The path to the EU, border closures, changes in export structures, and new customs regulations—this is the reality in which “the art of defending” one’s own trade interests has become a key skill for business survival. How are the rules of the game changing for Ukrainian businesses in global markets? What can be expected from trade with the EU in the coming years? And how can one protect their interests amid ever-increasing competition and the emergence of new barriers?
The “Ukrcement” Association, in partnership with the law firm Ilyashev & Partners and the publishing house Yuridichna Praktika, invites you to discuss the most pressing issues in international trade at the conference “Trade Wars: The Art of Defense.”
Program and registration: https://tradewar2026.ticketforevent.com
Date: May 20, 2026.
Time: 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. (registration begins at 9:30 a.m.).
Venue: Kyiv (the venue will be communicated to registered participants the day before the event)
Owners, top managers, heads of legal departments, and heads of foreign economic activity departments of major Ukrainian and international companies are invited to participate.
Participation in the event is free of charge, subject to additional confirmation of registration from the organizers. Space is limited. The organizers reserve the right to refuse registration if the capacity limit is reached.
Starting May 12, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC is launching the ability to purchase commuter tickets via its app nationwide, the company announced on Telegram on Tuesday.
“We constantly analyze your feedback, optimize the system’s performance, and expand the map of available routes,” the message states.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, 15,000 tickets were purchased per day in April.
In addition, last month, following the integration of student discounts for commuter trains and City Express into the app, 30,000 bookings were made.
Ukrzaliznytsia also noted that more online bookings were received in April (250,000) than in March (139,000).
In early April, it was reported that online tickets for commuter trains via the “Ukrzaliznytsia” app became available to passengers in seven more regions—Lviv, Volyn, Ternopil, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, and Chernivtsi.
In addition, discounted tickets from Ukrzaliznytsia’s special reserve can now also be purchased online without visiting a ticket office.
To purchase an online ticket, you need to update the UZ app, click “Add Discount” in your profile, and enter your ID number; if necessary, check the “Wheelchair User” box.
Two planes carrying 28 passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, where an outbreak of hantavirus occurred, landed in the Netherlands on Tuesday, and one of the Dutch hospitals treating a patient with hantavirus has quarantined 12 staff members as a precautionary measure, Reuters reports.
Western media also report that passengers who are not Dutch nationals will be sent for treatment in their home countries.
Employees of the Dutch medical center at the University of Nijmegen have been placed under a six-week preventive quarantine, as it was discovered that updated strict protocols were not followed while handling test samples. The hospital reported that the risk of infection for employees remains “very low.”
According to the latest data, three passengers on the MV Hondius have died from hantavirus: a married couple from the Netherlands and a German citizen.
About ten people tested positive for hantavirus. It was noted that the deceased woman and a British man currently in intensive care in South Africa were found to have the Andes strain of hantavirus. Only this type of hantavirus is transmitted from person to person, the country’s Ministry of Health emphasized. Western media reported that this strain is common in Latin America, particularly in Argentina, where the cruise began.
NAEK ‘Energoatom’ has completed the construction of a key safety facility at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, and it is currently undergoing the certification process, the company announced on Monday.
“We are taking proactive measures to create a reliable shield for our critical infrastructure. Each such facility provides an additional layer of security for Ukraine’s entire power grid,” said Energoatom CEO Pavlo Kovtoniuk.
The construction was carried out as part of a comprehensive program to strengthen the security of Ukrainian power units under martial law. The goal is to protect critical nuclear power infrastructure from potential external threats.
A production meeting was also held at the Rivne NPP site, attended by the plant’s management, relevant departments, and contractors. Participants discussed the progress of construction on other protective structures and the implementation of new engineering solutions to enhance the resilience of the infrastructure.
Piskivsky Glassworks LLC, a manufacturer of clear glass jars and bottles (PZS, Bucha District, Kyiv Region) increased its net revenue from product sales by 19.4% in January–March 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, reaching UAH 438.6 million.
According to the company’s interim financial statements, it ended the first quarter with a net profit of UAH 1.663 billion, whereas a year earlier it had reported a loss of UAH 37.2 million.
