The State Customs Service of Ukraine (SCSU) has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Alliance Against Counterfeit Spirits to improve the effectiveness of assisting right holders in protecting their intellectual property rights and establishing business relations with industry associations, groups and unions.
“The protection of intellectual property rights is primarily aimed at supporting legal business and a fair competitive environment in the market, as well as at eradicating counterfeiting as a phenomenon. The Customs Service is taking measures to ensure that foreign manufacturers selling their products on the Ukrainian market have the opportunity to carry out their activities as predictably as possible. Information exchange with the alliance and strengthening of border control enable customs to effectively counteract counterfeiting,” said acting head of the State Customs Service Serhiy Zvyagintsev, as quoted in the agency’s statement.
The State Customs Service is convinced that the signing of the memorandum will help bring the fight against counterfeiting to a new level. The joint initiatives envisage the introduction of modern methods of checking alcohol when it is transported across the customs border of Ukraine, and training customs officials in new and up-to-date methods of identifying signs of counterfeiting.
“Thousands of people around the world are becoming victims of counterfeit alcoholic beverages. Producers of counterfeit goods have become very flexible, they are constantly adapting to the circumstances. Therefore, cooperation with the customs service is a key opportunity for us to gain an advantage in this confrontation with counterfeiters. We are pleased to expand our cooperation with Ukraine, which, despite the difficult conditions, continues to counteract the movement of counterfeit goods. This is an important step towards a transparent market and consumer safety,” said AACS Chairman Matthew Prot.
AACS unites 2/3 of all the world’s leading spirits producers, including Diageo (Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff), Pernod Ricard (Chivas Regal, Absolut), Brown-Forman (Jack Daniel’s, Finlandia), etc. The Alliance is active in more than 20 developed economies, cooperating with governments, customs administrations and law enforcement agencies to combat the illegal production and trafficking of spirits and implement high standards of control at the customs border.
FDI McDonald’s Ukraine Ltd., which develops the McDonald’s fast food chain in Ukraine, invested UAH 1.8 billion in 2024 in the construction and modernization of its Ukrainian restaurants, the company’s press service reports.
According to the press release, last year McDonald’s opened eight new restaurants in Ukraine and reconstructed three of the existing ones. In line with its expansion strategy, the company built establishments in cities with a population of over a million and their satellites, in regional centers and on busy highways. New restaurants were opened in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv and Vinnytsia, and the first McDonald’s opened in Chernivtsi, Boyarka and Kovel. 7 out of 8 restaurants opened during the year are located in separate buildings, and one is in a shopping center.
“McDonald’s continued to open restaurants in cooperation with gas stations to offer several services in one location. In 2024, one of these restaurants opened near the entrance to Odesa on the M-05 highway, and another opened at the entrance to Kyiv near the Boryspilska metro station. In total, there are five restaurants in Ukraine built in cooperation with four partner filling stations: OKKO, WOG, KLO and Grand Petrol. The construction of a restaurant in Mukachevo in cooperation with OKKO is also underway.
When constructing new and modernizing existing sites, the company uses modern thermal insulation materials and equipment, installs a recovery system and heat pumps to significantly save energy. 94% of the facilities are already equipped with generators and are completely energy independent.
Much attention is also paid to creating a barrier-free environment. For the convenience of people with disabilities, the elderly and visitors with children, the company implements inclusive solutions when modernizing and building new establishments. In particular, the restaurants provide navigation for visually impaired people with tactile tiles and Braille information signs, as well as special seats for people in wheelchairs. In addition, a passenger elevator and automatic doors were installed for customers in wheelchairs in one of the renovated restaurants on Vokzalna Square in Kyiv, and sliding doors were installed in a new restaurant in Vinnytsia.
According to McDonald’s estimates, the chain has the potential to open up to 500 restaurants in the Ukrainian market, so the company is increasing its development in current and new regions. In 2025, the company plans to open 9 new restaurants and continue to modernize the existing ones by updating the design in line with modern McDonald’s concepts, creating an accessible space for everyone, implementing inclusive and digital solutions. Given the security situation, the central and western regions of the country remain a priority for growth.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in Ukraine was opened on May 24, 1997 in Kyiv. Currently, 109 restaurants operate in 36 locations across the country, with another 15 restaurants remaining closed due to security concerns.
According to Opendatabot, McDonald’s revenue in Ukraine for the three quarters of 2024 amounted to UAH 12 billion 362 million 085 thousand, while profit amounted to UAH 1 billion 294 million 658 thousand.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, the participant of FDI in McDonald’s Ukraine Ltd. is MCD Europe Limited (100%, London, UK).
