Passenger traffic across Ukraine’s border in the week from May 10 to 16 decreased by another 4.3% to 491,000, according to data from the State Border Service on Facebook.
According to the data, the outbound flow decreased by 9.7%, from 279,000 to 252,000, while the inbound flow increased by 2.1%, from 234,000 to 239,000.
The number of vehicles that passed through checkpoints this week decreased from 124,000 to 123,000, while the flow of vehicles with humanitarian cargo, on the contrary, increased from 498 to 526.
According to the State Border Service, as of 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, there were queues at the border crossing points (BCPs) “Ustyluh” (35 vehicles), “Krakivets” and “Shehyni” (20 vehicles each) on the border with Poland.
As for other sections of the border, an unexpectedly long queue formed at the border with Romania at the Porubne checkpoint, where the second round of presidential elections is taking place today, with 60 cars, while there were no traffic jams at other checkpoints.
The total number of people crossing the border this year is lower than last year, when Easter for Orthodox and Greek Catholics fell on May 5: at that time, 309,000 people left Ukraine and 239,000 entered the country in seven days, with 135,000 cars crossing the border.
As reported, from May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the start of the war, was replaced by an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022, and amounted to 409,000 people. However, since the end of September, possibly influenced by news of mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, followed by massive shelling of energy infrastructure, the number of people leaving exceeded the number of people entering. In total, from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war, it reached 223,000 people.
During the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings to leave Ukraine, according to the State Border Service, exceeded the number of crossings to enter by 25,000, during the third year by 187,000, and since the beginning of the fourth year by 21,000.
As Deputy Minister of Economy Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March 2023, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP.
In its April inflation report, the National Bank again estimated the outflow from Ukraine in 2024 at 0.5 million (according to the State Border Service – 0.315 million). In absolute terms, this means an increase in the number of migrants remaining abroad to 6.8 million in 2024. The NBU also maintained its forecast for the outflow in 2025 at 0.2 million.
According to updated data from the UNHCR, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of April 17, 2025, was estimated at 6.358 million, and 6.918 million worldwide, which is 15,000 fewer than on March 20.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data at the end of last year, there were 3.669 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
In January-April this year, Ukrainian companies increased exports of ferrous metal scrap by 45.5% compared to the same period last year, to 127,209 tons from 87,414 tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, 46,321 thousand tons were exported in April (16.1% more than in March), 39,908 thousand tons in March (an increase of 57.8% compared to February), in February – 25,284 thousand tons of scrap metal (an increase of 61% compared to January), and in January – 15,696 thousand tons.
In monetary terms, scrap metal exports in January-April increased by 39.4% to $39.247 million from $28.155 million.
During the period in question, scrap metal exports were formally carried out mainly to Poland (86.96% of shipments in monetary terms), Greece (6.60%), and Germany (3.09%).
In the first four months of the year, Ukraine imported 33 tons of scrap metal worth $12,000 from Poland (54.55%), the Seychelles (36.36%), and the British Virgin Islands (9.09%).
According to data from the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development, last year almost 300,000 tons of ferrous metal scrap were exported from Ukraine to the EU with zero customs duties. The lion’s share of these exports transited through Constanta and other ports to Turkey and other countries, avoiding the payment of EUR 180 per tonne in customs duties, which is about UAH 2 billion in lost revenue to the state budget.
Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development Dmytro Kysilevsky emphasized that if this scrap had gone to Ukrainian factories, it would have created more added value in production, more taxes, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine could have received more funds to finance Ukraine’s defense needs.
Therefore, in view of this, Ukraine must begin consultations with its European partners on their ability to track the end user of raw materials, as well as on other more practical measures to ensure that these scarce raw materials remain and are processed in the country (…) Ukraine must be as firm as possible in defending its national interests,” the parliamentarian concluded.
In addition, it was reported that due to the sharp increase in exports of strategic raw materials from Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy initiated the introduction of a licensing and quota regime for the export of scrap metal with a zero quota. A public discussion of the draft resolution is currently underway. Its implementation is expected to contribute to the smooth operation of Ukraine’s metallurgical and foundry industries, as well as to stabilize the situation with the supply of scrap metal on the domestic market of Ukraine.
