Losses in the railcar repair sector due to the situation on the rail transport market, in particular the surplus of railcars, may reach UAH 600 million in 2025, and more business involvement is needed to find alternatives, said Yevhen Shramko, head of the Repair and Production Division at Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ).
“At a meeting (with businesses and investors in August, initiated by UZ – IF-U), we discussed the forecast for the car fleet, which, unfortunately, is disappointing. New railcars are hardly being built due to the surplus. All this leads to the fact that, according to our forecasts, the losses of the railcar repair division will reach UAH 600 million by the end of 2025,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The UZ representative recalled that transport volumes had decreased by 40%, and transport by the state-owned company’s railcars had decreased even more, by 58%. As a result, the volume of repairs, almost 70% of the cost of which is personnel expenses, also decreased by 55%.
Shramko noted that given this situation and the worsening forecast for the coming year, the company decided to go public and attract international partners, consultants who can help obtain grants or other funding to transform car repair enterprises without losing personnel and potential, as well as to attract as much business as possible for more efficient use of production capacities, which are currently redundant.
Shramko clarified that after the meeting, all participants were sent a questionnaire to obtain information about the real needs of the market, in particular, what facilities are needed, taking into account their location and infrastructure (electricity, gas, water supply).
“We only received 13 responses. To be honest, this is not enough. So we will continue to work with businesses, associations, and investors,” said the head of the department.
According to him, this is the first step towards transparent optimization and reorganization of excess production capacities that generate losses for Ukrzaliznytsia. Next, a list of facilities and proposals for international and local investors will be prepared.
“We are considering various options: leasing, public-private partnerships, and repurposing, and we want all of them to be implemented on a competitive basis,” Shramko emphasized.
He added that next year, during the proper gradual reorganization, it is planned to tackle the locomotive repair sector, where the company also has significant capacity.
“Given the current situation in the industry and the dynamics of transportation, a return to last year’s volumes seems unlikely at this point, according to our forecasts,” the director of the division emphasized.
Ukrzaliznytsia’s Repair and Production Division is responsible for the repair, maintenance, modernization, and manufacture of railcars, locomotives, and electric trains. It produces critical spare parts, reinforced concrete sleepers, technical equipment, etc. It has 11 enterprises, some of which are branches, and some are private joint-stock companies.
As reported, the volume of freight transportation by rail in Ukraine decreased from 180 billion t*km in 2021 to 113 billion t*km in 2024, and transportation by the company’s railcars decreased from 1,206,000 to 727,000. This year, these figures are expected to decrease to 106 billion t*km and 481 thousand, respectively.
These conditions led to a decrease in the volume of car repairs from 31,750 in 2021 (of which 20,150 were Ukrzaliznytsia cars) to 24,230 in 2024 (12,480), and this year a further reduction to 14,040 (3,960) is expected.
The total volume of German exports, adjusted for calendar and seasonal factors, fell by 0.6% in July compared to the previous month, to €130.2 billion, according to a report by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis). Imports decreased by 0.1% to €115.4 billion.
Year-on-year, exports grew by 1.4% and imports by 4.3%.
Exports to the US in July fell by 7.9% compared to June, to their lowest level since December 2021. This is the fourth consecutive month of decline. Shipments to China fell by 7.3%, and to the UK by 3.1%. Exports to European Union countries increased by 2.5%, while exports to Russia fell by 12.4% (to €526.5 million, a drop of 19.8% compared to July 2024).
Imports from EU countries rose by 1.1% last month, and from the UK by 7.8%. Supplies from China fell by 2.4%, from the US by 10%, and from Russia by 43.9% (to €80.7 million, a drop of 40.3% compared to a year earlier).
In January-July, exports from Germany to Russia fell by 6.8% compared to the same period last year, while imports fell by 37.4%.
Germany’s foreign trade surplus fell to €14.7 billion in July from €15.4 billion in June. A year earlier, the surplus was €17.7 billion.
Source: http://relocation.com.ua/nimechchyna-v-lypni-skorotyla-eksport-do-ssha/
Ukraine exported 580,000 tons of sugar during the 2024-2025 marketing year (August-September), which is 32% of the country’s production, which is 16% less than in the previous marketing year, when 692,000 tons were supplied to foreign markets, according to the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine “Ukrtsukor.”
