In 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will continue to support Ukrainian farmers in Kherson region by providing them with equipment for loading/unloading grain storage sleeves and coordinating soil testing, said Vitaliy Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
“In 2025, FAO is focusing on the transformation of the agricultural sector and its urgent needs. Therefore, we agreed to transfer equipment for loading/unloading sleeves for farmers in the Kherson region. He also emphasized the importance of further support for farmers in the frontline areas. In addition, we will coordinate soil analysis after demining together. We need to ensure that such land is safe and can be used for sowing. Food security directly depends on this,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food quoted him as saying at a meeting with the acting head of the FAO Office in Ukraine, Mohammed Azuka.
The minister noted that another area of cooperation with FAO would be the State Agrarian Register.
Vitalii Koval and Mohammed Azuka signed a project document entitled “Saving livelihoods by supporting small wine producers through the Food Coalition”. The project aims to create a favorable environment for small wine producers in Odesa and Zakarpattia regions. It is about providing them with technical support, access to finance to recover from the effects of the war and the decline in vineyard productivity, and to increase production.
According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, 30.11 million people crossed the country’s borders in 2024. 2% of those who left the country did not return – about half a million citizens. The number of Ukrainians not returning home has tripled in a year.
2% of Ukrainians who left last year did not return to Ukraine – 443 thousand. This is 3.3 times more than in 2023, when the difference between those who left and those who returned was only 134 thousand. In 2024, the largest number of people got lost in June – 194 thousand.
Only 3 months of last year had positive dynamics, when the number of people who returned to the country was higher than those who left. Among them were April – +58 thousand, July – +23 thousand and August – +89 thousand.
In total, about 3 million citizens have not returned during the 3 years of full-scale war, according to official data from the State Border Guard Service. This is almost as many as in the 11 years preceding the full-scale invasion, i.e. from 2011 to 2021 (3.3 million).
It is worth noting that the data of the Border Guard Service of Ukraine reflects only information on citizens who left at official checkpoints. There is currently no reliable data on Ukrainians who left the TOT or left illegally.
As of August 31, 2024, 4.2 million Ukrainians had temporary protection status in the EU countries, according to official EU data. 60% of the total number of our refugees were sheltered together in Germany (1.1 million), Poland (975 thousand) and the Czech Republic (376 thousand).
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/ukrainians-emigration-trend-2024
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will take part in the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is being held in Davos, Switzerland.
“@ZelenskyyUa, President of Ukraine, will join the @wef 2025 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland,” reads a message posted on the WEF’s X social media account on Tuesday.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group announces the suspension of Pokrovsk Coal Group’s operations due to the changing situation on the frontline, electricity shortages and the deteriorating security situation, the company said in a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday.
“In connection with the suspension of Pokrovske Coal Group’s operations,Metinvest‘s management has developed a contingency plan to ensure the supply of the necessary raw materials (coal and coke) for steel production at the Group’s metallurgical assets (Kametstal and Zaporizhstal JV). The measures include the replacement of Ukrainian raw materials with coking coal from the US-based United Coal Company (part of Metinvest Group), the use of increased coal reserves, and additional supplies of coal and coke from third-party suppliers,” the statement said.
According to the press release, the full impact on the Group of the shutdown of the asset, whose production sites remain in the government-controlled territory of Ukraine, is currently being assessed.
At the same time, it is emphasized that the safety of employees is a priority for Metinvest, so the company facilitated the evacuation of Pokrovske Coal Group employees and their families. All employees who are not involved in the work stoppage process are offered paid retraining and employment at Metinvest’s assets in Zaporizhzhia, Kamianske and Kryvyi Rih. The evacuated employees are provided with financial assistance (lifting allowances, compensation for housing rent), free accommodation in hostels, and assistance for children (enrollment in kindergartens and schools).
“Pokrovskoye Coal Group is the energy heart of the Ukrainian steel industry and used to provide most of the export revenues to the Ukrainian budget. However, amid the daily deterioration of the situation, we cannot risk the safety of thousands of employees, as well as the lives of their families and children. Therefore, the suspension of the plant’s operations is a necessary step to help save lives. We believe in the victory of Ukraine, we believe in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and we are ready to resume the work of Pokrovske Coal Group and Pokrovsk itself after repelling the Russian invasion,” said Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of the Group.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. Its businesses are located in Ukraine, in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions, as well as in Europe and the United States.
The major shareholders of Metinvest B.V. are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%), which jointly manage the company. Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
The League of Insurance Organizations of Ukraine (LIOU) and the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine (NAU) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation and Partnership.
“The League of Insurance Organizations of Ukraine and the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine, while remaining independent and autonomous associations, agreed to establish the Federation of Insurance Associations of Ukraine (FIAU) in accordance with the terms of the Memorandum, whose task is to form a common position of professional associations of insurers for the sake of market development in synergy with the regulator,” the League said.
It is specified that the main directions of the FSOI, in particular, will be: exchange of information and proposals for the formation of common positions on the development of the insurance market, legislation and amendments to it, protection of the interests of Ukrainian insurance companies at the national and international levels; formation of a positive image of insurance in Ukrainian society; development of codes of ethics and standards of professional conduct for insurers, in particular in terms of cooperation with insurance intermediaries and other participants in the insurance market, in particular in the field of insurance services.
In addition, it is envisaged to: develop and implement principles and approaches to the system of professional education; develop and adopt qualification requirements; organize educational programs, training for professional development and certification of insurance market participants; promote social responsibility of insurers, improve insurance products and services.
The FSOI’s working body is the Coordination Council, which will include two representatives of each of the LIOU and NASU, as well as the heads of the two associations.
The FSFU Council will be headed by a chairman who will be elected annually from the Coordination Council.
The report also clarifies that the parties to the Memorandum may only be associations registered as legal entities operating in accordance with the requirements of the law, which include insurers, and may also include persons operating in the insurance market and/or in the field of insurance.
“The FOSU and the National Association of Insurers are open to other professional associations of insurers joining the FOSU and call for moving towards each other for the development of the national insurance market,” the statement said.
In December 2024, the Export Credit Agency (ECA) supported UAH 311.47 million of exports, bringing the total to UAH 7.5 billion since the beginning of the year.
According to the ECA website, the largest number of loans for exporters in December were issued and insured by Vostok Bank (UAH 175 million), Ukreximbank (UAH 43.8 million), and PrivatBank (UAH 40.7 million).
Entrepreneurs in Odesa region (UAH 174.8 million), Dnipropetrovs’k region (UAH 174.8 million), and Zakarpattia region (UAH 43.8 million) were the most active users of ECA services.
In December, Ukrainian exporters planned to trade with Latvia, Poland, and Uzbekistan the most: they will supply grain and flour products, paper and cardboard products, and toys.
In December, the ECA insured a bank guarantee for exports of services for the first time. It was provided by Ukreximbank to the Ukrainian company C.E. Industry Group, which won a tender for the repair of mining equipment of the Polish state-owned company Polska Grupa Górnicza S.A. The contract amount is UAH 43.78 million (PLN 4.25 million), the guarantee amount is UAH 17 million, and the validity period is 13 months.
The Export Credit Agency was established to stimulate the export of goods (works, services) of Ukrainian origin and support exporters-residents of Ukraine through insurance, reinsurance, and guarantees under security contracts for export development. On January 7, 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine was authorized to regulate the activities of the ECA.
