ARS Capital, the holding company of businessman Maxim Krippa, has acquired 100% of Age Management System, which works on projects in the health tech and biotech sectors, the company’s press office told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“This is a long-term investment in the technology and medical ecosystem that will help people maintain their quality of life, mental health, energy, and productivity for longer. We want modern preventive medicine technologies to gradually become accessible to every Ukrainian,” commented Maxim Krippa, CEO of ARS Capital.
Age Management System, founded by Yevhen Shagov, a physician and candidate of medical sciences, specializes in preventive medicine, personalized health management, and age management, and is developing as an ecosystem that integrates clinical, educational, and technological areas. Its flagship product, AM System, provides long-term medical support: comprehensive diagnostics, consultations with specialized experts, management of metabolic and hormonal indicators, personalized health support programs, IV therapy, and biotechnological and hardware solutions.
The investment in Age Management System is a continuation of ARS Capital’s strategy to expand its portfolio in the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology. Full control over the business allows the holding company to formulate a long-term development strategy for the company and scale its ecosystem.
ARS Capital identifies fostering a culture of preventive medicine as one of its promising areas of focus—a culture in which health care begins long before the onset of disease and becomes part of one’s lifestyle. Mental health support and assistance for individuals who have survived the traumatic experience of war will also be an important component of Age Management
System. In particular, the company is considering the development of programs aimed at providing professional assistance and rehabilitation for people with PTSD.
The holding company also plans to strengthen the Age Management System’s technological infrastructure and implement modern hardware solutions.
AM System was founded as one of Ukraine’s first specialized clinics in the field of age management. When creating the project, the team drew on international experience in preventive medicine, particularly practices in Japan, Europe, and the United States.
According to YouControl data, the authorized capital of JSC “ZNVKIF ‘Age Management Ecosystems’” amounts to 107.5 million UAH; On March 12, Krippa bought out Marina Shagova’s stake after she exited the fund; Maxim Krippa and Yevgen Shagov previously held equal 50% stakes in the fund. Now, the ARS Capital holding company has consolidated 100% of the business, and Yevgen Shagov serves as the company’s CEO.
In July 2026, Ukrainian citizens purchased 145 residential properties in Turkey and ranked third among foreign homebuyers in the country, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) published on August 13.
Russian citizens purchased the most residential properties among foreign buyers in July—394 properties. Iranian citizens ranked second with 189 transactions, while Ukrainians ranked third with 145 properties.
Thus, Ukrainian citizens accounted for approximately 6.8% of all residential property sales to foreigners in Turkey that month.
However, compared to June, activity among Ukrainian buyers declined slightly. In June, Ukrainians purchased 170 properties and tied for second place with Iranian citizens. In July, the number of transactions by Ukrainians decreased by approximately 15%, but Ukraine remained among the top three foreign buyers of Turkish real estate.
In total, 2,120 residential properties were sold to foreigners in Turkey in July, which is 1.9% more than in July of last year. Foreigners accounted for 1.7% of total residential property sales.
At the same time, the overall situation in the Turkish real estate market was significantly worse: in July, 123,603 thousand houses and apartments were sold in the country—17% fewer than a year earlier. Sales of new housing fell by 8.6% to 42,529 thousand units, while sales of resale housing dropped by 20.8% to 81,074 thousand
Thus, demand from foreign buyers in July appeared more stable than in the domestic market. However, over a longer period, foreign demand remains lower than last year’s levels. From January through July 2026, foreigners purchased 11,203 thousand residential properties in Turkey, which is 7.3% less than during the same period in 2025.
Ukrainians have maintained a strong presence in the Turkish real estate market for several years now. In 2025, Ukrainian citizens also ranked third among foreign buyers, purchasing 1,541 thousand residential properties. Ahead of them were Russians, with 3,649 thousand transactions, and Iranian citizens, with 1,878 thousand.
For comparison: in 2024, Ukrainians were also among the top three foreign buyers, purchasing 1,631 thousand properties.
