Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Ukrainian cities received record 107 trolleybuses in 2025

Ukrainian cities received 107 trolleybuses in 2025, 75 of which were new, compared to 34 trolleybuses (28 new) in 2024, according to AllTransUA.

“2025 was the year of recovery for the trolleybus market in Ukraine, and although the figures are still lower than deliveries from 2014 to 2021, Ukrainian cities received 107 trolleybuses, which is a record during the full-scale war with Russia. The lion’s share is made up of new trolleybuses (75 units), most of which (66 units) were purchased in cooperation with international financial organizations (IFOs). In 2024, many agreements were signed, which began to be implemented in 2025,” the website said.

In general, according to AllTransUA’s data, last year, Khmelnytskyi (30 units) and Mykolaiv (24 units) received the most new trolleybuses funded by IFOs. Eight trolleybuses were also delivered to Kremenchuk and four to Ivano-Frankivsk.

According to experts, in 2025, the market for new trolleybuses was dominated almost equally by Etalon (manufacturer – Chernihiv Automobile Plant) and PTS (Politechnoservice), covering 91% of the market, while the rest of the supply was covered by Lviv-based Electron (5%) and the Litan trading house (Dnipro brand, 4%), which manufactured trolleybuses for the first time in several years.

In particular, Electron began deliveries to Ivano-Frankivsk, and Litan manufactured trolleybuses for Mykolaiv in Belarusian MAZ bodies, completing the delivery of a batch that was interrupted by the start of a full-scale invasion.

“The question of the origin of the bodies remains open: it is unknown whether they arrived in Ukraine before 2022 or were obtained later through indirect channels,” the report states.

Only Chernihiv (three Etalon T121 Barvinok trolleybuses) and Chernivtsi (six PTS T123 trolleybuses) received new trolleybuses at public expense.

The main recipient of used trolleybuses was Kharkiv, which received 26 Škoda trolleybuses of various models. Rivne purchased four Solaris Trollio trolleybuses from Lublin, and Ivano-Frankivsk received the last Gräf & Stift from Austria.

The city of Dnipro also replaced one YMZ T1 trolleybus body with an unused body from the 1990s (there are three such vehicles in the city in total).

“In 2026, we expect continued revenue under existing agreements within the framework of cooperation with IFIs, both as the completion of deliveries already underway (in particular, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kremenchuk) and deliveries to other cities, in particular Lutsk, Ternopil, and Chernivtsi,” the report says.

According to AllTransUA, in 2024, the market received the smallest number of trolleybuses since 2009, and compared to 2023, deliveries fell by a third.

In pre-war 2021, Ukrainian cities purchased 170 trolleybuses, and in 2020, 337.

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Greenville developer commissioned 15,400 square meters of housing in Lviv in 2025

The Greenville group of companies commissioned 15,400 square meters of housing in Lviv in 2025 and continues to implement two projects in the capital, its press service told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

“In 2025, we have virtually completed the Greenville Park Lviv residential complex in Lviv. A total of 15,435.6 square meters (276 apartments) were built during the year. In November 2025, the final building of the complex was commissioned, so now all residential buildings of Greenville Park Lviv have been fully completed. Final work is currently underway on the construction of a parking lot, which is the final stage of the project,” said Yulia Bilen, head of the Greenville sales department in Lviv.

According to her, the aspect of inclusiveness was incorporated into the Greenville Park Lviv project even before the full-scale war, in particular, barrier-free entrances, convenient layouts, and accessible common areas were provided for. However, important changes were made during construction.

“Yes, with the first blackouts, we quickly adjusted the technical solutions. In particular, we provided a backup power supply in the tallest 20-story building. The building was equipped with a generator that guarantees the operation of elevators and common areas during power outages,” Bilen explains.

As for the company’s projects in the capital, multi-level underground parking lots are being built in the stylobate part of the Greenville Park and Greenville business-class residential complexes in Pechersk, as well as shelters and generators. Measures for inclusivity are provided for in the DBN “Inclusivity of Buildings and Structures”: ramps, signs with Braille inscriptions, voice guidance in elevators, etc. There is also a system that brings the elevator car to the nearest floor, which prevents it from getting stuck during emergency power outages.

“We try to adhere to the ‘8/80’ principle: when the territory of a residential complex is equally comfortable for an 8-year-old child and an 80-year-old pensioner. Such an environment includes wide pedestrian areas, ramps, elevators with wide entrances, navigation, voice guidance, lighting, etc.,” explained Natalia Dubik, head of Greenville’s Kyiv projects.

Greenville is a vertically integrated group of companies that has been operating in the field of renewable energy and residential and commercial real estate for over 20 years. According to the LUN new construction portal, the company is engaged in development activities in Kyiv and Lviv. Since 2010, 45 buildings have been commissioned, and 6 buildings are under construction.

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More and more OnlyFans models getting “talent visas” in US

Social influencers and content creators on subscription platforms, including OnlyFans, are increasingly applying for O-1B visas in the US for people with outstanding achievements in the arts, the Financial Times reported.

As noted in the publication, in such cases, lawyers use digital metrics — audience, reach, revenue, and commercial collaborations — as one way to confirm the applicant’s “notoriety” and professional success; a niche of lawyers specializing in such applications has also formed in the market.

