The production acreage in Ukraine in the 2025 season will be identical to last year’s, plus 270,000 hectares of demined land, said First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky.
“Overall, the production areas will be the same as last year. An additional 270,000 hectares have been demined. But in terms of our total sowing area of 20 million hectares, this is 1%. So, for basic crops, to which we will add sugar beets and vegetables, farmers will have 20 million hectares. This confirms that we are working in all possible areas,” he said at a meeting of the Trend&Hedge Club on Wednesday.
According to Vysotsky, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food expects to harvest 21.2 million tons of wheat in 2025, compared to 22 million tons a year ago, which is 5% less. The ministry estimates wheat exports at 15-16 million tons.
According to him, the barley harvest will amount to approximately 4.5 million tons, which is 10% less than in 2024, with exports at 2.2-2.3 million tons.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy does not expect any problems with buckwheat and promises that the domestic market will be supplied and the surplus exported.
The ministry is not yet ready to make final forecasts for grain corn, as the active growing season is still underway. However, departmental analysts adhere to a conservative forecast of 26 million tons, which is also at least 5% less than last season.
“We see grain at around 54.5-53.5 million tons.
This is plus/minus 5%,” Vysotsky emphasized.
He added that the rapeseed harvest in the 2025 season is expected to be 3 million tons, compared to 5.7 million tons in 2024, soybeans – 5.7 million tons, compared to 6.6 million tons, and sunflowers – 20 million tons.
Vysotsky noted that the greatest doubts about harvest volumes currently concern sunflower, as the crop is suffering from drought in the south of the country, and these regions may lose up to 6% of their harvest, which could lead to a reduction in the gross harvest to 15 million tons or less.
In total, the oilseed harvest in Ukraine in 2025 will amount to 20.5 million tons, the first deputy minister of agricultural policy concluded.
The Sukha Balka mine (Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region), part of Alexander Yaroslavsky’s DCH group, has commissioned a new unit at the Yuvileina mine with total iron ore reserves of 35,600 tons.
According to a report in the DCH Steel corporate newspaper on Thursday, the new 116-122 unit from the Golovnyi deposit on the eighth sublevel at a depth of 1,420 meters at the Yuvileina mine was put into operation on July 9.
“The quality of ore raw materials in this production unit is high, with an average iron content of 58.53%. The block’s reserves are planned to be developed in two months,” said Deputy Chief Engineer Vasyl Lubynets, quoted by the publication.
It is also reported that miners have prepared modern self-propelled equipment for further development of the Druzhba deposit at a new horizon of -1227 m at the Frunze mine. To develop the new blocks, it is planned to use sets of self-propelled equipment: drilling machines, loaders, and dump trucks, which the company purchased for the development of new horizons.
For example, a multi-ton DRUK-20 dump truck was recently prepared, lowered into the mine, and assembled at the -1227 m horizon. This equipment has a load capacity of 20 tons and is designed for operation in narrow tunnels.
Two dump trucks will be used in production. The second one is scheduled to be lowered into the mine in August.
“The dump truck will be used in cutting, tunneling, preparing blocks for extraction, and transporting raw materials to the surface. The dump truck will transport the extracted ore from a depth of 1,227 m to a depth of 1,193 m to the unloading point for further processing,” explained Konstantin Gumenok, head of the production process organization and support department.
This method of transportation will increase the efficiency of production processes and allow ore to be brought to the surface without deepening the bunker complex. Similar technology has already gained popularity in global mining operations, but it will be used for the first time at the Kryvyi Rih deposit.
The Sukha Balka mine is one of the leading mining companies in Ukraine. It extracts iron ore underground. The mine includes the Yuvileina and Frunze mines.
The DCH Group acquired the mine from Evraz in May 2017.
On July 16, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) announced a tender for medical insurance for employees with an expected purchase price of UAH 106.912 million, according to the Prozorro electronic procurement system. Applications for participation will be accepted until 11:00 a.m. on July 31. The amount of security provided by participants is UAH 1 million.
As reported, on June 4, 2024, the NBU announced its intention to conclude a contract with SK Universalna (Kyiv) for voluntary medical insurance for its employees. The company’s price offer was UAH 76.720 million against the expected cost of UAH 77.244 million. Insurance companies Kraina and VUSO also participated in the tender with bids of UAH 72.368 million and UAH 76.728 million, respectively.
Heating boiler manufacturer Mayak Plant JSC (Mayak JSC, Zmiiv, Kharkiv region) intends to pay dividends to shareholders for 2024 in the amount of UAH 214,800 between July 25 and October 25 of this year.
