Kyiv’s K41 Community Fund announced that the investor has bought the building of the former Richert brewery in the Podil district of the capital and canceled the project to build the Richert & Park residential complex on this territory.
“From now on, A Development is leaving the territory of Yurkovytsia, and this site is protected from residential development. We have found investments that allowed us to buy the building of the Richert plant and also to lease the land around the brewery with a lake for a long-term lease,” the K41 Community Fund project said on its Instagram page.
According to him, a park with a lake and public spaces are planned to be opened on this territory.
Earlier, in November 2024, A Development reported on a change in the concept of the renovation project “Richert & Park”, namely, a reduction in the building area by 40 thousand square meters and the creation of a 5.85-hectare park with a cultural center. The customer of the construction was Keramoblocks-Invest LLC.
However, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine later approved the acquisition of Keriks Development LLC by AMC Progressive Investment Strategies, which was the tenant of the land plots where the renovation project was planned.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of AMC Progressive Investment Strategies is the CEO of the Kernel agricultural holding, Andriy Verevsky. As of April 24, 2025, Verevsky is also listed as a beneficiary of Kerix Development. The previous beneficiary, Oleksiy Baranov, who owns A Development, was removed from the register on February 4.
In addition, in February, the owner of Keramobloki-Invest also changed: the current owner is Kernel-Trade LLC owned by Verevsky, and Baranov was removed from the founders of JSC ZNVKIF Laram System.
The first Central Asia-Italy summit scheduled for April 27 in Astana has been postponed at the request of the Italian side. The reason for the postponement was the participation of Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni in mourning events on the occasion of the death of Pope Francis. New dates for the visit and the summit will be agreed upon and announced later.
The summit was supposed to be the first meeting in the Central Asia-Italy format with the participation of the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The following issues were expected to be discussed.
Development of a strategic partnership between Italy and the countries of Central Asia.
Strengthening economic and trade ties.
Cooperation in the field of energy and sustainable development.
Discussion of regional security and cultural and humanitarian exchange.
The summit was expected to sign agreements and joint statements aimed at expanding cooperation between Italy and the countries of the region.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni postponed her visit to Kazakhstan and participation in the summit due to the need to attend mourning events in memory of Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025. Italy has declared five days of national mourning.
Despite the postponement, both sides expressed interest in holding the summit in the near future. New dates for the Italian Prime Minister’s visit and the Central Asia-Italy summit are expected to be agreed upon in the coming weeks.
In April, the sociological company Active Group, together with the Experts Club information and analytical center, conducted a public opinion survey on international sympathies of Ukrainians. The survey was conducted online among 800 respondents, representative of age, gender and regions. The purpose of the study was to find out which countries enjoy the greatest trust and sympathy in Ukrainian society.
“This study confirms the general vector of public sentiment in Ukraine, which has intensified since the outbreak of a large-scale war. Ukrainians clearly associate the support received primarily from the European Union and the United Kingdom with a positive attitude towards them,” said Alexander Poznyi, co-founder of Active Group, at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
According to the survey, Ukrainians have the most positive attitude towards the UK – 77.2% of respondents gave positive answers, Canada (76.3%) and France (74%). It is particularly significant that only 1.1% of respondents were completely negative about France. Germany currently enjoys the support of 68.8% of Ukrainians. According to Oleksandr Poznyi, the high level of trust in this country is primarily determined by long-term support for Ukrainian reforms and the defense industry, policy toward Ukrainian refugees, and other initiatives.
Ukrainians have a moderately positive attitude toward the United States of America: 36.1% of respondents assess the United States positively, while another 31.2% are neutral. On the other hand, almost a third – 29.9% – have a negative attitude toward the country. According to experts, these results indicate a deep polarization in the perception of the United States within Ukraine, which is caused by changes in American policy after the new administration came to power.
“For many Ukrainians, the United States is still a guarantor of support, but it is also a country with an ambivalent role in global conflicts, which can cause a mixed reaction in society,” said Maksym Urakin, founder of Experts Club.
Ukrainians are quite critical of Hungary (56% negative attitude) and Slovakia (34.6% negative).
