The Kovalska Group has begun extracting river sand at the Zhavyne deposit in Chernihiv region, with a projected capacity of up to 145,000 cubic meters of sand per year, according to the company’s press service.
The company acquired the Zhavyne deposit in 2022, and in 2025, it completed the process of obtaining all the necessary approvals and expert opinions for its development: a special permit for subsoil use, a positive conclusion of the expert review of the working project for the development of the deposit, and approval of the project documentation by the State Labor Service of Ukraine. This deposit is the first and only sand deposit in Chernihiv. Before its launch, the nearest operating quarry was located 60–80 km from the city.
“We continue to invest in the development of our own raw material base, in particular in the extraction of river sand. And although the deposit in Chernihiv region has not yet reached its full capacity, it already provides Kovalskaya’s enterprises and our customers with high-quality raw materials for concrete, road construction, and landscaping,” said Serhiy Pylypenko, CEO of Kovalskaya.
River sand is used as a filler in dense concrete, as well as in road construction, landscaping, and reclamation.
The Kovalskaya Group owns and operates deposits and its own fleet for sand extraction on the Dnieper (Kyiv region) and Desna (Chernihiv region) rivers. The total capacity of the Kovalskaya Group’s sand deposits is up to 1 million tons per year. The fleet includes self-propelled and non-self-propelled barges, push tugs, floating cranes, and equipment for underwater soil development and loading onto floating vessels.
The Kovalskaya Industrial and Construction Group has been operating in the Ukrainian construction market since 1956. It unites more than 20 enterprises in the field of raw material extraction, production, and construction. Its products are represented by the brands Beton vid Kovalskoi, Avenue, and Siltek. Kovalskaya’s enterprises operate in the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Lviv, and Chernihiv regions. The aerated concrete plant in the Kherson region has not been operating since the beginning of the occupation.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) are conducting investigative actions (searches) at the office of the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak. According to NABU’s Telegram channel, the investigative actions have been authorized and are being carried out as part of the investigation.
“Details to follow,” the message added.
Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on Telegram: “NABU has already confirmed to journalists that the searches are part of Operation Midas (popularly known as Mindichgate). Zheleznyak previously reported that in the context of the ”Mindich tapes“ on corruption in the energy sector, Yermak was mentioned under the pseudonym ”Ali Baba.”
According to the Anti-Corruption Center, details of the search at Yermak’s residence will be available “soon,” but at the same time, the ACC noted that NABU does not have the legal right to investigate the activities of the Ukrainian president. “NABU does not have the legal right to investigate the activities of the president. This restriction has been in place since its creation. Similarly, the FBI does not have the right to investigate the president of Ukraine due to diplomatic immunity. Therefore, Zelensky is not under any threat, and the commander-in-chief can and must continue to defend Ukraine from the occupiers,“ the Anti-Corruption Action Center said in a post on its Telegram channel.
During the discussion ”Mindychegate. Discussion with NABU, SAP, and veteran Kozyatinsky,“ a video of which was posted on the Ukrainian Truth YouTube channel, when asked whether Ali Baba continues to hold meetings and set tasks for the prosecution of NABU and SAP, SAP head Alexander Klimenko said, ”Yes.” NABU Director Semen Kryvonos responded to this question as follows: “I want to wake up in a country where law enforcement officials do not attend meetings with fairy-tale characters.”
As reported, on November 25, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, was questioned by NABU as a witness in the case of businessman Timur Mindich’s back office.
On November 10, NABU and SAP announced a large-scale operation to expose corruption in the energy sector, which was named “Midas.” The activities of a high-level criminal organization have been documented, whose members have built a large-scale corruption scheme to influence strategic enterprises in the public sector, in particular JSC “NAEK ”Energoatom.” Energoatom confirmed that investigative actions were carried out at the company on November 10.
