Ukraine increased its imports of hard coal and anthracite (UKTZED code 2701) by 2.2 times (by 1 million 760.155 thousand tons) compared to the same period last year, to 3 million 253.62 thousand tons.
According to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, coal imports amounted to $751.081 million in the first nine months of this year, which is 2.3 times ($426.588 million) more than in January-September 2024.
Coal imports from the US amounted to $308.091 million (41.02%), Australia – $233.507 million (31.09%), the Czech Republic – $72.3 million (9.63%), and other countries – $137.183 million (18.26%).
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine increased coal imports by 2.7 times (by 1 million 145,951 thousand tons) compared to 2023, to 1 million 812,592 thousand tons. In monetary terms, it imported $402.219 million worth of coal, which is 2.2 times more than the previous year ($185.378 million).
Train #99/100 Kyiv-Bucharest, despite massive attacks on Ukrainian critical and civilian infrastructure, has set off on its maiden voyage together with a hundred passengers, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction – Minister of Community and Territory Development Oleksiy Kuleba said.
“Despite massive attacks on Ukrainian critical and civilian infrastructure by Russia, Ukrzaliznytsia trains are departing on schedule. Thus, train No. 99/100 Kiev-Bucharest departed on its first trip clearly on schedule,” Kuleba wrote in his Telegram channel on Friday.
According to him, the new train will run daily on the route Kiev-Bucharest through Vinnitsa, Zhmerinka, Mogilev-Podilskyi. Border control will take place in the towns of Velchinets and Ungheni.
It is noted that the train arrives at the main station of the capital of Romania – Gara de Nord.
Separately, Kuleba specified that from Kiev the train will depart from the Central Station at 06:30 and arrive in Bucharest at 06:47 the next day.
In the opposite direction, according to the schedule, it will depart from Gara de Nord station at 19:10 and arrive in Kiev at 19:34 the next day.
“Even during the war, Ukraine continues to move forward – literally and symbolically”, – added the Deputy Prime Minister for recovery.
As previously reported, “Ukrzaliznytsia” from October 10 launches a daily train on the route Kiev-Bucharest. The cost of a ticket in a compartment car is approximately UAH 3,800. You can already buy tickets in the application or on the website of “Ukrzaliznytsia”.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has banned Liberty Finance FC LLC and persons related to the company from providing payment services through KYT Group (“KYT GROUP”) Internet services due to the detection of unlicensed activities in the payment market. “Liberty Finance” carried out payment services to transfer funds without opening an account – without a license and proper registration”, – said the NBU in a statement on the website.
As noted in the decision of the regulator, its staff during the inspection found that the order of financial services to transfer funds through the services of “KYT Group” was carried out through a telegram bot, and their receipt – in cash offices officially registered for FC “Liberty Finance”. The addresses of the cash desks where the funds were issued coincided with the locations registered for Liberty Finance FC in the NBU’s Register of Currency Exchange Points.
The regulator also confirmed that at the time the services were provided, the trademarks “KYT Group” and “KYT” belonged to Anton Tkachenko, who is the ultimate beneficial owner of Liberty Finance FC. On September 24, 2025, already after fixing the violations, Tkachenko transferred the rights to these TMs to Priveit Limited Company Vesvis (Estonia), the National Bank added.
According to the decision, in response to the charges, Tkachenko declared full disagreement with the NBU’s conclusions. In letters submitted to the National Bank, he and the company argued that the Telegram channels were anonymous and the screenshots did not prove their involvement.
At the same time, the National Bank pointed out that it was the regulator’s employees who personally used the services of the service and received funds in the branches of Liberty Finance FC LLC, which is a confirmation of the fact of unlicensed activity.
According to the decision of the NBU, the regulator recognized the services provided to individuals and legal entities through the Internet services of KIT Group using the trademarks “KYT Group”, “KYT”, containing signs of financial payment services. LLC FC Liberty Finance and other entities controlled by Tkachenko are prohibited from carrying out payment transactions through KYT Group Internet services.
The decision came into force on October 9, 2025.
LLC “FC ”Liberty Finance” has two licenses of the National Bank to carry out activities in the provision of financial services: trade in currency values in cash; provision of funds and bank metals on credit.
KYT Group“ also includes pawnshop ”KYT Group Plus“ LLC ”KYT Group and Company”, the owner of which is Lyudmila Tkachenko, and director Ivan Tkachenko.
