Prisoners in frontline territories often only have remote access to lawyers and remain the most vulnerable in wartime, according to Barristers partners Oleksiy Shevchuk and Oleksandr Shadrin.
“Prisoners remain the most vulnerable people in this regard. They cannot leave the premises during an alarm and go to a shelter. Sometimes, being located near the front line or military facilities becomes critical, or, as in the case of the Kyiv SIZO, which is located near the Lukyanivska metro station,” the lawyers told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to the Ministry of Justice, following the tragic incident at the Bilenky correctional colony, the evacuation of the following penitentiary institutions has begun: the Zaporizhzhia pre-trial detention center, the Vilnianska correctional facility (No. 11), and the Kamyanska correctional colony (No. 101)..
“This information is partially confirmed by rumors among prisoners. In particular, one of Shadrin’s clients, who is being held in the Zaporizhzhia pre-trial detention center, reported plans to evacuate them to the Dniprovskyi pre-trial detention center,” the lawyers said.
According to their information, no transfers to the court of appeal are currently being carried out from the Zaporizhzhia pretrial detention center.
“In the best case scenario, there will be a video conference, if there is electricity and communication. If only the prisoner is relocated and the court remains in the same region as before, the question of ensuring/not ensuring personal participation in the court hearing (at least in the first instance) will inevitably arise,” the agency’s interlocutors noted.
Shevchuk and Shadrin pointed out that prisoners in frontline areas often only have remote access to lawyers.
“Many lawyers have been mobilized or have left for safer regions. Of course, this situation can lead to problems with the right to a fair (adversarial) trial, which includes the possibility of confidential communication with a lawyer without witnesses from the police or the Security Service of Ukraine,” the lawyers said.
In addition, they drew attention to the fact that with the start of the large-scale invasion, a number of correctional colonies and pre-trial detention centers were occupied along with prisoners and staff, who were subsequently accused of treason or collaboration.
“For example, a dog handler at one of the penitentiary institutions in Kherson received such a charge: 12 years’ imprisonment with the right to hold relevant positions for 10 years (the relevant entry was made in the Register of Court Decisions – IF-U). Often, after the occupation, prisoners are encouraged to join the armed forces of the aggressor country, and if they refuse, they are thrown grenades into their cells or shot,” the lawyers said.
In addition, Shevchuk and Shadrin reported that penitentiary institutions remain significantly underfunded and conditions of detention are largely inhumane, as confirmed by numerous ECHR rulings, in particular due to overcrowding.
“After the repeal of the ‘Savchenko law’ (adopted in 2015, the law provided that one day of pre-trial detention in a detention center before sentencing was counted as two days of imprisonment in a correctional colony), the problem of overcrowding in detention centers and correctional colonies arose again. This is facilitated by the criminalization of theft and other property crimes, which have become serious due to the new “under martial law” designation, which is applied automatically. This phenomenon is also facilitated by the growing number of military personnel and suspects of high treason – categories for which the legislature has allowed detention without alternative,“ the lawyers note.
”These circumstances are expected to be the subject of review by the ECHR again,” Shevchuk and Shadrin predict.
According to media reports, in 2014, control was lost over 28 penal institutions in the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea, where about 20,000 prisoners are being held. In 2022, another 12 institutions with more than 3,000 people came under the control of the occupiers.
According to the Ministry of Justice, since the start of the full-scale invasion, 10 penal institutions have been evacuated from the combat zones and 12 evacuation operations have been carried out, although the list of specific institutions has not been made public.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/general/1098389.html
Financial Company (FC) Express Invest LLC (Boryspil, Kyiv region) has acquired 100% of the shares of PJSC Production Association Stalkanat-Silur (Odessa).
According to a statement by Stalkanat-Silur in the National Securities and Stock Market Commission system, the information about the change of shareholders is dated August 15 of this year.
At the same time, the powers of all members of the supervisory board (SB) of PrJSC “Production Association ”Stalkanat-Silur” were terminated as of August 18, 2025. In particular, the powers of the chairman of the SB, David Nemirovsky, and members of the SB, Anton Mikhalenko, Dina Nemirovskaya, and Vitaly Dubovich, were terminated.
Another announcement dated August 18 specifies that due to direct alienation, David Nemirovsky’s stake in the private joint-stock company has decreased from 50% to zero, Anton Mikhalenko’s stake has decreased from 23.7% to 0, Maria Kondratyuk’s stake has decreased from 23.1% to 0, and Vitaly Dubovich’s stake has decreased from 3.2% to 0. The date on which the threshold values were reached or crossed is August 14, 2025.
At the same time, the share of LLC “FC ”Express Invest“ in PJSC ”VO “Stalkanat-Silur” increased from 0 to 100%.
As reported, the shareholders of PrJSC “VO ”Stalkanat-Silur” proposed to liquidate the Khartsyzsk branch of the company – the Silur plant, located in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region – this issue was included in the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders scheduled for August 11 of this year. The minutes of this meeting have not yet been made public.
