According to the results of a study conducted by Active Group in collaboration with Experts Club in August 2025, Ukrainians’ attitude towards Australia is predominantly positive. 63.0% of respondents expressed a positive attitude towards this country, while only 2.2% of respondents had a negative attitude. At the same time, 32.3% took a neutral position, and 2.4% admitted that they found it difficult to answer this question.
The largest share of positive responses fell into the “mostly positive” category – 40.0%, while 23.0% of respondents expressed a “completely positive” attitude. On the other hand, 1.9% of respondents had a “mostly negative” attitude, and only 0.4% had a “completely negative” attitude.
In 2024, trade turnover between Ukraine and Australia amounted to US$157.4 million. At the same time, exports of Ukrainian goods to Australia amounted to only US$6.4 million, while imports of Australian products amounted to US$151.0 million. The negative balance for Ukraine was recorded at US$144.6 million.
“The main areas of Australian exports to Ukraine traditionally include mineral raw materials, industrial goods, and agricultural products. In contrast, Ukrainian exports to Australia have a limited range and are mainly concentrated in the agricultural and metallurgical sectors,” notes economist and founder of Experts Club Maksim Urakin.
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ACTIVE GROUP, AUSTRALIA, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, TRADE, UKRAINE, URAKIN
One of Ukraine’s largest grain market operators, Nibulon, has begun harvesting late grain crops in the Cherkasy and Khmelnytsky regions, according to a Facebook post by the grain trader’s press service.
According to the report, the Chyhyryn branch in the Cherkasy region, where corn is harvested on an area of 9,500 hectares, was the first to start harvesting late grain crops in the 2025 season.
“Despite the difficult weather conditions during the growing season, corn in this region yielded 7 tons per hectare. The total planned gross corn harvest for the holding is 180,000 tons. The total area under this crop this year is 22,577 hectares. As of today, the first 2,000 hectares have been threshed. Eight combines and 70 grain trucks are involved in the corn harvest,” the agricultural holding said.
In addition, the soybean harvest has begun in the Khmilnytskyi and Kamianets-Podilskyi clusters. The first 500 hectares have been threshed with a yield of 3.2 tons. In total, they have 9,600 hectares to harvest. Twelve combines and 40 grain trucks are working on threshing this crop.
Immediately after harvesting, Nibulon will cultivate the soil for sowing in 2026. The priority is strip-till and deep loosening.
“Overall, 2025 has been a difficult year for agriculture. This year’s weather, in particular the lack of productive rainfall in the central and especially southern regions of Ukraine, did not contribute to record harvests. Since the beginning of the year, only 220 mm of precipitation has been recorded in the Chyhyryn area, and it should be noted that a significant part of it was not productive and was not effective in fully meeting the moisture needs of corn, especially at critical stages of plant development,” the agricultural holding noted.
Nibulon was able to achieve a stable harvest despite the moisture deficit by implementing a set of resource-saving agricultural technologies, including economical soil cultivation, adherence to early sowing dates, and the competent selection of corn hybrids with FAO 220–250, which are highly drought-resistant and release moisture quickly during ripening.
Nibulon LLC was established in 1991. Before the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and complexes for receiving agricultural crops, a capacity for one-time storage of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugboats), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82,000 hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries around the world. In 2021, the grain trader exported a record 5.64 million tons of agricultural products and supplied record volumes to foreign markets in August (0.7 million tons), in the fourth quarter (1.88 million tons), and in the second half of the year (3.71 million tons).
The grain trader is currently operating at 32% of its capacity, has created a special unit for demining agricultural land, and has been forced to move its central office from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
Most Ukrainians have a positive opinion of Georgia, according to the results of a survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with the analytical center Experts Club.
According to the study, 56.3% of Ukrainians expressed a positive attitude towards Georgia: among them, 14.3% are completely positive, and 42.0% are mostly positive.
At the same time, 10.7% of respondents have a negative attitude (1.7% completely negative and 9.0% mostly negative). A third of respondents (32.3%) remain neutral, while another 0.7% admitted that they are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the country.
At the end of 2024, Ukraine’s trade turnover with Georgia amounted to $1,828.2 million. Exports of Ukrainian goods to Georgia reached $1,360.8 million, while imports amounted to $467.4 million. Thus, Ukraine had a positive bilateral trade balance of $893.4 million.
According to economist and founder of Experts Club Maksim Urakin, the positive balance with Georgia reflects a sustained interest in mutual cooperation:
“Georgia traditionally remains an important trading partner for Ukraine in the Caucasus. The high level of positive attitudes among Ukrainians toward this country is a favorable foundation for the further development of economic and cultural relations,” the expert emphasized.
Thus, Georgia is among the group of countries that Ukrainians view mostly positively, and strong economic ties and shared historical proximity create the basis for further deepening the partnership.
