The Vitagro group of companies and leading Danish genetic company DanBred have signed an agreement to establish a breeding farm for pigs in the Khmelnytskyi region, the company’s press service reported.
According to the report, the Vitagro group of companies began the project to build a new farm in cooperation with DanBred in 2023. The farm is designed to accommodate 1,000 sows at a time and will be able to raise up to 9,000 piglets and up to 250 boars annually. The first offspring are expected in November-December 2025, and sales on the Ukrainian market will start in early 2026.
The farm will breed purebred pigs of the Yorkshire (DanBred Yorkshire), Duroc (DanBred Duroc), and Landrace (DanBred Landrace) breeds. In addition, the main hybrids of DanBred breeds and Duroc boars will be bred. This will ensure the entire DanBred genetics line in Ukraine, and in the future, Duroc breeding material will also become available.
The first two batches of animals have already been delivered to Ukraine and will be delivered to the new farm in early June. The third batch of animals will arrive in Ukraine at the end of June.
“Our pig breeding division has been working with Danish genetics for over 10 years, but now this work will reach a new level, as we will be able to breed this genetics here in Ukraine together with our foreign partners,” said Ivan Varvarchin, project manager at the Vitagro group of companies.
In his opinion, the successful signing of the agreement also indicates that world-renowned companies are actively exploring promising sectors of Ukraine’s economy and, despite the risks, are ready to invest in Ukraine if they see reliable partners here.
“This step is, first, decisive in the development of our strategy and, second, reflects our desire to invest in the development of our Ukrainian business even during the war. We see potential in Ukrainian pig farming and are confident that the industry will experience rapid growth,” commented Stefan Derks, Regional Director of DanBred in Europe.
Oksana Yurchenko, president of the Ukrainian Pig Breeders Association, emphasized that the arrival of companies such as DanBred in Ukraine signals that Ukraine is attractive to foreign investors.
“In addition, our pig farming has long since become a high-tech business that understands the value of global advances in genetics and actively uses them in its work,” she added.
DanBred is a supplier of genetics and service solutions for professional producers. In 2024, DanBred reported annual revenue of EUR 147.2 million and EBITDA of EUR 8.2 million, with pre-tax profit of EUR 6 million. At the end of 2024, DanBred had local breeding farms in 20 countries around the world, which now include Ukraine. DanBred was founded by the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, an organization that has been professionally developing Danish pig genetics for more than 120 years.
The Vitagro Group is one of Ukraine’s largest industrial groups with assets in the agricultural, energy, processing, construction, and chemical industries. It was founded in 1998 and has been operating since then. It owns enterprises in the Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kyiv regions. It cultivates about 90,000 hectares of land and is also involved in animal husbandry, horticulture, renewable energy, fertilizer and feed production, construction, and building materials manufacturing. During the full-scale invasion, the group built and launched five processing plants. Vitagro’s head office is located in Khmelnytskyi.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, the ultimate beneficiary of the investment company Vitagro is People’s Deputy Serhiy Labazuk (parliamentary faction “For the Future”).
Yuria-Farm, a pharmaceutical company that is one of the five largest drug manufacturers in Ukraine, increased its net profit by 31.6% in 2024 compared to 2023, to UAH 752.103 million.
According to the company’s report published on its website, the companies’ sales revenue in 2024 increased by 19% compared to 2023, to almost UAH 5.742 billion.
The pharmaceutical company Yuria-Farm LLC (Kyiv) is one of the top 10 domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers, founded in 1990. The company’s main production facility was established in 1998 in Cherkasy.
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A sharp drop in the Euribor interbank rate by 0.25 percentage points in June 2024 and subsequent easing reduced the cost of mortgage lending. This brought buyers back to the market, especially large families and investors.
After the winter slump, an unexpected surge in transactions was observed in January: the number of available properties fell by more than a third, and some market segments experienced shortages. This signaled a recovery in demand.
New changes in legislation have eased refinancing conditions, with a number of fees abolished and commission thresholds reduced. This has encouraged homeowners who are willing to change their loan terms.
Renting a home to avoid extreme risks is becoming a lifestyle choice—renting is no longer just a temporary measure, but a full-fledged alternative to buying. Cafes, coworking spaces, and city services have moved renting into a new category.
Latvians continue to invest in housing abroad, especially in Southern Europe, and foreign investors are attracted by the growing rental market – but government regulation has already restricted short-term rentals in some countries.
There is active construction of rental housing (ALTUM projects) in the regions. However, housing shortages in cities such as Ventspils, Cesis, and Jurmala remain a problem.
According to estimates, average housing price growth rates in Latvia are expected to be in the range of 3-7% by the end of the year. For example, a 60 m² apartment in Riga for €150,000 could rise in price to €154,500-160,500.
Breakdown by property type:
Property type Growth forecast
Studio (30 m², €75,000) to €77,250-80,250
Apartment (75 m², €200,000) to €206,000-214,000
Penthouse (100 m², €500,000) up to €515,000-535,000
Where the highest price growth is expected
Imports of goods to Ukraine in January-May 2025 reached $31.3 billion, which is 13.8% more than in the same period of 2024, but exports remained at the same level as in the same period last year, at $16.9 billion ($16.8 billion in 2024), according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
“Taxable imports amounted to $23.8 billion, accounting for 76% of total imports. The tax burden per 1 kg of taxable imports in January-May 2025 was $0.51/kg,” according to a publication on the agency’s Telegram channel on Friday.
The leaders among importing countries have remained unchanged for the last three months: China – $6.5 billion, Poland – $2.9 billion, and Germany – $2.6 billion.
For the second month in a row, the top three exporting countries are Poland ($2 billion), Turkey ($1.4 billion), and Italy ($1 billion).
In the total volume of goods imported in January-May 2025, 68% were machinery, equipment, and transport—$11.9 billion (with customs clearance of these goods, 75.6 billion UAH, or 29% of customs payments, were paid to the budget), chemical products – $5.2 billion (UAH 41 billion and 15%, respectively), and fuel and energy – $4 billion (UAH 72.6 billion and 27%).
The top three most exported goods from Ukraine traditionally included food products – $9.7 billion, metals and metal products – $1.9 billion, and machinery, equipment, and transport – $1.5 billion.
According to the State Customs Service, in the first five months of 2025, UAH 121.6 million was paid to the budget during customs clearance of exports subject to export duties.
According to the results of 2024, Ukraine produced 7.1 million tons of pig iron, of which 1.3 million tons were exported. Apparent consumption of pig iron increased to 5.8 million tons, which is 21% more than in 2023 (4.8 million tons).
Ukraine rose to 10th place in the global ranking of net pig iron exporters with 3.4 million tons, while in 2023 it ranked 12th with 2.2 million tons.
Despite the positive dynamics in pig iron production and exports, Ukraine remains outside the top 20 steel exporters, a status it lost after 2021, when it exported 15.7 million tons of metal products and ranked 10th in the world.