Among those identified by NABU as participants in the Midas scheme are Sergey Pushkar, a member of the National Energy Regulatory Commission (NKREKU), businessman Timur Mindich, former executive director for physical protection and security at Energoatom Dmitry Basov, and former advisor to the Minister of Energy and former deputy chairman of the State Property Fund Igor Mironyuk.
The main activity of the criminal organization was the systematic receipt of illegal benefits from Energoatom’s contractors in the amount of 10% to 15% of the contract value.
In particular, Energoatom’s contractors were forced to pay kickbacks to avoid having their payments for services rendered/products supplied blocked or losing their supplier status. Using their connections in the ministry and the state-owned company in particular, the former deputy chairman of the FGIU, who later became an advisor to the Minister of Energy, as well as a former law enforcement officer who held the position of executive director for physical protection and security at Energoatom, ensured control over personnel decisions, procurement processes, and the movement of financial flows.
Eight individuals, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, have already been named as suspects.
Mindyich left Ukraine on November 10, a few hours before the searches. According to the State Border Service of Ukraine, he left on legal grounds.
Metinvest Digital LLC, the IT expertise center of Ukraine’s largest mining and metallurgical holding Metinvest, incurred a net loss of UAH 9.894 million in January-September this year, compared with a net profit of UAH 48.272 million in the same period last year.
According to the company’s interim report, which is available to Interfax-Ukraine, revenue for this period decreased by 3.1% to UAH 579.713 million.
Retained earnings at the end of September amounted to UAH 43.165 million.
In 2024, the LLC received a net profit of UAH 34.142 million, while it ended 2023 with a net loss of UAH 9.525 million.
Metinvest Digital is a Ukrainian IT company specializing in the digital transformation of large businesses and implementing projects in Ukraine, Europe, and North America. The company develops, implements, and supports comprehensive IT solutions for the development of technological infrastructure, information systems, strategic outsourcing, data migration, system integration, cybersecurity, and information security. Metinvest Digital is the IT business partner of the Metinvest Group, serving more than 30 of the holding’s enterprises around the world. The company is a certified partner of Microsoft (Gold Certified Partner) and SAP (Silver Partner).
More than 800 Metinvest Digital employees serve the group’s enterprises.
Metinvest Holding LLC owns 100% of Metinvest Digital LLC.
The company’s authorized capital is UAH 78.740 million.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions – as well as in European countries. The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
The Georgian authorities are carrying out a large-scale reform of migration legislation, which provides for tighter control over the legality of foreigners’ residence, the creation of a database of violators and the introduction of mandatory work permits from 1 March 2026.
Since 1 October 2025, the relevant ministry has been keeping a special register of foreigners who are or have previously been in the country illegally. State authorities have been given the right to request extended biometric data (including fingerprints and palm prints) and to carry out checks in private premises – residential buildings and workplaces – if there is a suspicion of a violation of the residence regime.
Complaints about the refusal to issue a residence permit or a decision on deportation will not automatically suspend the execution of such decisions. The new monitoring procedures apply to the main categories of residence permits – for work, business, study and property ownership.
A separate type of residence permit is being introduced for IT specialists: applicants must have at least two years of documented relevant experience and an annual income of at least $25,000. Such residence permits are issued for three years with the possibility of extension up to 12 years.
From 1 March 2026, foreigners will generally require a valid work permit to work in the country. Experts recommend that foreign citizens and employers prepare a package of documents in advance – employment contracts, proof of income, certificates of no criminal record – and strictly comply with the conditions of already issued residence permits, as violations can lead to additional checks, fines, deportation and refusals to extend status.
According to data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat), in 2024, foreigners made up about 6.6% of the country’s population, or about 250,000 people, while in 2014 there were only about 22,000 (0.6% of the population). Research by ISET-PI and other think tanks shows that in 2015–2024, the largest net immigration inflows came from citizens of Russia (about 97,000 people), Ukraine (about 27,000) and Azerbaijan (about 14,000), with significant groups also coming from Turkey, India and Belarus.