The industry association noted that of the total exports in 2024/2025, 17% went to EU countries and 83% to the global market. Last season, the ratio was 77% to the EU and 23% to the global market.
The main importers of Ukrainian sugar in 2024/2025 MY were the EU (17%), Turkey (14%), Libya (10%), North Macedonia (8%), Lebanon (5%), and Somalia (5%). Among the EU countries, the main buyer of Ukrainian sugar was Bulgaria, which accounted for 59% of the total volume.
Ukrtsukor noted that Ukraine has already begun harvesting sugar beets for processing in the 2025/2026 season. The estimated area to be harvested is 198,000 hectares. Sugar production is forecast at 1.5 million tons.
Consulting firm Deloitte has released the 14th edition of its Property Index 2025 report on European housing markets. The study covers 28 countries. Ukraine was not included in this study.
The highest average mortgage rates are in Hungary (9.35%), Poland (7.67%), and Romania (6.89%). Deloitte
The lowest are in Bulgaria (2.83%), Croatia (2.86%), and Turkey (3.01%).
The average rate in Europe is 4.36%, which is slightly lower than last year and reflects the gradual easing of monetary policy in a number of countries.
Deloitte notes that against the backdrop of a “bottleneck” with new projects and sustained demand, the rental segment is strengthening (rates are rising not only in capital cities but also in regional centers). At the same time, high rates and regulatory lags in permits continue to put pressure on property affordability, especially in large agglomerations.
Deloitte Property Index 2025 — a comparative study of European housing markets: prices for new buildings, affordability (in years of gross salary for a 70 m² apartment), rental dynamics, and mortgage rates. Key findings and figures are available on the Deloitte Property Index 2025 report page.
Ceramic brick manufacturer Rozdilsky Ceramic Plant (Rozdil, Lviv region) reduced its net profit by 17% compared to the previous year to UAH 5.39 million in 2024.
According to the company’s annual report, published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), its net income increased by 21.6% and reached UAH 99.7 million.
The PJSC’s undistributed profit at the end of 2024 amounted to UAH 4 million. The company’s current liabilities increased by 14.9% compared to 2023, to UAH 318.8 million, while there are no long-term liabilities. The value of assets at the end of 2024 grew by 15.4% and amounted to UAH 350.9 million.
As noted in the report, in 2024, Rozdilsky Ceramic Plant produced 14.2 thousand units of various types of bricks. At the same time, due to a decrease in brick consumption in the domestic market, rising energy prices, and power outages, the company only produced products for six months.
The total volume of the company’s exports last year amounted to UAH 23.8 million, or 18.53% of the company’s total sales. The plant supplied products to Romania and Moldova.
It is noted that the company does not plan to make significant investments in 2025 due to a shortage of funds and the high cost of credit resources.
Rozdilsky Ceramic Plant PJSC was registered in 2005. The company produces clinker and facing bricks under the Euroton trademark.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, as of the first quarter of 2025, 99.9% of the company’s shares are owned by Promquet Holdings Limited of Cyprus. According to Opendatabot, the ultimate beneficiaries are the co-owners of the Kontinium group, Sofia and Roman Yeremeyev, Stepan Ivakhiv, and Serhiy Lagur.
China’s foreign exchange reserves, the world’s largest, increased by $29.9 billion (0.9%) in August compared to the previous month and amounted to $3.322 trillion, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement. That’s the most since December 2015.
The yuan appreciated 0.9% against the U.S. currency last month. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell 2.2% against a basket of major world currencies.
Gold reserves stood at 74.02 million ounces at the end of August, up from 73.96 million ounces a month earlier. The Chinese Central Bank bought precious metal for the tenth month in a row. In value terms, gold reserves reached $253.84 billion against $243.99 billion at the end of July.
The Chinese economy continues to maintain stable growth, showing resilience and vitality, which helps to keep the country’s foreign exchange reserves at a stable level, said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Control of the People’s Republic of China.
