Ukrainians are currently receiving temporary protection in the European Union regardless of gender and age, and this arrangement has been extended until March 27, 2027, said European Commission spokesman Markus Lammert, commenting on discussions in member states about granting protection to Ukrainian men of conscription age.
“As far as I remember the rules for granting temporary protection, they make no distinction between women, children, and men of conscription age,” Lammert said at a briefing in Brussels on Friday.
When asked whether the EU should accept Ukrainian men of conscription age during the war in Ukraine and whether there is indeed a discussion at the European level about their temporary protection, given that the issue has been raised by the Luxembourg government and the Ukrainian authorities, the European Commission representative replied: “I am not aware of any discussion in Luxembourg. I can say that temporary protection is what we have decided at the EU level and at the level of member states until March 27 next year. The current rules remain in force, and that is all I can say at this point.”
National postal operator Ukrposhta has started auctions for the sale of 20 unused real estate objects with a total area of 32.8 thousand square meters with a starting price of more than UAH 200 million, the company’s CEO Igor Smilyansky said on Thursday.
According to his message in Telegram, the objects offered on the site Prozorro.Sale range from a small room in a village in Transcarpathia to a sorting center in Lviv with an area of 5.6 thousand square meters.
The head of the company expects profits from the sale in the tens of millions of hryvnias, which will be used for investments, as well as savings on the maintenance of these facilities and payment of taxes of more than 3 million hryvnias.
“The funds to be received from the sale, according to the decision of the shareholder ”Ukrposhta” Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories, will be immediately directed to investments in fixed assets,” Smilyansky said.
General Director of “Ukrposhta” specified that the starting price for investors, put up for auction sorting center, which was built in the 1920s in the heart of Lviv near the railway station, 56.9 million UAH.
The day before, Ukrposhta also completed the second auction of 716 units of decommissioned vehicles on Prozorro.Sales, receiving UAH 9 million, and is preparing to start the final sale of about 250 more cars.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Ukrposhta made a net profit of UAH 257.9 million, which was 69.2% higher than in the same period of 2024 due to additional income from the sale of the company’s property, which amounted to UAH 168 million.
The national postal operator increased its revenue by UAH 10.7m in the fourth quarter compared to the corresponding period of 2024 – up to UAH 3bn 601.6m.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is planning to approve a new procedure for using state support funds for industrial parks in the next week or two with an additional program for receiving monetary compensation for infrastructure damaged by Russian attacks in the amount of up to UAH 200 million, Deputy Minister of Economy Vitaliy Kindrativ said.
“In the near future, we will come up with a new procedure for the use of funds, which will include an additional program for receiving compensation for damaged infrastructure in industrial parks. That is, if there was a Russian attack, something was lost or destroyed, the state will be able to give you up to UAH 200 million to restore the infrastructure. I think it will be adopted by the government in a week or two, and we will soon receive applications,” he said during the annual Eco-Industrial Parks Conference in Kyiv on Friday.
He expressed hope that there will be few applications for restoration, but reminded that there are already “two bad cases, and it is on them that we have developed this mechanism of support from the state for those who suffered.”
Mr. Kindrativ also noted that the incentives provided by the state for the development of industrial parks are enough to develop a network of them.
“For our part, we see one big gap that we have been working on for two years now, and we hope to achieve results – a program to support and develop the capacity of IPs, management companies, and participants. That is, it is not enough to create and register an IP, it is necessary to fill it with appropriate meanings and tools, to bring in residents and give it life, and this requires additional competence and those who create the park do not always have it,” said the Deputy Minister of Economy.
According to him, launching this program this year is one of the government’s priorities.
Mr. Kindrativ also reminded that Ukraine is probably the only country in the world that has developed and approved the standard of an eco-industrial park at the state level.
“And it seems to me that for businesses that are planning and looking towards industrial parks, this is a good beacon of what they should do to develop in this direction,” he summarized.
As reported, as of the end of 2025, 37 industrial enterprises were built or under construction in Ukrainian industrial parks, of which 22 plants have already been built and 15 are under construction.
Currently, the Register of Industrial Parks includes more than 113 objects. Industrial parks are part of the investment component of the Made in Ukraine policy for the development of Ukrainian producers.
In October 2025, for example, a Russian missile destroyed the Sparrow Industrial Park in Lviv.
The EIP Ukraine 2026 conference is being implemented as a flagship national event within the framework of the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Program II – Ukraine: National Implementation (GEIPP-II Ukraine) project.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/1147910.html
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has donated three high-power autotransformers worth more than $20 million to Ukrenergo NEC as part of the “Emergency Recovery and Reconstruction Project,” the system operator said on Friday.
“It is not the first time we receive donor assistance with scarce and expensive high-voltage equipment from our Japanese partners. Given the consequences of Russia’s massive attacks, the powerful autotransformers delivered at the end of last year are extremely necessary for the Ukrainian energy system,” said Vitaliy Zaichenko, chairman of the board of NEC Ukrenergo.
For his part, Osamu Hattori, Head of the JICA office in Ukraine, expressed his respect for the Ukrenergo team for its technical excellence.
