Ukrainian boxer Alexander Usyk has lost his undisputed world champion status after voluntarily relinquishing his WBO belt, the World Boxing Organization said in an official statement.
“The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has announced that it has received official notification from Alexander Usyk’s team regarding the future of the WBO heavyweight championship title. After careful consideration, Usyk has decided to relinquish the title,” the statement on social media platform X said.
WBO President Gustavo Olivieri called Usyk “the champion of champions” in his comment.
“The WBO expresses its deep respect, admiration, and gratitude to Alexander Usyk, the undefeated WBO world champion in two weight classes, who has earned and demonstrated all the rights, privileges, and honors associated with the title of WBO super champion. His career is one of the most outstanding and historic in the modern era of boxing,“ he said.
The WBO emphasized in its statement that the organization’s doors ”will always remain open.“
”We accept and respect his decision to relinquish the WBO heavyweight super champion title. This is not a farewell, but, as his team put it, a respectful pause. The doors of the WBO will always remain open to Alexander Usyk and his team,” the organization said.
Usyk still remains the champion in the WBA, WBC, and IBF categories.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) last week increased the sale of dollars on the interbank market by $124.5m, or 21.6%, to $700.9m, according to statistics on the regulator’s website. According to the NBU, for the first four days of last week, the average daily negative balance of purchase and sale of foreign currency by legal entities increased to $71.3 million from $58.2 million for the same period a week earlier and totaled $285.3 million.
On the market of foreign exchange transactions of households, the negative balance, on the contrary, decreased to $33.4 million on Saturday-Thursday from $43.4 million the week before last, and all days the sale of non-cash currency exceeded its purchase.
The official hryvnia/dollar exchange rate, which started last week at UAH 41.9782/$1, weakened to UAH 42.0641/$1 in three days, but ended the week at UAH 42.0423/$1.
In the cash market, the dollar exchange rate over the past week changed over the trajectory of the official one, and in general, the dollar rose by about 12 kopecks during the week: buying – to UAH 41.86/$1, and selling – to UAH 42.23/$1.
Analysts of the multi-service FinTech platform KYT Group, which is a major player in the cash FX market, noted a gradual depreciation of the hryvnia, but under full control of the National Bank, which is helped by record international reserves and last week’s receipt of another EUR5.9 bln from the EU.
According to their forecast, short-term (1-2 weeks) the hryvnia will be in the base range of 41.8-42.5 UAH/$1 with likely gravitating towards the upper boundary of the forecast.
“Medium-term (2-3 months) – 42.0-42.9 UAH/$1. Now there is every reason to strengthen the dollar in the international market, where positive sentiment reigns because of the understandable easing policy from the Fed. But for Ukraine the main role will be played by such factors as the situation in the energy sector, further possible advances of the RF Armed Forces troops on the territory of the country and stability of financial aid receipts from partners”, – KYT Group believes.
Long-term (6+ months), the company maintains the forecast scenario of hryvnia devaluation. Subject to timely and rhythmic receipt of international aid, they cite as a benchmark range of 43.40-44.60 UAH/$1 until mid-2026, taking into account the current context of the military and political situation in Ukraine.
Source: https://bank.gov.ua/ua/markets
https://interfax.com.ua/news/projects/1120665.html
According to its 2024 results, Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Plant (DMZ) named after Comintern (DMZ Kominmet) reduced its net profit by 2.97 times compared to the previous year — to UAH 18.913 million from UAH 56.197 million.
According to the annual financial report available to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, net income for this period decreased by 13.1% to UAH 2 billion 896.250 million.
Undistributed profit at the end of 2024 amounted to UAH 115.316 million.
It is also noted that in the first quarter of 2025, the volume of production and sales amounted to 8-10 thousand tons per month.
DMZ Kominmet LLC was established on the basis of a plant built in 1899 as a Belgian joint-stock company by the Shoduar brothers for the production of roofing, corrugated steel, tableware, and blade steel. The company specializes in the production of steel pipes, metal coating, and consumer goods.
The average number of employees was 559.
According to the plant’s data at the end of 2024, Voskym Dom-2014 LLC (Dnipro) owns a 31.556% stake in the company, Grominal Ltd owns 21.11%, DW Holding Ltd – 23.77%, and Genersys Group Ltd (all three are based in Cyprus) – 23.564%.
According to the annual report, the ultimate beneficial owner (controller) of DMZ Kominmet LLC is Semen Tokarev, a natural person with a 31.556% stake.
The authorized capital of the LLC is UAH 25.5 million.
For the third time, the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” held an exchange auction with the possibility of concluding forward contracts for the first half of 2026 for a period of six months at a fixed price for the purchase of forest products, as a result of which 100% of the volume put up for auction was contracted, the press service of the state-owned enterprise reported.
