In Ukraine, in 2024, the mortality rate of bees in the controlled area was 20-25%, which is significantly higher than pre-war figures and is explained by unfavorable weather conditions in spring and summer, which led to a reduction in the area of honey plants, Volodymyr Postoenko, director of the Prokopovych Institute of Beekeeping, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The year 2024 was very difficult for beekeepers due to a sharp climate change. In spring, white acacia is very important for the development of bee colonies. During its flowering period, there were frosts all over Ukraine. Bees did not get honey from it. Then there was a problem with an important honey plant – sunflower. Due to the drought, its yield was low, it did not produce nectar and there was no development of bee colonies. This led to high bee mortality, which in different regions amounted to 15-20%, and sometimes 23-27%. The national average was 20-25%,” the scientist said.
According to him, such a high mortality rate of bee colonies in Ukraine was not observed before the war. Earlier, bee mortality in Ukraine was mainly associated with the lack of information on chemical field treatment by farmers. Bee mortality from pesticides was also significant in different regions. However, the state has introduced a number of legislative initiatives that allow beekeepers to defend their rights in courts.
Postoenko noted that before the war, the mortality rate of bees from viruses and diseases in Ukraine was low, and only domestic bees were grown in the country. The situation has worsened as foreign bee breeds that do not have the necessary resistance to existing regional diseases have been introduced into production.
The scientist added that in a number of countries in different years, the mortality rate of bee colonies reached 80-90%, which is why society is concerned about the problem of bee mortality.
The director of the Institute of Beekeeping pointed out that the Ukrainian beekeeping industry, like a number of others, does not have reliable statistics, as only 5% of beekeepers are engaged in industrial production, and the remaining 95% are represented by households. They, in turn, are in no hurry to register their apiaries, which is why reporting on their activities is approximate.
“Before the war, according to unofficial statistics, there were 3-3.5 million bee colonies in Ukraine. (…) In addition, unofficial statistics say that the apiaries that were in the current occupied territory before the war accounted for about 30% of the total number of apiaries in Ukraine before the war,” the expert added.
In a comment to Interfax-Ukraine, Hanna Burka, project manager of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said that in 2023 the number of bee colonies in Ukraine amounted to 2402.9 thousand, which is 10.5% less than in 2022.
Burka emphasized that the rate of decline in bee colonies in industrial enterprises was higher – 13.6%, to 32.5 thousand, and in households – by 10.5%, to 2379.4 thousand,
According to her information, as of January 1, 2024, there were 2314 thousand bee colonies in Ukraine, of which 2286 thousand were in households, and 28 thousand families were in enterprises, of which 4 thousand families were in farms.
As of January 2024, the top five regions in terms of beekeeping were Khmelnytskyi region with 376.6 thousand bee colonies, Vinnytsia region with 188.9 thousand, Kirovohrad region with 149.9 thousand, Zhytomyr region with 149 thousand, and Ivano-Frankivsk region with 140.5 thousand bee colonies.
At the same time, the most developed industrial beekeeping in 2024 was in Poltava region, where 4.6 thousand bee colonies are located, Vinnytsia and Cherkasy regions have 3.3 thousand bee colonies each. In Khmelnytsky region, there are 1.9 thousand bee colonies in the industrial segment, and in Kyiv region – 1.7 thousand bee colonies. Households in Khmelnytskyi region are the leaders in keeping bee colonies – 374.7 thousand, Vinnytsia region – 185.6 thousand, and Kirovohrad region – 148.8 thousand.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, responding to an information request from Interfax-Ukraine, confirmed the experts’ information and added that before the full-scale war in Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022, the number of bee colonies in the country was 2686 thousand. During the two years of the full-scale war in Ukraine (2022-2023 – IF-U), the number of bee colonies decreased by 13.8% and amounted to 2,314 thousand.
“As a result of the hostilities of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, the livestock sector, in particular the beekeeping industry, has suffered destructive and destructive configurations,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy emphasized.
The Ministry referred to an assessment by experts from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), according to which, as of December 31, 2023, losses due to the reduction of bee colonies in Ukraine are estimated at $31.9 million, excluding losses from a decrease in beekeeping production.
Nova Poshta, the leader in express delivery in Ukraine, has launched a 1 MW solar power plant (SPP).
“A megawatt power plant has been launched on the roof of Nova Poshta’s Kyiv Innovation Terminal. The field of solar panels stretches over an area of 5 thousand square meters,” the company’s co-owner Volodymyr Popereshniuk wrote on Facebook on Monday.
The total investment in the project amounted to UAH 14 million.
The expected payback period is three years.
Popereshniuk announced plans to install industrial uninterruptible power supply systems and energy storage equipment to improve the efficiency of energy facilities.