“We deeply admire the resilience and technical excellence of the Ukrenergo team. JICA is committed to continue helping to improve the reliability, security and long-term sustainability of Ukraine’s energy system,” he emphasized.
As Ukrenergo explained, the logistics of cargoes of such type as the above-mentioned autotransformers is a very complicated process due, first of all, to the dimensions of the cargo. The weight of each of the three transformers is almost 200 tons, with a height of 4.5 meters and a width of almost 4 meters.
“Taking into account the dimensions of the transportation platform and the weight of the tractor itself, the route is laid out in such a way as to bypass many bridges, over which or under which it is impossible to pass,” the NEC said.
Numbeo has published its Quality of Life Index for 2026, ranking the quality of life in 89 countries and 304 cities across the world based on a combination of factors including purchasing power, pollution levels, house price to income ratio, cost of living, safety, healthcare quality, travel time to work and climate.
According to the ranking, the top 5 countries for quality of life were the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg, Oman and Switzerland, while the top 10 also included Finland, Austria, Germany, Iceland and Norway.
The Netherlands is also leading in the ranking of cities – the first places were taken by The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven, followed by Groningen and Rotterdam; the top ten also included Luxembourg, Vienna, Amsterdam, Ghent and Nuremberg.
Ukraine, as noted in the publication, is located in 68th place directly above Russia.
The key event of the year in sustainable industrial development – the Annual Eco-Industrial Parks (EIP) Conference in Ukraine 2026 – has officially commenced in Kyiv. This year, the focus is on supporting Ukraine’s green recovery by attracting financing for the development of EIPs. Participants include government officials, international partners, donor organizations, business representatives, industrial park operators, banks, investment institutions, and industry associations.
Eco-industrial parks must become a key instrument for Ukraine’s green reconstruction and its practical integration into the European economic space. This was stated by Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, during his opening remarks. He emphasized that the theme of this year’s conference has strategic importance, as Ukraine is simultaneously navigating multiple complex processes: defending the state against Russian aggression and undergoing a profound economic transformation.
“Recovery cannot mean a return to the pre-war economic model. We are building a new industrial foundation – technological, competitive, and fully integrated into the European economic space, aligning with high standards and the principles of the global sustainable development goals,” noted Taras Kachka. “In this context, eco-industrial parks are not just an infrastructural tool; they are a new model for organizing a truly modern domestic industry. They allow us to combine industrial modernization with decarbonization, resource efficiency, the circular economy, and compliance with EU ESG criteria.”
The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that the negotiation process for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union requires practical industrial integration. This specifically involves adaptation to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the EU financial taxonomy, sustainability reporting standards, and supply chain due diligence requirements.
“This is a new economic reality. Eco-industrial parks create an environment where Ukrainian enterprises can meet these requirements systematically, rather than fragmentarily,” he added.
The EIP Conference in Ukraine 2026 is a flagship national event held within the framework of the “Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme II: Country level intervention in Ukraine” (GEIPP-II Ukraine). The program is implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) with financial support from Switzerland through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in close cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine.
The conference agenda features six panel discussions. Participants are exploring the formation of a favourable policy framework for park development, ESG principles as a tool for green recovery, and investment mobilization through financial institutions. Special attention is given to market opportunities, industrial symbiosis, and the benefits of EIPs for resident companies and service providers.
“The growth dynamics of industrial parks in Ukraine is impressive: in the last year alone, the number of operational sites has nearly doubled. Now, our main task within the GEIPP-II program is to ensure their full financial and institutional readiness for green transformation. We are helping businesses prove in practice that environmental sustainability, resource efficiency, and industrial symbiosis lead directly to lower operational costs and increased attractiveness for investors,” stated Christian Susan, UNIDO Industrial Development Officer.
An Industrial Parks Exhibition is operating alongside the Conference to showcase the best investment practices in Ukraine.
The broadcast of the Conference is available on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/geippukraine/live_videos/. YouTube: livestream in Ukrainian or livestream in English.
Photos from the Conference download here.
Background Information:
An eco-industrial park is an innovative format for industrial parks where businesses utilize alternative energy sources, approach waste management rationally, and optimize water usage. EIPs are more competitive, attractive for investments, and resilient to risks.
Ukraine has significant potential in establishing eco-industrial parks to support the green transition, post-war recovery, and alignment with European environmental standards.
By the end of 2025, industrial parks in Ukraine demonstrated rapid development: the total number of registered facilities reached 118, with 27 appearing last year alone (mostly driven by private business initiatives). The most crucial indicator was the nearly twofold increase in the number of actively operating sites -from 21 to 37. The geographical leaders in the number of parks remain the Lviv, Kyiv (which ranked first in new registrations), and Zakarpattia regions. Currently, residents are actively expanding production: 22 enterprises are already operational within the parks, and another 15 are under construction, focusing on agricultural processing, the food and woodworking industries, and mechanical engineering.
The GEIPP Ukraine project is part of the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme (GEIPP), implemented by UNIDO in seven countries and funded by the Government of Switzerland through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The main beneficiary of the project is the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine.
