One of Ukraine’s largest grain market operators, Nibulon, has launched a new phase of its humanitarian demining initiative and signed an agreement with German organization DEG Impulse gGmbH for €7.8 million in funding, the company announced on Facebook.
According to the report, the funds under the develoPPP program will be used for maritime and inland water demining in southern Ukraine. The project involves the construction of a 90-meter marine platform equipped with modern unmanned underwater systems (ROV, AUV, and UUS) for clearing waterways at Nibulon’s own shipyard.
According to the company’s estimates, the implementation of the project will make it possible to clear more than 10 square kilometers of water areas in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions and additionally clean up more than 13,600 hectares of agricultural land. This will allow more than 200 farms to resume safe operations and ensure an annual production of more than 70,000 tons of grain.
In addition, the initiative includes the creation of a technical service center, the deployment of a mobile rapid response infrastructure, and the training of more than 60 specialists (sappers, operators, and divers). The project’s coastal base will be certified according to IMAS international standards.
“This new stage not only strengthens our technical capabilities, but also demonstrates how Ukrainian business can take the lead in overcoming the consequences of war,” emphasized Oleksandra Dolzhenkova, Nibulon’s director of government relations.
As reported, Nibulon is actively developing its own humanitarian demining unit to restore security on leased land and assist Ukraine’s agricultural sector. The company is a certified mine action operator. In February 2026, Vsevolod Petrovsky, an expert on international missions in Somalia and Libya, headed Nibulon’s demining division.
Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82,000 hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries around the world. In 2021, the grain trader exported a record 5.64 million tons of agricultural products. After the war began, the company was forced to move its central office from Mykolaiv to Kyiv. In addition to 23 elevator complexes, Nibulon has its own road and rail transport facilities, as well as a fleet built at its own shipyard. Even during wartime, this fleet continues to operate river transport on the Dnipro, Danube, and Southern Bug rivers.
According to Fixygen, Kharkiv Tractor Plant (HTZ), part of businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi’s DCH group, has announced a general shareholders’ meeting to review its performance in 2022-2024, with plans to approve a procedure for covering losses incurred.
According to the announcement of the meeting on March 27, it is planned, in particular, to approve the reports of the CEO and the supervisory board (SB) on the company’s activities in 2022-2024, approve the audit reports, and terminate the powers and elect a new composition of the SB.
The draft decision of the meeting states that the losses incurred during these years are planned to be covered by profits from economic activities in future periods.
The report does not provide financial performance indicators for KhTZ in 2022-2024. According to YouControl, in 2022, the plant incurred losses of UAH 50 million and net income of UAH 123 million (compared to UAH 138.3 million and UAH 476 million, respectively, a year earlier), in 2023 – UAH 14.6 million in net profit and UAH 199.2 million in net income, and in 2024 – UAH 359 million in losses and UAH 300 million in net income.
As reported, on July 23, 2025, the Commercial Court of Kharkiv Region opened a preventive restructuring procedure for the private joint-stock company Kharkiv Tractor Plant (PJSC HTZ).
The company requested the opening of the procedure due to financial difficulties. HTZ has total creditor debt of UAH 2.29 billion, which it is unable to repay, indicating an unstable financial situation.
In December of the same year, a preventive restructuring plan was approved, which provides for the repayment of debts within three years and three months (until March 17, 2029).
Kharkiv Tractor Plant has been manufacturing tractors since 1931 and was acquired by Alexander Yaroslavsky’s DCH group in 2016. In 2023, with the support of the UN World Food Programme and the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD Ukraine), HTZ developed, certified, and launched the production of a demining machine based on the T-150 crawler tractor.
On February 21, 2026, JSC NAEK Energoatom joined the balancing group of EA Trade LLC, whose sole founder and participant is NAEK, the company announced on its Telegram channel on Monday.
“To this end, the parties have entered into an agreement on participation in the balancing group of EA Trade LLC in accordance with the Market Rules (…) and, in accordance with the established procedure, agreed with NPC Ukrenergo on a change in the party responsible for the balance,” the statement said.
Energoatom explained that participation in the balancing group will reduce the company’s costs for settling electricity imbalances and significantly speed up the receipt of funds for imbalances, which are currently paid by the transmission system operator Ukrenergo with a delay of several months.
According to the Market Rules, all market participants, except consumers, are responsible for their electricity imbalances. Each market participant is required to become a BSO or transfer its financial responsibility for imbalances to another BSO.
According to information from Opendatabot, EA Trade LLC was founded on September 23, 2025, with a registered capital of UAH 50 million. 100% of the company’s shares are owned by NAEK Energoatom.
The director of EA Trade is Viktor Kachurenko, who previously headed Shell Oil Products Ukraine LLC and Shell Energy Ukraine, which specialize in trading various types of fuel. Currently, both companies are in the process of being dissolved.
As stated on the website, EA Trade is a modern company specializing in trade in the energy sector. Its goal is to ensure efficient, transparent, and competitive trade in electricity, contributing to the stability of the energy system. The website does not mention the likely participants in the balancing group and the company’s customers.
In 2025, the Metinvest mining and metallurgical group reduced steel production by 4% compared to the previous year, to 2.018 million tons. The decline was due to the large-scale war, reduced electricity supply, as well as logistical and economic factors.