Thus, despite a slight decline in July compared to June, Ukraine remains one of the three largest foreign markets for Turkish residential real estate, alongside Russia and Iran.
The International Soft Skills Summit 2026, dedicated to the development of individuals, teams, and organizations in the context of the spread of artificial intelligence, will take place September 12–14 in a hybrid format and will bring together over 70 Ukrainian and international experts.
According to the event organizers, the first day of the summit will take place in person in Kyiv with an online livestream, while the remaining two days will be held online. More than 5,000 people are expected to participate.
The summit will also feature the inaugural Soft Skills Summit Awards 2026—a professional award for corporate programs in the areas of leadership development, talent development, team development, corporate culture, and soft skills.
According to the organizers, the Soft Skills Summit program is structured around three levels of development: the individual, the team, and the organization.
On September 12, the program will focus on individual development. On this day in Kyiv, there will be presentations on the main stage, panel discussions, hands-on Soft Skills Hubs, a Mindfulness Zone, an EXPO, Guided Speed Networking, and the awards ceremony for the winners of the Soft Skills Summit Awards 2026.
On September 13, the online program will focus on team development, communication, psychological safety, and modern approaches to leadership.
On September 14, participants will discuss corporate culture, talent and change management, organizational effectiveness, and corporate transformation driven by artificial intelligence.
“Today, a company’s competitive advantage is determined not only by technology. It is determined by people—their ability to think, interact, learn, and lead others through change. That is why we created the Soft Skills Summit—a platform that brings together global expertise and Ukrainian experience to help people, teams, and organizations prepare for the future,” said Ihor Lukianenko and Nataliia Novhorodska, co-founders of UpPro School and the Soft Skills Summit.
The organizers note that the development of soft skills is becoming increasingly important amid the spread of artificial intelligence technologies and changing labor market demands.
According to a World Economic Forum forecast, approximately 39% of the professional skills required for work will change by 2030. Among the competencies expected to grow in importance the fastest are analytical thinking, resilience, adaptability, creativity, leadership, and social influence.
For Ukraine, the relevance of this issue is also linked to labor shortages, the integration of veterans and internally displaced persons into the labor market, the potential return of Ukrainians from abroad, the need to develop management teams, and the implementation of AI tools in business processes.
Among the announced speakers for the Soft Skills Summit 2026 are Andriy Fedoriv, founder of Fedoriv Group; Richard E. Boyatzis (U.S.), communications expert and TED speaker Julian Treasure (UK), SoftServe’s Senior Vice President of HR Renta Delporte, Advanter Group Chairman Andriy Dligach, PwC Ukraine Academy Leader Iryna Blinova, business consultant Frank Pucelik (U.S.), Shola Kaye (UK), an expert in communications and People-First culture, and Chen Lizra (Canada), a somatic transformational coach and TED speaker.
The full program and information on participation are available on the Soft Skills Summit 2026 website.
The summit is aimed at business owners, CEOs, team leaders, HR and L&D professionals, business trainers, coaches, psychologists, consultants, and other specialists working in the field of people and organizational development.
As part of the Soft Skills Summit Awards 2026, the best programs will be recognized in five categories: leadership development, talent development, team and corporate culture development, mental health support, and innovation in soft skills training and development.
Projects will be evaluated using a unified methodology developed by the UpPro School Analytical Center in collaboration with the non-governmental organization “Independent Association of Psychology and Coaching” and an independent panel of experts. The organizers state that the main criteria will be the program’s professional value, the quality of its implementation, and its actual impact, regardless of the company’s size.
Detailed information about the award and the terms of participation is available on the Soft Skills Summit Awards 2026 page.
The summit is organized by UpPro School—an international educational center for training and professional development of psychologists, HR and L&D specialists, managers, and other professionals working in the field of people, team, and organizational development. According to the organizers, UpPro School is an accredited CPD provider in the United Kingdom; over 150,000 participants have taken part in the center’s educational events, and more than 8,000 students have completed professional training.
