The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has adjusted its forecast for Ukraine’s wheat exports for the 2024/25 marketing year (MY, July 2024-June 2025) and lowered it by 0.5 million tons to 15.5 million tons, and corn by 1 million tons to 22 million tons.
The updated USDA forecast for February indicates that in 2024/25 MY wheat and corn production in Ukraine will remain at 22.9 mln tonnes and 26.5 mln tonnes, respectively.
At the same time, a slight increase in wheat production and consumption is expected, however, according to USDA, trade volumes and ending stocks will be lower. Accordingly, the forecast for global wheat production was increased by 0.6 million tons to 793.8 million tons, due to increased production in Kazakhstan (+0.6 million tons, to 18.6 million tons) and Argentina (+0.2 million tons, to 17.7 million tons).
Global wheat consumption will also increase by 1.8 mln tonnes to 803.7 mln tonnes due to higher use of feed grains and transitional residues in the EU, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Ukraine.
At the same time, the global wheat trade will decrease by 3 million tons to 209 million tons due to the decline in exports by the EU (-1.0 million tons, to 28.0 million tons), Mexico, Russia (-0.5 million tons, to 45.5 million tons), Turkey and Ukraine (-0.5 million tons, to 15.5 million tons). The largest reduction is expected in China – by 2.5 million tons, to 8.0 million tons, which will be the lowest imports in the last five years, although last year this country was the world’s leading supplier of wheat.
The same picture is expected for the world ending stocks in 2024/25 MY, which, according to the updated forecast, will decrease by 1.3 mln tonnes to 257.6 mln tonnes, due to the reduction in China, partially offset by the increase in stocks in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
In 2024/25 MY, the global corn market is expected to decline in all indicators. The global corn production is expected to decline by 1.9 mln tonnes to 1 bln 212.5 mln tonnes, mainly due to Argentina (-1.0 mln tonnes, to 50.0 mln tonnes) due to lower yields as a result of heat and Brazil (-1.0 mln tonnes, to 126.0 mln tonnes) and slow sowing.
The main changes in the world corn trade are related to the decrease in the forecasted corn exports from Brazil (-1.0 million tons, to 46.0 million tons), Ukraine (-1.0 million tons, to 22.0 million tons) and South Africa. External ending stocks of corn for 2024/25 MY were reduced by 3 million tons to 290.3 million tons.
Since February 2022, DTEK Energy’s coal mining, energy and machine-building enterprises have provided jobs for more than 3.8 thousand internally displaced people.
As the company said in a press release on Wednesday, more than 80% of those employed joined DTEK Energy’s coal mining companies. Most of them did not have a mining specialty and were retrained on the job. There are also many young people among the new employees who got their first job at Ukrainian mines.
“As a reliable partner and responsible employer, we systematically support the communities of the regions where our enterprises are located. We are always ready to accommodate people who have been forced to move,” said DTEK Energy CEO Aleksandr Fomenko.
“DTEK Energy provides a closed cycle of electricity generation from coal. As of January 2022, the company’s installed capacity in thermal generation amounted to 13.3 GW. The company has established a full production cycle in coal mining: coal mining and enrichment, mechanical engineering, and maintenance of mine equipment.
Currently, most of DTEK Group’s thermal generation facilities have been destroyed as a result of Russian attacks.
OKKO Group has begun construction of the first hotel complex of the GORO Mountain Resort in the Lviv Carpathians, the company’s press service reports.
“The construction of the first hotel complex is a strategically important stage in the implementation of the holistic concept of an international all-season resort. According to the master plan developed jointly with Austrian experts, a balanced combination of mountain, ski, hotel and entertainment infrastructure will help increase the length of guests’ stay, which will have a positive economic effect for the entire region,” said Vasyl Danyliak, CEO of OKKO Group and co-founder of GORO Mountain Resort.
The first complex includes three 415-room designer hotels with a total area of 48 thousand square meters, of which 11 thousand square meters are allocated for commercial and entertainment infrastructure, and construction of the first one has begun, the press service ofInterfax-Ukraine said.
OKKO Group started construction of a large-scale recreational project GORO Mountain Resort in October 2024. The total area of the future resort is almost 1.2 thousand hectares, of which 360 hectares are planned for mountain and ski infrastructure, and more than 800 hectares for the development of hotel, commercial and recreational facilities.
