According to Fixygen, PJSC “Pharmaceutical Company “Darnitsa” will hold its annual shareholders’ meeting on April 24, 2026, in Kyiv. In the published notice, the company listed 12 agenda items, including the CEO’s report for 2025, the supervisory board’s report, approval of financial and operational results and annual information, review of the audit report, profit distribution, preliminary approval of significant transactions for 2026–2027, amendments to the charter, as well as the termination of powers and re-election of the supervisory board and approval of contract terms with its members.
Darnitsa is one of Ukraine’s largest pharmaceutical companies and one of the country’s best-known manufacturers of medicines.
The company was founded in 1930 and produces a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
Its production facilities and headquarters are located in Kyiv. The company remains a privately held Ukrainian pharmaceutical group with a strong position in the domestic market.
https://www.fixygen.ua/news/20260331/darnitsya-provede-zbori-aktsioneriv-24-kvitnya.html
Madrid authorities are tightening restrictions on short-term rentals, focusing on removing tourist apartments from residential buildings and relocating part of the city’s hotel supply to non-residential and industrial zones. This is evident from official documents from the Madrid City Council regarding the RESIDE plan and subsequent decisions on its implementation.
The RESIDE plan, presented by the city government in November 2024 and finally enacted in August 2025 following approval by the Madrid Regional Government, served as the primary source of these changes. The plan prohibits the placement of tourist apartments in residential buildings in the city’s historic center, including ground floors with separate entrances, while in the rest of Madrid, such activity is permitted in residential buildings only if the entire building is dedicated to this purpose. At the same time, licenses for this type of operation outside the central zone are issued for 15 years, after which the property must revert to residential use.
The city government justifies the stricter rules as a measure to protect the permanent housing stock. According to the RESIDE plan itself, the number of tourist apartments in Madrid has doubled since 2017, reaching 16,100, while only about 7% of such properties held a legal license. At the same time, 42% of all tourist apartments in the city are concentrated in the central district.
At the same time, Madrid’s authorities have begun promoting an alternative model for accommodating tourists and visitors. On March 5, 2026, the city council announced that it is preparing a special plan that will allow for the establishment of aparthotels, flex living, and other short- and medium-term accommodation formats on over 240 sites across eight districts, primarily in industrial zones with an already established commercial function. City officials emphasize that the goal of this measure is to decentralize tourist flows and remove short-term accommodations from traditional residential neighborhoods.
Thus, Madrid is not merely restricting short-term rentals but is restructuring the entire model of tourist accommodation: housing in residential buildings is receiving stricter protection, while new accommodation formats are being directed toward non-residential areas and specialized sites. Given the pressure tourism exerts on the housing market in the Spanish capital, this policy appears to be one of the strictest among major European cities.
According to Fixygen, PJSC AB “Ukrgasbank” will hold a shareholders’ meeting on April 24, 2026, via remote participation. According to the bank’s materials, the main items on the agenda include approval of the financial and operational results for 2025, distribution of profits or coverage of losses, as well as other corporate decisions related to the bank’s management.
“Ukrgasbank” is a state-owned bank of Ukraine specializing in corporate, retail, and “green” financing. The state is the majority shareholder. The bank actively participates in business lending programs, energy efficiency initiatives, and international financial projects.
https://www.fixygen.ua/news/20260331/ukrgazbank-priznachiv-zbori-aktsioneriv-na-24-kvitnya.html
UKRNAFTA was the first to join the government’s fuel cashback support program.
Starting today, at all 660 gas stations in the network, customers will be able to receive:
15% cashback on diesel;
10% on gasoline;
5% on LPG.
Funds will be credited to a card registered in the state “National Cashback” program.
The maximum cashback amount for fuel is up to 1,000 UAH per person per month.
Accrued funds can be viewed in the Diya app. Payments are made by the end of the month following the purchase.
Fuel cashback is part of the government’s support for Ukrainians in response to rising oil prices due to hostilities in the Middle East.
The program will run until May 1.
JSC “Ukrnafta” is Ukraine’s largest oil producer and operates the country’s largest national network of gas stations—UKRNAFTA. In 2024, the company entered into an asset management agreement with Glusco. In 2025, it finalized a deal with Shell Overseas Investments BV to purchase the Shell network in Ukraine. In total, it operates 660 gas stations.
The company is implementing a comprehensive program to resume operations and modernize the format of gas stations in its network. Since February 2023, it has been issuing its own fuel vouchers and “NAFTACard” cards, which are sold to legal entities and individuals through Ukrnafta-Postach LLC.