This is not a “new visa for models,” but rather the existing O-1 (extraordinary ability/achievement) category, often referred to in the public sphere as the “talent visa.” The formal requirements for it are established by USCIS rules and federal regulations and do not include a separate criterion for the number of subscribers — the applicant must prove outstanding abilities or achievements through the prescribed sets of evidence.

According to US State Department statistics, in fiscal year 2024, consulates issued 19,457 O-1 visas, 13,922 O-2 visas (accompanying professionals), and 6,035 O-3 visas (family members).

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Zaporizhstal increased rolled steel production by 15.2% in 2025

In 2025, the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant in Zaporizhia increased its rolled steel production by 15.2% compared to the previous year, from 2 million 426.7 thousand tons to 2 million 794.6 thousand tons.

According to the plant’s press release on Monday, steel production for the year amounted to 3 million 212.2 thousand tons (in 2024 – 2 million 890.8 thousand tons), pig iron – 3 million 567.8 thousand tons (3 million 106.3 thousand tons).

In December, Zaporizhstal produced 314,000 tons of pig iron and 278,500 tons of steel. It shipped 251,400 tons of rolled products, compared to 309,100 tons of pig iron, 273,200 tons of steel, and 251,300 tons of rolled products in the previous month.

Acting CEO of Zaporizhstal Taras Shevchenko stated that even in the most difficult conditions of wartime, metallurgy remains the foundation that supports the country’s economy and stability.

“Despite shelling, power outages, and logistical challenges, Zaporizhstal and other Metinvest enterprises in Zaporizhia are not just maintaining their operations – they are adapting, increasing their efficiency, and continuing to export Ukrainian products, providing foreign currency and tax revenues to the country’s budget and supporting the Ukrainian army. After all, we understand that preserving budget-generating enterprises today is the key to Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction in the future,” the CEO noted.

As reported, in 2024, Zaporizhstal increased its rolled steel output by 18.1% compared to 2023, from 2 million 54.7 thousand tons to 2 million 426.7 thousand tons, steel 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.

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World’s fastest-growing tourist destinations have been named

UN Tourism (United Nations World Tourism Organization) has published a list of the 20 destinations with the fastest recovery in inbound tourist traffic based on the results for January-September 2025 (change compared to 2019), according to data from the World Tourism Barometer.

The top 20 also includes: Bhutan (+203%), Qatar (+138%), El Salvador (+88%), Albania (+83%), Bahrain (+76%), Uzbekistan (+73%), Bahrain (+76%), Curaçao (+68%), Moldova (+63%), Ethiopia (+58%), Tanzania (+57%), Saudi Arabia (+56%), Colombia (+56%), Brazil (+47%), Morocco (+47%), Egypt (+45%), Malta (+44%), Mongolia (+44%), Andorra (+43%), US Virgin Islands (+42%) and Guatemala (+40%).

Overall, international tourist arrivals worldwide in January-September 2025 increased by 5% compared to the same period in 2024 and were 3% higher than in pre-pandemic 2019, according to the World Tourism Barometer.

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Experts Club: Bulgaria has switched to the euro, but the expansion of the eurozone is slowing down

On January 1, 2026, Bulgaria officially switched to the euro and became the 21st country in the eurozone. For the Bulgarian economy, this step is largely institutional in nature: for many years, the lev was tightly pegged to the euro through the currency board, so the market did not expect a sharp change in the monetary regime. At the same time, the country will get a seat on the ECB’s governing bodies and deeper integration into the eurozone’s financial system, according to the Experts Club information and analytical center.

Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club analytical center, believes that the effect of the transition will be determined by how quickly the authorities “knock down” inflation expectations among the population and businesses: “The euro itself does not make the economy richer overnight, but it reduces transaction costs and increases investor confidence. The key test in the first few months will be controlling price speculation and communicating clearly with consumers.”

The main domestic risk around which public debate in Bulgaria is centered is inflationary expectations and fears of price “rounding” in retail and services. Such fears traditionally accompany currency changes, even if the actual effect is usually limited in time and concentrated in the sector of daily household expenses.

After Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone, six countries remain in the EU that do not use the euro: Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, and Romania.

According to Experts Club estimates, the expansion of the eurozone will be slow in the coming years, as each of these countries has its own “stop factors” — from political constraints to failure to meet convergence criteria and budget deficit problems.

In Poland, for example, the government has publicly stated that the country is “not yet ready” for the euro and considers the zloty to be an instrument of macroeconomic flexibility that has helped it weather past shocks.

In the Czech Republic, President Petr Pavel has called for more active movement towards the euro as a factor in trade and decision-making, but there is no political consensus on the timing in the Czech Republic.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, on the contrary, has stated several times that the country should not adopt the euro.

Sweden formally relies on the results of the 2003 referendum, when 55.9% of voters opposed the introduction of the euro.

Denmark, unlike the others, has a legally enshrined right not to introduce the euro (opt-out), confirmed by a referendum in 2000.

Experts Club notes that Romania is considered the next country after Bulgaria that is most likely to apply for the introduction of the euro. However, the actual timeline depends on inflation and the budget trajectory: the European Commission indicated in its convergence materials that Romania does not meet the conditions for adopting the euro, including the parameters of public finance sustainability and legal compatibility. The public guidelines in the Romanian discussion mention a target date of around 2029, but the timing may shift depending on economic indicators and fiscal adjustments.

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