PJSC Marganets Mining and Processing Plant (MGZ, Dnipropetrovsk region) is purchasing ferroalloys worth a total of UAH 179.823 million from PJSC Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP, Dnipropetrovsk region).
According to MGOK’s disclosure in the National Securities and Stock Market Commission’s information disclosure system, the decision to enter into or further approve a significant transaction with an interest was made by the company’s supervisory board at its meeting on August 6, 2025.
“Subject of the transaction: acquisition by MGZK in May-July 2025 from NZF of 3,279.32 tons of ferroalloys for a total amount of UAH 179 million 823.583 thousand, including VAT,” the report states.
In June of this year, it was reported that MGZK would supply NZF with manganese ore worth a total of UAH 422 million, according to a decision made by the company’s supervisory board at its meeting on June 13, 2025. At that time, it was noted that in order to carry out its economic activities, MGZK undertakes to supply, and NZF undertakes to pay for and accept enriched manganese ore with a reduced phosphorus content, in the assortment, quality, and quantity in accordance with the specifications.
The total value of the contract consisted of the sum of all specifications: the total cost of the work is 421 million 961.9 thousand UAH, namely, supply contracts No. 145R/2402631 dated December 25, 2024, No. 147R/2500265 dated January 29, 2025, No. 148R/2500832 dated March 27, 2025, concluded between MGZK and NZF for the amount of UAH 266 million 971.7 thousand, and the management of PJSC was allowed to conclude a supply contract for a total amount of UAH 154.99 million.
As reported, the Pokrovsky Mining and Processing Plant (PGZK, formerly Ordzhonikidze Mining and Processing Plant) and the Marganetsky Mining and Processing Plant (MGZK, both – Dnipropetrovsk region), which are part of the Privat group, stopped mining and processing raw manganese ore at the end of October – beginning of November 2023, while NZF and ZZF stopped smelting ferroalloys. In the summer of 2024, ferroalloy plants resumed production at a minimum level.
MGZK is developing the eastern part of the Nikopol manganese ore deposit (Hrushevsko-Basanska section). The plant includes four mines, one of which is under construction, one open pit mine (Hrushevsky), and an enrichment plant.
According to the NDU for the first quarter of 2025, the largest shareholders of PJSC are Couttenmax Holdings Limited, Mosfilia Investments Limited, and Humax Enterprises Limited, each owning 23.8933% of PJSC shares, as well as Fianex Holdings Limited (all based in Cyprus), which owns 24% of shares.
The authorized capital of PJSC MGZK is UAH 366.625 million, with a par value of UAH 0.25 per share.
In today’s agribusiness, the quality of raw materials is becoming a currency that determines not only the success of processing, but also the profitability of the entire production chain. This is the topic of the new free online course of the AgriAcademy educational platform – “Sugar Beet. Quality of raw materials”, created by experts of Astarta-Kyiv, the leader in sugar production in Ukraine.
Quality is a calculation
The course focuses on the technological quality of sugar beet as a critical factor affecting sugar yield, storage time, logistics and processing efficiency.
The course is aimed at agronomists, technologists, farm managers and everyone working in the sugar beet industry. It describes in detail the key factors that determine the technological quality of sugar beet, in particular
The author of the course, Olena Lupekina, a practitioner with over 20 years of experience and Deputy Head of Raw Materials at Yareskiv Sugar Plant, explains complex topics in simple terms, using real production cases.
The interactive materials were developed by Olga Weiler, and Svitlana Semeniuk provided the methodological basis.
What the listener gets:
Why is it important?
The quality of sugar beet determines the profitability of production – from the field to the factory. That is why the new course will be a useful tool for those who want to improve the quality of raw materials, reduce losses and prepare for the season with the best technological knowledge.
We invite producers to join the training on the AgriAcademy platform now: “Sugar Beet. Quality of raw materials”.
