According to Fixygen, it was a volatile and nervous week for the crypto market. Midweek, Bitcoin managed to reclaim the $70,000 mark amid a short-term improvement in global risk sentiment following news of a pause in the potential escalation surrounding Iran; however, by the end of the week, the momentum faded, and the market fell again. As of March 27, Bitcoin was trading around $66,200, and Ethereum around $1,987.
Geopolitics remained the main external driver. At the start of the week, the market rallied following reports of U.S. strikes on Iranian infrastructure: Bitcoin rose above $70,000 and at one point tested the $71,700 range. But then this relief rally began to run out of steam, as the market returned to the fundamental question: how sustainable is the easing of tensions, and will oil prices resume their upward trend?
The second major factor of the week was the U.S. regulatory agenda. Last week, Citigroup lowered its 12-month price targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum, directly linking this to the stalled progress of crypto legislation in the U.S. At the same time, the market reacted negatively to news of a compromise on the Clarity Act, which discusses banning yields on stablecoin balances: against this backdrop, Circle and Coinbase shares fell sharply, and the issue itself reminded the market once again that the “regulatory bull scenario” has not yet materialized.
Technically, the week showed that the $70,000 level for Bitcoin remains more of a battleground than a solid support. A number of market reviews indicated that the return above this mark was not confirmed by strong volume, and by the end of the week, traders’ attention shifted to the major $18.6 billion options expiration. That said, one positive development was the decline in BTC supply on exchanges to a seven-year low, which is typically interpreted as a signal of long-term coin holding rather than immediate selling.
For Ethereum, the week turned out to be weaker than for Bitcoin. ETH participated in the rebound along with the rest of the market, but pressure on it remains stronger: Citi separately noted weak user activity on the network and a more modest set of potential catalysts compared to BTC. Against the backdrop of the current price below $2,000, this makes ether more sensitive to any new deterioration in risk appetite.
If we summarize the week using FIXYGEN’s logic, the picture looks like this: the market remains alive, liquid, and ready for quick rebounds, but so far lacks a single strong driver of its own. It continues to trade as a mix of risk assets and macro hedges, reacting not so much to internal crypto news as to oil, the dollar, the Fed, and headlines from the Middle East.
Here is Fixygen’s short-term forecast for the coming days: – For Bitcoin, the key zone remains the $65,000–$72,000 range. As long as the market stays above the midpoint of this range, the consolidation scenario—with attempts to retest $70,000–$71,000—remains in place. However, if geopolitical tensions escalate again or the dollar continues to strengthen, the market could easily revert to a steeper correction. This conclusion is analytical, based on current prices, market behavior over the past week, and the broader news backdrop.
For Ethereum, the near-term outlook appears more cautious. Without a clear shift in U.S. regulatory policy and without a return to a broader risk-on sentiment, ETH is likely to continue underperforming Bitcoin. In a positive scenario, Ether could quickly return to the zone above $2,000, but in the short term, it remains a more vulnerable asset than BTC. This is also an analytical conclusion based on the current ETH price, weekly dynamics, and Citi’s assessment of weaker fundamental momentum for the network.
The combined profits of China’s large industrial companies in January–February 2026 rose by 15.2% compared to the same period last year—to 1.02 trillion yuan ($147.6 billion), according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Industrial enterprises with annual revenue exceeding 20 million yuan are considered large.
The growth was the strongest for this period since 2018, notes Trading Economics.
Profits of state-owned companies increased by 5.3% over the first two months of this year, while those of private companies jumped by 37.2%.
Significant profit growth in January-February was recorded in the computer and communications equipment manufacturing segment (3-fold) and ferrous metal production (2.5-fold), as well as in the chemical industry (+35.9%).
By the end of 2025, the profits of large industrial enterprises increased by 0.6%.
PJSC Keramprom (Artemivka village, Donetsk region), which is engaged in clay mining in the Donetsk region, reported a net profit of UAH 8,102,607 for 2025, compared to UAH 33,457,947 in 2024.
According to the company’s announcement in the NSSMC’s information disclosure system regarding the remote holding of the general meeting of shareholders on April 29, there are 10 items on the agenda.
In particular, the plan is to review the report of the supervisory board and the company’s CEO for 2025, the auditor’s conclusions, and to adopt the relevant decisions. In addition, the meeting will approve the results of financial and economic activities, the annual report for the past year, and the distribution of profits. Furthermore, preliminary consent will be sought for the company to enter into significant transactions.
