
The Western Ukrainian Industrial Hub, covering an area of over 10 hectares, was established in 2022 on the site of a meat processing plant that had been out of operation for over 10 years but retained its powerful engineering and logistics infrastructure. Currently, the park has more than 58,000 square meters of renovated industrial premises with ceilings 5-10 meters high and its own 10 MW substation.
In addition to the Babusia Marusia plant, the Western Ukrainian Industrial Hub industrial park is home to the companies Nasha Ptytsia (chicken processing), Delta Food (sauce production), Ternopil Meat Processing Plant (agricultural processing), as well as a logistics center, whose warehouses are used by six local and 16 relocated enterprises. The IP enterprises provide 860 jobs. At the same time, the park’s concept envisages the creation of 1,300 jobs.
According to data from Opendatabot, until 2020, the owner of Babusia Marusia Food Products Plant LLC was Ivan Chaykivsky, secretary of the parliamentary committee on agrarian and land policy and founder of Agropromservice. The business is currently run by his wife, Tetiana.
Agroprodservice PJSC was established in 1999. As a diversified enterprise, it operates in the Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. It cultivates about 45,000 hectares of land. It owns grain elevators with a total storage capacity of 200,000 tons, a feed mill, and a seed plant. It is also engaged in poultry farming (2 million birds), cattle breeding (about 6,000 head, including 2,000 dairy cows) and pig breeding (60,000 head).
The ultimate beneficiaries of PAP “Agroprodservice” are Tetiana Chaykivska (who owns 70% of the company’s shares) and Andrii Baran (30%).
Zaporizhstal, a steel company in Zaporizhia, is investing over UAH 135 million in major repairs to heating wells in its hot rolling shop.
According to a press release issued by the plant on Thursday, the company is continuing comprehensive capital repairs of three groups of heating wells (four wells in each group) in the slab department of the hot rolling mill in accordance with its annual capital investment program. The total investment exceeds UAH 135 million.
“Today, Zaporizhstal is operating at only 75% of its capacity, but we are implementing the program for the maintenance and repair of production equipment at 100%. In particular, a major upgrade of the heating wells, which are an important link in the hot rolling process at Zaporizhstal, is currently underway. The quality of finished metal products, the mechanical properties of rolled products, and their compliance with standards and customer requirements depend on the stability of the temperature regime and the uniformity of heating of billets in the wells,” said Acting CEO Taras Shevchenko.
According to him, in addition to specialists from the engineering service, automation department, and central electrical engineering laboratory, specialists from the contracting organizations Etalonbudservis and MSC Prime are also involved in the overhaul. As part of the overhaul, worn refractories will be dismantled and replaced with new linings, in particular those manufactured by Zaporizhzhya Refractories. The total weight of refractory bricks and shotcrete mixture is more than 2,200 tons.
In addition, mechanical and power equipment, communications, and shut-off valves will be upgraded, about 900 tons of metal structures will be replaced, and hydraulic devices, automation, temperature sensors, etc. will be repaired and replaced.
Heating wells provide thermal preparation of ingots weighing up to 16 tons before rolling into slabs and further into thin rolled products. The overhaul of this equipment complex will significantly improve its reliability, energy efficiency, and minimize the risk of unplanned technological stoppages.
It is specified that this year Zaporizhstal will carry out a complex overhaul of key units of the thermal power plant – boiler unit No. 5, turbine generator No. 1, and turbo compressor unit No. 7. The plant will allocate about UAH 75 million for these purposes. Overall, despite the difficult economic situation, the capital investment budget for 2025 has been increased to UAH 1.1 billion.
Zaporizhstal is one of Ukraine’s largest industrial enterprises, whose products are in high demand among consumers both on the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
Zaporizhstal is a joint venture of the Metinvest Group, whose main shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Steel Limited (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
Fixygen has prepared an analysis of the cryptocurrency market for this week. After updating its historical high last week, Bitcoin spent the week in the range of ~$112–117 thousand, approaching $117 thousand by the end of Friday;
Ethereum remained around $4,600. The total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market was approximately $3.97 trillion, with BTC accounting for 58.2% and ETH for 14.0%. The skew towards Bitcoin reflects the weakness of some altcoins (Altcoin Season Index ≈44/100). These figures are according to CoinMarketCap.
