In April, Active Group, in collaboration with Experts Club, conducted an online survey of 800 Ukrainians regarding their attitudes toward various countries. The goal was to determine their level of trust and sympathy.
Ukrainians have the most positive views of the United Kingdom (77.2%), Canada (76.3%), and France (74%). Germany has 68.8% support. Attitudes toward the US are divided: 36.1% are positive, 31.2% are neutral, and almost 30% are negative.
Negative attitudes prevail towards Hungary (56%) and Slovakia (34.6%), which is related to their official position on the war. Despite economic ties, China has only 19.6% support, with 42.8% negative.
Japan enjoys high trust (66%), South Korea 49.7%. Turkey receives mixed assessments: 46.4% positive, 12% negative. Brazil and Saudi Arabia are viewed as moderately positive or neutral.
Experts note that Ukrainians value moral support, not just economic ties, and do not recognize “neutrality” without concrete assistance.
“We conduct this important research on an ongoing basis and will continue to do so on a quarterly basis,” commented Oleksandr Pozniy.
” The image of countries in the perception of Ukrainians can be improved through support for projects aimed at rebuilding Ukraine, establishing direct dialogue through embassies and public diplomacy projects, explaining their position through historical context, and not avoiding publicity,” added Maxim Urakin, director of development and marketing at Interfax-Ukraine and founder of the Experts Club analytical center.
The presentation of the study in English is available at link.
The European Union has approved a 17th package of sanctions against Russia, aimed at increasing pressure on the Russian economy and limiting opportunities to circumvent previously imposed restrictions. A key element of the new package is the introduction of sanctions against Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — a network of ships used to circumvent sanctions and export oil.
Sanctions against the “shadow fleet”
As part of the new sanctions package, the EU has imposed restrictions on around 200 vessels linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet.” These vessels, often old and poorly insured, are used to transport Russian oil in circumvention of the restrictions in place, including a price cap of $60 per barrel.
Sanctions against companies and individuals
The new sanctions package also includes:
31 companies involved in arms supplies and sanctions evasion.
75 individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, including judges involved in cases against opposition figures.
Financial institutions supporting Russia’s military actions.
Protection of critical infrastructure
The EU has also imposed sanctions on organizations and individuals involved in cyberattacks, human rights violations, and sabotage of critical infrastructure, including submarine cables and energy facilities.
Outlook
Despite the introduction of the 17th package of sanctions, additional measures are being discussed, including the possible introduction of 500% tariffs on Russian oil imports to countries that continue to purchase it. Restrictions on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia are also being considered.
According to the results of the first quarter of 2025, JSC “NAEK ‘Energoatom’ received UAH 12.15 billion in net profit, said the head of the Temporary Investigation Commission (TIC) of the Verkhovna Rada on violations in the tariff policy in the energy sector, People’s Deputy Oleksiy Kucherenko, referring to the company’s financial statements on Facebook.
“In addition, the amount of depreciation accrued for the first quarter of 2025 amounted to UAH 5.7 billion. Thus, a total of almost UAH 18 billion was allocated for distribution in the first quarter,” he wrote.
According to Kucherenko, of the UAH 18 billion, about UAH 3-4 billion was allocated for capital investments, and the remaining UAH 14 billion requires separate justification for its distribution.
“That is, for the first quarter of 2025 alone, UAH 14 billion already requires justification for its further distribution,” he said.
As the head of the TSC recalled, at the end of 2024, Energoatom recorded a net profit of 1.3 billion hryvnia.
“The result of the TSC’s work (requests sent, working hearings held, meetings) was that, already during the commission’s work, the management of energy companies began to realize the risks of manipulating financial reporting indicators,” Kucherenko said.
As reported with reference to the report of the Temporary Investigation Commission headed by him, the current electricity tariff for the population of 4.32 UAH/kWh provides Energoatom with additional undistributed profit and depreciation in the amount of 0.99 UAH/kWh, which is about 49 billion UAH per year.
