Serbia’s real GDP in the third quarter of 2025 increased by 2% in annualized terms, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia ( SERS) reported. According to seasonally cleansed data, GDP grew by 0.6% compared to the second quarter of this year.
The biggest increase in value added was recorded in industry and water supply sector – 2.9%, as well as in information and communication – 6%.
Decrease was noted in construction, where the output decreased by 11.7 %, and in agriculture, forestry and fishing – by 0.2 %.
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As of November 1, 2025, there were 2.2 million head of cattle in Ukraine’s private and industrial sectors, including 1.11 million cows, which is 3% and 1% less than in October of this year and 10% and 10% less than in the same period last year, according to the Association of Milk Producers (AMP), citing data from the State Statistics Committee.
The industry association specified that about 47% of animals are kept on industrial farms, and 53% on private farms.
According to the AMU, the industrial sector has 947,100 head of cattle, which is 2,000 head more (+0.2%) than on October 1, 2025. The number of cows is 384,100, an increase of 500 head (+0.1%) over the last month. Over the past year, the number of cattle on farms has increased by 28,600 (+3%), and the number of cows has increased by 8,800 (+2%).
At the same time, there are 1.74 million head of cattle in the private sector, which is 64 thousand head (-6%) less than on October 1, 2025. As of November 1, 2025, the number of cows in private households was 721,200, which is 17,000 (-2%) less than a month ago. Over the past year, the number of cattle in private households has decreased by 253,000 (-19%), and the number of cows has decreased by 137,000 (-16%).
AVM analyst Georgy Kukhaleishvili noted that the number of cows is declining mainly in the private sector. The decline in cattle numbers is a long-standing problem in Ukraine due to the lack of an effective state program to support dairy farming. The war has only exacerbated the situation.
The expert recalled that most farms in Ukraine were built in the 1970s and 1980s and no longer meet the requirements for keeping animals. The lack of premises suitable for keeping cows creates the conditions for a further reduction in livestock numbers. Many farmers are not investing in increasing their cow herds during the war and are experiencing a shortage of working capital. Farmers’ production costs are rising faster than the prices of finished products due to the increase in the cost of feed, the cost of electricity, the devaluation of the hryvnia, and the decline in the purchasing power of the population.
However, dairy farms in relatively safe regions of Ukraine are modernizing existing facilities and building new ones. They are also increasing their high-yielding cow herds. According to AVM estimates, as of November, at least 40 farms are modernizing and expanding their facilities.
However, in October, the growth rate of the cow herd in the industrial sector also slowed down, which may be related to the continuing “bearish trend” in the dairy market and the decline in prices for exchange-traded commodities and raw milk. Over the past month, the number of cows has not changed and has not grown on dairy farms in 14 regions, not only in the frontline regions, but also in relatively safe areas of central and western Ukraine, such as Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, and Kirovohrad regions, the AVM summarized.
PJSC Zaporizhkox, one of Ukraine’s largest producers of coke and chemical products and a member of the Metinvest Group, increased its blast furnace coke production by 3.05% in January-November this year compared to the same period last year, from 800,470 tons to 824,960 tons.
According to the company, 76.3 thousand tons of coke were produced in November, compared to 79 thousand tons in the previous month.
As reported, Zaporizhkox increased its blast furnace coke production by 2.1% in 2024 compared to 2023, to 874.7 thousand tons from 856.8 thousand tons.
In 2023, Zaporizhkox increased its output of blast furnace coke by 16% compared to 2022, to 856,800 tons from 737,400 tons.
Zaporizhkox has a complete technological cycle for processing coke chemical products.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated mining group of companies. Its main shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, sold 499,000 tons of grain and oilseeds in July-September 2026 (FY, July 2025-June 2026), sold 499,000 tons of grain and oilseeds, with wheat accounting for 89% of the volume, the agricultural holding reported in its quarterly report.
“Profitability was further supported by favorable price conditions on the grain market, which helped to compensate for uneven yields in different regions,” the agricultural holding noted.
The agricultural holding named unfavorable weather conditions, which shifted the development phases of both grain and oilseeds, among the main features of the 2025 season. Two late spring frosts affected the growth of winter and early spring crops. A prolonged cool spring and summer with sharp fluctuations in day and night temperatures slowed plant growth in the northern regions. In the central regions, a constant shortage of soil moisture and limited rainfall hampered crop development and contributed to their premature wilting and early ripening.
According to published statistics, Kernel allocated 172,000 hectares to corn in the 2025 season, which is 98% more than last year. and thanks to a yield of 9.2 t/ha compared to 8.4 t/ha a year earlier, a gross harvest of 1,584 thousand tons was obtained, which is 18% more than last year.
In 2025, 94,000 hectares were planted with wheat (+1% compared to 2024), with a yield of 5.9 tons/hectare (-3%), resulting in 552,000 tons (-1%). The agricultural holding allocated 46 thousand hectares (-31%) for sunflowers, with a yield of 2.7 t/ha (-4%) and a gross harvest of 124 thousand tons (-33%). The area under soybeans was reduced by 44% to 22,000 hectares this year, while the yield increased by 7% compared to last year and amounted to 2.3 tons/hectare, which allowed for a gross yield of 54,000 tons (-65%). In 2025, the agricultural holding allocated 22,000 hectares for the cultivation of rapeseed, other secondary crops, and fallow land, which is 44% less than last year’s volumes.
