The European Commission (EC) has announced an increase in support for “Ukrainian innovators in the high-tech sector.”
“The European Commission has allocated €20 million to fund 41 cutting-edge Ukrainian startups and small and medium-sized enterprises through the European Innovation Council (EIC) competition to help them turn innovative ideas into real solutions,” according to an EC communiqué published on Wednesday.
“This funding will help integrate Ukrainian startups into the European innovation ecosystem, strengthening Ukraine’s long-term economic ties with the EU,” noted EC Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation Katerina Zakharieva.
The statement notes that each company will receive between EUR300,000 and EUR500,000, as well as the opportunity for accelerated access to the EIC’s flagship funding program—the EIC Accelerator—which offers larger grants and equity investments through the EIC Fund.
The national supermarket chain Varus invested approximately 648 million UAH in network expansion, the retailer’s press service told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
Capital investments were directed toward opening new stores, modernizing the existing network, developing logistics infrastructure, and increasing energy independence, particularly through the installation of generators and solar panels.
“Our key task is to ensure the uninterrupted operation of stores, maintain liquidity, and ensure the predictability of financial flows even during blackouts, power outages, and logistical disruptions,” said CFO Marina Panina.
The opening of a five-year EBRD hryvnia credit line worth $25 million served as an additional sign of financial stability. The company views this as confirmation of international financial institutions’ confidence in businesses operating in Ukraine amid a full-scale war.
The company also reported that maintaining operational stability amid high uncertainty will remain a key financial priority in 2026. Among the main challenges are unstable power supply, labor shortages, and the impact of military operations on logistics.
Varus is a national supermarket chain represented in Ukraine’s grocery retail market by Omega. The first store opened in 2003 in Dnipro; seven new stores opened last year, bringing the total to 118 supermarkets across various cities in Ukraine. The chain operates in several formats: traditional supermarkets, To Go stores, and the Varus.ua online store.
According to the company, its network’s turnover in 2025 increased by 19.5% to UAH 28.8 billion. Tax payments to budgets at all levels totaled UAH 1.99 billion, which is 13.45% more than in 2024.
According to Opendatabot data, the owner of Omega LLC is the Cypriot company “Viant Enterprises Limited.” Valeria Kiptika and Ruslan Shostak are listed as the ultimate beneficiaries.
Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, has begun its 2026 spring planting campaign, starting with sugar beet sowing in the Poltava region, the company announced on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
According to the report, 32,000 hectares have been allocated for sugar beets this year, which is 5.9% less than last year’s 34,000 hectares. At the same time, the area planted with sunflowers will decrease by 21%—to 23,000 hectares—and the area planted with winter wheat will decrease by 15%—to 39,000 hectares. The largest increases are planned for grain corn—by 43%, to 20,000 hectares—and winter rapeseed—by 36%, to 15,000 hectares. Soybean acreage remains unchanged at 56,000 hectares, as does the area under organic farming at 2,000 hectares.
“This year’s planting season is taking place under challenging conditions: increased moisture caused by abnormal frosts and frozen soil requires special attention from agronomists. They are adapting cultivation technologies and carefully monitoring field operations to improve production efficiency. Operational control is ensured by innovative solutions from AgriChain Machinery, AgriChain Scout, and AgriChain Barn. Combined with an updated fleet of equipment, this allows for a rapid response to weather and technological challenges, ensuring the stability and quality of the planting campaign,” said Vasyl Khmeliuk, Chief Operating Officer of Astarta, as quoted in the statement.
The holding noted that the final crop structure will be determined based on the results of the campaign. The use of digital ecosystems and an updated fleet of machinery allows the company to maintain a high pace of work despite challenging weather conditions.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares and dairy farms with 22,000 head of cattle, an oil extraction plant in Hlobine (Poltava region), seven grain elevators, and a biogas complex.
According to the results for 2025, Astarta reduced its total revenue from sales of key product categories by 15.6% compared to 2024—to UAH 21.05 billion, while physical sales volumes of its main products fell by 23.5%—to 1.21 million tons.
Following the results of the first auction on the “Prozorro.Sales” platform, the state-owned enterprise “Black Sea Commercial Sea Port (MTP)” will transship 50,000 tons of mineral fertilizers by September 30, 2026, the press service of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine reported on Telegram.