In 2024, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Astarta-Kyiv agro-industrial holding signed a partnership agreement to develop distance education for Ukrainian farmers. The cooperation envisages the creation of 25 online courses on growing, storing, and processing field crops.
In addition to new training materials, the platform also offers courses from Astarta experts that have been published previously:
“Sunflower. Biological features of the crop”
“Sunflower. Growing technology”
“Corn. Biological features of the culture”
“Corn. Technology of cultivation”
“Winter rape. Cultivation technology“
AgriAcademy is a free online learning platform for agricultural workers and students of agricultural education institutions, launched by the EBRD in December 2022 as part of its food security support program in Ukraine. Its goal is to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainable development of agriculture, which has suffered significant losses due to the war.
Today, the platform offers about 30 online courses – more than 300 hours of practical training in agronomy, management, technology, processing, storage, etc. Each course includes a knowledge test and certification of participants.
The creation and management of the platform (including course development, study tours, etc.) is supported and funded by the EBRD, as well as
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding in Ukraine, a public European company that conducts socially responsible business and produces food products with a focus on global markets. Its core business is concentrated in crop production, sugar industry, dairy farming, soybean processing, grain logistics, and bioenergy. More information here Astarta-Kyiv Agricultural Holding
The Silpo chain of stores will open its first supermarket in the Bukovel ski resort in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, according to the Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers.
The store will open in the village of Polianytsia (1 Shchivky tract). The opening date is not yet known, but preparations for the launch are already underway, as evidenced by the retailer’s job vacancies posted on job search websites.
Previously, Silpo only offered delivery services in this region.
Silpo is one of the largest supermarket chains in Ukraine, founded in 1998. It is part of the Fozzy Group, a trade and industrial group. As of August 2025, the chain has 309 supermarkets in 62 cities.
Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border increased by 1.6% to 778,000 during the week of August 2-8, setting a new record for wartime: last year, the highest passenger traffic was also recorded in August, but amounted to 737,000.
According to data from the State Border Service on Facebook, the outbound flow in the tenth week of summer increased from 367,000 to 376,000, while the inbound flow increased from 399,000 to 401,000.
Last weekend, 123,000-129,000 border crossings were recorded daily, and this Saturday, 120,000.
The number of vehicles that passed through checkpoints this week increased from 141,000 to 142,000, while the flow of vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo decreased slightly, from 538 to 570.
“With the start of the summer season, passenger traffic through checkpoints in the Lviv region has increased by 40%, and on weekends, the load increases even more – by an average of 16% compared to weekdays,” the
Western Regional Administration of the State Border Service said in a statement.
According to the report, the busiest checkpoints are Krakivets, Shehyni, and Ustyluh, with average traffic recorded at the checkpoints in Hrushev, Ugryniv, and Rava-Ruska, while the least busy are Smilnytsia and Nyzhankovychi.
This Sunday, as of 12:00, according to the State Border Service, the longest queue of 60 cars was at the Ustyluh checkpoint. Thirty-five cars were waiting to cross the border at the Hrushev checkpoint, 30 at the Uhryniv checkpoint, 25 at the Krakivets checkpoint, and 10 at the Shehyni checkpoint.
At the border with Hungary, the longest queue of 30 cars was at the Luzhanka crossing, while at the Vilok and Dzvinove checkpoints there were 20 cars each, at Kosyno there were 15, and at Tisa there were 5.
At the border with Slovakia, 35 and 25 cars were waiting for inspection at the Uzhhorod and Malyi Berezny checkpoints, respectively, while at the border with Romania, there were queues of 60 cars at the Porubne checkpoint and 15 at the Dyakove checkpoint.
The total number of people crossing the border this year is 5.7% higher than last year: during the same seven days last year, 356,000 people left Ukraine and 380,000 entered, and the flow of cars was also lower – 137,000.
As reported, from May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the start of the war, was replaced by an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022, and amounted to 409,000 people. However, since the end of September, possibly influenced by news of mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, followed by massive shelling of energy infrastructure, the number of those leaving exceeded the number of those entering. In total, from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war, it reached 223,000 people.