The largest shareholder of Ukrnafta is Naftogaz of Ukraine with a stake of 50% plus one share.
In November 2022, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to transfer to the state the share of corporate rights in the company that belonged to private owners, which is now managed by the Ministry of Defense.
On March 25 of this year, the President of Uzbekistan reviewed a presentation on the establishment of the Tashkent International Financial Center, the launch of the International Center for Digital Technologies, and the introduction of Islamic finance mechanisms into the banking system.
It was noted that the current geopolitical situation opens up additional opportunities for attracting international capital, and it is important for Uzbekistan to promptly take advantage of this window of opportunity. To achieve the goal of attracting more than $50 billion in investments this year, the focus is on simplifying market access for investors, creating a transparent business environment, adopting international legal standards, and offering additional incentives.
The key areas identified are the development of the financial and digital sectors, as well as the diversification of banking services through Islamic finance. It is expected that the institutions being established will ensure an influx of new types of investment, job creation, export growth, and the improvement of workforce skills. The initiatives include:
Following the presentation, the President instructed that the practical implementation of certain initiatives be accelerated, emphasizing their importance for the development of a modern and competitive economy.
International support, the development of vocational education, and the rapid implementation of practice-oriented educational solutions are critically important for maintaining the competitiveness of Ukraine’s agricultural sector, which, despite the war, remains a key source of foreign exchange earnings and one of the drivers of the economy, stated participants at the press conference “International Partnership for the Development of Education in Ukraine’s Agricultural Sector.”
During the discussion, speakers emphasized that the agricultural sector is increasingly facing a shortage of personnel, the need for staff retraining, adaptation to new EU standards, and demand for modern digital knowledge—from post-harvest grain processing to artificial intelligence technologies in agricultural production.
Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center and deputy director of the Interfax-Ukraine agency, emphasized that under current conditions, the development of education in the agricultural sector is directly linked to issues of the country’s economic stability.
“Today, Ukraine’s economy depends to a significant extent on assistance from international partners, and this must be stated plainly. But Ukraine cannot build its future solely on external support, so we need industries that generate foreign exchange revenue, sustain employment, and form the tax base, and the agricultural sector remains precisely such a sector,” he emphasized at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.
According to Urakin, one example of such a practical partnership is the launch of the online course “Application of Artificial Intelligence Technologies in Agricultural Production,” implemented by Experts Club in collaboration with AgriAcademy at the initiative of the EBRD as part of food security support programs. He emphasized that solutions allowing Ukrainian farmers not just to talk about innovation but to translate it into concrete business tools are particularly important.
“The goal of this course is to shift the conversation about artificial intelligence from the level of abstractions to the level of concrete business solutions. Today, Ukraine needs a new system for training farmers—one that is more technologically advanced, systematic, and combines international best practices, business expertise, and applied tasks,” noted Urakin.
In turn, Oksana Yurchenko, project coordinator at the FAO Investment Center in Ukraine, emphasized that the labor shortage in the agricultural sector is a chronic problem that has not disappeared either after the pandemic or amid a full-scale war, and therefore, accessible remote learning formats are becoming one of the few realistic ways to quickly improve workers’ qualifications.
“The shortage of skilled workers in the agricultural sector has been, is, and will continue to be one of the key challenges. It is often difficult for farm workers to attend in-person training due to their schedules and the remote locations of their farms, so the industry needs accessible, practical, and flexible training that can be completed without taking time off from work,” she noted.
Yurchenko noted that the AgriAcademy platform was created in response to a request from major agribusinesses and international partners for systematic training for the sector amid the war. According to her, the platform already hosts over 40 courses, which are developed in collaboration with businesses, Ukrainian and international experts, and adapted to the sector’s current needs. Particular emphasis is placed not only on crop production but also on livestock farming, where requirements for biosecurity, animal health, welfare, and compliance with European standards have risen sharply.
“If we look at the number of diplomas and certificates issued by the AgriAcademy platform, we’re already talking about over 3,500 documents. At the same time, the number of registered students who are still taking courses or plan to complete their studies is approximately three times higher, which indicates a steady growth in interest in the platform,” Yurchenko reported.
She also noted that as of January 1, 2026, mandatory animal welfare requirements will apply to all agricultural enterprises that keep animals, and therefore the demand for specialized training will only increase. According to the expert, the courses on the platform are not yet legally mandatory, but they are effectively becoming an important practical tool for the correct interpretation and implementation of new regulations at enterprises.
Rodion Rybchynskyi, Director of the “Flour Millers of Ukraine” Association and a grain sector expert at the UN FAO, noted that the staffing problem affects not only agricultural production but the entire agri-food sector, including processing and the food industry, where automation of many processes cannot yet replace human labor.
