According to Experts Club, Ukrainian citizens received 335,100 first-time residence permits in European Union countries in 2025, ranking first among citizens of all non-EU countries, according to Eurostat data.
Ukrainians accounted for 8.7% of all first-time residence permits issued in the EU to third-country nationals. Citizens of India ranked second with 227,600 permits, or 5.9%, while Morocco ranked third with 202,100 permits, or 5.2%.
Compared to 2024, the number of first-time residence permits issued to Ukrainians increased by 13.6%. A year earlier, there were about 295,000. Thus, despite the continuation of the temporary protection mechanism, the flow of Ukrainians who are transitioning to or initially applying for other grounds for legal residence in the EU remains significant.
The main reason Ukrainians obtained their first residence permit was employment. According to Eurostat, approximately two-thirds of the permits issued to Ukrainian citizens in 2025 were related to employment.
Poland remained the primary destination: it accounted for 72% of all first residence permits issued to Ukrainians in the EU.
At the same time, Eurostat specifically notes that these figures do not include individuals benefiting from temporary protection in connection with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Temporary protection is accounted for in separate statistics; therefore, the 335,100 permits reflect other grounds for residence—primarily work, family, education, and other categories.
In total, EU countries issued approximately 3.9 million first-time residence permits to third-country nationals in 2025.
EU, Eurostat, EXPERTS CLUB, MIGRATION, RESIDENCE PERMIT, UKRAINE
As of September 2026, 1,101 active tobacco industry companies were registered in Ukraine, according to data from the Unified State Register cited by Opendatabot.
During the first eight months of 2026, 39 new companies were registered, while eight enterprises ceased operations. Thus, the net increase amounted to 31 companies.
During the same period last year, the number of companies increased by 35.
Despite the continued growth, the current pace remains significantly below the pre-war level. In 2021, the net increase in the number of enterprises in the tobacco sector amounted to 82 companies.
The industry’s financial indicators also demonstrate growth in turnover. The 41 companies that provided comparable financial statements for the first half of 2025 and 2026 increased their combined revenue by 10% to UAH 198.18 billion.
At the same time, net profit decreased by 8% and amounted to UAH 6.5 billion.
Meanwhile, the share of profitable enterprises increased. In the first half of 2026, 29 out of 41 companies, or 71%, reported a positive financial result, compared with 63% a year earlier.
In total, 50 companies in the industry submitted financial statements for the first half of the current year. A year earlier, there were 13 more such enterprises.
Source: Opendatabot.
Wallpaper production by the industry’s leading company, which provides data to the UkrPapier Association, fell by 39.6% in August 2026 compared to August of last year—to 0.96 million standard pieces.
Statistics for this segment are based on data from Ukraine’s largest manufacturer, the company “Slovianski Wallpaper—KFTB.”
A significant decline in August was also recorded in the production of school and office notebooks. Output totaled 11.43 million units, which is 17.6% less than a year earlier.
The month-over-month decline was particularly pronounced: compared to July, notebook production fell by as much as 59.7%. This trend may be partly attributed to seasonal production patterns and the build-up of product inventories ahead of the start of the school year.
At the same time, the situation in individual segments of the paper industry remains mixed. Toilet paper production in August rose by 4%—to 49 million rolls—while cardboard output fell by 3.1% and corrugated packaging by 11%.
The total value of commercial output by companies in the industry reached 2.75 billion UAH in August, an increase of 17.5% compared to the same month last year, despite a decline in physical output volumes for a number of key product types.
The “UkrPapier” Association brings together manufacturers and participants in the Ukrainian pulp and paper market. According to the association itself, it comprises 32 companies, including manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers of waste paper.
Source: “UkrBumaga” Association.
According to Experts Club, Ukraine remains one of the world’s largest producers of currants and ranks second behind Poland, EastFruit reports, citing data from Oleksandr Yareshchenko and Inna Babiychuk, experts at the Institute of Horticulture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences (NAAS).