Draft resolutions, copies of which are available at the Interfax-Ukraine agency, propose distributing the net profit for 2025 in the amount of 8,102,607 thousand UAH as follows: 980,490 thousand UAH to be allocated for dividend payments, and 7,122,117 thousand UAH to be retained as undistributed profit. In addition, a portion of the company’s undistributed profit for 2015–2024 in the amount of 80,719,914 thousand UAH is to be allocated for dividend payments.
To pay dividends totaling 81,700,404 thousand UAH, approving the dividend amount per one ordinary registered share of the company at 260.17 UAH. Dividends are to be paid directly to shareholders no later than November 4, 2026.
As reported, Keramprom posted a net profit of UAH 33,457,947 for 2024, which is 10.93 times higher than in 2023 (UAH 3,059,435).
PJSC “Keramprom” (Artemivka village, Donetsk region) was established in 1997 and is engaged in clay mining. The company’s production capacity is up to 300,000 tons per year. According to information on the company’s website, the company is currently developing the “Chilne” deposit of white refractory clays in the Kostyantynivka district of Donetsk Oblast.
According to the State Registration Service data for the fourth quarter of 2025, the shares of the company are owned by Valery, Igor, and Boris Bevzenko (49.8708%, 30.2515%, and 8.9999%, respectively), and Anatoly and Larisa Popov (5.1757% each).
The authorized capital of PJSC “Keramprom” is UAH 25.75 million.
According to the Interfax-Ukraine Culture project, at least six bookstores closed in Ukraine in March alone, including in Vinnytsia, Kropyvnytskyi, and Kyiv, as reported by Viktor Kruglov, publisher and CEO of the “Ranok” publishing house, on his Facebook page.
After analyzing the published information and the situation in the book market, journalists from the “Culture” department of the Interfax-Ukraine agency sought comment from Artem Bidenko, chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Publishers Association.
“The market situation is difficult: people are buying less and less, while book production is becoming more expensive. Bookstores, both small and large, have already begun to close. Books are becoming unprofitable for retailers because they take up space and don’t sell well,” said Artem Bidenko, chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Publishers Association, in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Viktor Kruglov, bookstores in Vinnytsia and Kropyvnytskyi—which opened in 2023–2024 amid a wave of enthusiasm and expectations of state support—have closed permanently.
In addition, next week “Yakaboo” is closing its only brick-and-mortar location at the Main Post Office on Khreshchatyk, and the publishing house “ArtBooks” is liquidating its flagship bookstore on Velyka Vasylkivska Street due to unprofitability.
Earlier, “Knyholand” closed its bookstore in the underground shopping center on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, and the future of the bookstore in Rusanivka, Kyiv, remains uncertain.
Additionally, according to Kruglov, the owner of the bookstore “My Bookshelf” announced the closure of the business, while the “Ridit” and “Sens” chains reported losses in the millions for the year.
According to Bidenko, in January–March, the average receipt at bookstores fell by nearly half: whereas shoppers previously chose 3–5 books, they now select 1–2.
Against the backdrop of falling demand, publishers are forced to offer significant discounts in an attempt to recoup at least part of their investment, but this does not solve the systemic problem.
“For retailers, books are becoming economically unprofitable: they take up space, require specific storage conditions, yet sell significantly worse,” he explained.
According to the expert, the next stage could be a payment crisis in the industry, which will first affect publishers and later printing houses.
“These are signs of a systemic crisis in the market that cannot be overcome without government intervention,” Bidenko emphasized.
He also noted that one of the key reasons for the rising cost of books is the increase in production costs.
“Raw materials are imported, logistics are complicated, and there is a shortage of personnel in both transportation and printing houses. All of this increases costs and, consequently, the final price of books,” he said.
Piracy in the e-book and audiobook sector remains a separate factor putting pressure on the market.
“About 80% of digitized content is illegal. Because of this, it is impossible to objectively assess real demand: we don’t know whether people are reading more in digital format or simply buying fewer books and reading less in general,” noted Bidenko.
He added that certain segments, particularly children’s literature, have been in crisis since the start of the full-scale war.
Assessing government policy, Bidenko stated that the market currently sees no practical implementation of the declared support.
“So far, these are just statements. There are no real actions, although we expect the situation to change. If these tools start working, the market will be able to return to pre-war levels and resume development. Without state participation, the publishing industry, which is subsidized in most countries, will not be able to function stably,” he concluded.