GORO Development, an investment and development company that is part of OKKO Group, is engaged in the sale of the resort’s hotel real estate. It is responsible for the development of architectural concepts, construction, functional and recreational content, as well as attracting investments in the hotel business.
Over the next 15 years, GORO Development plans to build 25 hotels with 5,150 rooms at the resort. The first phase on a 127-hectare plot near the village of Volosyanka, 5 km from the village of Slavsko in Lviv region, will include five hotel complexes, a total of nine hotels with 1100+ rooms, and is scheduled to be completed in 2028-2029.
In addition to hotels, it is also planned to build 41 75 km long ski slopes with 342 hectares of snow, two modern gondola lifts and 11 chair lifts, as well as Welcome and Mountain centers.
“GORO will become one of the largest recreational and infrastructure facilities in Ukraine, which will affect the country’s position in the European tourism arena,” Danyliak said.
As reported, in December 2024, the project received a long-term loan from FUIB for 10 years to implement key ski infrastructure facilities, including the Welcome Center, the lower station of the gondola cable car, and a multi-level parking lot, which are already under construction.
The total investment in GORO Mountain Resort is estimated at $1.5 billion. Of this amount, OKKO Group plans to invest $500 million at the expense of its own and credit funds, and another $1 billion is planned to be raised from other investors.
OKKO Group in GORO Mountain Resort acts as the sole owner, major investor, master developer, developer and operator to ensure the harmonious development and holistic concept of the all-season recreational project. OKKO Group has engaged world-class Austrian experts to create an international format: PKF Hospitality (investment analysis and concept), ILF Group (master plan and ski infrastructure) and Doppelmayr/Garaventa Gruppe (design of the lift system and cable cars).
OKKO Group unites more than 10 diversified businesses in manufacturing, trade, construction, insurance, maintenance, and other services. The flagship company of the group is Galnaftogaz, which operates one of the largest filling stations in Ukraine under the OKKO brand, with about 400 filling stations.
The group’s founder and ultimate beneficiary is Vitaliy Antonov.
In 2024, Ukrainian insurance companies specializing in non-life insurance increased their premiums by 12%, and in the life insurance segment by 14%.
This was announced by Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Dmytro Oliynyk at this year’s first meeting of the central bank’s management with insurance market participants, according to the NBU’s Facebook page.
According to him, the growth is taking place both in the segment of individuals and legal entities. Insurance payments have increased significantly – by 25%, which is 39% in terms of premiums (or 4 percentage points more than in 2023).
Oliynyk also said that in general, the insurance market shrank by 36% in 2024, as 36 companies left the market. Most of them left the market voluntarily by liquidating their insurance portfolio.
At the beginning of the year, 65 insurers remained in the market, including 10 from the life insurance segment. More than 95% of them are solvent insurers in both the non-life and life insurance markets, he emphasized.
According to the NBU Deputy Governor, the market recovery continues, as evidenced by the increase in the share of eligible assets – from 88% to 92% – and the alignment of corporate governance systems with legal requirements by most insurers. Companies also continue to take steps to implement and maintain an effective internal control system.
“Over the past year, insurers have brought their activities in line with the requirements of the new legislation, primarily in terms of solvency, information disclosure and proper functioning of the management system. The insurance market continues to develop qualitatively, complying with all legal requirements,” he commented.
According to the report, the meeting also addressed the introduction of a self-assessment questionnaire, which will become the basis for further research and assessment of insurers, further improvement of reporting, in particular monthly reporting on certain indicators, as well as the creation and filling of a register of insurance intermediaries and the professional suitability of their training, joining the efforts of insurance organizations, which will help consolidate market positions and improve communication with the regulator.
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has decided to impose sanctions against a number of Ukrainian businessmen and politicians, Ukrayinska Pravda reports, citing sources in the NSDC.
“At a meeting on February 12, the National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions against businessman Ihor Kolomoisky, billionaire Kostyantyn Zhevago, former co-owner of Privatbank Hennadiy Boholyubov, the 5th President of Ukraine, MP of the European Solidarity Party Petro Poroshenko, and former MP from the banned OPFL, accused of treason, Viktor Medvedchuk,” the report said.
The publication emphasized that several other representatives of the National Security and Defense Council confirmed this information. As reported, the European Solidarity party announced the sanctions against Poroshenko at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council. There is currently no official information on the results of the NSDC meeting.
According to the electronic public procurement system “Prozorro”, the expected cost of purchasing the service is UAH 1.162 million. The deadline for submitting bids is February 16.