According to official statistics, the area under currant cultivation in Ukraine exceeds 4,000 hectares, and the annual gross harvest is estimated at approximately 27,000 metric tons. However, experts note that these figures should be interpreted with caution, as about two-thirds of the area is accounted for by private households, which are not fully covered by statistical reporting.
For the commercial sector, experts consider an estimate of about 15,000 metric tons of currants per year to be more realistic. Even with this volume, Ukraine remains one of the key global players and accounts for about 8% of the world’s currant plantation area.
The global market for this berry remains fairly concentrated. The total area of currant plantations is estimated at approximately 50,000 hectares, with over 95% located in Europe. This concentration means that global supply is highly dependent on weather conditions and crop yields in a few major producing countries.
For Ukraine, currants have formed a distinct segment of the berry industry. This crop is in demand both in the fresh produce market and for processing—for freezing, juice production, purees, jams, and other food products.
Ukraine’s strong position in the global market also creates export potential; however, the industry’s development depends on the modernization of commercial plantations, crop yields, the availability of cooling and freezing facilities, and stable demand from processors.
At the same time, official data do not fully reflect the structure of production, as a significant portion of currants is grown by the population for personal consumption and sale on the domestic market.
Source: EastFruit, published on September 15, 2026.
Ukrainian companies in the pulp and paper industry produced approximately 49 million rolls of toilet paper in August 2026, a 4% increase compared to the same month last year, according to the “UkrPapier” association.
The segment of products made from primary raw materials grew particularly rapidly. Production of toilet paper made from 100% pulp reached 23.3 million rolls, an increase of 19.6% year-over-year.
Thus, products made from pure cellulose accounted for nearly 48% of the total toilet paper output by companies providing statistics to the association.
The growth in this segment is occurring against the backdrop of weaker performance in the paper industry as a whole. Total production of paper and cardboard in August decreased by 2.3% to 54.3 thousand metric tons.
Production of base paper for sanitary and hygiene products totaled 11.08 thousand metric tons, which is 1.8% less than in August of last year.
According to the association, sanitary and hygiene products remain one of the most stable segments of the Ukrainian pulp and paper industry. In the first seven months of 2026, production of toilet paper in rolls was 6.6% higher than during the same period in 2025.
Among the companies operating in this segment and providing data to the association are, in particular, the Kokhavynska Paper Mill and “VGP,” which manufactures products under the “Ruta” brand.
Source: “UkrPapier” Association.
The U.S. exchange group Nasdaq has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
The investment will be made through Nasdaq Ventures and is intended to deepen the companies’ collaboration in the areas of tokenized stocks, 24/7 trading, and the integration of traditional financial infrastructure with blockchain.
Nasdaq and Payward are working on the Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) system. The idea is to create a digital representation of traditional stocks while preserving ownership rights, transparency, and corporate governance.
The project demonstrates that tokenization is no longer an experiment limited to cryptocurrency companies. Major traditional exchanges are gradually beginning to build their own blockchain infrastructure.
Almost simultaneously, the London Stock Exchange Group announced a partnership with Payward. As part of the project, the plan is to tokenize the 100 largest companies traded on the London Stock Exchange.
In the future, tokenized shares are expected to be admitted to trading on the LSE 24 platform, which is designed to provide significantly longer trading hours compared to a traditional trading session.
According to Reuters Breakingviews, the global market for tokenized shares currently stands at only about $3 billion, with monthly turnover of less than $30 billion—a figure that remains insignificant compared to traditional markets.
Nevertheless, the involvement of Nasdaq, the LSE, and other major operators marks the transition of tokenization to the next phase—the integration of blockchain infrastructure directly into regulated stock markets.
The main advantages of the technology include the ability to settle transactions almost instantly, fractional ownership, expanded trading options, and the use of tokenized securities as collateral in digital financial systems.
The main unresolved issue remains the rights of token holders: not all existing digital equivalents of stocks automatically grant investors voting rights or dividends. This is precisely why traditional exchanges are striving to create models in which a digital token is as legally similar as possible to a conventional stock.