VO Stalkanat-Silur ended 2023 with a net loss of UAH 720,000, compared to UAH 9.494 million in 2022. The company’s undistributed profit at the end of 2023 amounted to UAH 102.193 million.
The general meeting of shareholders held on September 3, 2021, decided to split off PJSC Stalkanat-Silur and create a new company, PJSC Stalkanat, transferring to it, in accordance with the approved distribution balance sheet, part of the property, rights, and obligations. At the same time, all shares of the newly created PJSC Stalkanat were distributed among all shareholders of PJSC Stalkanat-Silur. The shareholders then agreed to spin off the company Stalkanat, to which the Odessa industrial site was transferred. In turn, PJSC Stalkanat-Silur, which owns the Silur plant located in the temporarily uncontrolled territory (Khartsyzsk, Donetsk region), also remained.
PrJSC “VO ”Stalkanat-Silur” (Odessa) previously had two branches – in Odessa and in Khartsyzsk, Donetsk region, on the NKT. On December 1, 2016, the company’s management officially announced the closure of its branch in Khartsyzsk; the corresponding announcement was published in the newspaper Uriadovy Courier. Later, the management of PJSC “VO ”Stalkanat-Silur” announced the seizure of the company’s branch in Khartsyzsk on the NKT and sent a corresponding statement to the National Police.
According to the NDU for the first quarter of 2025, Davyd Nemirovsky (Ukraine) held 50.0001% of the shares of PJSC “VO ”Stalkanat-Silur,” Anton Mikhalenko (Israel) held 23.7%, and Maria Kondratyuk (Ukraine) held 23.1%.
The authorized capital of PrJSC Stalkanat-Silur is UAH 8.346 million.
Financial Company (FC) Express Invest LLC (Boryspil, Kyiv region) was registered on November 27, 2000. Its main activity is the provision of other financial services (except insurance and pension services).
The authorized person is Alexander Zinoviev.
Vitaliy Kopan, Yevgeny Dzyubenko, Tatyana Sonceva, Sergey Poshtar, Yevgeny Simatov, Anatoly Dyachenko, Valery Nedashkovsky, Artur Shadur, and Vitaliy Bondar each own 9% of the LLC, while Alexander Stambovsky (all in Kyiv) and Express Invest Ltd. hold 9.5% each.
The authorized capital is UAH 1.2 million.
Belgrade’s office real estate market in H1 2025 showed multidirectional trends: office leasing continued to grow in price amid strong demand from the IT sector and outsourcing companies, while the buy/sell market remains relatively subdued.
Rental prices and demand
According to Serbian consulting agencies, the average rental rate in modern Class A business centers in Belgrade reached EUR 16.5-18.5 per sqm per month in Q2 2025, which is 7-9% higher than in the same period in 2024. For Class B properties, rents ranged between 11-13.5 euros per square meter.
Experts note that the key demand drivers remain international IT companies, customer service centers and service units of pharmaceutical corporations. “In Belgrade, more and more global companies are looking for offices with flexible layouts and energy-efficient solutions.
The rental segment is overheated and this is pushing the rates up,” Colliers Serbia consultant Ivana Markovic told Politika newspaper.
Buying and selling: cautious deals
The office real estate purchase market in the first half of 2025 was cautious.
The average purchase price in newly built business centers is 2,350-2,600 euros per square meter, while a year earlier the figure was closer to 2,200 euros.
At the same time, the volume of transactions decreased: according to CBRE Serbia, sales fell by about 15% compared to the first half of 2024. Buyers, mainly institutional investors, are showing interest in properties in the center and New Belgrade, but are postponing contracts due to the instability of the global economy and the rising cost of financing.
Vacancy and new projects
The office vacancy rate in Belgrade has fallen to 7.2% by July 2025 (vs. 9.1% a year earlier). New supply is limited, with only about 37,000 sqm of new office space commissioned in the first half of the year, which is below forecasts.
Projects under construction in New Belgrade and the Savamaja neighborhood are scheduled for completion in 2026, which may reduce tenant pressure in the future.
Forecasts
Analysts expect rental rates to continue to rise by 3-5% in the second half of 2025 due to a lack of supply. However, the buy/sell market is likely to remain stagnant: rising interest rates and high construction costs will deter investors from active transactions.
“Office rents in Belgrade will become more expensive until at least 2026, until new large complexes come out. The sales market will revive not earlier than the end of 2025, if the risks are reduced and more favorable credit conditions are available,” says the manager of JLL Serbia Milos Stankovic.
https://t.me/relocationrs/1308
Gadz-Agro LLC (Ternopil region), the agricultural division of the OKKO Group, has completed the first stage of harvesting, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, in the 2025 season, Gadz-Agro achieved a yield of winter rapeseed at 3.87 tons/ha, winter barley – 9.23 tons/ha, winter wheat – 8.63 tons/ha, spring barley – 6.58 tons/ha, spring wheat – 6.95 tons/ha, and peas – 4.61 tons/ha.
“The harvest is complete! It was a difficult but extremely productive period, during which every employee contributed to the common cause. These figures are not only indicators of yield, but also evidence of the dedicated work, professionalism, and unity of our team,” the company said.