For “Open4Business” readers, the promo code Open4Business is available, offering a 10% discount on tickets to the Soft Skills Summit 2026. The promo code is valid through September 11, 2026.
For partnership inquiries, contact Svitlana Chaurova at partnerships@softskills-summit.com.
Open4Business is the official media partner of the event
Ukrainian defense startup Swarmer, which went public on the Nasdaq in March of this year (ticker SWMR), reported in its financial statement that in the second quarter of 2026, its net loss increased from $1.6 million in the same period of 2025 to $7.3 million, while revenue rose from $138,200 to $216,000.
“The second quarter of 2026 was our first full quarter as a public company and a period of significant progress across all areas of our business. We successfully attracted new customers and made progress in implementing projects to deploy our solutions on various unmanned platforms, while continuing to invest in the team and technologies necessary to ensure future growth,” the press release quotes company co-founder Alex Fink as saying.
According to the report, the company’s gross profit for the second quarter of 2026 was $183,600, compared to $82,000 in April–June 2025. This growth was primarily driven by licensing revenue recognized under the SkyKnight program.
It is noted that Swarmer’s operating expenses for this reporting period totaled $7.5 million, compared to $854,800 a year ago.
“This increase is primarily due to investments in personnel, engineering development, product creation, and platform integration capabilities, as well as higher expenses for consulting, legal, and professional services related to the company’s operations as a public entity,” the company noted.
Operating expenses for the second quarter of 2026 also included, among other things, approximately $1.2 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expenses and certain one-time expenses for equipment purchases, which are not expected to recur on a regular basis.
The report added that during the second quarter of this year, the company billed drone manufacturer SkyKnight $1.5 million. Specifically, $0.2 million was recognized as revenue, $0.1 million was recorded as deferred revenue, and the remaining amount was recorded as an advance payment on the balance sheet.
The company noted that as of the end of June 2026, cash and cash equivalents had increased to $25.3 million from $9.3 million as of December 31, 2025.
Swarmer explains that this growth was driven by approximately $16 million raised from its initial public offering (IPO), $8.8 million raised under a share-for-equity financing facility, and $3.5 million from the sale of Series A-1 convertible preferred shares.
In April–June of this year, Swarmer also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the technology company Autonomous Power Corporation (Powerus) to explore the potential integration of Swarmer’s battle-proven software with Powerus’s autonomous aerial and maritime platforms.
The company’s core areas of activity include autonomous swarm coordination, integration of multi-domain unmanned systems, AI-based collaborative autonomy, and software for commanding and controlling distributed robotic operations, according to the press release. In addition, the company’s clients include drone manufacturers that license Swarmer’s software for integration with their hardware platforms.
As previously reported, Swarmer posted a net loss of $4.5 million for January–March 2026, compared to $0.7 million for the same period in 2025. Revenue fell to $20,300 from $110,700, while operating expenses rose to $4.5 million from $0.8 million.
The company was founded by Serhiy Kuprienko and Alex Fink in May 2023. Its registered headquarters and marketing and sales office are in Austin, Texas, USA, while its engineering divisions are split between offices in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Warsaw, Poland. The company’s holding structure includes “subsidiary” companies in Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia.
Prior to the IPO, Kuprienko held a 27.4% stake and Fink held 15.1%, while other shareholders included Theseus Capital Partners—where Philip Wagenheim, a member of the board of directors, serves as managing partner—with 22%, D3 Fund (Evelyn Buchacki) with 10.1%, RG.AI Technologies, led by Charles Eberle von Sexi, held 14%, Green Flag Fund I held 5.3%, and Radius Fund I held 6.9%
Swarmer’s revenue in 2025 fell to $0.31 million from $0.33 million a year earlier, while its net loss increased to $8.53 million from $2.07 million.
Starting August 12, 2026, Ukrainian companies exporting packaged goods to European Union countries must comply with the new uniform European packaging requirements set forth in EU Regulation 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste—the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
The new rules apply not only to manufacturers from EU countries. The European Commission explicitly states that the regulation applies to all packaging placed on the EU market, regardless of material or origin. Thus, the requirements also apply to goods from Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, China, and other third countries.