In 2024, Ukraine’s scrap metal collection companies increased their exports of ferrous scrap by 60.7% compared to 2023, to 293,190 thousand tons from 182,465 thousand tons. In monetary terms, scrap metal exports for the year increased by 73.2% to $91.311 million from $52.723 million.
In the first four months of 2025, Ukraine imported aluminum and aluminum products worth $166.26 million (+21.6%), while exports amounted to $45.06 million (+17.9%). In April, imports reached $49.47 million, while exports amounted to $13.36 million.
Aluminum is widely used as a structural material. The main advantages of aluminum are its lightness, malleability, corrosion resistance, high thermal conductivity, and non-toxicity of its compounds. These properties have made aluminum extremely popular in the manufacture of kitchen utensils, aluminum foil in the food industry, and for packaging. The first three properties have made aluminum the main raw material in the aviation and aerospace industries (recently, it has been replaced by composite materials, primarily carbon fiber). After construction and the production of packaging—aluminum cans and foil—the largest consumer of aluminum is the energy sector.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) has listed 27 of 30 planned scrap metal lots with a total value of UAH 77.12 million on the Prozorro.Prozori system.
The size of the lots offered for sale ranges from 130 to 700 tons, and UZ plans to sell a total of 12,000 tons of scrap metal in thirty lots, the company’s press service reported on Friday.
The auction will take place on May 26. All lots will be sold in three rounds in the English format (by increasing the price).
The scrap metal is located in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Poltava, Odesa, and Chernihiv regions. A single loading cost per railway car has been set for all lots at 1,344.5 UAH/ton (including VAT), UZ reported.
“It is fundamentally important for us that the auction takes place with maximum competition, participation, and results. For our part, we have done the preparatory work, including switching to the updated DSTU, reducing the number of shipping points, etc.,” said Yevgeny Shramko, a member of the UZ board (Repair and Production), as quoted by the company’s press service.
Earlier it was reported that after a nearly two-year hiatus, UZ plans to resume auctions in the Prozorro.Prozori system. The company said it was ready to put up for sale about 160,000 tons of scrap metal for gradual sale in separate lots.
The OKKO Group plans to open a new 60,000-tonne elevator by autumn 2025 and a bioethanol plant in summer 2026, OKKO Group CEO Vasyl Danylyak said in an interview with Tomas Fiala, co-founder of investment company Dragon Capital.
According to him, the company began construction of an 83,000-ton bioethanol plant last year. Only part of its production will be supplied to the domestic market, with the rest intended for export.
“In Ukraine, since May 1 of this year, there have been mandates to add 5% bioethanol to fuel in accordance with European standards, but this share may increase to 10%. Accordingly, after analyzing our market share, we decided to build a plant with a capacity of 83,000 tons. In addition, we worked with American consultants, who are number one in the market, on the format of the plant’s operation. Thanks to this, we chose the best option: it will work partly for our group and partly for export,” said Danylyak.
The CEO emphasized that by the fall of this year, the group of companies plans to complete the construction of a 60,000-ton storage elevator, and in June-July next year, it expects to fully launch the plant.
Danylyak also said that this year OKKO Group closed a deal to buy 17,000 hectares of land in the north of the Ternopil region and the south of the Rivne region, increasing its land bank to 50,000 hectares.
“As of today, we have a total of about 50,000 hectares under cultivation,” the top manager said.
He explained the interest in these regions by the favorable natural and climatic conditions and the best yield indicators compared to other regions.
Danylyak noted that an important component of OKKO’s agricultural portfolio is its partnership with the Gadz-Agro enterprise in the Ternopil region, in which the company acquired a stake in 2023. The enterprise cultivates 26,000 hectares of land and has about 10,000 head of cattle, of which 5,000 are dairy cows. It is also one of the largest horticultural farms in Ukraine, but OKKO decided not to integrate the horticultural part of the business.
OKKO Group unites more than 10 diverse businesses in the fields of manufacturing, trade, construction, insurance, services, and other services. The group’s flagship company is Galnaftogaz, which operates one of the largest petrol station chains in Ukraine under the OKKO brand, with around 400 petrol stations.
The founder and ultimate beneficiary of the group is Vitaliy Antonov.