During the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings to leave Ukraine, according to the State Border Service, exceeded the number of crossings to enter by 25,000, during the third year by 187,000, and since the beginning of the fourth year by 128,000, of which 108,000 were seasonal since the beginning of summer.
As Deputy Minister of Economy Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March 2023, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP.
In its July inflation report, the National Bank of Ukraine worsened its migration forecast: while in April it expected a net inflow of 0.2 million people to Ukraine in 2026, it now forecasts a net outflow of 0.2 million, which corresponds to this year’s estimate of net outflow. “Net returns will only begin in 2027 (about 0.1 million people, compared to 0.5 million in the previous forecast),” the NBU added. In absolute terms, the National Bank estimates the number of migrants currently remaining abroad at about 5.8 million.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of July 31, 2025, was estimated at 5.115 million (as of July 1 – 5.083 million), and worldwide – at 5.676 million (5.643 million).
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data for April this year, there are 3.757 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.669 million at the end of last year.
Finnish Finance Minister Riitta Puurta has presented a draft budget for 2026 that proposes abolishing integration compensation paid to municipalities and social services for accepting asylum seekers and refugees, Yle reports.
It is noted that as part of the integration compensation, the state compensates municipalities for expenses related to the integration of immigrants. The most important of these services are language training and employment assistance, but they also include, for example, training courses that introduce people to Finnish society and customs.
The abolition of integration benefits will particularly affect those who have fled the war in Ukraine, said Sonya Hämäläinen, Director of Immigration at the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
According to her, most users of integration services are asylum seekers and refugees.
Currently, most of them are Ukrainians who have applied for temporary protection. Their number is estimated at around 46,000. This year, about two-thirds of the funds spent on integration services will go to services for people arriving from Ukraine, and next year, according to estimates, three-quarters.
The amount of compensation paid by the state for the integration of refugees has increased dramatically. Before the Russian invasion in 2022, compensation payments amounted to $50-60 million per year, and now they exceed $150 million.
At the same time, municipalities have a legal responsibility for the integration of immigrants. This responsibility does not end even after compensation payments cease, according to Mikko Harkonen, Director of Viability at the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.
“Someone has to take care of integration, and then the municipality will have to use other means to provide these services.
Therefore, services must be financed, for example, by increasing municipal taxes or reducing other services. It may also be necessary to reduce the scope of integration services. Even now, compensation is insufficient to fully finance these services,” he stressed.
The draft budget will be discussed at government budget talks in the fall, after which the government will present its draft budget for next year. The final decision on the budget will be made by parliament.
The National Bank of Ukraine fined Industrialbank 400,000 hryvnia and six non-bank financial institutions for violating currency legislation in July 2025 for violating legislation in the field of preventing and combating the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime, financing terrorism, and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT). In July 2025, the NBU fined Industrialbank UAH 400,000 and six non-bank financial institutions, and issued a warning to Ukrposhta.
As noted in a release on the central bank’s website, the largest fine—UAH 9,632,850—was imposed on Lineura Ukraine LLC (TM Credit 7), which ranked sixth among non-bank financial institutions in the market with income from financial services of UAH 470.7 million in the first quarter of this year.
The fine imposed on FC Mare LLC amounted to UAH 595 thousand, and on FC Midl LLC, which recently had its license revoked by the National Bank, UAH 340 thousand.
In addition, ProfitGuide LLC was fined UAH 170,000, and Miloan LLC was fined UAH 51,000.
As for Ukrposhta, it received a written warning for violating requirements regarding the improper development and implementation of internal documents in the field of AML/CFT, as well as the lack of procedures sufficient to ensure effective risk management.
As reported on Friday by Forbes Ukraine, the National Bank notified the government of the need to recapitalize Ukrposhta by approximately UAH 820 million, without which the national postal operator will not only be unable to launch a postal bank, but may also lose its license to provide financial services.
