According to the Interfax-Ukraine Culture project, the opening of the 14th International Book Arsenal Festival. The National Cultural, Art, and Museum Complex “Mystetskyi Arsenal.” May 28, 2026 | Photo: Interfax-Ukraine / Oleksandr Zubko
The 15th International Book Arsenal Festival will take place May 27–30, 2027, in Kyiv, according to the PR & Communication Department of the Art Arsenal.
This year, the 14th Book Arsenal, which concluded on Sunday, took place for the fourth time amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The festival program featured a record number of events since 2022, taking place simultaneously across several stages and venues: the Main Stage, Literary Stage, Street Stage, Authors’ Stage, Discussion Stage, Publishing Stage, the Literary Garden, the Lecture Hall, BookLab, and the Teen Space. In total, there were over 240 events—public discussions, lectures, presentations, author and poetry readings, talks, workshops, musical events, performances, and book signings. Due to air raid alerts and safety concerns, several events on the program were canceled or shortened, while others took place in shelters in an informal setting.
Despite the air raid alerts that interrupted the festival’s proceedings and numerous warnings of potential large-scale Russian shelling during those days, the 14th Book Arsenal attracted 27,000 visitors. A total of 111 major and 25 small publishing houses, the book.ua bookstore, as well as military and volunteer initiatives, presented their booths. 12 graphic artists presented their works at the Illustrators’ Fair. The venue also hosted 15 exhibition projects.
“We are delighted that we managed to carry out practically everything we had planned. Air raid alerts, of course, caused us some trouble and disrupted a number of important events. But we are aware that this is part of organizing a festival during wartime, and we are grateful to all our participants and visitors who quickly and calmly took shelter and, after the all-clear, returned and continued the festival again and again. This ability to live and work despite everything is inspiring,” noted Olesia Ostrovska-Lyuta, General Director of the Art Arsenal.
According to Yulia Kozlovets, Director of the International Festival, the “Book Arsenal” theme became the common language of the forum’s participants and guests.
“The best confirmation of a theme’s relevance is when it ceases to be a festival slogan and becomes the language in which visitors speak to one another.
This year, the metaphor ‘Carry Your Freedom’ resonated exactly like that. What is particularly valuable is that numerous military and veteran initiatives, charity events, and volunteer projects are now naturally integrated into the festival—not as a separate program, but as part of our shared reality. “The Book Arsenal doesn’t provide simple answers, but it creates a space for meetings and conversations that deepen our understanding of our own experiences, strengthen connections between people, and give us a little more strength to keep living and doing our work,” Kozlovets emphasized.
Over 230 guests took part in Book Arsenal events. The festival featured voices of Ukrainian and international guests from Poland, France, the U.S., Canada, Germany, Moldova, Belgium, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the U.K.
This year marked the third edition of the Book Arsenal Fellowship Program—a professional initiative that brought eight foreign publishers, agents, and rights managers from the Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Egypt, Georgia, and Peru to the festival. As part of this program, 115 B2B (Business to Business – IF-U) meetings took place, involving 31 publishing houses and 5 literary and graphic agencies.
Over 150 volunteers joined the Book Arsenal team.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/culture/1172954.html
Metinvest Sichstal LLC (MSS, Zaporizhzhia) increased its net loss by 9.4% in January–March of this year compared to the same period last year—to UAH 10.209 million from UAH 9.333 million.
According to the company’s interim report, available to the agency “Interfax-Ukraine,” revenue from ordinary activities for this period rose by 39.3%—to UAH 250.413 million from UAH 179.806 million.
The accumulated deficit as of the end of March stood at UAH 114.010 million.
Key projects and plans for 2026: The LLC will continue to implement Metinvest Group’s strategic projects; the company also plans to actively participate in the development of design and cost estimates for the Group’s projects, as well as in the development of measures for the physical protection of facilities and the enhancement of business resilience.
In 2025, the company quadrupled its net loss compared to 2024—to UAH 59.506 million from UAH 15.075 million—while revenue from ordinary activities for this period increased 2.4-fold, to UAH 1,585.117 million from UAH 653.099 million.
The LLC ended 2023 with a loss of UAH 7.764 million.
Metinvest Sichstal LLC is a company within the Metinvest Group established in 2019 to implement highly complex strategic investment projects. The number of full-time employees as of the end of 2025 was 270.
