The European Commission has classified Russia and Belarus as countries with the highest risk level in accordance with the EU Regulation on the prevention of deforestation and forest degradation (EUDR), which is an additional safeguard against their forest products entering the European market, said Viktor Smal, head of the State Forestry Agency of Ukraine.
“The European Commission has published an updated list of countries classified according to risk level in accordance with the EUDR. Ukraine, like leading European timber producers, has been given low-risk status. This creates conditions for investors to come to Ukraine and attract investment, opening up new opportunities for Ukrainian exporters of furniture and other forest products, facilitating their entry into the European market. At the same time, Russia and Belarus are among the high-risk countries, which makes it even more difficult for their products to enter the EU. We are working to ensure that countries involved in gray import schemes for Russian timber are also included in the list of high-risk suppliers,” Smal emphasized.
He noted that despite the war, thanks to digitalization and reforms in the forestry sector, Ukraine has managed to obtain the status of a low-risk exporter on a par with Germany, Latvia, Finland, and Poland.
“This is the result of our systemic reforms and digital transformation in the forestry sector, in particular the introduction of such tools as e-logging tickets, e-certificates of origin, and e-TTN with photo documentation,” said the head of the State Forestry Agency.
As reported, in 2022, the EU imposed sanctions on imports of Russian timber, pulp, paper, other wood products, and furniture. This applies not only to imports from Russia but also to the trading of Russian timber through third countries.
According to an investigation by Earthsight, European furniture manufacturers have purchased more than 500,000 cubic meters of Russian-made birch plywood during the war, circumventing sanctions.
World Forest ID experts found that 46% of birch products supplied to the UK and labeled as originating from Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, and Latvia were actually produced in Belarus and Russia.
The EUDR, which will come into force for medium and large companies on January 1, 2026, stipulates that products imported into the EU must not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation. Countries are classified according to risk level — low, standard, and high. Low risk status simplifies exports, reduces the regulatory burden, and enhances the competitiveness of Ukrainian producers in the EU market.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/general/1074828.html
The Zaporizhstal steelworks in Zaporizhia is calling for restrictions on exports of scrap metal, a strategic raw material for the steel industry, and a moratorium on rail tariff increases.
According to a press release issued by the company on Monday, this was announced by Taras Shevchenko, acting CEO of Zaporizhstal, part of the Metinvest Group, during a working visit to Zaporizhia by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.
Svyrydenko visited metallurgical, machine-building, and food industry enterprises. During the meeting with business representatives, current issues and expectations from state policy in the economic sphere were discussed.
According to the minister, more than 8% of Ukraine’s industrial production is concentrated in the Zaporizhzhia region, and despite the temporary occupation of 80% of the region and constant hostile attacks on the city, it produces almost 20% of the country’s metallurgical industry and about 7% of its machine-building industry.
Zaporizhstal, Motor Sich, Ivchenko-Progress, an automobile plant, and small and medium-sized businesses continue to operate in the city. Their representatives joined an open dialogue with the government’s economic team. Businesses voiced challenges and offered their own solutions to support manufacturers.
Shevchenko emphasized the urgent need to preserve duty-free trade with the EU for metallurgists and to postpone the introduction of the cross-border carbon adjustment mechanism (CBAM) in Ukraine, since national producers, unlike their European counterparts, do not have access to investments and modernization funds.
“The introduction of the CBAM in 2026 (…) will make economic recovery and the implementation of plans to modernize and decarbonize production in Ukraine impossible. Assessing the impact of the CBAM on the Ukrainian economy, experts expect GDP to fall by 4.8%, or $8.7 billion, in 2026 alone. For the same reason, the economy could lose up to $2.8 billion in tax revenues and more than 73,000 jobs in the manufacturing industry,” said the acting CEO of Zaporizhstal, citing the results of a study by CMD Ukraine.
A particularly painful issue is the mass export of Ukrainian scrap metal abroad, which causes an acute shortage of raw materials important for steel production. Shevchenko firmly believes that scrap metal can and will work better for the Ukrainian economy if it remains in the country. One ton of scrap metal for export provides minimal tax deductions and up to $350 in foreign exchange earnings, while one ton of steel from scrap metal brings in 15,000 hryvnia in taxes and $1,200 in foreign exchange earnings.
According to him, scrap metal is an indispensable raw material for the production of raw steel and metal products. The shortage of scrap forces metallurgists to pour cast iron into ingots and sell this low-margin semi-finished product. In four months, Zaporizhstal alone will offer the market pig iron with low added value instead of 300,000 tons of highly processed metal products.
“For the Ukrainian economy, the total negative effect will be approximately $75 million in lost foreign exchange earnings,” the top manager emphasized.
In addition, the CEO of the metallurgical plant also emphasized the need to establish a moratorium on increasing railway transportation tariffs. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the share of logistics in the cost of metal products has quadrupled, as mining and metallurgical companies have switched to rail transport, and the cost of the service itself has increased by up to 60%. Railway logistics is critical for metallurgists: to produce 1 ton of metal, 3 tons of raw materials must be transported. Therefore, exporting 1 ton of metal requires transporting 4 tons by rail.