Members of the Temporary Investigation Commission believe that the price of electricity for the population set by the Cabinet of Ministers as of May 2024 is fully in line with economically justified levels.
On May 14, the Verkhovna Rada took note of the TSC’s report on the investigation of possible violations of Ukrainian legislation in the formation and implementation of pricing and tariff policy in the energy and utilities sectors during its six months of operation.
By a corresponding resolution, the Rada extended the work of the Temporary Commission for the period specified by parliament (one year from the date of its establishment) and decided to hear its report on the work done at a plenary session by October 30, 2025. This Temporary Commission was established by a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada on October 30, 2024.
In 2024, Energoatom paid UAH 145.35 billion for PSO services (provisions on the imposition of special obligations – IF-U), allocating 58% of its net income to this purpose. The company’s net profit for the past year amounted to UAH 1.3 billion.
During the war, the OKKO gas station network has reconstructed about a third of its gas stations, investing $350-400 thousand in each modernization, said Vasyl Danylyak, CEO of OKKO GROUP and co-founder of GORO Mountain Resort.
“In three years of war, OKKO has updated a third of its network. I believe this is the highest figure among all networks operating in Ukraine today,” Danylyak said in the company’s YouTube project DIALOGI.
As Danylyak explained, the decision to modernize the gas stations was linked to the desire to maintain market leadership amid a decline and fierce competition. He noted that the war has significantly changed the distribution of gas station chains in the market, with OKKO increasing its share from approximately 15% at the start of the war to 22% by the end of 2022. Thus, according to him, OKKO took first place, although before the war it was held by the Privat group, which also had a 22-24% share.
“But we understood that we needed to consolidate our position on the market. And we decided to carry out a massive rebranding and reconstruction of our first-generation filling stations,” said the CEO of OKKO.
He added that the modernization began in mid-2022 and became widespread in 2023. According to him, approximately 60 gas stations were modernized in 2023 and 2024.
“On average, the reconstruction of one gas station – interior and exterior – cost approximately $350,000 in 2023. Today, due to slight price increases, it is about $400,000,” Danilyak said.
According to the OKKO CEO, the network has lost approximately $120 million since the beginning of 2022 due to the destruction of its oil depots as a result of Russian sanctions.
OKKO Group unites more than 10 diverse businesses in the fields of manufacturing, trade, construction, insurance, services, and other services. The group’s flagship company is Galnaftogaz, which operates one of the largest gas station chains in Ukraine under the OKKO brand, with about 400 gas stations.
The founder and ultimate beneficiary of the group is Vitaliy Antonov.
PrivatBank topped the ranking of the most profitable banks in the first quarter of 2025 with a net profit of UAH 16.8 billion. The top three also included state-owned Oschadbank and Ukreximbank with UAH 4.7 billion and UAH 2.4 billion, respectively.
According to the National Bank’s website on Monday, Raiffeisen Bank (UAH 2.2 billion) and Universal Bank (mono) (UAH 1.7 billion) (all based in Kyiv) also made it into the top five.
According to the published data, the second five most profitable banks were PUMB with UAH 1.5 billion, Credit Agricole Bank with UAH 1.3 billion, Ukrsibbank with UAH 1.3 billion, City Bank with UAH 1.2 billion, and OTP Bank with UAH 1.1 billion.
According to NBU statistics, in the first quarter of 2025, 50 Ukrainian banks received UAH 40.4 billion in net profit, while 10 operated with a total loss of UAH 0.4 billion.
The largest losses were incurred by Alliance Bank – UAH 163.9 million. It was followed by RVS Bank – UAH 140.8 million, Pravex Bank – UAH 44.9 million, Industrialbank – UAH 26.8 million, and PIN Bank, which was transferred to the state – UAH 14.6 million.
MIB also ended the quarter in the red with a loss of UAH 12.8 million, followed by Ukrainian Capital Bank with UAH 10.2 million, BTA Bank with UAH 5.7 million, UBRR with UAH 3.8 million, and Trust Capital Bank with UAH 2.7 million.
