Ukraine’s largest private operator of railway transportation company “Lemtrans” plans to build a container terminal in Fastov (Kiev region), according to the company’s website.
“The terminal in Fastov will be a strategic link in the development of transportation logistics in the region. The project will allow: to optimize logistics chains, expand export opportunities for Ukrainian producers and create conditions for integration of local business into global trade,” said Alexander Tkachuk, director of terminal network development at Levada Cargo.
The company added that in 2024 it invested UAH 478 million in logistics and infrastructure projects – this is three times more than in 2023. The main focus is on the development of terminal and container business, where the amount of investments amounted to UAH 441 million.
Lemtrans Group completed the first phase of construction and opened “Vinnytsia Container Terminal” (KTV) in September 2024.
As reported, the total transportation volume of Lemtrans in 2024 amounted to 15.9 million tons, which is 6% less than in 2023.
Based on the results of activities in 2024, the companies that are part of the Lemtrans group transferred to the budgets of all levels of taxes and fees in the amount of more than UAH 712 million. “Lemtrans” in 2024 transferred to the state budget about 647 million UAH. Local budgets were replenished in the amount of UAH 66 mln. In addition, Lemtrans Group paid more than UAH 59 mln of unified social contribution.
In January-March 2025, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises increased pig iron production by 7.2% year-on-year to 1.702 million tons. This was reported by Ukrmetallurgprom.
In March of this year, the company produced 563.2 thousand tons of pig iron, while in February it produced 544.4 thousand tons.
For comparison: In 2024, Ukraine smelted 7.090 million tons of pig iron (+18.1% compared to 2023), and in 2023 – 6.003 million tons (-6.1% compared to 2022). In 2021, the volume was 21.165 million tons.
The Experts Club Information and Analytical Center has recently presented a video analysis of the top 20 steel producing countries – https://youtube.com/shorts/j7Yev2HCS4o?si=lfmGJ5jrx8036z1U
Standard One, a company specializing in Build-to-Rent projects, announced the launch of a new product S1 REIT, which gives the opportunity to become a co-owner of square meters in S1 residential buildings, the company’s press service reports.
“We are the first in Ukraine to create and implement the concept of income houses in Build-to-Rent format. This is a high-class service for tenants and investors. The former get a high-quality living space with hotel service options, the latter – a stable passive income, which does not require involvement in the process of object management. The pilot project of S1 VDNG from 2019 testifies to the success of such a model, because the occupancy rate in the house reaches 99%,” explains CEO of Standard One Sergey Fitel.
According to him, S1 REIT is a step of scaling an existing concept. With a REIT (Real estate investment trust, IF-U), to join the project, one only needs to invest an amount equivalent to the approximate cost of 1 sqm. REIT provides not only an easy entry into the investment, but also, if necessary, a convenient exit. The company also creates a closed community for investors, where they can share experiences.
You can buy square meters for investment in Standard One’s first project – S1 VDNG. Already ready and inhabited by tenants, with almost zero vacancy, allows investors to receive from 8.2% in currency. The S1 Obolon fund is also scheduled to launch soon, with a projected 10% in currency.
“ Real estate investment funds are already on the market, their success confirms the demand for such instruments. While previously a significant amount of money was needed to invest in real estate, this opportunity is now open to many as the investment threshold has become minimal,” adds Fitel.
According to Oleg Bondar, CEO of S1 REIT, liquidity in the project is ensured by high demand for real estate from Standard One. In general, the rental market in Ukraine and especially in Kyiv is quite active, demand is increasing and rental rates are growing. In 2024, the increase in the average rental price of a one-bedroom apartment in the capital amounted to 21% in currency. Under these conditions, investing in real estate for rent becomes even more attractive.
“The potential capacity of the market is huge. Especially in the segment of new quality housing. The better the infrastructure and more advantages a project has – the higher its price. Such objects as S1 provide stable profitability without ‘downtime’,” summarizes CEO Standard One.
S1 is a project of the development company KDD Ukraine, S1 VDNG project has been operating since 2019, with three more projects in the pipeline.
In January-March 2025, Ukraine imported $18.5 billion worth of goods and exported $9.9 billion, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine. At the same time, taxed imports amounted to $13.9 billion, which is 75% of the total volume of imported goods.
The tax burden per 1 kg of taxed imports in January-March 2025 amounted to $0.50/kg. Countries from which Ukraine imported the most goods: China – $3.9 billion, Poland – $1.7 billion, and Germany – $1.5 billion.
Ukraine exported the most to Poland – by $1.1 billion, Italy – by $680 million, and Spain – by $650 million.