According to the group’s annual report, the parent company Metinvest B.V. reported that based on the results of operating activities for Q4 2025 and for the year as a whole, in Q4, pig iron production at Kametstal remained at the level of the previous quarter and amounted to 496,000 tons, while steel production increased by 3% to 564 thousand tons.
At the same time, it is noted that in 2025, pig iron and steel production decreased by 2% and 4%, respectively, compared to the previous year and amounted to 1.782 million tons and 2.018 million tons. The slight decrease was due to the overhaul of blast furnace No. 9 at Kametstal in April-June 2025.
It is also noted that in Q4 2025, the volume of commercial semi-finished products remained almost at the level of the previous quarter and amounted to 271 thousand tons. At the same time, commercial pig iron production decreased by 41% due to increased consumption in subsequent stages, which led to an 8% increase in the output of commercial billets.
In 2025, the output of semi-finished products decreased by 3% compared to the previous year, to 839 thousand tons, due to a decline in steel production and an increase in domestic consumption of billets in subsequent stages of production. At the same time, the output of commercial cast iron doubled and amounted to 84 thousand tons.
In Q4 2025, finished product output grew by 4% compared to the previous quarter and amounted to 613 thousand tons, due to scheduled overhauls at rolling mills in Italy and Bulgaria in August. In particular, flat steel production grew by 10% to 291,000 tons, while long steel production remained almost unchanged at 322,000 tons.
In 2025, finished product output grew by 13% compared to 2024, reaching 2.429 million tons. In particular, flat steel production increased by 20% to 1.107 million tonnes thanks to the resumption of hot-rolled coil production at Ferriera Valsider (Italy) and the efficient operation of Metinvest Trametal (Italy) and Spartan UK (Great Britain). Long product production increased by 7% to 1.322 million tonnes due to increased volumes at Kametstal and the stable performance of Promet Steel (Bulgaria).
In Q4 2025, coke production decreased by 3% compared to the previous quarter to 279 thousand tonnes. Overall, coke production declined by 2% over the past year to 1.100 million tons compared to the previous year due to the decommissioning of coke oven battery No. 1 at Kametstal. This was partially offset by a 23% increase in coke production at Zaporizhzhya Coke Plant to 898,000 tons.
It is also reported that in Q4 2025, total iron ore concentrate production remained almost at the level of the previous quarter and amounted to 3.981 million tons, while the output of commercial iron ore products decreased by 4% to 3.773 million tons. The production of iron ore pellets decreased by 21% to 1.339 million tons due to the temporary shutdown of one of the roasting machines as a result of damage to the power supply systems caused by shelling. As a result, the output of commercial iron ore concentrate increased by 9% to 2.434 million tons.
In 2025, total iron ore concentrate production was comparable to the previous year’s volume and amounted to 15.695 million tons. At the same time, the shutdown of operations at the Ingulets quarry in July 2024 was offset mainly by increased production at the Hannivsk quarry. Production of commercial iron ore products increased by 3% to 15.229 million tons, with commercial pellets increasing by 5% and concentrate production remaining virtually unchanged.
In December 2024, due to the intensification of hostilities and the approach of the front line, the production site of the Pokrovsk Coal Group, located in Donbas, was suspended. Subsequently, against the backdrop of power supply disruptions and a further deterioration in the security situation, the production activities of the mine and enrichment plant were suspended.
In addition, the group is in the final stages of selling United Coal Company (USA). In this regard, the asset was deconsolidated starting with the financial statements for the first half of 2025.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions – as well as in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the US. The main shareholders of the holding company are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
The American company Gulf intends to open a network of gas stations in Uzbekistan and invest in the aviation industry. This was announced by the company’s vice president Craig Kramer on February 18 in Washington at a meeting of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev with representatives of American business and financial institutions.
According to him, over the next two years, the company plans to launch at least 100 modern and convenient gas stations that will meet Western standards.
“They will be built according to Western standards and provide high-quality fuel. During this period, we will invest at least $150 million in retail assets. The financing is fully secured. Each facility will be modern and unique in terms of volume and design,” he said in a story on Uzbekistan 24 TV channel.
In addition, it is planned to create transport centers for tourists and transit carriers along the highways.
“These projects will create at least 30 new jobs at each facility. In total, more than 3,000 new jobs will be organized for Uzbek citizens,” the Gulf representative said.
Kramer said that he had received proposals from the country’s regions on infrastructure development.
“I have received specific proposals from all the khokims of Uzbekistan’s regions to develop nearly 200 gas stations across the country. This clearly demonstrates that your country has an open business climate and a high level of trust in investors,” he said.
The company also intends to introduce modern technologies and develop the aviation sector.
“We will launch mechanisms that provide modern amenities for retail and corporate clients. Along with retail, we are also investing in aviation. About $50 million will be invested in the aviation sector through Gulf Aviation,” Kramer said.
According to him, this will provide Uzbekistan’s rapidly growing aviation industry with a safe and stable fuel supply, as well as establish a reliable supply system for local and international airlines.
Gulf’s operating base in Central Asia is planned to be located in Tashkent.
“This will be another important step towards transforming Uzbekistan into a center of regional logistics and retail infrastructure,” the company representative emphasized.
The fuel for the stations will be purchased at the Republican Commodity Exchange on general terms and conditions, as well as imported.
