Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

UPSK shareholders allocate UAH 11.2 mln for dividends for 2024

Shareholders of Ukrainian Fire Insurance Company (UPSK, Kyiv) at a meeting on May 1, 2025, decided to allocate UAH 11.2 million of undistributed profit for 2024 to dividends, the company reported in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC).

The dividend per share is UAH 0.7.

Earlier, the draft resolution of the shareholders’ meeting reported that UPSK’s profit for 2024 amounted to UAH 15.788 million, of which UAH 11.2 million was planned to be allocated for the payment of dividends and UAH 4.588 million was to be left undistributed.

As reported, UPSK shareholders at the meeting on November 5, 2024, considered the issue of allocating UAH 4.8 million of undistributed profit for 2023 to dividends, and at the meeting on May 7, 2024, UAH 25.6 million for 2022.

PJSC UPSK was registered in 1993. It specializes, in particular, in insurance of motor vehicles, financial risks, tourists, property, cargo, and luggage.

The insurer is a member of the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine and has 36 licenses to conduct insurance activities: 20 for voluntary insurance and 16 for compulsory insurance.

According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, as of the second quarter of 2024, Alexander Mikhailov owns 99.999% of the insurer’s shares.

The insurer’s authorized capital is UAH 100 million.

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Ukrainians’ attitude towards Azerbaijan: positive sentiment prevails, but neutrality remains high

According to the results of a nationwide survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with the Experts Club think tank in April 2025, most Ukrainians have a positive or neutral attitude towards Azerbaijan.

Thus, 42.4% of respondents expressed a positive attitude towards the country, of which 33.6% were mostly positive and 8.8% were completely positive. A neutral attitude was chosen by 45.4% of respondents. Only 7.7% of Ukrainians expressed a negative opinion: 6.9% were mostly negative, and 0.7% were completely negative. Another 4.5% were undecided.

“Azerbaijan is perceived quite positively by Ukrainians, which is the result of both historical contacts and current support in the international arena. At the same time, the high level of neutrality indicates the absence of deeper emotional attachment,” said Maksim Urakin, PhD in Economics and founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center.

Ukrainians generally have a positive or neutral attitude toward Azerbaijan, while the percentage of negative assessments is quite low.

The presentation of the study is available at the link.

 

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Ukraine to increase wheat and corn exports – USDA forecast

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published its first forecast for grain exports from Ukraine for the 2025/26 marketing year (MY): it expects wheat exports to grow to 16.5 million tons from 16 million tons in 2024/25 MY and corn exports to grow to 24 million tons from 22 million tons.

According to the forecast on the US agency’s website, this year’s wheat harvest in Ukraine will decrease slightly to 23 million tons from 23.4 million tons last year, while domestic consumption will decline to 6.6 million tons in this MY from 6.7 million tons in the previous MY, with carryover stocks remaining at 1.49 million tons.

As for corn, the USDA expects its harvest to increase to 30.5 million tons from 26.8 million tons last year, as well as an increase in domestic consumption to 6.23 million tons from 5.15 million tons and carryover stocks from 0.31 million tons to 0.6 million tons.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, the total harvest of feed crops this year will amount to 37.04 million tons, compared to 33.47 million tons last year, and their exports in 2025/26 MY will reach 27.58 million tons, up from 24.48 million tons in 2024/25 MY.

Overall, the USDA expects wheat harvests to increase this year to 808.5 million tons from 799.7 million tons last year, and corn harvests to increase to 1,265.0 million tons from 1,221.3 million tons.

As for wheat exports, according to the US Department of Agriculture, in 2025/26 MY, they will increase to 212.99 million tons from 206.12 million tons this MY, and corn exports will increase to 195.81 million tons from 189.35 million tons.

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Forbes has published its ranking of business champion banks: OTP Bank is among top three

OTP Bank has been ranked among the top three business champion banks by Forbes Ukraine magazine. It took second place in terms of efficiency and stability.
The article calls OTP BANK a model of balance in key ranking indicators. “Restrained growth, no excessive liquidity, which is typical for many banks with foreign capital, but top-three efficiency and good stability,” the Forbes article notes.
In particular, OTP Bank was included in the list of banking institutions with assets exceeding $1 billion, where it ranked third. The magazine’s analytical department also compiled a list of the “Second League” – leaders among banks with less than $1 billion in assets.
In total, the magazine’s rating includes the 20 largest and most efficient banks in Ukraine. Their activities were analyzed based on an integrated indicator of efficiency (profitability), dynamics, stability, and liquidity. As stated in the article, the main task was to find out which bankers had built (or rebuilt) a high-quality banking business during three years of full-scale war. The material is available in the print version of the magazine No. 2 (35), April-May 2025.
As a reminder, in March, OTP BANK was among the top five leaders in the bank stability rating according to the Minfin portal.

 

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Ukrainians’ attitude towards Uzbekistan: restrained interest with predominance of neutrality

Most Ukrainians do not have a strong opinion about Uzbekistan, according to the results of a nationwide sociological survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with the Experts Club analytical center in April 2025.

According to the survey, 63.4% of respondents chose a neutral position towards this country. 21.7% of Ukrainians are positively disposed, including 16.3% who are mostly positive and 5.4% who are completely positive. At the same time, 9.3% of respondents have a negative attitude: 7.9% are mostly negative, and 1.5% are completely negative. Another 5.6% of Ukrainians were unable to decide on an answer.

“Ukrainians mostly perceive Uzbekistan without strong emotions, which is typical for countries with which there are no close political or informational ties. At the same time, part of the population sees positive aspects in interaction with this country,” notes Maksim Urakin, candidate of economic sciences and founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center.

The presentation of the study is available at the link.

 

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Naftogaz increased tax payments to ₴30.3 bln in four months

In January-April 2025, Naftogaz Group companies paid ₴30.3 billion in taxes, which is more than in the same period of 2024, when ₴28.4 billion was paid.

“In April 2025, ₴7.1 billion was paid. Of this amount, the group transferred ₴6.4 billion to the state budget and ₴692 million to local budgets,” the company said on Monday.

As emphasized by Naftogaz CEO Roman Chumak, the group’s enterprises demonstrate stable tax payment dynamics, contributing to the country’s financial stability.

“Since the beginning of the year, the group has provided 7.6% of all tax revenues to the budget,” he said.

As reported, the net profit of the Naftogaz group for 2024 amounted to almost UAH 38 billion. According to last year’s results, the group’s enterprises paid UAH 88.6 billion in taxes to the general budget, of which UAH 81.8 billion went to the state budget and UAH 6.8 billion to local budgets.

In addition, Naftogaz of Ukraine paid UAH 15.7 billion in dividends to the state in 2024.

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