As of the end of September, Kernel had completed the harvesting of wheat, sunflower, and soybeans on 100% of its production areas, while corn was harvested from 87% of the areas.
At the same time, the agricultural holding completed the sowing of winter crops for the 2026 harvest and sowed winter wheat on 84,000 hectares and winter rapeseed on 38,000 hectares.
Before the war, Kernel was the world’s leading producer of sunflower oil (about 7% of global production) and its exporter (about 12%). It is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. In addition, it is engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
PJSC Kryukiv Railway Car Building Works (KVBZ, Poltava region) ended January-September 2025 with a consolidated loss of UAH 76.1 million, while for the same period in 2024, net profit amounted to UAH 48.4 million.
According to the company’s interim consolidated financial statements published on its website, consolidated net income increased slightly to UAH 2.293 billion.
The uncovered loss amounted to UAH 138.8 million, compared to UAH 62.7 million a year earlier.
During the reporting period, the plant received UAH 106.6 million in consolidated losses from operating activities, twice as much as a year earlier, while gross profit decreased by 5% to UAH 119.8 million.
The KVBZ Group includes PJSC Kryukiv Railway Car Building Works, as well as wholly-owned subsidiaries LLC Instrumental Plant (production of equipment, spare parts, tools) and LLC V.N.V. (rental services, sale of railway cars).
According to the report, in January-September, revenue from the sale of railway cars increased by 4.2% to UAH 2.101 billion, with freight cars decreasing by 56.7% to UAH 873.2 million and passenger cars amounting to UAH 1.228 billion (there were no sales last year).
The cars were delivered to Ukrainian customers, in particular, 45 compartment passenger sleeping cars were shipped under a contract with Ukrzaliznytsia, four of which are equipped for the transportation of passengers with disabilities.
The group also reduced its revenue from the sale of spare parts by 46% to UAH 89.3 million, while revenue from the provision of services amounted to UAH 102.3 million (down 18%).
In Ukraine, products worth UAH 2.07 billion were sold (almost equal to last year’s figure), products worth UAH 207.9 million were delivered to European countries (almost three times more), and products worth UAH 10.5 million were delivered to Asia and the Middle East (12.5 times less).
According to KVBZ’s unconsolidated financial statements, the plant incurred a loss of UAH 76.7 million in January-September, compared to a net profit of UAH 40.7 million in the same period last year. Net income decreased slightly to UAH 2 billion 271 million.
KVZ notes that, given the significant surplus of freight cars on the Ukrainian market, low rental rates, and insufficient cargo base for the existing fleet of cars, only 5 freight cars were sold in the third quarter (121 in the first quarter and none in the second).
According to the company, in July-August 2025 (no information available for September), domestic competitors sold 316 freight cars under previously concluded contracts, and KVBZ’s share among private car manufacturers in Ukraine during this period was 12.7% (125 cars).
KVBZ manufactures passenger and freight cars, regional diesel trains, high-speed interregional locomotive-hauled trains, spare parts and bogies for freight cars, and escalators.
The average number of employees at the plant is 3,337 (last year – 3,611).
In 2024, the plant sold 1,096 freight cars, which is almost 10% more than sales in pre-war 2021. The first 15 passenger cars were also delivered to Ukrzaliznytsia under contracts for 66 units. Net profit amounted to UAH 81.08 million, compared to a loss of UAH 143.76 million in 2023.
The Interfax-Ukraine news agency has released the 1,000th anniversary issue of its German-language news digest Business Woche. This product allows users from Germany and other German-speaking countries to receive timely and objective information about the latest events in Ukraine, as well as analytical data and statistics on key sectors of the country’s economy.
Business Woche has become an important information bridge between Ukraine and the German-speaking world. The digest includes news on politics, economics, agriculture, energy, as well as information on construction, real estate, retail, and telecommunications. It also covers issues related to the development of transport infrastructure, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and pharmaceuticals, which are important to an international audience.
The product provides readers with up-to-date information on the economic situation in Ukraine, including analysis of macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, inflation, and unemployment, making it an important tool for monitoring and analyzing the situation in Ukraine.
Interfax-Ukraine is actively developing its line of information products in different languages. The agency plans to expand its language diversity in the future in order to deliver news from Ukraine to an international audience even faster and more conveniently.
Interfax-Ukraine has ambitious plans for the further development of its information activities aimed at supporting global information exchange. According to Maxim Urakin, deputy director general of the agency and editor of Business Woche, this initiative reflects not only the growing interest in events in Ukraine on the international arena, but also the desire to be at the forefront of the information space.
“Our goal is to provide our readers and subscribers with the opportunity to receive information quickly, accurately, and in languages convenient for them, which will contribute to a better understanding and analysis of Ukrainian realities on the international arena,” Maxim Urakin emphasized.
Interfax-Ukraine is an independent Ukrainian news agency specializing in providing up-to-date information on events in the country and around the world. The company supplies its information products to many countries, helping to form an objective picture of events for an international audience. It has been operating in the Ukrainian political and economic information market since 1992 and has a reputation as the most authoritative and competent provider of up-to-date information.
The agency’s editorial office (head office) is located in Kyiv. Interfax-Ukraine is not part of any foreign media holding company. The founder of Interfax-Ukraine was Oleksandr Martynenko.