According to the YouControl resource, the authorized capital of Liberty Finance FC is UAH 25 million, equity at the beginning of this year – UAH 188.65 million. The company ended last year with a net profit of UAH 45.46 million against UAH 153.92 million a year ago. The item “other income” in the flow of funds as a result of operating activities in 2024 rose to UAH 29 billion from UAH 21.6 billion in 2023.
In January-September this year, Ukraine reduced manganese ore exports by 78.3% compared to the same period last year, to 9,739 thousand tons, but in August-September, it stepped up deliveries.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), while shipments in the first seven months of 2025 amounted to 2,977 thousand tons, exports more than doubled in August, when 5,037 thousand tons were shipped, and 1,725 thousand tons in September.
In monetary terms, exports for the first nine months of 2025 fell by 75.4% compared to the same period in 2024, to $1.615 million. The main exports were to Slovakia (98.27% of shipments in monetary terms) and Poland (1.73%).
There were no imports of manganese ore during this period.
As reported, in January 2024, Ukraine exported 44,903 thousand tons of manganese ore worth $6.563 million to the US, ending a two-year absence of supplies to foreign markets. In February-December 2024, there were no exports of manganese ore.
At the same time, for the whole of 2024, the country imported 84,293 thousand tons worth $18.302 million from Ghana (98.85%), Brazil (0.99%), and Belgium (0.11%). There were no imports in October-November.
Ukraine did not export manganese ore in 2022 and 2023, and in 2021 it exported 770 tons worth $89 thousand.
In addition, it was reported that the Pokrovsky Mining and Processing Plant (PGZK, formerly Ordzhonikidze Mining and Processing Plant) and the Marganetsky Mining and Processing Plant (MGZK, both in Dnipropetrovsk region), which are part of the Privat Group, stopped mining and processing raw manganese ore in late October-early November 2023, while NZF and ZZF stopped smelting ferroalloys. In the summer of 2024, ferroalloy plants resumed production at a minimum level.
PGZK and MGZK did not produce any products in 2024, while in 2023, PGZK produced 160.31 thousand tons of manganese concentrate, and MGZK was idle.
In Ukraine, manganese ore is mined and enriched by the Pokrovsky and Marganets mining and enrichment plants.
The consumers of manganese ore are ferroalloy enterprises.
In January-September of this year, Ukraine reduced its imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 4.6% compared to the same period last year, to 491,166 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), coke imports in monetary terms decreased by 10% during this period, to $165.721 million. It was mainly imported from Poland (91.93% of supplies in monetary terms), Indonesia (5.77%), and the Czech Republic (2.26%).
During this period, Ukraine exported 3 tons of coke worth $2,000 to Albania.
As reported, Metinvest suspended the operation of the Pokrovsk Coal Group in January this year due to changes in the situation on the front line, electricity shortages, and the deterioration of the security situation.
Last year, Ukraine increased its imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 2.01 times compared to 2023, to 661,487 thousand tons, importing it mainly from Poland (84.76% of supplies in monetary terms), Colombia (7.74%), and Hungary (2.69%). In monetary terms, imports increased by 81.9% to $235.475 million.
In 2024, the country exported 1,601 thousand tons of 84.76% coke worth $368 thousand to Moldova (99.18%) and Latvia (0.82%), while in January, March, October, and November 2024, there were no exports, whereas in 2023, they amounted to 3,383 thousand tons worth $787 thousand.
Thanks to the Ukrainian maritime corridor, the ports of Greater Odessa have handled over 146.5 million tons of cargo and processed 5,596 vessels since August 2023, including 1,528 through the port of Odessa, according to Dmytro Nazarenko, head of the Odessa branch of the State Enterprise “Administration of Seaports of Ukraine.”
“Despite all the challenges, Ukrainian seaports remain an integral part of the country’s economic stability. Their security is not only a matter of logistics, but also the survival of Ukraine’s export model,” he said at a round table of representatives of the maritime and port industry, which took place within the framework of the BALTEXPO 2025 International Maritime and Military Exhibition in Gdansk (Poland).
Nazarenko noted that since the start of full-scale aggression in Ukraine, more than 500 port infrastructure facilities and 116 civilian vessels have been damaged or destroyed, 157 civilians have been injured, and 161 facilities have been damaged directly on the territory of the Odesa seaport.
The USPA representative presented the European community with infrastructure projects for the Port of Odesa and plans for their further implementation, and invited international investors to cooperate.
