Participants in a press conference on “Problems of the capital’s agglomeration: the boundaries of the city of Kyiv” called for systematic dialogue between the Kyiv city authorities and communities in the suburban area, stressing that the lack of coordinated approaches hinders development and provokes legal disputes.
“There are many problems, but there are solutions to all problems if there is a will. If there are not enough laws, new ones can be passed. If there are not enough codes, they must be created. However, if the Kyiv authorities are not interested, the result will be the same. International partners are ready to provide Ukraine with financial and technical assistance to implement reforms, but practical progress depends on the willingness of central and local authorities to work together,” said Oleksiy Usachov, chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Policy Institute, at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday.
He noted that systematic cooperation based on mutual respect and openness to dialogue should be a key factor in the development of the capital’s agglomeration. Usachov stressed that further ignoring the problem would lead to a loss of time and investment. In conclusion, the moderator noted that the issue of agglomeration development will only gain real momentum if democratic elections are held and local authorities resume their political responsibility.
Serhiy Danish, head of the Kotsyubynska ATC, said that the community does not object to substantive dialogue on the future of the village, but expects clear proposals and guarantees from Kyiv.
“If Kyiv wants to annex us, our territory, our people, then it must have something to offer. The Kyiv City Council’s decision on ‘annexation for zero hryvnias’ does not correspond to the realities and needs of the residents. Instead, the capital must first demonstrate its willingness to invest in social infrastructure — kindergartens, schools, roads — so that people themselves will go to Kyiv because of better conditions and services,” he stressed.
Danish also pointed to conflicts with the state cadastre and fiscal charges. According to him, more than half of the village was entered into the cadastre as Kyiv, after which the village council was sent demands to pay land tax “under the village council’s land.”
According to Danish, despite the fact that the Kotsyubynska, district, and regional councils had prepared a complete set of documents, the head of the cadastre went on sick leave and effectively blocked the case, citing the unresolved issue with Kyiv. As an illustration of the risks of annexation without proper guarantees, he cited the example of Zhuliany, where after joining the capital there are no roads, no lighting, no infrastructure, and the interests of the community are represented on a residual basis.
Svitlana Dakhno, head of the land relations department of the Kyiv Regional State Administration’s Department of Urban Development and Architecture, reported that the Kyiv Regional State Administration is cooperating with the Kotsyubynska community and other adjacent ATCs, but “the lack of a coordinated position between the city community of Kyiv and the communities near the capital negatively affects development and generates a significant number of legal disputes.” She noted that the lack of a coordinated position between Kyiv and the surrounding communities already has tangible consequences, particularly in the area of land relations and territorial planning.
“The Kyiv Regional State Administration works directly with the Kotsyubynska community. The lack of a coordinated position between the Kyiv city community and the communities surrounding the capital has a negative impact on development and gives rise to a significant number of legal disputes. The regional administration supports the position of the territorial communities and is interested in developing a common position and bringing the issue into line with the law, as this directly affects the development of communities and their ability to exercise their powers in the relevant territories,” Dakhno said.
Igor Reva, deputy head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, stressed the need to “lower the level of dialogue” to the public arena so that the topic of agglomeration becomes socially significant and “public pressure” for decision-making emerges.
“If we keep doing the same things, we will get the same results… We need to create a platform where the public can exchange ideas, develop specific decisions, and continue to put pressure on the authorities,” he said.
Ivan Fursenko, advisor to the Association of Ukrainian Cities, noted that substantive discussion of the Kyiv agglomeration became possible in 2020 after the formation of capable communities with equal powers around the capital. In his opinion, the key is consistency in management decisions and strategic planning based on European approaches.
“Europe relies on strategic planning documents at the agglomeration level. Consistency of power and political will are needed: someone has to take on additional responsibility, and someone has to give it up,” the expert stressed.
According to regional authorities, the legislative framework is sufficient for developing models of cooperation and coordination, but strict compliance with the rules is necessary. Oleg Ivanenko stressed that agglomeration policy cannot be based on unilateral decisions. He noted that the Kotsyubynska community is capable and has a sufficient budget, and any agreements must be made in a civilized manner with the participation of all parties.
The issue of suburban communities’ investment participation in joint infrastructure projects and possible adjustments to powers in the event of the adoption of a special law on the Kyiv agglomeration was discussed separately.
“Satellite cities must be prepared to invest significantly in bilateral cooperation; if an agglomeration is created, their powers in terms of planning and development may be partially redistributed,” it was noted at the event.