According to the company’s report in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), dividends will be paid at a rate of 1.023 thousand UAH per share (par value of 1 thousand UAH).
As reported, the relevant decision was made by the general meeting of shareholders on April 25.
According to the company, in 2024, its net profit amounted to UAH 0.215 million (a year earlier – UAH 4.61 million), undistributed profit – UAH 16.37 million.
The company’s authorized capital is UAH 210,000, divided into 210 shares.
As reported, at the end of 2023, Mayak paid dividends at a rate of UAH 2.195 per share.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, as of the first quarter of 2024, 52.38% of the shares of Mayak Plant JSC are owned by CEO Oleksiy Mushtay, with 14.2857% each owned by Tetiana Samusenko and Zoya Garagata.
Mayak Plant was established in 1991 and manufactures household heating equipment under the Mayak trademark.
According to Clarity Project, the company’s net income in 2024 decreased by 6% compared to 2023, to UAH 65.7 million.
Denmark and Germany have agreed to participate in the new format of arms supplies to Kyiv proposed by US President Donald Trump, while France, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Hungary have refused, Western media reported on Wednesday.
In addition, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Europe increasingly feels the need to end its dependence on US weapons.
“Europe is heavily dependent on the US defense industry. However, due to trade tariffs, President Trump’s attitude toward NATO and his lack of commitment to defending the alliance’s countries, European countries will increasingly prioritize investments in their own defense systems,” the agency’s sources said.
According to the European portal Politico, France has refused to participate in the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine. The publication’s sources said that instead, the government intends to focus on increasing its own defense budget, which President Emmanuel Macron promised last weekend to almost double by 2027 compared to the 2017 budget.
In addition, Paris wants to support European manufacturers who previously supplied Ukraine with anti-missile systems and other weapons.
Italy also has no plans to purchase weapons from the US for delivery to Ukraine, but will continue to provide military assistance to Kyiv. Unnamed representatives of the Ministry of Defense told the newspaper La Stampa that there had never been any talks about purchasing American weapons for Kyiv.
In addition, the newspaper notes that Italy does not have the funds to carry out operations of this kind. According to the newspaper’s sources, the problem is so acute that the only purchase from the US planned by Italy for the next ten years is a batch of F-35 fighter jets for its own needs.
The Czech government, in turn, said that military aid to Kyiv would continue, but through participation in other initiatives and purchases from Czech, not American, manufacturers.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Budapest does not intend to participate in the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine.
Berlin and Copenhagen have so far given their official consent to purchase weapons from the US. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen said he was fully prepared to join the funding.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry, in turn, said it was considering participating in the program. However, despite the government’s positive assessment of the initiative, Amsterdam has not yet confirmed its commitment to direct participation.
According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Sweden, Norway, and the United Kingdom are also expected to join the funding.
On July 11, Trump announced that US NATO allies would purchase weapons from Washington, which could then be transferred to Ukraine.
During a press conference with Trump on Monday, Rutte called it “logical” that European countries would pay for US arms deliveries to Ukraine.
European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday that EU countries would prefer Washington to provide part of its military aid to Ukraine free of charge. “If we pay for these weapons, it means that we, not the US, are providing this military aid,” Callas said at a press conference in Brussels. She stressed that Brussels “would like to see these costs shared.”
Ukraine’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to UAH 1 trillion 923.1 billion in the first quarter of 2025, the State Statistics Service reported on Tuesday.
It confirmed the estimate of real GDP growth of 0.9% by the first quarter of 2024.
In addition, according to the State Statistics Service, the change in the deflator in the first quarter of this year was 16.9%, while in the fourth quarter of last year it was 12.8%.
As reported, in the IMF macroeconomic forecast updated in late June, the estimate of Ukraine’s nominal GDP in 2025-2027 was increased by about UAH 150 billion due to the revised GDP deflator from 12% to 13.5% this year: UAH 8.87 trillion this year, UAH 10.19 trillion next year, and UAH 11.32 billion in 2027.
In April, the NBU lowered its expectations for Ukraine’s economic growth this year to 3.1% from 3.6% in its previous January macroeconomic forecast, and from 4.0% to 3.7% in the next year.
According to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 2.9% in 2024 from 5.5% in 2023. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the country’s GDP decreased by 0.1% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023.
According to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine’s nominal GDP last year amounted to UAH 7 trillion 658.7 billion, with a change in the deflator of 12.3%, including UAH 2 trillion 194.4 billion in the fourth quarter, with a change in the deflator of 12.8%.