Text: Olga Levkun
https://interfax.com.ua/news/culture/1154870.html
The Zaporizhzhia Metallurgical Plant “Zaporizhstal” has allocated 9.8 million UAH for the first phase of major repairs to “Slab 1150” and BTLS-1680 (continuous thin-sheet mill) in the hot rolling shop.
According to information released by the company on Thursday, stable rolling begins with properly functioning mills. Such repairs are carried out in stages throughout the year.
During the first stage, the “Slabbing 1150” received new spindles for the horizontal roll stands, the hydraulic system was repaired, the roll stand assemblies were restored, as well as certain sections of the roller tables and the transmission gearbox. On the BTLS-1680, the gearbox of stand No. 2 was repaired with the replacement of shaft assemblies, the drive line of one of the stands was restored, the gear roller was replaced, partial repairs were performed on the coil box, the coiler assemblies were repaired, and the chains of individual sections of the roller table were replaced.
It is noted that repair specialists from the plant’s departments, with the assistance of hydraulic specialists from Kametstal, completed the planned work ahead of schedule.
At this stage, UAH 9.8 million was allocated for the work; the next stage of the overhaul is scheduled for the fall.
Zaporizhstal is one of Ukraine’s largest industrial enterprises, whose products are in high demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
Zaporizhstal is a joint venture of the Metinvest Group, whose main shareholders are PJSC System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Steel Limited (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of the Metinvest Group.
Over the course of 20 years in the Central Asian market, the Star Brands Group (Flint, Chipster’s, BigBob) has established four production facilities in Kazakhstan and is preparing to expand into Uzbekistan, said Star Brands Director of Strategic Marketing Yevgen Razuvayev at the Forbes Ukraina Exporters Summit.
“In our case, everything was built against the odds. In 2006, we entered Kazakhstan but couldn’t find a single logistics company or distributor capable of ensuring a nationwide presence in a country that stretches over 3,000 kilometers from east to west. So we became our own first national distributor: our ‘rapid response team’ of 13 people went there and learned about the new culture and customs right on the ground,” Razuvayev said.
The speaker paid special attention to the transformation of logistics chains due to Russian aggression. According to him, Star Brands made a fundamental decision to completely cease operations and exit the Russian market as early as 2014–2016, without waiting for this to become a widespread trend among large businesses.
“I’ll let you in on a secret: we exited that market back in 2014, when it wasn’t ‘extremely popular.’” “We realized we wouldn’t be able to ensure normal logistics from Ukraine to Central Asia, since the main route—the railway—ran through the territory of the aggressor country, which we don’t even want to mention. Transit became impossible without a critical increase in the product’s price,” the manager emphasized.
It was precisely the logistics blockade and the impossibility of safe transit through Russia that prompted the creation of our own production facilities directly in Kazakhstan. Currently, four Star Brands sites are operating successfully there, specifically for the production of crackers and potato chips, which allows the company to maintain a competitive cost of goods sold in the region.
“Logistics matters more for our product than it does for metallurgy. When we sell chips, we’re essentially ‘transporting air.’ That’s why logistics costs are extremely important in our production costs. If you don’t have a truly unique product, then when you calculate your capabilities ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down,’ the numbers just don’t add up. It takes a special talent to build a business where logistics ‘eat up’ the entire margin,” Razuvayev explained.
The marketing director also urged Ukrainian exporters to “stop looking only toward the European Union” and turn their attention to the East, specifically to Uzbekistan, whose population already exceeds that of Ukraine.
“Uzbekistan is a country undergoing remarkable changes. From a completely closed-off territory, it is transforming into a market with enormous potential. For us, it serves as a springboard for further development in Eastern countries. Look to the East—that’s the real Asia, where there are countless opportunities,” he concluded.
Star Brands is an international trading and manufacturing group of companies founded in 1995 in Dnipro. The holding operates as a vertically integrated structure with a full cycle of production, logistics, and marketing, and unites 33 production sites. The group includes the distribution company “Concept” with a portfolio of over 50 international brands, its own logistics company “Logistic American,” and the Star Brands Asia division for business development in Central Asian countries.
The group’s portfolio includes 32 brands, among which are the snack brands Flint, Chipster’s, BigBob, and “San Sanich,” the grocery brands “Khutorok” and La Pasta, as well as the non-food brands SoHo and Zeffir. Products are exported to 35 countries worldwide, including the EU, the U.S., and the Baltic states.