Analysts note that further tightening of the migration regime could lead to a partial outflow of relocants and their families to other jurisdictions with more predictable rules – primarily to EU countries with active programmes for IT and start-ups (Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic), as well as to destinations already popular with people from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus: Serbia, Montenegro, Armenia, Kazakhstan and the UAE. According to consultants, the key factors when choosing a country for relocation are the transparency of residence permit and work permit procedures, the availability of housing and political stability.
Investments in the development of Georgia’s transport and logistics infrastructure for 2026-2031 will amount to $7 billion, the country’s Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili said, speaking in Tashkent at the second forum of investors in the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor.
“To fully realize the transport and logistics potential of Central Asia, the Caspian region, the South Caucasus and the Black Sea, coordinated financing is crucial. In this regard, Georgia has committed to invest $7 billion in key transportation and logistics infrastructure by 2032,” Kvrivishvili said, quoted by the press service of the Economy Ministry.
According to her, the realization of these plans will require more active participation of the private sector in addition to the permanent participation of international financial institutions.
The Minister said that the priorities in the field of transport and logistics of Georgia in 2026 will be the complete renewal of railroad rolling stock and freight fleet, completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTC) railroad, as well as the introduction of unified digital services for both the public and private sectors in order to reduce the transit time in the country by 30%.
She also announced the signing of an agreement on the Caspian Sea-Black Sea international transportation route between Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania this December. “This initiative will create a new multimodal route from the Caspian region to the European Union, increasing transport connectivity, diversifying access routes and strengthening sustainability,” the minister said.
In addition, Kvrivishvili reiterated plans to build a deep-water port in Anaklia. “Once launched, Anaklia port will be able to handle up to 600,000 TEUs in the first phase by 2029 and at least 1 million TEUs in the second phase by 2035, which will allow Georgia to become the main hub for Central Asian cargo in the Black Sea region,” the minister said.
The National Agency of Ukraine for the Identification, Investigation, and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA) has put up for auction land plots of ski resorts in the Zakarpattia region and the lower station with a chairlift and the upper station of a ski lift with the consent of the owners for a total amount of over UAH 347 million.
According to the announcement on the Prozorro.Prozori platform, one of the lots included 115 land plots with a total area of about 98 hectares in the Khust district (Pylypetska OTG), 93 land plots with a total area of over 98 hectares in the Svalyava (Bereznykivska SR) and Khust (Pylypetska OTG) districts of Zakarpattia region, as well as the lower station with a chairlift and the upper station of a ski lift.
The starting price of the lot is UAH 150.4 million.
The other lot includes 145 land plots belonging to Borzhava Development LLC, 56 land plots belonging to Borzhava Invest LLC, 42 land plots belonging to Borzhava Land LLC, and two land plots belonging to Dumka LLC. The land is located in the Mukachevo and Khutsk districts of Zakarpattia.
The starting price is UAH 176.5 million.
The third lot includes 41 land plots owned by Taurus Invest LLC, also located in the Mukachevo and Khutsk districts of Zakarpattia.
The starting price is UAH 20.9 million.
It is noted that consent to the sale of the seized property was given by the owners of the assets of Borzhava Development LLC, Taurus Property LLC, Taurus Land LLC, Taurus Invest LLC, Dumka LLC, Borzhava Land LLC, and Borzhava Invest LLC.
Auctions based on the English model are scheduled for December 2.
According to Opendatabot, the ultimate beneficiary of these companies is Austrian citizen Gernot Leitner, a representative of the Austrian ski industry and a long-time participant in the preparation of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
As reported, the state began searching for investors for the construction of the Borzhava ski resort back in 2013 to implement the project “Olympic Hope 2022: Creation of Sports and Tourism Infrastructure.” However, a number of projects, including Olympic Hope 2022, were not implemented due to embezzlement by officials of the State Agency for Investment and National Projects Management and the State Investment Company, as revealed by detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
Later, in 2020, Leytner presented the resort project. Construction was scheduled to begin in 2021.