“The key to the growth of investments in our energy independence, in particular, was the abolition of VAT on imports of energy equipment. We were able to launch our energy program, develop renewable energy sources and reduce consumption from the general power grid,” said the co-owner of Nova Poshta.
As reported, in April 2023, in response to Russian strikes on the power grid, Nova Poshta established Nova Energy to develop regular electricity generation and ensure the autonomy of the company’s facilities. Since August, the company has been selling small wholesale diesel fuel on the open market.
Mr. Popereshniuk announced plans to install industrial uninterruptible power supply systems and energy storage equipment to improve the efficiency of energy facilities.
“The key to the growth of investments in our energy independence, in particular, was the abolition of VAT on imports of energy equipment. We were able to launch our energy program, develop renewable energy sources and reduce consumption from the general power grid,” said the co-owner of Nova Poshta.
As reported, in April 2023, in response to Russian strikes on the power grid, Nova Poshta established Nova Energy to develop regular electricity generation and ensure the autonomy of the company’s facilities. Since August, the company has been selling small wholesale diesel fuel on the open market.
Popereshnyuk said that after the war ends and the situation with energy supply improves, Nova Energy will be sold as a non-core business.
Zaporozhkoks, one of Ukraine’s largest coke and chemical producers and part of Metinvest Group, increased blast furnace coke production by 2.1% year-on-year in 2024 to 874.7 thousand tons from 856.8 thousand tons.
According to the company, it produced 74.2 thousand tons of coke in December.
As reported, Zaporozhkoks increased its blast furnace coke output by 16% in 2023 compared to 2022, up to 856.8 thousand tons from 737.4 thousand tons.
“Zaporozhkoks produces about 10% of coke in Ukraine and has a full technological cycle of coke products processing. It also produces coke oven gas and pitch coke.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated mining group of companies. Its major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage the company.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Ukraine plans to build 16 international automobile checkpoints on its border with the EU by 2030, according to the Operational Plan of the Strategy for the Development of Border Infrastructure with the EU and the Republic of Moldova until 2030 on the Cabinet of Ministers’ website. The plan envisages the construction of a checkpoint for road traffic “Varyazh” in Lviv region. The necessary UAH 35 million will be allocated in 2026 from the state or local budgets.
Funding for the construction of the Zabrid checkpoint in Zakarpattia region will also begin in 2026 – UAH 24 million of the required UAH 456.8 million is expected to be allocated. In 2027, UAH 280 million will be allocated, and in 2028, UAH 152.8 million will be financed from the state or local budgets.
The construction of the Palad-Komarivtsi BCP in Zakarpattia region will begin in 2027 – UAH 8 million will be allocated out of the UAH 485.6 million required for the construction of the BCP and its service area. In 2028, UAH 320 million will be allocated for the project, and in 2029 – UAH 157.6 million from the state or local budgets and international technical assistance.
In 2025, funding will be allocated for the Solomonovo checkpoint in Zakarpattia region – UAH 798.3 million will be allocated out of the UAH 8 million needed to build the checkpoint and its service area. In 2026, the project will receive UAH 180 million, in 2027 – UAH 410 million, and in 2028 – UAH 200 million from international technical assistance and the state budget.
In addition, the construction of the Dyida automobile checkpoint is planned in Zakarpattia region – UAH 1.5 million of the required UAH 1.08 billion has already been allocated in 2024. In 2026, it is planned to allocate UAH 355 million, in 2027 – UAH 400 million, in 2028 – UAH 333.05 million at the expense of the state budget and international technical assistance, in particular, the CEF.
It is also planned to build the Velyka Palad automobile checkpoint in the Zakarpattia region. Out of the UAH 386.01 million required for the construction of the checkpoint and its service area, UAH 1.45 million was allocated in 2024. In 2025, UAH 382.56 million will be allocated from the state budget and international technical assistance.
The construction of the Khyzha checkpoint in Zakarpattia region is scheduled to begin in 2026, with UAH 2 million allocated out of the UAH 59.02 million required for the construction of the checkpoint and its service area. In 2027, UAH 37 million is allocated for the project, and in 2028 – UAH 20.02 million from the state or local budget, at the expense of international financial assistance.
In 2026, the construction of the Yablunivka checkpoint in Zakarpattia region will also begin – UAH 5 million will be allocated out of the UAH 221.02 million required for the construction of the checkpoint and its service area. In 2027, UAH 216.02 million will be financed from the state or local budgets and international technical assistance.
Construction of the Bila Tserkva checkpoint was launched in 2024, with UAH 19.5 million allocated out of the required UAH 1.51 billion for the construction of the checkpoint, access roads and a road border bridge. UAH 174.08 million is expected to be allocated in 2025, UAH 963.42 million in 2026, and UAH 362.5 million in 2028 from the state budget and international technical assistance.