In terms of income tax expenses, PrivatBank remains the leader with UAH 5.3 billion, followed by Raiffeisen Bank with UAH 0.70 billion, Universal Bank (mono) with 0.59 billion, PUMB with 0.51 billion, and Ukrsibbank with 0.45 billion.
In total, banks paid 10.5 billion hryvnia in taxes to the budget in January-March this year.
PrivatBank remains the leader in terms of net interest income with UAH 18.4 billion, followed by Oschadbank with UAH 7.3 billion, Raiffeisen Bank with UAH 4.4 billion, Universal Bank (mono) with UAH 4.4 billion, and PUMB with UAH 3.9 billion.
Ukrsibbank also made it into the top ten with UAH 2.9 billion, Ukrgasbank with UAH 2.6 billion, Ukreximbank with UAH 2.3 billion, OTP Bank with UAH 2.2 billion, and Sens Bank with UAH 1.9 billion.
PrivatBank leads the ranking in terms of net commission income with UAH 6.6 billion. Next are Oschadbank with UAH 1.9 billion, Universal Bank (mono) with UAH 0.75 billion, Raiffeisen Bank with UAH 0.64 billion, and A-Bank with UAH 0.50 billion.
The top ten also includes: PUMB with UAH 0.53 billion, Sens Bank with UAH 0.44 billion, Ukrsibbank with UAH 0.38 billion, Bank Alliance with UAH 0.33 billion, and Ukrgasbank with UAH 0.33 billion.
As reported, Ukrainian banks received UAH 39.96 billion in net profit in the first quarter of 2025, which is only 0.2% more than in the same period of 2024.
Insurance company Knyazha Vienna Insurance Group (Knyazha VIG, Kyiv) collected UAH 876.9 million in insurance payments in January-March 2025, which is 61.35% more than in the same period a year earlier, with net premiums amounting to UAH 453.822 million. (+ 32.17%).
This information was published by the rating agency Standard-Rating, confirming the insurer’s financial stability/credit rating at “uaAA+” for the period in question.
According to the RA website, during the period in question, income from individuals grew by 67.65% to UAH 631.450 million, and from reinsurers by 3.66 times to UAH 2.119 million. The share of individuals in gross premiums was 72.01%, and the share of reinsurers was 0.24%.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers in the first quarter of 2025 increased by 71.40% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 312.435 million. Thus, the share of reinsurance companies in insurance premiums increased by 2.09 percentage points, to 35.63%. to 35.63%.
Insurance payments and reimbursements increased by 36.62% to UAH 297.438 million. The level of payments decreased by 6.14 percentage points to 33.92%.
At the end of the first quarter of 2025, operating profit amounted to UAH 43.579 million, and net profit increased 3.36 times to UAH 60.756 million.
As of April 1, 2025, the assets of IC “Knyazha VIG” increased by 14.12% to UAH 2.487 billion, equity capital by 15.23% to UAH 518.348 million, liabilities showed an increase of 13.83% to UAH 1.969 billion, cash and cash equivalents decreased by 5.24% to UAH 77.270 million.
It is reported that as of April 1, 2025, the insurer made current financial investments in the amount of UAH 1.203 billion, consisting of government bonds (70.49% of the investment portfolio) and deposits in banks with high credit ratings (29.51% of the portfolio).
PJSC “IC ‘Knyazha Vienna Insurance Group’ is part of the Vienna Insurance Group Ukraine, whose main shareholder is Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (Austria). The group also includes PJSC “IC ‘Ukrainian Insurance Group’ – 100%, PJSC ‘IC ’KnyazhaLIFE Vienna Insurance Group” – 97.8%, LLC “USG Consulting” – 50.7%, LLC “VIG Services Ukraine” – 78.7%, LLC “Assistance Company ‘Ukrainian Assistance Service’ – 100%.