Participants also recalled that the Kyiv agglomeration is the largest urban entity in Ukraine with a population of several million, so the task is to ensure a comfortable living space and balanced development of both the capital and the surrounding communities.
The press conference was attended by: Oleg Ivanenko, deputy of the Kyiv Regional Council and Paralympian; Andriy Yeremenko, sociologist and founder of Active Group; Ivan Fursenko, advisor to the Association of Ukrainian Cities; Svitlana Dakhno, head of the Land Relations Department of the Kyiv Regional State Administration; Serhiy Danish, head of the Kotsyubynska OTG; Ihor Reva, deputy head of the KMVA. Moderator — Oleksiy Usachov, chairman of the board of the Institute of Ukrainian Politics.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/press-conference/1118304.html
ACTIVE GROUP, Dakhno, DANISH, Єременко, Іваненко, Рева, Усачов, Фурсенко
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, may acquire Sanvin 11 LLC (Odesa), which owns a 12.95 MW solar power plant in Zhytomyr region that was commissioned in 2019.
According to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on its website, the issue of granting the relevant permission will be considered on Thursday.
According to YouControl, Sanvin 11 is currently owned on a parity basis by Czech citizen Natalia Bogachova and Israeli citizen Peter Rosenkrantz through the Cypriot company Merestono Limited.
Last year, the company increased its revenue by 16% to UAH 89.0 million, while its net profit grew by 62.9% to UAH 33.2 million.
Kyivstar serves nearly 23 million mobile subscribers and over 1.1 million home internet subscribers. Recently, the company, which accumulated a significant amount of free cash during the war amid currency restrictions, has been actively investing in other industries and expects to reap synergies from these investments.
Its portfolio of digital services includes the Helsi medical platform, the Kyivstar TV film and television platform, and Uklon, a leading ride-hailing and delivery company. Kyivstar is also a provider of solutions for corporate clients, offering cloud technology, cyber security, and artificial intelligence services. Through its Kyivstar.Tech division, the company is developing software development in Ukraine and is a partner for international technology companies such as Starlink.
In the second quarter of this year, Kyivstar increased its net profit by 18.6% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 3.4 billion, while its operating revenue grew by 25.9%, to UAH 11.86 billion.
Novokramatorsk Machine-Building Plant (NKMZ, Kramatorsk, Donetsk region) ended January-September of this year with a loss of UAH 108.9 million, while for the same period last year, net profit amounted to UAH 73.7 million.
According to the financial report published on the plant’s website, net income increased by 51% to UAH 1 billion 174 million.
NKMZ received UAH 268 million in gross profit, up 6%, with UAH 92.6 million in operating losses (UAH 2.4 million for the same period last year).
Products worth UAH 919.6 million were exported, accounting for 78.3% of total revenue (82% a year earlier).
India was the largest importer of products, with deliveries increasing by 15.5% to UAH 423.8 million. Exports to Lithuania increased by 57.5% to UAH 137.8 million, to Poland by 3.6 times to UAH 12.4 million, and to
Kazakhstan amounted to UAH 17 million compared to UAH 1.1 million last year.
Products were also supplied to countries to which there were no deliveries in January-September 2024, in particular, to Bulgaria – worth UAH 84.3 million, and China – worth UAH 48 million.
Deliveries to Ukrainian customers increased by 86.4% to UAH 254.7 million.
As reported, the plant ended the first half of this year with a loss of UAH 61.2 million, which is seven times more than in the same period last year, with net income more than doubling to UAH 795.5 million.
Thus, in the third quarter of this year, NKMZ incurred a loss of UAH 47.7 million, while in the same period of 2024, net profit amounted to UAH 82.2 million. Net income decreased by 5% to UAH 378.7 million.
“The company’s activities in the fourth quarter of 2025 and in 2026 will most likely be limited,” the report states.
NKMZ reminds that the company is located in the frontline territory, and the most important factor remains its activities “in the context of the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine.” This has led to a significant reduction in production volumes and has resulted in the irregular nature of production and economic activities. In particular, in October-December of this year, it is expected to manufacture and sell commercial products worth UAH 327 million, 5,000 tons of liquid steel (4,800 tons were produced in the third quarter), 300 tons of steel castings (284 tons), 3,600 tons of forgings (3,570 tons), and 5,700 model sets and packages (5,370) are expected to be produced and sold.
“The draft production plans for 2026 include 12,000 tons of machinery and equipment for the metallurgical, mining, and construction industries, lifting and loading and unloading equipment, and spare parts,” the report says.
According to the report, the value of contracts concluded but not yet fulfilled as of September 30, 2025, amounted to UAH 672.95 million. The expected profits from their fulfillment are UAH 171.87 million.
