In the first quarter of 2025, imports of lead and lead products to Ukraine increased 7.4 times to $2.09 million ($863 thousand in March).
Exports decreased by 25.2% to $2.12 million ($773 thousand in March).
In 2024, imports also increased by 2.4 times to $2.39 million, while exports fell by 22.9% to $11.4 million.
Lead is currently mainly used in the production of lead-acid batteries for the automotive industry. In addition, lead is used to make bullets and some alloys.
Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for $1, in 01.12.2024-31.12.2024)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
Logistics remains one of the most difficult problems for Ukrainian exporters of processed grain products since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said Rodion Rybchynskyi, Director of the PU “Millers of Ukraine” Rodion Rybchynskyi at the Baltic Grains & Oils Conference in Riga on April 16.
“The commonwealth routes, i.e. the open routes provided by European countries to their railways, including here to the Baltic ports and to Polish ports, helped us a lot. But this still does not allow us to fully compensate for the losses we have suffered since the beginning of the war,” APK-Inform news agency quoted him as saying.
According to him, there is a possibility to ship products to the port of Constanta via the Danube, but there are still military risks, insurance companies assess these risks as high, and the cost of logistics remains significant.
“The Baltic ports are interesting, on the one hand, because they have direct container lines and the possibility of shipping to North America, South Asia, and so on. But this is a very large circle for the goods to get there… In fact, we see that compared to 2021, only the port of Ventspils transshipped slightly more Ukrainian products, while all other ports have decreased. For example, the port of Klaipeda actually halved its transshipment volumes in 2023,” Rybczynski said.
At the same time, Polish ports have significantly increased transshipment volumes of Ukrainian products, in particular grain products.
According to Rybczynski, Baltic ports remain important alternative routes for exports from Ukraine. The main advantages include access to Northern and Western Europe, delivery times, climate stability, modern infrastructure, less congestion and, most importantly, safe navigation. The disadvantages include logistics costs that are 2-3 times higher compared to the Danube ports, higher cargo handling costs, and railroad bottlenecks.
The agricultural holding Continental Farmers Group has resumed sowing operations after a forced pause caused by a significant cold snap, the company’s press service reports.
Continental reminded that it started the sowing campaign in the last days of March with sowing sugar beet and planting potatoes, and is currently sowing sunflower.
In total, in the new season, Continental will grow spring crops on an area of almost 96 thou hectares, of which the largest share will be soybeans – 49.5 thou hectares, 26 thou hectares for corn, 15.7 thou hectares for sunflower, 2.5 thou hectares for sugar beet, and 2.1 thou hectares for potatoes.
“Favorable weather conditions and soil preparation, which started as planned in mid-March, helped us to start sowing spring crops early. However, further precipitation slowed down the pace of work, and significant temperature drops in the first half of April even suspended it,” the company said.
Continental expects the peak load of field work in the second half of April, when corn and soybean sowing begins. The company expects to complete the sowing campaign in the second decade of May if the weather does not make any significant adjustments.
Mriya Agro Holding and CFG, united under the name Continental Farmers Group, have been operating as a single business since November 2018, when Mriya entered into an agreement with international investor Salic UK to sell its assets.
Salic was founded in 2012. Its sole shareholder is the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which invests in agricultural and livestock production.
“Continental Farmers Group is an agricultural company that cultivates 195 thousand hectares of land in 5 regions of Western Ukraine: Ternopil, Lviv, Khmelnytsky, Chernivtsi, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. The company specializes in crop production: it grows grains, oilseeds and industrial crops and is one of the largest potato producers in Ukraine.
In 2025, the state enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” will invest UAH 20 million in the restoration of former collective farm forest lands – the so-called “peasant forest” in Rivne region, the press service of the state enterprise reports.
“Forests of Ukraine reminded that in the 2000s, 6,000 hectares of forest were transferred to the state, which allowed it to preserve part of the plantations. However, about 10 thousand hectares remained in a “suspended state” for a long time, subjected to illegal logging and fires. In 2024, the Rivne EIA transferred the remnants of these forests to the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. During the inventory, representatives of the state enterprise recorded 500 thousand stumps. The amount of damage caused in the “peasant forest” was estimated at UAH 3.41 billion, which is an anti-record in terms of illegal logging and the amount of damage caused.
“Investments in the restoration, protection, defense and care of the forest over the next 5 years will amount to almost UAH 20 million. These are the own funds of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. Thanks to the centralization of forestry management, we now have the opportunity for such investments. Not only the subsidized South and East, but also such resource regions as Rivne region receive financial support from the company,” Yuriy Bolokhovets, CEO of the State Enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’, wrote on Facebook.
According to him, there are currently more than 700 thousand hectares of such “no man’s land” in Ukraine without a forest user. The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is ready to restore and protect them, which requires approval from local authorities and communities.
The head of the Rivne Regional Administration, Oleksandr Koval, expressed confidence on Facebook that “the transfer of these territories to the use of the State Enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’ should radically change the situation,” as the problem arose precisely because of the lack of a permanent forest user.
Seedlings of a closed root system have already been planted on the first plot using modern technology: instead of pure coniferous plantations vulnerable to fire, pests and climate change, mixed, more sustainable forests will appear in Rivne Oblast, including both coniferous and deciduous tree species.
The Rivne region is also continuing a program to restore forests after the “amber fever” of 2015-2017. Illegal mining affected 4.2 thousand hectares of forest. Currently, a part of these territories has been transferred to legal mining. These are the lands of local communities – the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is involved as a contractor to plant forests on the reclaimed areas.
The state enterprise has expressed interest in ensuring that the planted forest is properly maintained and protected.
“We appeal to communities to voluntarily transfer such forests to the state forest fund, which guarantees its preservation,” called on the director general of the Forests of Ukraine.
On May 16, Ukraine State Aviation Enterprise (Boryspil, Kyiv region) announced a tender for insurance of the liability of the operator of a commercial civil aircraft for damage caused to third parties and the liability of the air carrier for damage caused to passengers and baggage; aircraft insurance.
According to a posting in the Prozorro electronic public procurement system, the tender was announced for insurance of aircraft crew members, other aviation personnel and persons who have the right to be on board the aircraft legally without purchasing tickets. The expected value of the insurance procurement is UAH 32.32 million. The deadline for submitting bids is April 24.
Ukraine State Airline was established to organize, provide and perform air transportation by special flights of senior official delegations of Ukraine and other states within the country and abroad in compliance with the requirements and rules stipulated in the relevant regulatory documents.