“The labor shortage in the food industry is even more acute today than in agricultural production itself. Unmanned combines or tractors can already be used in the fields, but no one has figured out how to produce bread, grains, pasta, or other food products without people, so the issue of staff quality and knowledge is the number one challenge here,” he added.
Rybchynskyi emphasized that in the context of European integration, food industry enterprises must not only seek out employees but also quickly upgrade their qualifications in accordance with new regulations, technological requirements, and quality standards. That is why, he said, educational platforms such as AgriAcademy must develop in parallel with formal education.
The expert also noted that a course on post-harvest processing and grain storage is already available on the platform, and a course on processing grain crops is expected to be released soon. At the same time, as the expert emphasized, the main goal of such programs is to provide specialists with a solid foundation, without which innovation is impossible.
Maksym Hopka, head of the “AgroKebeti PRO: Grains and Oilseeds” project at the UCAB association, stated that retraining, short applied programs, and training with a practical component are currently among the most effective tools for addressing the labor shortage in the agricultural sector.
“Today, the agricultural sector in Ukraine is facing a serious labor shortage, so rapid, practice-oriented educational solutions are becoming crucial. Our approach is not just about training, but about developing a new quality of human capital for the agricultural sector by combining theory, practice, and direct interaction with businesses,” he noted.
According to Hopka, nearly 984 people registered for training under one of the programs, and 552 have already completed it. Some participants also completed the practical component, after which some graduates found employment or continued working in a related field within the industry. He noted that special attention in such programs was given to internally displaced persons, youth, people with disabilities, and war veterans.
Gopka also emphasized that it is important not only to create new educational products but also to ensure their close connection with higher education institutions. He reported that, as part of educational projects, more than seven memorandums have already been signed with leading agricultural universities, and certain programs are being implemented as supplements to master’s degree courses with the involvement of business representatives and foreign educational partners.
Serhiy Shylko, founder of TATFooD and a recruitment media agency, commenting on the situation in the labor market, noted that for employers in the current conditions, the main challenge is not simply finding a specialist, but the ability to retain an employee by offering them stability, clear working conditions, and opportunities for professional development.
“Today, success in the agri-food business is determined not by the search for the perfect specialist, but by the ability to become an integral part of a person’s life, providing them with stability and a sense of purpose. A production technologist must now serve as both a mentor to line staff and a process manager, so training platforms should help adapt specialists to new working conditions,” he said.
Shilko also emphasized the importance of the concept of lifelong learning and noted that the market already needs programs that employees can complete alongside their work, without a prolonged interruption in the production cycle. In his view, public and private initiatives in this area should not duplicate one another but rather address different segments of demand—from blue-collar professions to modern digital competencies, which are currently lacking even in formal retraining programs.
During the discussion, the speakers also focused on the state of academic education. They noted that the traditional system of workforce training in many cases is no longer keeping pace with the pace of change in the industry, particularly due to a weak material base, low teacher salaries, and a lack of sufficient resources for laboratories and modern equipment. At the same time, as the participants noted, it is precisely the alliance of business, universities, and professional associations that can become the model capable of producing tangible results.
Rodion Rybchynskyi cited examples of involving faculty from specialized Ukrainian universities in developing and teaching courses, as well as business collaboration with universities in creating modern laboratories, particularly at specialized higher education institutions. Participants in the press conference agreed that without such a partnership, a full-scale renewal of the workforce for the agricultural sector would be impossible.
A separate topic was the issue of potentially bringing foreign workers to Ukraine amid a labor shortage. Representatives of the processing sector noted that there is already some demand for such workers, but in practice, it often runs into obstacles due to immigration laws and organizational challenges. At the same time, according to Oksana Yurchenko’s assessment, while such a scenario is partially feasible for processing and certain production sectors, it is unlikely to become widespread in the livestock segment.
Overall, the participants of the press conference concluded that, given the war, demographic pressures, and tougher competition in foreign markets, the agricultural sector can no longer rely solely on traditional approaches to workforce training. In their view, international partnerships, digital educational platforms, short practical programs, business involvement in training, and the modernization of academic education should form the basis of a new workforce model for Ukrainian agribusiness.
AGRO, EXPERTS, EXPERTS CLUB, FAO, Flour Mills of Ukraine, GRAIN, MAXIM GOPKA, MAXIM URAKIN, RECRUITING, RODION RYBCHINSKY; AGROKEBETI PRO, SERGEY SHILKO, TATFOOD, ОКСАНА ЮРЧЕНКО
