The enterprises of Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, have completed the spring sowing campaign on 146,000 hectares, responding quickly to the weather conditions of the season, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
“This year’s spring sowing took place under challenging weather conditions: abnormally high temperatures in March and frosts in April. Low soil moisture reserves after winter and their rapid decline due to early temperature rises forced the team to act quickly and in a coordinated manner. During a short “window” of favorable conditions, our divisions coordinated the entire complex of spring field work, completing sowing in the shortest possible time,” said Andriy Zagorulko, director of the crop production, logistics, and mechanization department of the agricultural holding.
Astarta noted that in the 2025 season, the crop structure will be as follows: sugar beets – 34,000 hectares, soybeans – 56,000 hectares, winter wheat – 46,000 hectares, sunflowers – 29,000 hectares, rapeseed – 11,000 hectares, corn – 14,000 hectares, and organic crops – 2,000 hectares.
Farmers are currently continuing to care for their crops, constantly monitoring their condition, moisture levels, and phytosanitary status. The production team is actively preparing for the start of the early grain harvest, which will begin in less than two months.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares, dairy farms with 22,000 head of cattle, an oil extraction plant in Hlobyn (Poltava region), seven elevators, and a biogas complex.
” In the first nine months of 2024, Astarta increased its net profit by 35.1% compared to the same period in 2023, to EUR75.60 million, revenue grew by 12.6% to EUR441.46 million, and EBITDA by 12.8% to $131.56 million.
In January-April this year, DTEK Energy’s machine builders manufactured and repaired 1,136 pieces of mining equipment, including three new combines for mining operations.
According to a press release issued by the energy holding company on Tuesday, the machine builders also supplied mines with over 735,000 spare parts and components.
“We are already actively preparing for the next autumn-winter period. Our main task is to get through it as reliably as possible. To this end, our machine builders are providing miners with the necessary equipment and hundreds of thousands of spare parts, on which the reliability of coal production depends, and therefore the operation of thermal power generation, especially during peak electricity consumption,” DTEK Energy CEO Alexander Fomenko is quoted as saying in the press release.
According to Korum Druzhkivka Machine Building Plant, one of DTEK Energy’s machine-building assets, in January-April it manufactured 106 units of GSH (including 34 in April), repaired two KPD combines, and produced over 286,000 components.
According to a press release, DTEK Energy miners have put five coal longwall faces into operation since the beginning of the year.
As reported, in 2024, the company’s investments in Ukrainian coal mining amounted to UAH 7.5 billion, and over the last three years (2022-2024) – UAH 18 billion. The funds were allocated for the construction and repair of capital mine workings, the completion of coal longwall panels, the equipping of mines with tunneling equipment, underground mine transport, and projects to support production capacities.
DTEK Energy provides a closed cycle of coal-fired power generation. As of January 2022, the company’s installed thermal generation capacity was 13.3 GW. A full production cycle has been established in coal mining: coal extraction and enrichment, machine building, and maintenance of mining equipment.
Since the beginning of 2025, 7,400 agricultural enterprises have received almost UAH 44.5 billion under various state programs, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram following a government meeting on Tuesday, emphasizing that Ukrainian farmers are actively using such support instruments.
The Prime Minister stressed that subsidies for the development of livestock farming have been allocated to 7,700 farms. The state has attracted more than UAH 390 million in grant funds from the World Bank to pay the next tranche under the relevant program.
In addition, under the demining compensation program, farmers received almost 1,400 hectares of land for cultivation. In total, thanks to the work of sappers, areas with a total area of over 35,000 square kilometers have been returned to use.
“As part of the comprehensive program “Made in Ukraine,” we are paying compensation to agricultural producers who purchase Ukrainian equipment. Last year, farmers purchased 5,300 units of equipment. We expect demand to be even higher this year,” the head of government added.
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Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time since February 2025, reaching an intraday high of $105,747. This was made possible by the reduction of trade tariffs between the US and China, as well as expectations of interest rate cuts in the US.
Ethereum (ETH) also showed growth, reaching $2,620, which is 40% higher than the previous week.
Institutional investment has increased significantly: over the past three weeks, $5.3 billion has flowed into Bitcoin ETFs, indicating growing confidence in cryptocurrencies among large investors.
Key trends
Bitcoin’s position as “digital gold” is strengthening: its market share reached 64%, the highest since 2021.
Growing institutional interest: Strategy acquired 13,390 bitcoins worth $1.34 billion, increasing its total assets to 568,840 BTC.
Analyst forecasts: According to Standard Chartered, bitcoin could reach $120,000 in the second quarter of 2025.
Potential risks
Low trading volumes may indicate caution among major players and possible volatility in the short term.
Regulatory uncertainties and possible policy changes could affect market dynamics.
Short-term forecast
Bitcoin is expected to continue fluctuating in the $100,000–$107,000 range, with a possible rise to $120,000 if current trends continue. However, investors should be prepared for short-term volatility and closely monitor macroeconomic and regulatory developments.