MSS is one of the largest design organizations in Ukraine, capable of implementing large-scale projects from the conceptual design phase through to the commissioning of the facility. The company’s goal is to implement key projects within the technological strategy of Metinvest Group enterprises. MSS provides an integrated process from investment concept, engineering, and design to procurement, construction, and commissioning.
Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) is wholly owned by Metinvest Sichstal LLC
The LLC’s authorized capital is UAH 30.405 million.
Metinvest Sichstal LLC is part of the Metinvest Group, whose main shareholders are PJSC System Capital Management (SCM, Donetsk) (71.24%) and the Smart-Holding group of companies (23.76%). The management company of the Metinvest Group is Metinvest Holding LLC.
According to Fixygen, the mining company Ferrexpo plc, whose main assets are located in Ukraine, has announced that it will hold its annual shareholders’ meeting on June 29 of this year.
According to the company’s statement, the total number of shares whose holders are entitled to vote at the meeting is 598,137,142 common shares.
It is specified that only one class of shares is outstanding, and each share carries one vote; therefore, the total number of voting rights that can be exercised at the meeting is 598,137,142.
This information from Ferrexpo is provided in accordance with Section 311A of the UK Companies Act 2006.
In a letter from the company’s interim acting chairman, Lucio Genovese, on behalf of the board of directors of Ferrexpo plc to the shareholders, it is specified that the nineteenth annual general meeting will be held at 11:00 a.m. on June 29, 2026, at the offices of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, Exchange House, Primrose Street, London, EC2A 2EG.
He urged shareholders to participate in the meeting by casting their votes by proxy prior to the start of the general meeting or by voting online prior to the start of the general meeting. Shareholders are advised to appoint the chairman of the meeting as their proxy. To vote by proxy, shareholders must complete, sign, and return the appropriate proxy form. The deadline for receiving proxy appointments and votes is 11:00 a.m. on June 25, 2026.
Voting on all resolutions will be conducted by a show of hands, and the voting results will be announced via the Regulatory Information Service and published on the Group’s website as soon as possible after the general meeting.
Genovese notes that the company aims to raise at least $100 million, which is necessary to finance support for Ferrexpo Group’s operations over the next 18 months. The Group’s operations have been significantly impacted since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, leading to a reduction in operational activities and periods of complete suspension of operations. This has significantly impacted the group’s revenue.
Furthermore, he notes that the decision by Ukraine’s tax authorities to suspend VAT refunds starting in March 2025, amounting to approximately $90 million, has further significantly impacted the group’s liquidity. The company intends to complete the equity offering as soon as possible and is actively working toward this goal. However, it is not yet in a position to officially launch the equity offering.
“Until the equity offering is ready to launch, the company cannot publish its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025, on a going concern basis, as the company and its auditors require sufficient assurance regarding the commencement and successful completion of the equity offering prior to signing the financial statements. Due to the delay in the equity offering and given the dependence on the commencement of the equity offering for the publication of the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, on a going concern basis, the company is unable to finalize the audited annual report and financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, but aims to do so as soon as possible,” the letter to shareholders states.
According to the statement, this general meeting of shareholders is being held solely to consider routine matters, namely the re-election of directors and the renewal of the authority granted to conduct market purchases of the company’s own shares, as well as the convening of a general meeting with 14 days’ notice. All directors will stand for re-election at the 2026 general meeting of shareholders, with the exception of Mr. Vitaly Lisovenko, who, as previously announced, will step down from the company’s board of directors upon the conclusion of the general meeting.
According to the information, the meeting proposes, in particular, the re-election of Stuart Brown, Nikolai Kladiev, Lucio Genovese, and Fiona Macaulay as members of the board of directors.
As reported, Ferrexpo is delaying the publication of its audited report for 2025.
It was also reported that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) suspended trading in Ferrexpo shares, while the company warned shareholders twice in the second half of April about the suspension of its listing and trading due to its inability to publish its annual financial statements on time. Most recently, on April 28, Ferrexpo noted that it had received indicative, non-binding expressions of interest from institutional investors regarding a potential capital raise of over $100 million, on which the publication of the report also depends, but that it would not be able to do so by the end of April.
Ferrexpo owns a 100% stake in Eristovsky GOK LLC, 99.9% in Belanovsky GOK LLC, and 100% of the shares in Poltavsky GOK PJSC.
Czech railway operator Leo Express will launch a new international train in June 2026 that will connect Frankfurt and Frankfurt Airport with the Polish city of Przemyśl, located near the Ukrainian border.
