Law enforcers in Odessa exposed a criminal group, which realized a large-scale fraudulent scheme with the use of fictitious investment platforms, reports the press service of the National police of Ukraine.
“Attackers created websites of non-existent companies, whose names were periodically changed in order to conspire criminal activity, where they placed false information about allegedly entrepreneurial activities in the field of arbitrage advertising traffic and cryptocurrency assets. Potential investors were offered to register personal accounts, where they could choose a certain investment plan, fund their accounts and “receive dividends”. In reality, the funds were immediately accumulated on the controlled crypto wallets of the participants of the fraudulent scheme. Having reached the goal, they stopped communication with the victims”, – is indicated in the message.
According to the investigation, organized “business” 28-year-old resident of Odessa, attracting to its implementation a group of persons, including a specialist in the IT-sector, which created and administered the websites of fictitious companies, as well as “callers” who contacted potential victims. The participants worked both remotely and from specially equipped offices in Odessa, which functioned as call centers.
Law enforcers established a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by the attackers, the total amount of proceeds to which exceeded UAH 24 million in 2024-2025. For conspiracy, the figures controlled it from a private key, which did not belong to any known service or exchange.
“According to preliminary data, the actual number of victims, including foreigners, may exceed 1,500 people, to establish which it is necessary to conduct a number of investigative actions, including in the framework of international cooperation,” – said the police.
To solve the crime, a joint investigative team between the competent authorities of Ukraine and the Republic of Kazakhstan has been created. With the involvement of special units of the NPU, GUNP in Odessa region and employees of the Department of cyberpolice of the Republic of Kazakhstan was conducted a number of searches and seized a number of evidence of illegal activities.
So far, the police have documented illegal activities of the group’s members against seven investors from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and other countries. The damage caused to the investors amounts to $92 thousand.
Investigators detained eight members of the group, another one is wanted. In the presence of sufficient evidence, all the defendants are reported on suspicion of taking possession of other people’s property by deception, i.e. fraud, committed by prior conspiracy of a group of persons, through illegal operations with the use of electronic computers, under martial law, in especially large amounts.
According to the sanction of part 5 of article 190 (fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the perpetrators face up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Cocoa futures prices have fallen to 20-month lows, dropping by about half compared to recent peaks.
The most active cocoa bean futures contract in New York fell to $6,150 per tonne during the session. Last December, the contract traded above $12,000.
In London, cocoa futures are trading at £4,262 ($5,713) per ton, down 58% from the multi-year highs seen last April.
The decline in cocoa prices was the result of a reduction in consumer demand, which, in turn, was caused by a sharp increase in prices in recent years, the Financial Times writes, citing analysts. In addition, experts expect a good harvest of cocoa beans in the largest producing countries located in West Africa.
“Prices rose to crazy heights and could not remain at such levels for long,” said Rabobank analyst Oran van Dort. “Quotations have been falling for most of this year, but a particularly pronounced downward trend has been observed since mid-August.”
In Uzbekistan, 2,141 positions in the executive branch will be cut by November 1, 2025, due to the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies. The corresponding decree was signed by the country’s president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and the document was published in the National Legislation Database.
According to the decree, the largest number of cuts will occur in the State Tax Committee (498 positions), the Ministry of Water Resources (224), the Ministry of Agriculture (200), the Ministry of Justice (197), the Ministry of Ecology (176), and the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction (163).
In addition, the number of deputy heads in state committees, agencies, and inspectorates will be reduced: in some structures, the number of deputies will decrease from 11 to 7, from 12 to 6, and from 13 to 7, respectively.
The Ministry of Employment and the Federation of Trade Unions have been instructed to assist dismissed employees in finding employment and retraining.
The reform is part of a program to digitally transform public administration. In early 2025, President Mirziyoyev signed a law reforming the civil service system, which provides for the introduction of performance evaluations for civil servants and higher requirements for digital skills.