In the Chernivtsi region, the construction of the Ruska checkpoint is planned, for which UAH 210 million will be allocated from the state budget in 2026 and 2027 out of the UAH 105 million required to build the checkpoint and provide transport links to it.
The construction of the Shepit checkpoint in the Chernivtsi region is also planned for 2026, with UAH 92.5 million allocated out of the UAH 185 million required for the construction of the checkpoint and transport links to it. A similar amount will be allocated from the state budget in 2027.
In 2026, the construction of the Bila Krynytsia checkpoint will begin in Chernivtsi region – UAH 26.5 million will be allocated out of the UAH 626.54 million required for the project. In 2027 and 2028, UAH 300 million is expected to be allocated from the state budget and other sources not prohibited by law.
The construction of the Kelmentsi PP in the Chernivtsi region is already underway – in 2024, UAH 750 thousand out of the required UAH 175 million were allocated for the project. In 2025, UAH 87.12 million is expected to be financed, and in 2026 – UAH 87.12 million.
For the construction of the Vashkivtsi PE in the Chernivtsi region, UAH 60 million out of the required UAH 120 million will be allocated from the state budget in 2025. The remaining amount will be financed in 2026.
The construction project of the Bronnytsia-Ungur BCP in Vinnytsia region will also receive funding in 2025 – UAH 50 million out of the required UAH 62.1 million will be allocated from the state budget. In 2024, UAH 2.1 million was allocated for the project.
The construction of the Vynohradivka BCP in Odesa region will continue – in 2025, UAH 3.1 million will be allocated out of the UAH 119.4 million required for the project, in 2026 – UAH 59.4 million, and in 2027 – UAH 55.32 million. In 2024, the project received funding of UAH 1.5 million.
As reported, Ukraine will increase the number of BCPs for road and rail transport to 74 by 2030.
As of May 1, 2024, the passage of persons and vehicles across the state border to/from Ukraine is carried out at 41 checkpoints for road transport (the Republic of Poland – eight points, the Slovak Republic – two points, Hungary – five points, Romania – five points, the Republic of Moldova – 21 points). Also, as of July 31, 2024, there are 16 checkpoints for railroad traffic (the Republic of Poland – five checkpoints, the Slovak Republic – two checkpoints, Hungary – two checkpoints, Romania – two checkpoints, the Republic of Moldova – five checkpoints).
Ukraine’s exports in January-December 2024 increased by 15.5% compared to 2023 to $41.6 billion, while imports increased by 11.3% from $63.5 billion to $70.7 billion, the State Customs Service (SCS) reported in a telegram.
“At the same time, taxable imports amounted to $57.4 billion, which is 81% of the total volume of imported goods. The tax burden per 1 kg of taxable imports in 2024 amounted to $0.51/kg, which is 5% more than in 2023,” the State Customs Service said.
According to the published information, most of the goods were imported to Ukraine from China – $14.4 billion, Poland – $7 billion, and Germany – $5.4 billion. At the same time, Ukraine exported the most goods to Poland – $4.7 billion, Spain – $2.9 billion, and Germany – $2.8 billion.
In the total volume of goods imported in January-December 2024, 65% of the goods were in the category of machinery, equipment and transport – $25 billion (UAH 172.3 billion, or 29% of customs payments, were paid to the budget during customs clearance), chemical products – $11.7 billion (UAH 87.7 billion, or 15% of customs revenues), and fuel and energy – $8.9 billion (UAH 157.6 billion, or 27% of revenues, were paid during customs clearance).
The top three most exported goods from Ukraine are food products – $24.6 billion, metals and metal products – $4.4 billion, and machinery, equipment and transport – $3.5 billion.
The State Customs Service added that in 2024, UAH 311.3 million was paid to the budget during customs clearance of exports of goods subject to export duties.
In 2024, Nova Poshta, the leader in express shipments in Ukraine, increased the volume of parcel deliveries by 15% year-on-year to 486 million, the company’s co-owner Vyacheslav Klimov said on LinkedIn.
“This year we also set a record for the number of parcels delivered – 486 million, which is 15% more than last year,” Klimov wrote on Monday.
According to him, last year Nova Post opened almost 9,000 new branches and parcel acceptance points (post offices – IF-U), in particular in frontline settlements. The total number of Nova Poshta service points has exceeded 37 thousand.
“We have also modernized our infrastructure, automated terminals, opened new sorting hubs and improved order fulfillment services so that companies can send their products faster and more efficiently,” Klimov said.
Earlier it was reported that according to the results of 9 months. 2024, the number of parcels and cargo delivered by Nova Poshta increased by 17% to 336 million parcels.
It was also reported that in October, there were 12 thousand Nova Poshta offices and more than 20 thousand post offices in Ukraine. The average number of employees is 35 thousand.
