Last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed 11 journalists from eight African countries—Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, and Tanzania—to Ukraine.
“I was delighted to hold a separate meeting with them. I noted the great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries: from Ukraine’s further efforts to strengthen food security on the African continent and develop bilateral trade to the exchange of the latest technologies and the scaling up of educational and cultural programs for young people,” said Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga.
We expect African capitals and the African Union to support Ukraine’s peace efforts in all international forums. Ukraine has agreed to an unconditional ceasefire and is making every effort to end the war. Now, the international community needs to fully mobilize diplomatically to get Russia to agree to a ceasefire and open the way to a real peace process.
“Why are these personal visits important? They change perceptions. Journalists saw the consequences of Russia’s war and crimes with their own eyes. They saw and felt the essence of this war. I am deeply grateful to them for their courage and professionalism,” the minister emphasized.
In total, the press tour lasted two weeks, during which the group of media representatives visited the Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine. It was organized jointly by the foreign ministries of the Czech Republic, Poland, and the European External Action Service.
In Ukraine, African journalists visited Lviv, Kyiv, and the deoccupied territories of the Kyiv region.
This visit was the fifth visit of leading media outlets from the so-called Global South to Ukraine and the third for African media in particular, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized as part of its strategy for new horizons in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The systematic development of communication with countries in these regions is one of the priorities of Ukrainian diplomacy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs adopted the first-ever communication strategies “Ukraine – African States” and “Ukraine – Latin American and Caribbean States.”
Ukraine strives to develop equal and mutually beneficial relations with the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as a shared vision of the future based on respect for international law and universal values is the key to global stability and prosperity.
Ukraine remains an attractive country for investment if the risks are clear and manageable, said John W. H. Denton, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Ukraine is an investment-friendly country. It is important not to ignore the risks, but to understand them and be able to manage them,” Denton stressed. According to him, the private sector should become ”the foundation of post-war recovery.”
The ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) is the world’s largest business organization representing the interests of the private sector at the global level. Its headquarters are in Paris. It has more than 170 member countries and over 45 million companies, entrepreneurs, and business associations worldwide.
Status: It has observer status at the UN and works closely with the WTO, G20, IMF, and other international organizations.
The ICC develops global standards and rules for doing business (e.g., Incoterms®); resolves international disputes through the ICC International Court of Arbitration, one of the most authoritative arbitration bodies in the world; It promotes free trade, sustainable development, and the digitalization of the economy.
For more information, see the interview at https://interfax.com.ua/news/interview/1082092.html
In 2025, state-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) will put up for sale a portfolio of bad loans to individuals totaling more than UAH 5 billion.
“During 2025, PrivatBank plans to offer professional market participants a loan portfolio with a total debt of more than UAH 5 billion, which will include consumer loans granted to individuals without collateral,” the financial institution said on its Telegram channel on Monday.
It is noted that this refers exclusively to loans that are classified as “bad”.
Previously, the bank offered restructuring programs to borrowers and took all possible measures to repay the debt, including enforcement.
“Loans to military personnel, mobilized soldiers, and residents of territories where active hostilities are taking place or that are temporarily occupied will be excluded from the bad loan portfolios for sale,” PrivatBank said.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of April 1, 2025, PrivatBank ranked first in terms of total assets – UAH 945.4 billion, or 25.2% among 61 banks.
“OTP Leasing, the largest leasing company in the Ukrainian market, has announced the launch of a new EUR20 million financing program for hybrids and electric cars in Ukraine with 10% cashback through a grant.
“We hope to sell this product in about 200 showrooms in Ukraine. I want to visit the largest ones in Kyiv and the main regional ones this year. Because we need to sell 20 million euros under this program and distribute 2 million euros in grants,” OTP Leasing CEO Andriy Pavlushin wrote on Facebook.
According to him, the program provides for the leasing of cars to legal entities with a breakdown of payments for three to four years and a wide range of models: from a small Citroen to a large Range Rover, and also covers “soft hybrids.”
The company’s CEO hopes that the program will be further enhanced by the opportunity for its participants to refund 20% VAT on hybrids.
He noted that OTP Leasing will conduct trainings for showroom salespeople and has started this work with VIDI Auto for Business, which covers such models as Suzuki, Toyota, Lexus, Peugeot, Nissan, Range Rover/Land Rover, Volvo, Ford, MG, and Jeep.
“OTP Leasing is a subsidiary of the Hungarian OTP Bank. According to the EBRD, the company with a leasing portfolio of about UAH 15 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2024 occupied about 40% of the Ukrainian market.
In the first quarter of 2025, OTP Leasing’s revenue decreased by 20.8% compared to the first quarter of 2024 to UAH 383.1 million, while net profit increased 2.3 times to UAH 346.0 million.
The Supervisory Board of NEC Ukrenergo has elected its chief dispatcher and board member Vitaliy Zaychenko as chairman of the board, according to Andriy Gerus, head of the Verkhovna Rada’s energy committee.
“Vitaliy Zaychenko has become the chairman of the board of Ukrenergo,” Gerus told the Energorforma internet portal on Monday.
The company has not yet officially announced the results of the Supervisory Board meeting, which was scheduled for Monday.
As reported, on June 13, the Ministry of Energy, as the sole shareholder of the company, made new amendments to the charter of NEC Ukrenergo. They allow for the appointment of the chairman of the company’s board of directors in several attempts, the last of which, the third, by a simple majority of the members of the supervisory board, and the first two by a qualified majority, i.e., at least five votes (there are seven members of the supervisory board, four of whom are independent). If the third attempt is also unsuccessful, the Supervisory Board shall decide to announce a new competition for the position of chairman of the management board. It must take place within 90 calendar days of the date of such decision.
The shortlist of candidates for the position of chairman of the board of Ukrenergo, based on the results of the competition announced on February 5, 2025, includes the acting head of the company, Alexei Brecht, its chief dispatcher and member of the board, Vitaly Zaychenko, and another representative of the company, Ivan Yurik, who deals with Eurobond issues.
On June 18, the President of Uzbekistan inspected the construction of the new Tashkent East Airport, one of the country’s strategic infrastructure projects.
Construction on the former military airfield started in 2017.
The future airport is positioned as a transportation hub for the capital and the New Tashkent under construction. Its main activities will be receiving official visits and business trips of foreign investors. It is expected that its opening will stimulate the development of the tourism industry in Tashkent region.
According to the presented master plan, the total area of the new air harbor will be 561 hectares. The passenger terminal will serve up to 100 people per hour. The airfield’s apron will be able to park 23 double-deck Boeing 747s simultaneously.
The first phase of work, including the renovation of a 4-kilometer runway, was completed in 2023.
The airfield is capable of handling aircraft of all classes, including the heaviest ones.
The construction of two terminals is underway to accommodate official delegations and business aviation, as well as a runway and hangars for aircraft maintenance. The airport will be equipped with modern ICAO Class III-A radio and meteorological equipment. It will become the first air hub in Central Asia with ICAO Category III-A, which will allow it to receive flights even in fog and zero visibility.
The renovation of Tashkent-East is aimed at creating a modern, convenient and safe air hub that will relieve the capital’s main international airport and increase the overall level of air traffic.
Thanks to its favorable location, Tashkent-East will be able to reduce the load on the capital’s main international airport and increase the capacity of the country’s entire aviation infrastructure.