Earlier, Uzbekistan announced the creation of an Artificial Intelligence Development Alliance, which will coordinate the introduction of AI technologies in various industries and allocate funding for infrastructure development. About $100 million is planned to be allocated for these purposes.
The mass reduction of civil servants reflects the authorities’ policy of optimizing the bureaucratic apparatus and improving management efficiency through digitalization. At the same time, experts note that the success of the reform will depend on the quality of the technologies implemented and the state’s ability to provide social protection and retraining for the workers who are being laid off.
The IMC agricultural holding has completed the sunflower harvest from an area of 24.8 thousand hectares and collected over 81 thousand tons with a record yield of 3.3 t/ha, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
IMK cited data from the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture, according to which, as of October 6, 2025, the average sunflower yield in Ukraine was 1.83 tons/ha.
“The sunflower harvest was not easy — the weather this year made its adjustments more than once. We exceeded the planned yield indicators, the average oil content reached a record 54%, and in some fields it reached an incredible 64%,” said IMC Chief Operating Officer Bohdan Kryvitsky.
IMK also completed the sowing of winter wheat for the 2026 harvest on an area of 21,000 hectares, which is 18% of the company’s total land bank.
“This year, due to problems with autopilot systems caused by the operation of electronic warfare equipment, we were forced to return to sowing with physical markers. Despite this, we worked in an organized manner and met the optimal deadlines,” Kryvitsky commented.
IMK Agroholding is an integrated group of companies operating in the Sumy, Poltava, and Chernihiv regions (northern and central Ukraine) in the segments of crop production, elevators, and warehouses. The land bank is 116,000 hectares, storage capacity is 554,000 tons, and the 2024 harvest is 864,000 tons.
IMK ended 2024 with a net profit of $54.54 million, compared to a net loss of $21.03 million in 2023. Revenue grew by 52% to $211.29 million, gross profit quadrupled to $109.10 million, and normalized EBITDA increased 25-fold to $86.11 million.
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva expressed concern about the growing amount of government debt during a speech on Wednesday ahead of the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank.
Global government debt is projected to exceed 100 percent of GDP by 2029 at the expense of both developed and emerging economies.
“Higher debt increases interest payments, puts pressure on borrowing costs, constrains other spending, and reduces the ability of governments to cushion shocks,” Georgieva said.
As a result, she said, aid from developed nations to the neediest countries unfortunately continues to decline.
The rate of increase in the global economy is expected to be around 3% in the medium term, down from 3.7% before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Global growth patterns have changed over the years, with China’s rate of recovery in particular steadily slowing, while India is emerging as a key engine of growth,” the IMF chief notes.
“Sustained growth requires higher private sector productivity. To achieve this, governments must ensure and protect the essential elements of a free market, including property rights, rule of law, reliable data, effective bankruptcy codes, strong financial sector supervision, and independent but accountable institutions,” she said.
Georgieva said that in too many countries, private sector productivity is “entangled in red tape” and startups are not emerging or cannot grow. “Competition is key and regulation should not allow or create an unfair advantage,” she believes.
“So today I am calling on all our member countries to undertake a regulatory housecleaning to unleash entrepreneurial energy backed by strong institutions and governance. Now is not the time to harm ourselves: now is the time to clean up,” the IMF chief said.
She also called on “my beloved, native Europe” to act.
“Consider appointing a ‘single market czar’ with real powers to push reforms forward. Eliminate border frictions in the labor market, trade in goods and services, energy and finance. Create a single European financial system. Create an energy union. Finalize your project. And watch the dynamics of the US private sector,” Georgieva said.
According to her, “one picture can say more than a thousand words.” “Look at how seven US mega-companies, none of which existed 51 years ago, boast market capitalizations larger than their European counterparts,” the IMF chief said.
Video analysis of the ratio of government debt to GDP is available on the channel of the analytical center Experts Club – https://youtube.com/shorts/skgFqF0c4Gw?si=oJPXANSuNNpWxsmY.