The market reacted to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole: a cautious hint of further rate cuts supported risk assets — BTC and large altcoins rebounded after morning weakness.
At the beginning of the week, there were net outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs (several consecutive days of withdrawals), which intensified the correction after August’s ATH. Towards the end of the week, there was a noticeable net inflow of ~$287 million into spot ETFs — the first after a four-day series of outflows.
General market regulatory policy.
Technology and networks. Investors are focusing on performance roadmaps (e.g., Firedancer and bandwidth upgrades in the Solana ecosystem), which are sustaining interest in high-performance L1/L2s despite price volatility. AInvest
What to watch next week
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced the deployment (mobilization) of up to 4–4.5 million Bolivarian National Police officers in response to “threats from the US” and the build-up of American military presence in the Caribbean. This was reported by international media outlets, including El País, CBS News, and Al Jazeera.
According to the publications, Maduro’s statement came after the US decided to double the reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction to $50 million. The US State Department and the Associated Press/PBS agencies reported on the increase in the reward.
El País and other sources also note that Venezuela’s mobilization was a response to the deployment of US destroyers and other forces near the country’s coast, which has increased tensions in the region. Washington had previously accused Maduro of involvement in international drug trafficking and related crimes; the decision to increase the reward was announced this month.
American and international analytical publications note the growing military and political rhetoric on both sides and warn of the risks of further escalation. At the same time, there is no independent confirmation of the start of a “war” between the US and Venezuela; we are talking about mobilization steps and increased readiness against the backdrop of political confrontation.
In January-June 2025, Nadina Insurance Company (Kyiv) collected gross insurance premiums totaling UAH 18.938 million, which is 41.8% less than in the same period last year, according to data from Standard-Rating on the update of the company’s credit rating/financial stability (reliability) rating at the level of CAA+ on the national scale.
It should be noted that premiums from individuals amounted to UAH 362,000, while premiums from reinsurers were absent.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers in the first half of 2025 decreased by 96.49% to UAH 379,000 compared to the same period in 2024, and the reinsurers’ share in insurance premiums decreased by 31.21 percentage points to 2%.
The insurer’s net premiums for the first half of 2025 decreased by 14.62% to UAH 18.559 million compared to the first half of 2024, and net earned premiums decreased by 9.48% to UAH 18.981 million.
The volume of insurance payments and indemnities made by IC “Nadyina” in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024 increased by 1.28% to UAH 6.394 million, and the level of payments rose by 14.36 p.p. to 33.76%.
The company’s operating profit increased to UAH 10.346 million, and net profit to UAH 10.577 million.
As of July 1, 2025, the insurer’s assets increased by 6.20% to UAH 86.949 million, equity increased by 16.20% to UAH 73.555 million, liabilities decreased by 27.90% to UAH 13.394 million, cash and cash equivalents increased by 7.56% to UAH 61.414 million.
As of the reporting date, the company also formed a portfolio of current financial investments in the amount of UAH 10.600 million, which consisted of government bonds.
According to the company’s website, it was registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs in 2006. Its authorized capital is UAH 15 million.
Its main shareholder is Agroholding 2012 LLC, which owns 90.5% of the insurer’s shares.
In Montenegro, a group of employees of Željeznička infrastruktura Crne Gore (ŽICG) — more than 80 station attendants and dispatchers — announced a work stoppage, which led to the suspension of several trains at the Podgorica, Bar, and Bijelo Polje, according to the Serbian Economist Telegram channel.
According to the publication, a train traveling from Belgrade to Bar has already been stopped, and a train from Bijelo Polje has not continued its route; some passengers are being transported to their destinations by bus.
A representative of the group of workers, Andrej Kaludjerovic, said that the stoppage was linked to a demand that ŽICG management begin negotiations on raising wages and equalizing pay rates with other railway companies in the country.
According to him, the labor action will continue until management invites employee representatives to the negotiating table with the participation of two representative trade unions, the Ministry of Transport, and the chairman of the company’s board of directors.
Source: Serbian Economist.