Gadz Agro is engaged in crop and livestock farming on 26,000 hectares. It is one of the largest horticultural enterprises in Ukraine. It has its own processing facilities, in particular, it produces and exports apple chips under the Garden Gadz trademark, which will be sold in the international retail chain Lidl starting in 2023.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individuals, the companies were founded by Petro Gadz (50%) and OKKO Group owner Vitaliy Antonov through GnG Retail Limited (50%).
According to Vasyl Danylyak, CEO of OKKO Group, an important component of OKKO’s agricultural portfolio is its partnership with Gadz-Agro, which the company acquired a stake in in 2023. OKKO decided not to integrate the part of the business related to horticulture.
In the first half of 2025 the office market in Zagreb maintained a severe shortage of quality space and stable growth of rental rates. This is evidenced by the data processed by the project relocation.com.ua. Thus, according to CBRE, the modern stock is estimated at ≈1.18 million sq. m., total vacancy – 2.96%, and prime rent – €17/sq. m/month; for the half-year 26 thousand sq. m. of transactions were recorded (in Q2 – 7 thousand sq. m.). Prime yield decreased to 7.25% (-75 bps YoY).
According to Cushman & Wakefield/CBS International estimates, total vacancy in Zagreb in Q2 was 2.63%, prime asking rate – €18.50/sqm/month, volume of concluded leases – 15.1 thousand sqm for the quarter; the most active tenants were manufacturing and consumer companies, as well as IT sector. The agency points to the total modern stock of ≈1.58 mln sq. m. GLA (including A and B) and stable demand outside CBD on the background of portfolio renewal.
Supply and projects. No new speculative buildings were completed in Q2; the market was replenished with space following refurbishments. On the 2025-2027 horizon, ≈77k sqm is expected to be commissioned (about 5k in 2025, 42k in 2026, 30k in 2027): among the projects are Matrix D (GTC, 10.5k sqm, 2026), VMD Business Tower (≈21k. sq. m, beginning of 2027), Park Avenue V, Paromlinska (12 thousand sq. m, end of 2026), Business Center Arena (9,5 thousand sq. m, 2026), the final phase of Buzin City Island (15 thousand sq. m, 2027) and Supernova Office Towers (≈15,4 thousand sq. m). CBRE expects that with the commissioning of new space vacancy may slightly increase, but rates will remain stable, and in prime locations additional growth is possible due to stable demand.
Investments. Office transactions in Zagreb amounted to ~€69m in the last 12 months; with lower yields reflecting competition for quality assets.
The Zagreb office market in H1 2025 remains a “landlord’s market”: vacancy <3%, rental rates in the €17-18.5/sqm/month corridor, with limited new supply and gradual yield compression. For tenants, this means early booking in projects under construction, for investors – focus on prime properties and renovation projects.
Home appliances and electronics retailer Comfy (Comfy Trade LLC) increased its revenue by 19% in January-June 2025 and recorded growth in demand in almost all categories of appliances, the company’s press service reported.
The retailer did not disclose absolute revenue figures for the first half of the year. According to YouControl, in the first quarter of 2025, revenue grew by 14.5% compared to the first quarter of 2024, to UAH 8 billion.
According to the press release, Comfy’s online sales revenue for the six months increased by 27% compared to the same period last year, while the market grew by 15%.
About 27% of all online sales are generated by the mobile app, the report said. In the first half of the year, the number of users increased by 28% compared to the first half of last year, and the share of monthly active users (MAU) grew by 50% over the year.
It is noted that in the first half of 2025, demand grew in almost all categories of appliances. Thus, in the small household appliances category, the average growth is 32%, and in accessories, 34%. The leaders in the category are multi-cookers, whose sales grew by 248.1%, as well as air humidifiers (+59%), coffee machines (+40%), and steam cleaners (+37%). Stylers (+62%), epilators (+61%), and electric toothbrushes (+57%) continue to show a growing demand.
In large household appliances, the strongest growth was seen in air conditioners (+84%), dryers and dishwashers (+46% and +22%, respectively), demand for which increased thanks to the stable energy supply situation.
According to Comfy, in the digital and audio-video equipment segment, home audio systems (+184%), camera lenses (+172%), cameras (+53%), and tablet computers (+49%) showed steady growth in the first half of 2025.
“At the same time, sales declined in niches that were ‘overheated’ last year, such as power banks and charging stations, as well as freezers and transport,” the retailer noted.
The amount of taxes paid by the Comfy chain in January-June 2025 reached UAH 992 million, which is 14% more than in the first half of 2024.
According to YouControl, Comfy Holdings Limited (100%, Cyprus) is the owner of Comfy Trade LLC, and Stanislav Ronis and Svitlana Hutsul are the ultimate beneficiaries.
As reported, Comfy received UAH 47.7209 billion in revenue in 2024, which is 27.1% higher than in 2023. 2024 was the first year when the company exceeded $1 billion in revenue. The chain has more than 100 retail outlets.