According to the report, five companies competed for the right to receive port services. The winning bidder offered a price of 220 UAH per ton, with a starting price of 197 UAH.
“The first auction for the sale of port services through ‘Prozorro.Sales’ is practical proof that state-owned ports can operate under modern and competitive rules. We are consistently implementing new management mechanisms centered on transparency, accountability, and equal access for businesses,” emphasized Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine and Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba.
The ministry emphasized that the use of such tools builds market confidence and ensures the effective use of state assets.
According to Fixygen, PJSC “Obolon” will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders on April 23, 2026, via remote participation. As is customary, the meeting will address key annual agenda items—approval of the 2025 financial results, review of management reports, distribution of profits or coverage of losses, as well as decisions regarding current corporate governance. The notice of the meeting has been published in the company’s disclosure section.
Obolon is one of Ukraine’s largest producers of beer, soft drinks, and mineral water. The company traces its history back to 1980, when Kyiv Brewery No. 3 was founded, which later became the basis for the Obolon Corporation.
The company remains one of the best-known national brands in the FMCG sector and focuses on both the domestic market and exports.
Last year, the enterprises of the Lviv-based “Elektron” Group invested 58 million UAH in development, more than double the amount invested in 2024 (28 million UAH), according to a report on the group’s website.
“In 2025, the company’s enterprises invested 58 million UAH in development. Capital investments amounted to 50 million UAH, current investments to 8 million UAH, with accrued depreciation of 26 million UAH,” the report states.
The year before last, out of 28 million UAH in investments, capital investments amounted to 23 million UAH, and current investments to 5 million UAH.
One of the largest investments in 2025 was the production by the “ElektronMash” plant of a demonstration model of an electric bus (12 m).
“This electric bus will be used to showcase the plant’s capabilities, but may be sold in the future,” the concern noted.
In total, capital investments by the “ElektronMash” plant amounted to 24.4 million UAH.
The second-largest investments (11.2 million UAH) were made by the Innovation and Industrial Enterprise “Elektron” (formerly “Elektron Leasing”), whose main specialization is real estate leasing services. The funds were mostly invested in building renovations.
More than 7 million UAH was invested by the manufacturer of heaters and heat exchangers for vehicles, the Sferos-Electron joint venture, specifically in accounting software (1.7 million UAH), repairs to production equipment and presses (2.2 million UAH), and the purchase of new equipment—a stacker, a liquid cooler, a hydraulic table, and compressor units (2 million UAH).
As reported, in 2025, “Sferos-Electron” recorded the highest sales and profit among the group’s enterprises, increasing net revenue by 15%—to 250 million UAH—and net profit by more than 45%—to 43 million UAH.
The Electronpobutprylad (EPP) plant, which manufactures electric drives and motors, received nearly 6.3 million UAH in investments, primarily for the preparation of new production facilities (5.5 million UAH).
The report notes that by 2026, EPP’s main production of all motors will be located in modern facilities with space reserved for expanding the range of existing and new motor types. In particular, a metalworking shop with an area of up to 2,000 square meters has been built and is being commissioned, and new automatic presses and CNC machines are being installed.
The “Elektron” television plant, with total investments of 4.63 million UAH, developed computer software for trolleybuses and adapted electronic systems for vehicles. Significant investments were made in the repair and restoration of buildings (3.5 million UAH).
NVP “Elektron-Karat,” a developer of production technologies and a manufacturer of materials for nano- and microelectronics, sensor technology, and information technology, invested nearly 2.4 million UAH in development.
The report notes that a 95 kW grid-connected solar power plant was installed on the roofs of one of the “Elektron-Karat” buildings to increase the company’s energy independence. The cost of the work amounted to 1.35 million UAH, with a payback period of 2.5 years.
The “Elektron” Concern comprises 12 enterprises, as well as the parent company, PJSC “Concern-Elektron.”
As reported, JSC “Concern-Electron” (Lviv) ended 2025 with a consolidated net profit of 17.22 million UAH, which is 3.3 times less than the corresponding figure for 2024; net revenue decreased by 10.4% to 671.1 million UAH.