“Forests of Ukraine” recalled that it put up for auction 465 lots with a volume of 1.4 million cubic meters of forest products (35% of the planned volume of half-yearly timber harvesting for commercial sale) and informed market participants in advance about the volume and structure of the lots.
“Both firewood and roundwood were sold at 100% of the volumes put up for auction,” the statement said.
The company set the starting prices at the auction at the level of the starting prices for the fourth quarter of 2025, which turned out to be significantly lower than the current sales prices. The average selling price for commercial pine in the fourth quarter was UAH 5,900/cubic meter, while the starting price for forward trading was UAH 3,900/cubic meter. Industrial firewood (PV) from coniferous species was sold for UAH 2.3 thousand/cubic meter, while the starting price was UAH 1.3 thousand/cubic meter.
During the auction, commercial pine rose in price to UAH 6.2 thousand/cubic meter, and PV firewood from coniferous species rose to UAH 2.4 thousand/cubic meter. Compared to the general auction in the fourth quarter, beech rose the most in price, to almost UAH 7 thousand/cubic meter (+52%).
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” assured that it would ensure the delivery of all timber sold under forward contracts. As of November 17, the fulfillment of forward contracts for the second half of 2025 is 75% and corresponds to the planned indicator.
As for supplying firewood to energy companies, the state-owned enterprise is a regular participant in tender procedures for the purchase of wood for state customers in accordance with the Law “On Public Procurement.”
Lesy Ukrainy has attracted the attention of energy-generating enterprises, as foresters are ready to supply more than 1 million cubic meters of logging residues for their needs.
The state-owned enterprise added that more than 40% of the firewood has already been sold to the population and social facilities at fixed prices for the heating period.
The fleet of electric locomotives of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia is five times larger than the fleet of diesel locomotives, which makes them critically important and necessitates the purchase of electric locomotives, said the company’s CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi in a comment to journalists in connection with the purchase of 55 electric locomotives from French manufacturer Alstom.
“The basis of Ukrainian logistics, Ukrainian railways, as well as European railways, is electric traction. It is more efficient, it accounts for 80% of our volume, it is five times more than their fleet, and there is a critical need in this segment,” Pertsovsky emphasized, according to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent.
According to him, the ratio of electrified and non-electrified networks of Ukrainian Railways is “about 50-50,” but 80% of cargo and passenger traffic passes through electrified sections.
Pertsovsky clarified that the cost of electric traction transportation is 4-5 times lower.
“It is absolutely critical for us to have a reliable fleet of electric locomotives in order to transport our cargo economically,” the head of the UZ board concluded.
It is noted that at the beginning of the project, the possibility of purchasing diesel locomotives was considered, but the international community and Ukraine, as part of it, decided to adhere to the principles of the Paris Declaration, avoiding new capital investments with a high environmental impact.
The chairman of the board acknowledged that in the current conditions, when there are risks of power outages, diesel locomotives are relevant, but for this purpose, the company is urgently restoring the diesel locomotives that it inherited in large numbers.
Separately, Pertsovsky reported that a group of engineers and machinists visited Azerbaijan, where similar locomotives from the French concern Alstom are in operation, to familiarize themselves with their operation and technical features.
As reported, the French company Alstom and Ukraine’s Ukrzaliznytsia signed a contract to supply 55 electric locomotives to Ukraine worth EUR473 million in 2027-2029. The first electric locomotive will arrive in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2027. This will be followed by certification and the necessary tests.
Ukrzaliznytsia emphasized that 37% of the project’s funding is non-repayable grant aid of approximately EUR 173 million from the URTF fund managed by the World Bank, while the rest is a preferential long-term loan from the EBRD for EUR 300 million.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has fined two manufacturers of dietary supplements for distributing misleading information about the properties of dietary supplements for a total of UAH 11.1 million.
According to the AMCU, VORVARTS PHARMA LLC was fined for distributing information on packaging and marketplaces about the properties of the dietary supplement ZAFAKOL IQ to improve intestinal function, which did not correspond to reality.
In turn, LLC “ERSEL PHARMA UKRAINE” distributed information about the properties of the dietary supplement “A-KETON” to eliminate the causes of acetone in children.
At the same time, AMCU notes that both companies provided publications on the properties of individual components of dietary supplements and/or articles on the use of dietary supplements in complex therapy with other drugs.
However, according to the position of the Ministry of Health, “such articles are not a sufficient basis for confirming the properties of dietary supplements, publications on the properties of individual components of dietary supplements do not confirm their presence in a dietary supplement as a whole.”
“The AMCU found that the information disseminated regarding the dietary supplements ZAFAKOL IQ and A-KETON may affect consumers’ intentions to purchase such products. At the same time, the information disseminated regarding these products may be perceived as properties that are inherent to a medicinal product,” AMCU noted.
AMCU did not specify the amount of the fine imposed on each of the companies.
