In 2024, Ukraine transported about 11.36 million tons of Russian oil through the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline, reducing transit by 16% compared to last year.
“This is the lowest value at least since 2014, and probably in the entire history of Ukraine’s independence since 1991,” former Energy Minister Olha Buslavets posted on Facebook late last week.
According to her, most of the Russian oil in 2024 was supplied to Hungary – more than 4.7 million tons, which is almost the same as in 2023. In addition, 3.9 million tons of oil were transported to Slovakia (-15%) and 2.7 million tons (-35%) to the Czech Republic.
As reported, in July 2024, Ukraine tightened sanctions against Russia’s LUKOIL, effectively banning the transit of oil to Central Europe through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline. The company was a major supplier of raw materials to both Hungary (about a third of the country’s imports) and Slovakia (40-45%).
At the same time, in September, the Hungarian MOL Group announced an agreement with Russian oil suppliers and pipeline operators to ensure its transportation via the Druzhba pipeline through Belarus and Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. According to MOL Group, the company has taken over ownership of the relevant volumes of crude oil on the border of Belarus and Ukraine.
Also in September, EC spokesman Olof Gill said that after Ukraine banned LUKOIL’s oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia, the European Commission (EC) quickly took all necessary steps to resolve the issue. He noted that LUKOIL is not the only oil supplier to Hungary and Slovakia.
Lviv-based Cardboard and Paper Company LLC, a major Ukrainian manufacturer of cardboard tubes, produced products worth UAH 1 billion 333 million in 2024, up 5.1% year-on-year.
According to statistics provided toInterfax-Ukraine by UkrPapir Association, the company thus consolidated the positive production dynamics it had achieved in the first nine months of the year.
In physical terms, the company reduced its output of cardboard products by 5.8% to 24.9 thousand tons last year, while it increased its production of paper base for sanitary products by almost 10% to 8.7 thousand tons.
Production of toilet paper in rolls decreased by 5.5% to 5.79 million units.
At the same time, in December, the company increased its paper and cardboard production by 14.7% compared to December 2023, but decreased by 19.3% compared to November 2024, to 2.3 thousand tons.
LLC “Cardboard and Paper Company” produces products and semi-finished products from waste cardboard (cardboard sheets, corners, sleeves), pulp and recycled waste paper (toilet paper, towels, napkins TM Papero). The company supplies its products, in particular, to the EU countries.
Among its customers are Biosphere, Arterium, Nestle, Khlibprom, Yarych, and Galych dairy companies.
TikTok is no longer available to users in the U.S., the result of a controversial law that forces the popular platform to go offline unless it separates from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, npr.org reported.
“When users tried to open the app around 10:35 p.m. ET, a message appeared saying, ‘Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable. A law banning TikTok has gone into effect in the United States. Unfortunately, this means you cannot use TikTok right now.”
The post goes on to say that newly elected President Donald Trump has promised to “work with us on a solution to restore TikTok as soon as he takes office. Please stay tuned! ”
Around the same time, TikTok also stopped appearing in the Apple and Google Play app stores. A law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Apple and Google to remove the service from their app stores. It also ordered web hosting companies, including TikTok’s internal cloud provider, Oracle, to stop supporting the app. Otherwise, they will face penalties that could reach billions of dollars.
In 2024, Ukraine increased its exports of goods by 15% to $41.7 billion, while agricultural exports brought the country half of 50% of its export earnings of $20.9 billion, according to the review of Ukraine’s economy during the war, which is conducted monthly by the Center for Economic Strategies in cooperation with the German Economic Team (GET).
The analysts noted that the mining and metallurgical complex received $6.9 billion (17%) of export earnings in 2024, the food industry – $3.7 billion (9%), and machine building – $3.6 billion (9%). At the same time, sugar exports in 2024 reached 750 thousand tons and brought producers $420 million, the highest figure since 1997, when Ukraine started keeping statistics.
The top ten export products that brought Ukraine the highest foreign exchange earnings included sunflower oil and corn – $5.1 billion each, wheat – $3.7 billion, iron ore – $2.8 billion, steel and rolled products – $2, 4 billion, rapeseed – $1.8 billion, soybeans and meal – $1.3 billion each, wood and timber – $1.1 billion, poultry – $1 billion, furniture – $0.8 billion, steel pipes and barley – $0.6 billion each, and cast iron – $0.5 billion.
At the same time, total imports in 2024 grew by 11% to $70.7 billion, experts said.