Kremenchuk Plant of Road Machines (Kredmash JSC, Poltava region) ended 2024 with a loss of UAH 13.08 million, down 23% from the same period in 2023.
According to the information on the agenda of the general annual meeting of shareholders of the company on April 18, the shareholders intend to approve the sources of loss coverage, in particular, at the expense of retained earnings of previous years, reserve capital and additional capital (funds for production development).
According to the company, in 2024, the uncovered loss also amounted to UAH 13.08 million, compared to UAH 16.95 million a year earlier.
The company’s current liabilities increased by 36.8% to almost UAH 54 million over the year, while long-term liabilities decreased by 2.2 times to UAH 4.5 million.
JSC “Kredmash” managed to reduce total accounts receivable by 46% to UAH 18.51 million, and assets increased slightly to UAH 515.54 million.
The net loss per ordinary share amounted to UAH 38.27 (UAH 49.6 a year earlier).
“Kredmash specializes in the development and manufacture of asphalt and soil mixing plants, spare parts for construction and road equipment, tank trucks, bitumen trucks, cast iron and steel castings.
According to the NSSMC as of the third quarter of 2024, the major shareholders of the JSC are the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and President Mykola Danyleiko (15.97% of shares), Chairman of the Board Oleksandr Tverezny (over 10.2%), as well as Euroautomation LLC (over 9.6%) and KDM Invest (9.8%).
Another 5% of the shares belonged to the former longtime director of the plant (until the early 2000s), Borys Muntyan, who, according to local press reports, died in November 2024.
According to the company’s financial report, in 2023, it reduced its net income by 36% year-on-year to UAH 186.4 million, while reducing its loss by 44% to almost UAH 17 million.
The company sold only three asphalt and soil mixing plants (average selling price of UAH 21.5 million), as well as consumer goods worth UAH 69.95 million.
In January-September 2024, according to Clarity-project, the company’s net income decreased by 35% compared to the same period in 2023, to UAH 108.2 million.
As reported, in pre-war 2021, the plant sold products worth UAH 1.2 billion. In June 2022, the plant’s industrial facilities were partially destroyed as a result of an enemy rocket attack on Kremenchuk.
Ukrtelecom, the country’s largest fixed-line operator, increased its revenue by 4.6% to UAH 5.3 billion in 2024 compared to 2023, according to its unaudited financial statements, the company’s press service reports.
“In 2024, Ukrtelecom’s total revenue amounted to almost UAH 5.3 billion, up 4.6% year-on-year,” the operator’s press service said in a statement.
EBITDA slightly decreased to UAH 970 million compared to UAH 1 billion in 2023. The EBITDA margin amounted to 20%, compared to 21.1% in 2023.
Commercial lease income amounted to almost UAH 450 million, and the number of leased areas exceeded the volume before the full-scale invasion – 530 thousand m2, the company reported.
In 2023, Ukrtelecom’s commercial rental income from real estate freed up by the modernization of its network amounted to over UAH 500 million, up 35% compared to 2022.
Ukrtelecom’s capital investments in 2024 were reported to have increased by 60% year-on-year to over UAH 750 million. Total investments in the company’s development exceeded UAH 900 million.
In 2024, the company laid almost 7 thousand km of fiber-optic cable, providing access to modern services for 3 million households across the country. Optical access technology is already used by over 70% of Ukrtelecom Internet users, including more than 1300 medical and about 1780 educational institutions.
The number of optical connections continues to grow in all segments. During the year, 230 medical and educational institutions were connected to Ukrtelecom’s optical infrastructure. The total number of new connections to Ukrtelecom’s optical network increased by 22%, while revenue from optical-based Internet services grew by 17%, the operator said in a statement.
“2024 was a period of dynamic development for Ukrtelecom. We have been actively building our optical network by laying almost 7,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable, which has enabled 3 million households to connect to modern services. “It is very important for us to note a significant growth of new optical subscribers by 22%, which demonstrates the high interest and trust of users in modern, high-speed and reliable Internet from Ukrtelecom,” said Yuriy Kurmaz, Ukrtelecom CEO.
He assured that in 2025 the company will actively invest in the development of optical infrastructure to provide modern communications to our defenders, government agencies, businesses, critical and social infrastructure facilities and the population.
Ukrtelecom said it continues to do everything possible to ensure the network’s operation even during external power outages. In 2024, the company spent almost 700 thousand liters of fuel worth about UAH 30 million and 18 thousand liters of oil worth UAH 1.4 million to ensure uninterrupted operation of the network during blackouts due to enemy attacks.
