The House of Europe program has announced an open grant competition, Culture Helps Solidarity, for cultural initiatives that help Ukrainians integrate into European communities and support the reintegration of veterans through culture.
The amount of support is up to €20,000 for a project with one partner and up to €30,000 for a project with two or more partners. Grant funds can cover fees, travel, production, marketing, rent, and operational activities.
Non-profit cultural organizations officially registered in Ukraine and participating countries with experience working with displaced persons or veterans are eligible to participate. In addition to the EU, the list of eligible jurisdictions for partners includes Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and a number of countries in the region, including Serbia, which expands opportunities for Ukrainian organizations to cooperate with partners outside the EU.
Applications will be accepted until March 31, 2026 (2:00 p.m. Kyiv time), and the results of the competition are expected to be announced by the end of May. A total of 15 projects are expected to receive funding, with a deadline for implementation of May 31, 2027. Applications must be submitted online in English. There is no application fee for the competition.
On March 10, Ukrtransnafta JSC announced its intention to conclude a contract with VUSO Insurance Company for compulsory civil liability insurance for owners of land vehicles (CMTPL).
According to the Prozorro electronic public procurement system, the company’s price offer was UAH 1.106 million against the expected cost of UAH 1.255 million.
The tender was also attended by insurance companies Kraina with an offer of UAH 1 more, Arsenal Insurance – UAH 1.191 million.
Express Insurance paid out UAH 50.3 million in insurance claims in February 2026, which is 53.6% more than in the same period in 2025, according to the company’s website.
Under CASCO agreements, customers were compensated UAH 39.3 million, which is 50.9% more than in the same period last year. The amount of payments under MTPL insurance amounted to UAH 10.3 million (+66.8% compared to February 2025). Under other types of insurance, customers were compensated UAH 657.4 thousand, which is 34% more than last year.
Express Insurance LLC was founded in 2008 with the participation of the leader of the Ukrainian automotive market, Ukravto Group. The company specializes in auto insurance. It is represented in more than 60 points of sale throughout Ukraine and is actively expanding its network of partner service stations.
The spring season of book festivals, fairs, and literary events is beginning in Ukraine. These events will take place in March and May in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipro, Ternopil, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, and other cities, according to the Ukrainian Book Institute on its Facebook page.
“The spring season of book festivals has already begun. We are sharing the dates of events from all over Ukraine so that you can plan your trips and meetings with books and authors,” the organizers said.
According to the published calendar, the National Poetry Reading Week will be held online in March (March 16-22), in Dnipro on March 21, the event “In the Rhythm of Dnipro” will take place, in Ternopil on March 21-22, a festival will be held at the Podolyany shopping center, and in Ivano-Frankivsk from March 31 to April 4, PEN Ukraine will hold a festival-workshop “Propisy.”
In April, the Book Country festival is planned in Kyiv (April 23-26), and Shoduarivska Altanka in Zhytomyr (April 25-26). The event Book Spring in Khmelnytskyi has also been announced.
In May, the festival “Slovo” (May 7-10) will be held in Ivano-Frankivsk, the Children’s Forum: Children’s Reading Festival (May 11-17) in Lviv, Biography Week (May 11-17) in Kyiv, in Poltava – the book exhibition and fair “POSHUK” (May 22-23), in Volodymyr – the festival ‘Krymiada’ (May 23-25), and in Kyiv – “Book Arsenal” (May 28-31).
In addition, the spring calendar also includes VinBookFest in Vinnytsia and the All-Ukrainian Forum of Military Writers in Lviv.
As reported, Ukrainian writer Myroslav Laiuk’s book “Bakhmut” was shortlisted for the Ryszard Kapuściński International Award.
The anniversary exhibition “I Shook This World,” dedicated to the 90th birthday of the outstanding Ukrainian artist Ivan Marchuk, will open on March 13 at the Museum of the History of the City of Kyiv, according to the museum’s press service.
“I Shook This World” is both the artist’s confession and a testament to the scale of his work, as Marchuk’s works are presented on all continents, even in Antarctica,” the organizers said.