According to their information, the main imported goods last year were oil and oil products – $6.8 billion (10%), cars – $4.4 billion (6%), pharmaceuticals – $2.0 billion (3%), mobile phones – $1.3 billion (2%), fertilizers – $1.2 billion (2%) and drones – $1.1 billion (2%).
Trypillia Packaging Plant (TPK, Ukrainka, Kyiv region), a subsidiary of Rubizhne Cardboard and Packaging Plant, which has stopped operations in Luhansk region, increased its corrugated packaging output by 13.3% in 2024 compared to 2023, to 165.2 million square meters.
According to statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine by UkrPapir Association, by the end of the year the mill slowed down the growth rate of this indicator slightly compared to the same period in 2023: in 11 months it was 16.4%, and in ten months it was 20%.
At the same time, TPK steadily retains its second place in corrugated packaging production in Ukraine after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (228.3 million square meters).
According to the association, in December 2024, TPK reduced corrugated packaging production by 14% compared to December 2023, but increased by 6% compared to November 2024, to 12.8 million square meters.
In monetary terms, TUC’s production increased by almost 10% last year to UAH 2 billion 726 million.
As reported, the main enterprises of the industry, which provided data to Ukrpapir Association, increased the production of cardboard boxes by 12.3% in 2024 to 590.1 million square meters, but compared to the pre-war year 2021, their production decreased by 21.8%.
Earlier it was reported that before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Rubizhne Cardboard Processing Plant, together with TPK, was the leading corrugated packaging producer in Ukraine.
After the destruction in Rubizhne, the plant shut down, and the legal entity Rubizhne CPP was re-registered in Kyiv.
TPK produces a wide range of corrugated cardboard products for food, industrial goods, and chemicals. Among its customers are Roshen, Coca-Cola, MHP agricultural holding, and Lactalis Group.
In 2023, the plant increased its commercial output by 13.7% compared to 2022, to UAH 2 billion 480 million, while corrugated packaging production increased by 18%, to 145.8 million square meters.
Jarek Neverovic, former Lithuanian energy minister and chief advisor to the Lithuanian president on environment and infrastructure issues, has become chairman of the supervisory board of Energoatom, a source in the government told the Energoreforma Internet portal. Neverovic is an independent member of Energoatom’s National Assembly, which was formed back in June 2024, but has not been fully operational until now.
He has held various positions in his country’s government related to the operation of the electricity transmission system, management of investment funds and cooperation with national and multinational corporations.
According to Forbes.ua, citing its sources in Enerhoatom, another independent member of the National Assembly, Timothy Stone, refused to sign a contract, but is considering being an advisor.
As reported, Stone has experience as an independent director of the British Horizon Nuclear Power, a non-executive director of the European Investment Bank and heads the UK Nuclear Industry Association (NIA).
Prior to that, the fact that the supervisory board of Energoatom on Friday, January 17, elects its chairman and will begin full work, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.
“The issue of corruption, I think, will be solved….. Today the chairman of the supervisory board (“Energoatom” – ER) is already being fully elected. Accordingly, there will be a functioning supervisory board that will monitor all decisions that will be made. From the point of view of corporate governance, I think this is the best way out,” he said during the ‘Hour of questions to the government’, which is broadcast by MP Oleksiy Honcharenko (European Solidarity faction).
The Cabinet of Ministers approved Timothy Stone (Timothy John Stone), Michael E. Kirst and Jarek Neverovic as independent members of the supervisory board of Energoatom by order No. 566 of June 21, 2024, and Timofey Milovanov and Vitaliy Petruk as representatives of the state.
Since then, the Supervisory Board has not fully started its work. Interfax-Ukraine sources specified that the independent members were not satisfied with the amount of remuneration.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the terms of contracts with members of the NAEK’s supervisory board by Order No. 1224 of November 26, 2024, without disclosing details.
In December of the same year, First Deputy Economy Minister Oleksiy Sobolev said that the government was waiting for a position on the contracts and readiness to continue work from the independent members of Energoatom’s supervisory board, whose first meeting has been open since July 17. According to him, the proposed conditions are in line with salaries in other major Ukrainian energy companies.
In early January 2025, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Golos faction) suggested that international partners should be involved in the discussion of the disruption of the NAEK Energoatom supervisory board.
The EU ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Maternova, said in a reply to a letter of inquiry from the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on 14 January that the G7 ambassadors had urged Prime Minister Denys Shmygal to ensure the work of the supervisory board of the NAEK Enerhoatom as soon as possible. According to her, having a full-fledged council will be important for discussing significant new investments.