NKMZ is a city-forming enterprise in Kramatorsk, the largest in Ukraine in the production of rolling, metallurgical, forging and pressing, hydraulic, mining, lifting and transport, hydraulic and railway equipment.
As reported, NKMZ’s capacities were forced to be mothballed with the start of the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, and on October 1, 2023, it began to partially resume operations.
The plant ended last year with a net profit of UAH 36.3 million, while in 2023, the loss amounted to UAH 856.93 million, and net income increased 3.2 times to UAH 1.15 billion, in particular, products worth UAH 941.3 million (82%) were exported.
For the current year, the plant has preliminarily planned to increase sales by 81.5% compared to 2024, to UAH 2.08 billion.
The number of employees at the beginning of 2025 was 5,660.
In January-October of this year, the Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works in Zaporizhia increased rolled steel production by 14.5% compared to the same period last year, to 2 million 291.8 thousand tons.
According to the plant’s press release, steel production for the period amounted to 2 million 660.6 thousand tons (in January-October 2024 – 2.418 million tons), and pig iron production amounted to 2 million 945.1 thousand tons (2.5622 million tons).
In October, Zaporizhstal produced 302,500 tons of pig iron, 275,400 tons of steel, and 204,900 tons of rolled products, while in the previous month it produced 303,400 tons of pig iron, 279,800 tons of steel, and 247,300 tons of rolled products.
As reported, in 2024, Zaporizhstal increased its rolled steel output by 18.1% compared to 2023, to 2 million 426.7 thousand tons from 2 million 54.7 thousand tons, and steel output by 17.2%, to 2 million 890.8 thousand tons, and pig iron by 14.2%, to 3 million 106.3 thousand tons.
In 2023, Zaporizhstal increased its rolled steel production by 57.2% compared to 2022, to 2 million 54.7 thousand tons, steel by 65.4%, to 2 million 466.9 thousand tons, and pig iron by 35.3%, to 2 million 718.9 thousand tons.
Zaporizhstal is one of Ukraine’s largest industrial enterprises, whose products are in high demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
Zaporizhstal is a joint venture of the Metinvest Group, whose main shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Steel Limited (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
According to Serbian Economist, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a telephone conversation with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, during which the parties discussed European integration in detail and agreed to stay in touch. Zelensky reported on the conversation on his Telegram channel. The leaders also touched on coordination on regional security and the immediate international agenda.
We remind you that the day before, the European Commission published its annual reports on EU enlargement. The document on Serbia notes both the advanced elements of reforms and sensitive issues of foreign policy alignment with the EU. Vučić publicly reiterated his position that membership should be assessed on the basis of merit criteria rather than political alignment, against the backdrop of discussions on sanctions policy and dialogue on Kosovo.
At the same time, Kyiv is seeking to accelerate its own negotiation track with the EU. On the day the enlargement package was published, Zelensky called for the process to be brought to the opening of all clusters and for accession to be targeted by 2030, recognizing the need for further anti-corruption and institutional reforms.
In the context of the European Commission’s report, Belgrade is set to engage in dialogue with Brussels on aligning its foreign policy and economic agreements, while Kyiv is focusing on implementing recommendations for the next stage of negotiations. The positions of the leaders following the conversation indicate a willingness to maintain working contacts and exchange experiences in sectors related to the European agenda.
The previous confirmed call between Zelensky and Vučić took place on May 22, 2025.
https://t.me/relocationrs/1685
Ukraine exported 3.2 million tons of grains and oilseeds in the first four months of the 2025-2026 marketing year (MY, July-June), according to the Ukrainian Grain Association on Facebook.
According to the infographic, exports were most active in August (3.3 million tons) and October (3.21 million tons). At the same time, exports in October exceeded September figures (2.4 million tons) by 32%.
Wheat sales peaked in August at 2.048 million tons, which is 36.5% more than in October (1.5 million tons). Barley exports were also most active in August (324,000 tons), which is 36.1% more than in September (238,000 tons) and 62% more than in October (200,000 tons).
Corn exports, on the other hand, picked up in October and reached 1.094 million tons, significantly more than the September figure of 61 thousand tons and the August figure of 230 thousand tons.
Foreign trade in soybeans also picked up in October – 230 thousand tons, compared to 78 thousand tons in September and 208 thousand tons in August this year.
Rapeseed exports were most active in August – 519 thousand tons, while in September and October, 220 thousand tons and 177 thousand tons were delivered to foreign markets, respectively.