The full video can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgC9TPnMoMI&t
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ACTIVE GROUP, EXPERTS CLUB, GEORGIA, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, TRADE, UKRAINE, URAKIN
On September 16, the leasing company ULF-Finance LLC, part of Sergey Tigipko’s TAS Group, began a public offering of five-year bonds of series F1 and E1 with a total nominal value of UAH 150 million and UAH 250 million, respectively, on the PFTS stock exchange.
“The financial resources raised from the placement of bonds are planned to be used in full (100%) to finance an increase in the volume of financial leasing services,” the prospectuses note.
According to the prospectuses, coupon income on F1 series bonds is paid upon redemption at a rate of 20% per annum, while E1 series bonds provide for an annual offer and quarterly interest payments, with a nominal yield of 19% per annum in the first year of circulation.
The nominal value of each issue is UAH 1,000, and the placement period is until August 23 of the following year. There is no information about transactions concluded on the exchange yet.
According to the prospectuses, before entering the market with new issues, the company placed 611,917 thousand bonds of series A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, A1, B1, C1, D1.
The ULF-Finance website states that the company has been operating since 2011 and has been part of the TAS Group since 2017, whose members also include TAScombank and Universal Bank. ULF-Finance provides financial, operational, and reverse leasing services for transport, special equipment, and machinery. Among its clients, the company, which is represented in 17 cities, mentions Ukrzaliznytsia and Nova Poshta.
ULF-Finance’s revenue in the first half of 2025 grew by 46.9% to UAH 260.40 million, while net profit decreased by 33.6% to UAH 37.62 million.
In its prospectus, the company forecasts an increase in revenue this year to UAH 838.84 million and next year to UAH 1,095.11 million, with net profit growing to UAH 113.76 million and UAH 186.70 million, respectively.
A survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with Experts Club showed that most Ukrainians refrain from giving clear assessments of Malaysia: 68.3% of respondents said they had a neutral attitude toward this country.
At the same time, 18.7% of Ukrainians expressed a positive attitude (in particular, 2.3% said they were “completely positive” and 16.3% said they were “mostly positive”), while 4.7% expressed a negative attitude. Another 8.3% of respondents admitted that they did not have enough information about Malaysia to form an opinion.
According to the results of Ukraine’s foreign trade with Malaysia in the first half of 2025, the trade turnover amounted to $193.8 million. At the same time, Ukrainian exports amounted to only $41.2 million, while imports from Malaysia reached $152.6 million.
Thus, the negative balance for Ukraine amounted to $111.4 million, which indicates a significant dependence on Malaysian imports.
The founder of Experts Club, economist Maksim Urakin, emphasized that in relations with Malaysia, it is worth focusing on expanding Ukraine’s export opportunities.
“Today, we see a significant imbalance in trade with Malaysia, which reduces the economic effect of cooperation for Ukraine. A promising direction could be agro-industrial exports, in particular products from the food and processing industries. At the same time, the neutral attitude of most Ukrainians opens up space for the development of cultural and information diplomacy,” the expert stressed.
The full video can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgC9TPnMoMI&t
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ACTIVE GROUP, EXPERTS CLUB, MALAYSIA, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, TRADE, UKRAINE, URAKIN
According to a survey conducted by Active Group in cooperation with Experts Club in August 2025, more than half of Ukrainians have a positive opinion of South Korea.
In total , 53.3% of respondents expressed favorable attitudes toward this country (32.7% – mostly positive, 20.7% – completely positive). A neutral attitude was recorded in 30.7% of respondents, and negative assessments amounted to 13.3%. Another 2.7% said they did not know enough about the country.
“South Korea is perceived by Ukrainians as a modern high-tech country that is developing dynamically and at the same time preserving its cultural identity. Ukrainians see it as a potential partner, especially in the field of technology, education, and innovation,” said Oleksandr Poznyi, CEO of Active Group.
At the same time, Maksym Urakin, co-founder of Experts Club, emphasized the economic dimension of bilateral relations:
“In the first half of 2025, the total trade turnover between Ukraine and the Republic of Korea amounted to more than $518 million. Exports of Ukrainian goods amounted to only $96.9 million, while imports amounted to more than $421 million. This resulted in a negative trade balance of $324 million. The situation demonstrates the need for more active promotion of Ukrainian goods to the Korean market, particularly in the agricultural and food sectors,” he emphasized.
The research is part of the systematic monitoring of Ukraine’s international relations and public opinion about its partners in the world.
The full video can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgC9TPnMoMI&t
You can subscribe to the Experts Club YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
ACTIVE GROUP, EXPERTS CLUB, Poznyi, SOCIOLOGY, SOUTH KOREA, TRADE, UKRAINE, URAKIN