“Such results are not unexpected – the official rhetoric of Budapest and Bratislava often diverges from the interests of Ukraine and is seen as pro-Russian, which cannot but be reflected in public opinion,” commented Oleksandr Poznyi.
The situation with China is no better: 42.8% of Ukrainians have a negative opinion of this country, while only 19.6% have a positive one. At the same time, 27.6% chose a neutral answer.
“It is particularly interesting that even Ukraine’s economically important partners, such as China (the largest trading partner), receive low support ratings among Ukrainians. This indicates that Ukrainian society places moral support above actual trade and does not recognize “neutrality” unless it is accompanied by humanitarian gestures,” said Maksym Urakin.
There is a high level of trust in Japan: 66% of respondents have a positive attitude, while only 3.6% have a negative attitude. Japan is perceived as a country with a high cultural reputation and technological leadership. South Korea also has a positive attitude from 49.7% of Ukrainians, although the level of negativity is slightly higher at 14%.
Turkey, despite partnership projects (particularly in the field of drones), has a rather ambiguous perception: 46.4% of respondents have a positive attitude toward it, and 12% have a negative attitude.
Ukrainians have a favorable attitude toward Brazil, with 33.3% positive versus 9.3% negative, and mostly neutral attitudes toward other Latin American countries. This, according to Oleksandr Poznyi, indicates a neutral interest rather than a clearly defined position.
Regarding Saudi Arabia, 25.2% of Ukrainians have a positive attitude, and 9.5% have a negative attitude. The rest of the respondents either have a neutral position or refrained from answering.
“These countries are trustworthy due to their efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, including prisoner exchanges, and also act as a negotiation platform, and they are also of interest in the economic sphere,” Urakin said.
According to Mr. Poznyi, the findings of the study are an indicator of international trust and the potential for the development of bilateral relations between Ukraine and other countries.
Maksym Urakin, in turn, added that the image of states in the perception of Ukrainians can be improved by supporting projects to restore Ukraine (even without military involvement), establishing direct dialogue through embassies and public diplomacy projects, explaining their position through the historical context without avoiding publicity.
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Posniy, SOCIOLOGY, URAKIN
Record price growth
In 2025, gold reached historic highs, exceeding $3,500 per ounce, which is 28% higher than at the beginning of the year. This growth is driven by global economic and political factors, including:
US trade tariffs: the introduction of 10% tariffs on imports caused economic uncertainty, stimulating demand for gold as a safe asset.
Central bank purchases: active accumulation of gold, especially by Asian countries, increased demand.
Political instability: conflicts and sanctions have prompted investors to seek stable assets.
Analysts predict further growth in gold prices:
Goldman Sachs: up to $3,700 by the end of 2025.
JP Morgan: may exceed $4,000 in the second quarter of 2026.
Gov Capital: in an optimistic scenario, up to $4,631 by December 2025.
The warehouses of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” are waiting for the shipment of 100 thousand cubic meters of round timber, and the business has increased its debt to UAH 500 million for the products already delivered, the press service of the state enterprise reported.
The state-owned enterprise reminded that during recent meetings with business, there was a demand to increase harvesting, as there is a shortage of resources.
“But the facts show otherwise. Since the beginning of April, the hotline of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has not received a single complaint about the failure to fulfill timber supply contracts due to the fault of foresters (the only case concerns a conflict between entrepreneurs in the Carpathian region, which our employees became hostages). However, the volume of unselected products in the warehouses has increased significantly,” the statement said.
The Forests of Ukraine emphasized that there are a dozen companies among those who do not fulfill their obligations.
Business liability for breach of contract is now minimal. Buyers risk virtually nothing. With significant price fluctuations in the market, it is sometimes easier not to choose products under an open contract and re-enter the auction, the state enterprise explained.
However, due to the accumulation of timber products and reloading of warehouses, storage costs are increasing at the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. Late payment negatively affects the state of settlements with service providers (primarily for logging). The forced shutdown destabilizes the work of logging companies, and we lose scarce employees who are difficult to replace.
“Our company is working to solve the problem. We are increasing the share of long-term contracts. The situation is definitely normalizing. However, the issue of business responsibility must be taken into account in further discussions on increasing procurement. If we demand it, we must meet it,” the state-owned enterprise emphasized.