The exhibition will be spread across all exhibition floors of the museum and will feature nearly 250 works by the artist. Each floor will have its own name and concept, allowing visitors to trace the artist’s creative path — from his early explorations to his iconic cycles and philosophical generalizations.
A special place in the exhibition will be given to works from Ivan Marchuk’s personal collection, including early paintings, portraits, student works, sketches, and ceramic panels, most of which have not been publicly exhibited before.
The exhibition will also reveal the artist’s work through the prism of historical eras – from the Soviet period, when his bright personality was perceived as a challenge to the system, to the time of Ukraine’s independence and the present day.
It is noted that works for the exhibition were provided by 11 museums in Ukraine and more than 30 private collectors, which made it possible to form a large-scale retrospective exhibition of the artist’s works from different periods.
The general partners of the exhibition are Oschadbank and Visa, and the partners are SvitOutdoor, InBlummen, and Big Wine. The project was implemented with the support of art historian Tamara Strypko and scientific consultant Yuriy Kukharchuk.
The exhibition can be visited at the Museum and Exhibition Center of the Museum of the History of Kyiv (7 Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street) from Wednesday to Sunday from 12:00 to 19:00. The ticket office is open until 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost 320 UAH, with concessions available for 160 UAH.
As reported, the Kyiv police are investigating possible fraud involving paintings by Ivan Marchuk.
McDonald’s Ukraine Ltd., which operates the McDonald’s fast food restaurant chain in Ukraine, has invested UAH 4.84 billion in expansion and modernization in 2022-2025, the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
In 2025, the company opened 12 new restaurants and renovated five existing ones. The chain appeared for the first time in the Zakarpattia region – in Uzhhorod and Mukachevo, as well as in Hatne, Kyiv region, and in Lypyny, near Lutsk. In addition, the first McDonald’s restaurant with a sustainable design concept began operating in Lviv. In total, the company has opened 33 new restaurants since 2022, expanding the chain by more than 25% during this period.
At the same time, McDonald’s continued to work on the sustainability of the chain: the share of restaurants equipped with generators increased to over 95%, which supports the operation of establishments during power outages.
The number of customers in 2025 increased by 17%. The chain’s customer satisfaction level in 2025 rose to 98.3% compared to 96.7% in 2024. Throughout the year, the company expanded its offerings and adapted its menu to current consumer demands, in particular, bringing back breakfast items and launching new value-added offers.
The company continues to implement measures aimed at the rational use of resources and improving waste management efficiency. In 2025, the chain sent more than 2,700 tons of waste for recycling and continued to gradually reduce its use of plastic.
A separate area of development was the digitalization of services. During the year, the company improved its mobile app, expanded its personalized voucher program, and continued to introduce self-service terminals in all establishments. Currently, 85% of orders in restaurants are placed through self-service terminals, the number of registered users of the mobile app has increased by 44.5%, and the new “Mobile Order” feature has generated over 100,000 orders in its first two months of operation.
Along with the development of its business, the company continued to support social initiatives in cooperation with the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Ukraine. In 2025, McDonald’s customers participated in charity campaigns in the chain’s restaurants more than 1 million times, raising nearly UAH 28 million to support the work of family rooms and the construction of Ukraine’s first Ronald McDonald House on the grounds of the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital in Kyiv.
In 2026, McDonald’s plans to continue expanding its network and strengthening its presence in the regions of Ukraine. Earlier this year, the company opened two new restaurants in Irpin and Kyiv.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in Ukraine opened on May 24, 1997, in Kyiv. McDonald’s currently employs nearly 11,000 Ukrainians and has 138 restaurants, of which 123 are currently operating in 42 locations.
According to the analytical system OpenDataBot, McDonald’s in Ukraine received UAH 21.3 billion in revenue in 2025, which is 26.6% more than in the same period last year. Net profit increased by 21.3% to UAH 1.567 billion. In 2025, the company paid UAH 3.5 billion in taxes to the budget.
The owner of McDonald’s Ukraine Ltd. is listed as MCD Europe Limited (100%, London, United Kingdom).