According to the company, the route will pass through Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. The train will depart from Przemyśl and travel via Kraków, Ostrava, Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Erfurt to Frankfurt and Frankfurt Airport. In the opposite direction, the train will operate daily.
Przemyśl has become one of the key transport hubs for Ukrainian passengers since the beginning of the full-scale war, as the city is located approximately 10 km from the Ukrainian border and is connected by railway routes with Ukraine. The new service will allow passengers to travel more conveniently from the border region to the Czech Republic and Germany without complicated transfers.
The length of the route will be more than 1,300 km, making it one of the longest direct railway routes in Europe. According to the carrier and specialized media, the train will operate daily in both directions, and the launch of the route is expected in June 2026.
For Ukrainian travelers, the route may become an important additional channel of connection with Central and Western Europe. It will connect Przemyśl with major transport hubs in Germany and the Czech Republic, including Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt and one of Europe’s largest airports.
The new train will also strengthen Poland’s role as a transit corridor for Ukrainians. Since 2022, Polish cities, primarily Przemyśl, Rzeszów, Kraków and Warsaw, have become the main transfer points for trips between Ukraine and EU countries.
For Leo Express, the launch of the line means the expansion of its international network and increased competition in the railway market of Central Europe. The company positions the new route as a direct connection between Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Ukrainian border region.
Leo Express is a private Czech railway and bus operator working on routes in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and other countries of the region. The company develops international passenger transportation and competes with state-owned and private operators in Central Europe.
According to data from the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics (INE), foreign buyers purchased 41,086 houses and apartments in Portugal in 2025, a 6.6% increase from the previous year.
Brazilian citizens became the largest group of foreign buyers. In 2025, they purchased 9,808 properties, a 27.5% increase from 2024. Angolan citizens ranked second with 4,145 purchases, a 2.2% increase. The French took third place, purchasing 3,765 properties, a 6.2% decrease from the previous year.
According to INE data, foreign buyers with tax residency in Portugal completed 34,834 transactions, an increase of 11.4% compared to 2024. At the same time, purchases by non-residents declined: foreigners without tax residency in Portugal purchased 8,471 properties, which is 13.3% less than a year earlier. This marked the third consecutive year of declining activity among non-residents.
This gap indicates a shift in the structure of foreign demand. The Portuguese real estate market is increasingly relying not on traditional foreign investors, but on foreigners already residing in the country. These may include migrant workers, relocators, families with long-term residence permits, and members of diasporas, primarily Brazilian and Angolan.
Foreigners, as before, are purchasing more expensive properties than local residents. According to INE data, the average value of real estate purchased by buyers with tax residency in Portugal was €234,120. Buyers from EU countries paid an average of €335,640, while buyers from non-EU countries paid €470,277 per property. British and American buyers purchased particularly expensive properties: the average transaction price was €512,585 and €479,403, respectively.
Geographically, demand from non-residents remains concentrated in the most attractive regions. In 2025, the Algarve accounted for 29.7% of non-resident transactions, the Northern region for 20%, the Central region for 14.9%, and Greater Lisbon for 12.5%. In terms of transaction value, the Algarve’s dominance is even more pronounced: the region accounted for 42.4% of total non-resident investment in housing.
The INE also noted strong growth among buyers from Ukraine, Cape Verde, and Venezuela: the number of transactions by citizens of these countries increased by more than 25% in 2025. However, the exact number of properties purchased by Ukrainians is not disclosed in the brief INE publication or in reports by the Portuguese media.
For Ukrainians, Portugal remains an attractive destination due to its safety, access to the EU, labor market, diaspora ties, and the possibility of long-term residency. At the same time, following the removal of real estate as a basis for the Golden Visa, investment demand has become less tied to obtaining a residence permit and more dependent on actual relocation, income levels, and long-term residency plans.
Thus, Portugal’s housing market maintains high foreign demand, but its structure is changing. Brazilians have strengthened their leadership due to linguistic and migratory proximity; Angolans remain an important group of buyers; and the French, British, and Americans continue to play a major role in the higher-end segments. Ukrainians are not yet among the largest buyers but are demonstrating one of the most notable growth rates.
PJSC “Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant” (DMZ), part of the DCH Steel division of businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, reduced its net loss by 78.3% in January-March of this year compared to the same period last year—to UAH 29.031 million from UAH 133.943 million.