“Even a slight increase in rail tariffs leads to a significant increase in the cost of production, which becomes uncompetitive in export markets. In this case, exports lose their economic meaning,” emphasized the head of Zaporizhstal.
In turn, Svyrydenko assured the meeting participants of the importance of dialogue and attention to each of the requests voiced by the business community, for which the government’s economic team is seeking solutions. In particular, these include resolving the scrap metal shortage, introducing new financial instruments to support enterprises recovering from the war, improving the 15% compensation program, and so on.
The head of the Ministry of Economy thanked Zaporizhzhia businesses for their resilience, investments, and development despite all the challenges caused by the war.
Algeria has officially launched a national initiative to attract foreign students, opening the country to those who wish to pursue higher education in the North African state. In April 2025, the Algerian government launched the digital platform STUDY IN ALGERIA — studyinalgeria.dz, which is part of an ambitious strategy to modernize and internationalize higher education.
University system and infrastructure
As of 2025, there are over 130 public and private higher education institutions in Algeria, evenly distributed throughout the country. They offer:
Studies are available in Arabic, French, or English, depending on the field of study and the institution chosen.
The Algerian education system (LMD)
The Algerian higher education system is based on the European LMD model, which includes:
Social protection and living conditions
Foreign students are provided with:
Simplified visa application
Algeria guarantees flexible visa procedures for foreign students, allowing them to complete the admission process as quickly as possible.
The platform studyinalgeria.dz allows you to:
Reference: the state of Algeria
Algeria has clearly established itself as a new educational destination on the global map. The STUDY IN ALGERIA program is an attempt to combine affordable, high-quality education, cultural diversity, and a strategic geographical location for the future generation of professionals from around the world.
According to the OpenDataBot rating, the UPG gas station chain (PP Ukrpaletsystem) has become the largest employer in the region, employing 3,800 people.
The company is showing growth of +14.5% by 2023. It is developing logistics and opening new gas stations. It has created its own fleet of tankers and fuel trucks.
According to the OpenDataBot rating, the UPG gas station chain (PP Ukrpaletsystem) has become the largest employer in the region, employing 3,800 people.
The company is showing growth of +14.5% by 2023. It is developing logistics and opening new gas stations. It has created its own fleet of tankers and fuel trucks.
As of May 1, 2025, in Ukraine, the number of cattle in the household and industrial sectors increased by 2% to 2.179 million head, including cows — by 0.3% to 1.153 million, However, this figure is 8% lower than in the same period last year for both cattle and cows, according to the press service of the Association of Milk Producers (AVM).
The industry association noted that about 42% of animals are kept on industrial farms and 58% on private farms. The industrial sector has 921,500 head of cattle, which is 5,000 head (+0.5%) more than on April 1, 2025. The number of cows is 382,400, an increase of 5,200 (+1.4%) over the last month. Over the last year, the number of cattle on farms has grown by 3,800 (+0.4%), and the number of cows by 3,200 (+0.8%).
There are 1 million 258.3 thousand head of cattle in the private sector, which is 37 thousand head (+3%) more than on April 1, 2025. As of May 1, 2025, the number of cows in private households was 770,900, which is 2,000 (-0.2%) less than a month ago. Over the past year, the number of cattle in private households has decreased by 186 thousand heads (-13%), and the number of cows by 107 thousand heads (-12%).
AVM analyst Georgy Kukhaleishvili pointed out that the reduction in cattle numbers has been occurring in Ukraine for many years due to the lack of an effective state program to support dairy farming. The decline accelerated after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. A typical situation in the frontline regions is the death of cattle as a result of shelling. Many farmers left their cows in the occupied territories. These animals are not registered or have been confiscated by Russian occupiers and sold for meat. Farmers send injured cows to slaughter, which also contributes to the decline in livestock numbers.
“As of now, there are prerequisites for the relocation of farms from the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions to other regions of Ukraine amid intensified Russian missile and bomb strikes on border and frontline settlements. Farmers will only be able to transport part of their livestock, as 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 conditions for a further reduction in livestock numbers,” the AVM emphasized.
In addition to the frontline regions, cattle numbers have declined on farms in Zakarpattia and Chernivtsi regions, which is likely due to the fact that they are working to improve their efficiency and are selling unproductive cows. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Hungary and Slovakia poses a potential risk of increased culling if the disease spreads to western Ukraine.
Many farmers are not investing in increasing their cow herds during the war and are experiencing a shortage of working capital. According to the study “Ukraine: The Impact of War on Agricultural Profitability” conducted by the UACB, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food with the support of GFDRR, farmers’ production costs are rising faster than prices for finished products due to higher feed and electricity prices, the devaluation of the hryvnia, and a decline in the purchasing power of the population.
“There is cautious optimism about an increase in the number of dairy farms in relatively safe regions of Ukraine, which, despite the war, are modernizing existing facilities, building new ones, and increasing their high-yielding cow herds,” the industry association concluded, adding that as of May, at least 40 farms are investing in these measures.