The company generated UAH 19 million in gross profit (compared to a loss of UAH 7.7 million in the first quarter of 2025), and operating profit exceeded UAH 2 billion (driven by “other income,” which amounted to UAH 1.8 billion), whereas last year the loss reached nearly UAH 13 million.
The accumulated loss as of March 31, 2026, amounted to UAH 824.8 million, while at the beginning of the year it was UAH 2.487 billion.
According to the report, exports accounted for 77.7% of total sales (nearly UAH 341 million). Among the importing countries are Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, and Georgia,
The company lists Francesco Arpaia, Saulite Partikas Grupa SIA, and Ferret LLC as its main clients.
In the first quarter, the plant produced more than 78.4 million units of products (including 72.5 million cans and nearly 6 million bottles), which amounts to 375.4 million UAH in monetary terms.
The report notes that following the start of the full-scale invasion, the plant suspended operations; after the furnaces cooled down, work continued from May 2022 to June 2023 to restore production on one of the two furnaces, which was launched in June 2023.
At the same time, it is emphasized that operating only one furnace has implications for the range of finished products: while before the war the plant produced both clear (Flint) and colored (brown and green) glass, it now produces only clear glass.
At the same time, the company managed to increase export shipments again due to changes in the geography of its sales market after they fell in 2023 to 47% of sales volume.
PZS assesses competition in the industry as fierce and notes that some Ukrainian competitor companies, like the Piskivsky Glassworks, have suffered losses and damage as a result of the war.
Among competitors, particularly in the Rivne region, the following are listed: “Consumers-Skl-Zorya” (clear glass bottles and jars), “Kostopil Glass Factory” (glass containers for low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages, perfume and canning containers, and liquor bottles), and “Rokytne Glass Factory” (green, brown, and clear glass bottles).
Other manufacturers of similar products include “Malyniivsky Glass Plant” (Chuhuiv District, Kharkiv Region), “Vetropack Gostomel Glass Plant” (Kyiv Region), and “Merefyanska Glass Company” (Kharkiv Region).
Among other challenges facing the industry, the plant cites stagnation amid declining consumer demand in Ukraine, and increased competition and dumping abroad.
“The main task for the next few years is to return to pre-war production volumes, and to do this, we need to resume production at Furnace No. 1,” the report states.
According to the company’s 2025 report, it plans to launch a second glass furnace this year, which will increase production capacity by 75%, enabling it to boost exports and optimize costs.
At the same time, PZS notes, about two-thirds of finished products are planned to be exported to EU countries, where a steady growth in demand for glass containers has been observed over the past few years (an increase of about 5% per year) due to rising interest in environmentally friendly packaging materials.
In 2025, the plant increased its net sales revenue by 12% compared to 2024—to 1.607 billion UAH—while incurring a loss of 227.9 million UAH.
As of the beginning of the second quarter of 2026, the company employed 449 people.
Prices for construction and installation work (CIW) in Ukraine rose by 16.2% in March 2026 compared to March 2025, according to the State Statistics Service (SSS).
According to the statistics agency, prices rose in all segments of construction from March 2026 to March 2025: in residential construction by 15.3% (up 9.2% compared to the previous month), in non-residential construction by 17.3% (9.7%), and in civil engineering by 16.1% (9.3%).
In January–March of this year compared to the same period last year, construction material and equipment prices rose by 9.9%, specifically in the residential sector by 9.2%, in the non-residential sector by 10.4%, and in civil engineering by 9.7%.
Compared to the previous quarter, in January–March 2026, construction material prices rose by 6.1%, specifically in residential construction by 5.3%, in non-residential construction by 6.6%, and in civil engineering by 6.1%.
The State Statistics Service also compared current price indicators with the 2021 annual average. Thus, in the first quarter of 2026, prices in the residential sector rose by 83.6%, in the non-residential sector by 84.1%, and in civil engineering by 78.6%.
As reported, in 2025, construction material prices rose by 5.8% compared to the previous year, in 2024 by 7.9%, and in 2023 by 15.8%.