According to the company’s interim report, available to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, revenue from ordinary activities during this period fell by nearly sevenfold—to UAH 131.165 million from UAH 886.267 million.
The uncovered loss as of the end of March 2026 amounted to UAH 778.384 million.
In Q1 2026, the company produced 279 tons of metal products; the company’s products were not sold for export. Taking into account the current situation in Ukraine, the industry, and existing restrictions, in accordance with the work plan adopted for 2026, the following operational activities are planned: production of rolled steel from customer-supplied billets (40,000 tons), and production of spare parts in the repair and mechanical workshop (RMW). The production plan for 2026 was drawn up based on the assumption that hostilities will continue and therefore production capacities will be affected.
The average number of full-time employees is 484, and the payroll fund amounts to UAH 37.842 million.
The main achievement of last year was the completion of the project (which began in 2023) to transition PC-2 production to continuously cast billets, which helped reduce production costs. Currently, all standard sizes of channel sections sold by the company in accordance with Ukrainian and European standards have been transitioned to standard cast billets.
To improve energy efficiency, work continues on the construction of a new above-ground water pipeline from Shoreline Pumping Station No. 1 to supply process water to the wastewater treatment plant serving PC-2, which will enable energy savings and reduce transmission losses. To optimize electricity costs, the number of operational power transformers was maintained at the minimum operational level. As of March 31, 2026, 109 transformers were decommissioned, and an additional 2 units that were not involved in production processes were dismantled.
The report notes that for the period until the end of the military aggression, the company’s primary goal is to continue and maintain production at current levels and achieve a minimal but positive financial result. Following the end of the war, in the context of post-war reconstruction and deepening economic integration with the EU, the company is developing a comprehensive modernization strategy incorporating “green” production technologies to achieve competitiveness in the European market and minimize environmental risks in Ukraine.
In this context, the company’s leading specialists are exploring the construction of an electric steelmaking complex (ESCC) with a capacity of 450,000 tons per year. The ESFC will supply billets to the rolling mills of PJSC “DMZ” and reduce harmful emissions to a level that will allow for the export of products to the EU under the Common Market Access (CMA) tariff regime. Purchased scrap metal will be used as raw material. The cost of rolled products manufactured from the company’s own square billets will allow for a higher margin on sales and ensure that the production capacity of Mill 550 is utilized to its maximum annual level—190,000 tons.
In the second phase, to expand the product range, it is proposed to modernize Mill 550 by installing additional universal rolling stands for the production of I-beam rolled steel with a capacity of 30,000 tons per year. This type of rolled steel is currently 100% imported into Ukraine; if produced at PJSC “DMZ,” it will generate additional margin revenue compared to cast billets. It is planned to expand the product range and increase sales margins by constructing a light-gauge mill with a capacity of 120,000 tons per year during the third phase.
According to the 2025 annual report, DMZ increased its loss by 5.5 times last year compared to 2024—to UAH 1,225.795 million—while revenue from ordinary activities fell by 3.2 times—to UAH 1,664.980 million.
As reported, DMZ posted a net loss of 222.117 million UAH for 2024, compared to a net profit of 504.591 million UAH in 2023. The plant reported a net profit of 4.225 million UAH for 2022, while in 2021 it stood at 1.725157 billion UAH.
DMZ reported a net profit of UAH 1.725157 billion in 2021, whereas it ended 2020 with a net loss of UAH 394.091 million.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, cast iron, rolled products, and products made from them. The plant has a full metallurgical production cycle: a blast furnace shop, an oxygen converter shop, coke and chemical production, and rolling production, which consists of two section rolling mills (Mill 800 and Mill 550). However, due to the shutdown of the blast furnace in 2022, sales of long steel products in the first quarter of 2026 from the plant’s own inventory consisted only of isolated orders from remaining stock. Due to the shutdown of coke production in May 2025, sales of remaining coke products were made from inventory.
On March 1, 2018, the DCH Group signed an agreement to purchase the Dnipro Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) data for the first quarter of 2026, Drampisco Limited (Cyprus) owns 97.7346% of DMZ’s shares.
According to the 2025 report, the ultimate beneficial owner (controller) of PJSC “Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant” is Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi, a citizen of Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Type of beneficial ownership: indirect controlling influence, percentage of share capital (indirect influence): 87.96%.
The share capital of the private joint-stock company is UAH 574.994 million, and the par value of a share is UAH 0.25.