The following categories of goods accounted for 68% of the total volume of goods imported in January-March 2025
– machinery, equipment and transport – $6.8 billion
UAH 42.3 billion was paid to the budget during the customs clearance of these goods, which is 27% of customs revenues
– chemical products – $3.2 billion
UAH 25.5 billion was paid to the budget during the customs clearance of these goods, which is 16% of customs revenues;
– fuel and energy – $2.5 billion
UAH 43.6 billion was paid to the budget during customs clearance of these goods, which is 28% of customs revenues.
The top three most exported goods from Ukraine are:
– food products – $5.8 billion
– Metals and metal products – $1.1 billion
– machinery, equipment and transport – $882 million
In the first 3 months of 2025, UAH 81.2 million was paid to the budget during customs clearance of exports of goods subject to export duties.
In the period from 2022 to January-March 2025, Moldova imported 99.22% of soybeans from Ukraine, which supplied 56.64 thsd tonnes of the total imports of 57.08 thsd tonnes, according to the Moldovan online resource agroexpert.md.
According to the report, the total trade turnover for the analyzed period amounted to 71.42 thsd tonnes, including 79.9% of imports and 20.1% of exports of domestic beans.
Ukraine was the leader in the supply of soybeans throughout the analyzed period. In 2022, it accounted for 99.99% of imports (14.84 thsd tonnes), in 2023 – 97.19% (10.08 thsd tonnes), in 2024 – 99.50% (30.20 thsd tonnes), and in the first quarter of 2025 – 9%.
Other importing countries had a much smaller share. Thus, Germany ranked second with a share of 0.39% of total imports (0.22 thousand tons), with all imports from this country in 2023. Romania is on the third place with the share of 0.26% (0.15 thsd tonnes), the main volume of imports from this country was in 2024.
At the same time, Moldova exported soybeans to 10 countries in 2022-January-March 2025 and totaled 14.34 thsd tonnes.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has called on the National Agrarian Academy of Sciences (NAAS) to be transparent and engage in dialogue and insists on providing information on 1736 land plots with a total area of 135,000 hectares and their actual use for scientific purposes, the agency reported on Facebook.
“There is no “seizure” of land. We are talking only about the transfer of part of the land that is not used or is used inefficiently to the state enterprise “Reserve” for transparent management. These lands are not being sold, privatized or withdrawn from state ownership,” the SPF emphasized.
At the same time, the Fund reminded that the State Enterprise “Reserve” is the second operator of the Land Bank project, which was created to effectively transfer state land for use on a competitive basis through the Prozorro.Sale system. Its creation is envisaged by the state strategy, as the State Land Bank LLC cannot obtain such land for permanent use – according to the law, only a state-owned enterprise can do so. In the future, the State Enterprise “Reserve” will be merged with similar structures into a single state land bank.
The SPF noted that they do not intend to withdraw land plots from the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences that are actually used for field research, breeding, livestock production or training. It is also not about land plots owned by educational institutions, but only about land used by the National Academy of Sciences, but without confirmation of their scientific purpose.
The SPF emphasized that productivity does not mean hectares, but results, and cited as an example the UAH 3.4 billion received by the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences in 2024 from 276 thousand hectares of land used by the academy.
“This is several times lower than the indicators of an efficient private sector. At the same time, most of the profits are generated not through science, but through commercial farming, which sometimes has nothing to do with research,” the State Property Fund emphasized.
He reminded that land is a national resource and it should work in the interests of the state, especially in times of war when the budget needs financial revenues.
“We cannot afford to keep thousands of hectares for ‘scientific needs’ that are not supported by objective activity,” the SPF emphasized and called on the National Academy of Sciences to be transparent and engage in dialogue.
The SPF analyzed the NAAS lands and identified 1736 plots with a total area of 135 thousand hectares for transfer to the Land Bank. Another 69 thousand hectares have real estate or are unsuitable for investment. This data was submitted to the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences in May 2024 for clarification. However, in 10 months, only one response was received from the NAAS – on the transfer of 65 thousand hectares, of which 50 thousand hectares are under occupation, and 7 thousand hectares are actually suitable.
Due to the NAAS’s refusal to cooperate constructively, the SPF decided to include all plots without real estate in the Land Bank project to stop the shadow use of land that does not benefit the state. The NAAS should provide a clear and reasoned list of enterprises and plots that they really need. The Foundation called the NAAS’s opposition an attempt to maintain control over abandoned assets under the slogan “science and development.”
“Our goal is to make state land a source of budget revenues, job creation, support for the army and reforms. We are building a new institution for managing Ukraine’s strategic resources – orderly, accountable and open,” the SPF summarized and called on the National Academy of Sciences to share this state approach.