The regulation entered into force on February 11, 2025, but its main provisions began to apply on August 12, 2026. It replaced the European directive on packaging and packaging waste, which had been in effect for over 30 years.
For Ukrainian businesses, this primarily affects manufacturers of food and beverages, cosmetics, household chemicals, consumer and industrial goods, as well as e-commerce companies that ship packaged products to customers in the EU.
The new regulations establish requirements for the composition and safety of packaging materials, the reduction of excessive packaging, and the potential for reuse and recycling. Manufacturers must assess the packaging’s compliance with the established requirements and issue an EU Declaration of Conformity.
For shipments from Ukraine, direct legal responsibility for placing imported goods on the European market often lies with an importer registered in the EU. According to the regulation, an importer is a company or individual located in the European Union that places packaging or packaged goods from a third country on the EU market. With regard to imported products, the importer is responsible for verifying compliance with established requirements.
However, this does not mean that Ukrainian manufacturers will not have to make any changes. In practice, the European importer will need to obtain from the supplier information on the packaging’s composition, confirmation of its compliance with requirements, and technical documentation. If a Ukrainian company is unable to provide these documents or if the packaging does not comply with the PPWR, the European partner will not be able to properly place such goods on the EU market.
One of the requirements, which will take effect as of August 12, 2026, concerns packaging that comes into contact with food. It must not contain PFAS—so-called “forever chemicals”—in concentrations exceeding the limits set by the Regulation.
At the same time, some of the widely discussed PPWR requirements are being phased in gradually.
For example, the requirement to ensure that all packaging is recyclable is set for 2030, and the new unified labeling rules will also be introduced later. Therefore, it would be incorrect to claim that, as of August 12, 2026, companies are already required to comply with absolutely all future PPWR standards.
For Ukrainian exporters, the practical significance of the reform is that packaging compliance is gradually becoming just as much a prerequisite for access to the EU market as the safety and quality requirements for the product itself. Companies in the food, light industry, chemical, and FMCG sectors, as well as manufacturers producing under the private labels of European retail chains, should pay particular attention to their packaging.
On August 3, 2026, the European Commission additionally published updated guidance for businesses on the application of the PPWR, while the general effective date for the main provisions of the regulation was set for August 12.
Source: EU Regulation 2025/40 and the European Commission’s guidance on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
In 2025, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine resumed imposing administrative fines for violations related to the submission of statistical reports, after no such resolutions were issued in 2023 or 2024.
According to Opendatabot, in 2025, the State Statistics Service issued 30 rulings totaling 5,100 UAH. By comparison, there were 21 such rulings in 2022, and none in 2023–2024.
The refund of fines is linked to the reinstatement of mandatory statistical and financial reporting. The State Statistics Service officially announced that, as of July 5, 2025, reporting once again became mandatory for enterprises, institutions, organizations, and entrepreneurs included in state statistical surveys.
Companies that took advantage of wartime exemptions and failed to submit the required information in 2022–2025 were required to file their backlog of reports within three months—by October 5, 2025. At the same time, the regular deadlines for submitting current reports were reinstated.
However, the practice of imposing fines in 2025 proved to be extremely uneven. All 30 resolutions were issued in just five regions: respondents in Vinnytsia, Zakarpattia, and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts received eight each; those in Mykolaiv Oblast received five; and one was issued in Luhansk Oblast.
Administrative liability applies for failure to provide statistical data, missing deadlines, or submitting inaccurate or incomplete information. According to Opendatabot, the fine for officials and sole proprietors ranges from 170 to 255 UAH, and may be higher in the event of a repeat violation.
In 2026, the reporting obligation remains in effect. The State Statistics Service has published a separate reporting calendar for 2026 and allows companies to review the required forms via the “My Reporting” service.
Source: Opendatabot, published on August 14, 2026; State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
ENTERPRISE, FINE, REPORTING, State Statistics Service, STATISTICS
