In the Ukrainian hospitality market, 45 new projects of hotel and apartment complexes and 108 hotel-type cottage towns are planned for 2024-2026, according to a study by Ribas Hotels Group.
According to it, in the next two years, the announced replenishment of the room stock is 6670 rooms for hotels and apartments, and 3097 houses for cottage communities.
According to the study, as of mid-2024, there are 2017 hotels operating in Ukraine, while 12 facilities have been destroyed or damaged since the start of the full-scale war.
Optima Hotels (64 hotels), Ribas Hotels Group (21 hotels) and Premier Hotels and Resorts (11 hotels) are the leaders in terms of the number of hotels. Among the foreign chains, Accor with nine hotels and Radisson with five are the leaders in terms of the scale of their presence.
The average occupancy rate of Ukrainian hotels in the first half of 2024 was 34-38%, and in some regions in the west of the country (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zakarpattia regions) it reached 60-70%.
According to the study, since 2013, the total number of collective accommodation facilities has been decreasing by an average of 175 facilities annually, mainly due to health facilities, sanatoriums, health resorts, boarding houses with treatment, balneotherapy and mud hospitals, tourist bases, campsites, recreation centers and boarding houses. At the same time, the number of hotels increased by 9.1%, motels by 10.7%, and hostels by 28.7%.
According to analysts, after the war ends, the tourist flow in Ukraine may increase to 14.5 million people. Thus, the current room capacity will not be able to meet the demand. According to Ribas Hotels Group, the potential need for hotel rooms may be +30-40% of the current number.
It is noted that the study used data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the State Agency for Tourism Development, the State Border Guard Service, the main statistics departments of Kyiv, Lviv and Lviv Regional State Administration, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro regions, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, the State Register of Immovable Property of Ukraine, the Service Portal for Tourists, the Hotel and Statistical Aggregators.
Uman (Cherkasy region) to celebrate the Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah – has already arrived more than 33.5 thousand pilgrims, said the head of the regional military administration (OVA) Igor Taburets.
“As of now, more than 33,500 pilgrims have arrived in the city for the celebration. More guests are not expected. The situation is controlled. We do not record significant violations. Services are working in a reinforced mode,” he wrote in Telegram on Wednesday.
According to him, this year the arrival of a significant number of pilgrims-children has been recorded. The bulk of pilgrims traditionally come from Israel, so this year there are slightly fewer than usual due to the security situation not only in Ukraine, but also in Israel itself. “Some simply could not leave,” Taburets said.
“Both locals and visitors are urged to respond properly to air alerts, to follow the rules. We have curfew in effect without changes,” Taburets noted.
Weapons production in Ukraine doubled in the first eight months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
“In 2023, arms production in Ukraine tripled. In the first eight months of this year, we increased production by another two times compared to the previous year. Today we are producing a quantity of weapons that would have seemed impossible in 2022,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at the second International Defense Industries Forum (DFNC2).
The Prime Minister noted that the draft state budget for 2025 allocates 65% more funds for the production of weapons and military equipment, which is an increase of almost UAH 300 billion.
“This means that next year there will be even more Ukrainian drones, missiles, ammunition, vehicles, artillery, and everything else we need for defense,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
Shmyhal said that Ukraine would produce 1.5 million drones in 2024, which was made possible, in part, by the involvement and support of private companies. “We have created a market for drones, and next year this number and capacity will be even greater… We are also creating a market for ammunition,” the Prime Minister added.
Among other things, the Prime Minister said that the government is forming a mechanism for long-term contracts for weapons manufacturers; building a new architecture for military procurement; expanding locations for weapons production, including the creation of underground sites.
Shmyhal said that the priorities for production include: various types of drones, including ground-based robotic systems; a full-fledged missile program, including ballistic weapons; expanding the production of all types of shells; artillery systems and various types of armored vehicles.
In addition, he said, the government is investing in the development of electronic warfare.
Ukraine exported 99.3 million tons of goods worth $28.9 billion in January-September 2024, up 36.2% in commodity terms and 6% in monetary terms compared to January-September 2023, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said.
According to him, in the third quarter of this year, exports amounted to 28.2 million tons, which is 36% more than in the third quarter of 2023, and the increase in monetary terms is also significant – 20.1%, it increased to $9.3 billion.
“There is also a positive trend in September-24 compared to August-24. There is a 12.6% decrease in the weight of exports, but the largest revenue for the quarter is $3.2 billion. This means that we are increasing exports of goods at the best price. This all means that exports are coming to life and are recovering at a fairly active pace,” Kachka wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
He noted that among the exported goods, metallurgy is one of the best performers: exports of semi-finished products in commodity terms increased by 65.6% to 1.5 million tons in nine months, flat products by 86.2% to 1.1 million tons, and pipes by more than half to 338 thousand tons. Iron ore exports almost doubled, up 99.6% to 25.2 million tons.
Kachka added that cement exports are also growing: 1.3 million tons, up 31% year-on-year.
In the agricultural sector, corn (25.2 million tons exported, up 16.2%) and wheat (16 million tons, up 42.4%) remained the leaders in terms of volumes over the three quarters.
In addition, since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has already exported 4.6 million tons of sunflower oil and 3.6 million tons of meal.
Poultry exports remain stable – 334 thousand tons for 9 months, while in monetary terms there was an increase of 15% to $708 million.
“But the most interesting food product is juices: 82 thousand tons and $160 million. The growth was 65% in volume and 95.5% in value. There is also growth in the confectionery industry – cookies – $190 million (+29%), chocolate – $169 million (+38%), caramels – $151 million (+14%),” the Deputy Minister emphasized.
According to him, in September, the sugar production season began and sugar exports resumed. In September, Ukraine exported 24.7 thousand tons worth $127 million. In general, since the beginning of the year, sugar exports have already amounted to 476 thousand tons for $282 million, which is 60% more than in the same period last year.
As for imports, they amounted to $49.2 billion in January-September, Kachka said.
Most of the money was spent on oil and oil products ($5.1 billion), cars ($3.27 billion), medicines ($1.4 billion), phones/smartphones/tablets ($904 million), UAVs ($904 million), and electricity ($527 million).
Ukraine has launched an electronic system of accounting for the turnover of medical cannabis, the first pharmacy has applied for registration in it, said the Deputy Minister of Health for the development of digital transformation and digitalization.
“On Tuesday, this electronic system started working. We already have the first registration: a pharmacy from Cherkassy has already registered in the system. I hope more pharmacies will join,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Karchevich specified that the sale of medkanabis drugs is carried out exclusively on the basis of an electronic prescription, so technical solutions have been developed to be able to prescribe and omit them.
In addition, the deputy minister recalled that the regulatory framework provides for the sale of both ready-made mednacabis preparations and preparations made in pharmacies from ready-made plant substances.
“In order to make it possible to manufacture these drugs in pharmacies, the requirements for the import of plant substances of cannabis have been determined,” she added.
Karchevych also noted that the registration of such substance can be carried out under a shortened procedure.