Despite the challenging wartime conditions, Ukrtelecom carried out emergency repairs wherever possible, including frontline and de-occupied settlements. In 2024, the company’s specialists restored telecommunications networks almost 3,000 times. Two regional communication hubs were restored. The company spent UAH 8.3 million to restore the infrastructure damaged by hostilities, the company said.
In 2024, Ukrtelecom paid more than UAH 1.33 billion in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels, which is about the same as in 2023, when it paid UAH 1.35 billion.
Earlier it was reported that Ukrtelecom reduced its revenue by 10% to UAH 5 billion in 2023 according to its unaudited financial statements. According to the results of 9 months. Ukrtelecom increased its revenue by 12.7% year-on-year to UAH 3.6 billion in 9M2024, while reducing EBITDA by 15% to UAH 850 million.
Starting from 1 January 2025, Ukrtelecom increased prices for telephony and wired radio services by 27-30%.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has fined PJSC USK Knyazha Vienne Insurance Group (“Knyazha VIG”, Kiev) for UAH 2.057 million for violation of the legislation on protection of the rights of consumers of financial services, defined by the Civil Code of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine “On electronic commerce”, “On insurance”, “On financial services and financial companies”.
According to the website of the NBU, the relevant decision of the Committee for supervision and regulation of non-banking financial services markets made on February 24, 2025, based on the results of a scheduled inspection of the company.
In addition, the regulator applied to the company a measure of influence in the form of imposing a fine of UAH 40 thousand for providing it with reporting files with inaccurate reporting indicators for the first half of 2024.
The company is obliged to pay the fines within a month after the decision comes into force.
In addition, the regulator sent the company a written warning for violation of requirements to: the management system of the insurer, the protection of the rights of consumers of financial services, the regulation of the activities of participants of the market of non-banking financial services, the activities of separate subdivisions.
IC “Knyazha VIG” is obliged to eliminate violations, and also the reasons and the conditions promoting their commitment, till April 25.
IC Knyazha VIG is a part of NFG Vienna Insurance Group Ukraine, the main shareholder of which is Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (Austria).
Oschadbank and the state-owned energy trader Energy Company of Ukraine (ECU) have signed a memorandum of cooperation to simplify the procedure and improve the conditions for lending to new energy projects in the territorial communities of Ukraine.
As explained in a release from the company on Thursday, the parties have created a joint program to simplify the financing and implementation of energy projects at the community level. According to the memorandum, the company will carry out economic and technical analysis of community-initiated projects that apply for funding. The company will also offer communities market-based tools to improve the economic efficiency and sustainability of such projects, including cooperation within self-production mechanisms, aggregated and balancing groups. The economic models of the projects developed by the ECU will become the basis for the financial assessment of their profitability and payback by Oschadbank when making lending decisions.
“In our experience, one of the barriers to the development of decentralized generation is the lack of relevant competence in the vast majority of small communities. Engaging the specialized expertise of ESU will allow communities to assess the potential for developing their own energy projects, which can not only ensure uninterrupted energy supply or replace it with their own generation, but also bring income to the community budget,” commented Yuriy Katzion, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Oschadbank in charge of corporate business.
He added that Oschad has deep expertise in working with energy projects of any complexity, and its market share in this market is over 31%.
According to Vitaliy Butenko, CEO of ECU, the company is constantly looking for and creating ways to strengthen the market paradigm of ensuring the security of energy supply for communities, and the combination of the deep market expertise of its team with the reliable financial platform of Oschadbank creates the conditions for achieving win-win solutions in one of the most complex but strategically important energy supply sectors.
As reported, in October 2024, CEO Vitaliy Butenko said that the company wants to occupy the niche of a state-owned distributed generation operator (DG) to help utilities and cities with its launch and operation. On December 19, EKU, SIGRE-Ukraine Association and the Association of Small Cities of Ukraine (ASCU) signed a memorandum of cooperation in the development of distributed generation in the regions.
In a blitz interview with Energoreforma in early January 2025, Butenko noted that the company is developing a special unit that will focus on comprehensive support for the development of distributed generation in the regions. According to him, the company will identify a list of joint pilot projects for implementation, which it will be able to scale up to other communities in the country.
In a blitz interview with Energoreforma at the end of February 2025, Yevhen Myachyn, Director of the Corporate Business Development and Support Department of Oschadbank, said that the bank in the corporate business segment for a month and a half of this year has already signed EUR 40 million in loan agreements for energy projects, which is almost as much as for the whole of last year – EUR 45 million, so he sees a clear trend towards an increase in the volume of financing for energy projects.
