Ukraine has more than UAH 126 billion in its treasury account as of March 3, as well as $40.3 billion in foreign exchange reserves, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“The treasury account includes foreign currency funds. In fact, the budget execution for the first two months is more than UAH 2 billion plus, that is, we are filling our budget for both January and February, and both customs and tax authorities have fulfilled the plan,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Shmyhal clarified that he reported this information on the sufficiency of financial resources and the possibility of financing the $38 billion budget deficit in 2025 at the rate of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
He reminded that Ukraine has recently passed the seventh review of the IMF program and will receive a tranche of $0.4 billion, which was reduced from the previously agreed $0.9 billion precisely because of the availability of sufficient resources and the desire to receive this money later.
“All other instruments are actually concentrated around the IMF program: Ukraine Facility from the European Union, under which we will receive EUR 12.5 billion this year. Also, the infrastructure of the $50 billion ERA loan (proceeds from frozen assets of the Russian Federation – IF-U) is actually locked around this program: Europe will give us EUR18 billion in the form of a macrofinance this year,” the Prime Minister said.
He added that the agreement signed with the participation of the President on March 1 with the United Kingdom will bring in more than $3 billion.
“We also have Japan and Canada ahead of us with their contributions to the ERA program. We are also working with the World Bank, the EBRD, other financial partners, and other countries. These are the Nordics, the Baltic countries, European countries, which also make smaller contributions, but we will receive from 100 to 300 to 500 million euros from other partners this year. All of this adds up to the budget deficit we have,” Shmyhal explained.
Over the past five years, Ukraine has gained access to 91 new markets, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Serhiy Tkachuk, said during a public report on the results of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in 2024.
He noted that in 2020, there was a certain decline in the pace of opening new markets for Ukrainian agricultural products. Thus, since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Ukrainian agricultural products have been able to enter only 13 new markets, while in 2019 this figure was 32 new markets.
Among the negative factors affecting the expansion of the geography of agricultural sales, he also mentioned the war, which at the same time allowed the launch of a new type of product quality control system – online audits. However, not all countries agree to use them, in particular, Moldova does not agree to work on this principle.
Tkachuk emphasized that the government planned to open 14 new markets in 2024, but was lucky to increase this figure to 16 new markets. These include access for Ukrainian honey to the Chinese market, poultry to Bahrain, egg products to Canada, and flour and feed to Israel.
“In general, Ukraine currently has the right to export agricultural products to 364 trade destinations,” added the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
He said that in 2025, Ukraine hopes to open the Chinese market for Ukrainian peas and wild-caught aquatic products, pet food, poultry and flour. The Ukrainian government is also negotiating to open the UK market for Ukrainian beef.
The vacancy rate in the capital’s shopping centers amounted to 13.1% in 2024, down from 16.3% in 2023, with rents approaching pre-war levels, the press service of the Ukrainian Trade Guild (UTG) reports.
The highest vacancy rate in 2024 was characteristic of the regional (15.1%) and district (15.2%) formats and was concentrated mainly in four facilities: Blockbuster Mall, Marmalade, Promenada Center and Art Mall.
According to UTG experts, typical rental rates in Ukrainian shopping centers are gradually approaching pre-war levels. In December 2024, the average rental rates for shopping gallery stores with an area of 50-200 sq m amounted to $22.1/sq m. In December 2021, they were $22.8 per square meter, in 2022 they fell to $18.7, and slightly increased to $19.1 in 2023.
In December 2024, fixed monthly rental rates per square meter, excluding interest on retail turnover, VAT and operating expenses in the capital’s shopping centers amounted to: for kiosks with an area of 1-10 sq. m – from $70 to $250; for restaurants and cafes – $1-15; for children’s entertainment centers – $1-6; for cinemas – $1-4; for clothing department stores with an area of 600-1500 sq m – $1 to $18; for fashion galleries with an area of 100-200 sq m – $1-$32; for electronics supermarkets – $1 to $8; and for grocery supermarkets – $1 to $15.
UTG was founded in 2001. It has developed more than 1.3 thousand real estate concepts. Over the years, the company has leased 4.7 million square meters of commercial space in Ukraine.
Trade between Ukraine and Poland amounted to $11.7 billion in 2024, of which Poland exported almost $7 billion to Ukraine and imported $4.6 billion worth of Ukrainian goods, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval said following the results of the Polish-Ukrainian dialogue.
According to him, the event was attended by representatives of Polish business, including Orlen and Anwil, with whom they discussed cooperation in the field of fertilizers and bioethanol development.
The minister said that Ukraine imports a total of 1.5 million tons of diesel fuel and gasoline from Poland and $354 million worth of mineral fertilizers.
“All these imports make up a large part of Ukrainian agricultural products. For example, to grow a ton of Ukrainian corn, we need to import 75% of the ingredients. That is, the profitability of international companies, including Polish ones, depends on the success of Ukrainian farmers,” the minister wrote on Telegram.
Koval expressed his belief in the importance of a dialogue between Ukrainian and Polish businesses. It should be based on numbers, cold reason, and mutually beneficial cooperation: the better Ukraine’s agricultural sector develops, the more benefits there will be for the Polish side and vice versa.
Kowal called on Polish businesses to invest in Ukraine’s agro-processing industry, which needs to increase the added value of its products.
“We appreciate the friends who were with us when it was hard, and these friends will be with us when it is easy. And it will be easy soon, because the darkest time is before dawn… We just need to endure. That is why he urged us to find common ground. After all, Ukraine is not a threat, Ukraine is a partner for moving forward,” summarized the Minister of Agrarian Policy.
“Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, intends to strategically adjust its crop mix for the 2025 harvest during the spring sowing campaign to align with its more sustainable practices that were maintained before the full-scale war in Ukraine.
According to the quarterly report published on the company’s website on Friday, Kernel plans to allocate about 168 thousand hectares for corn, which is twice as much as in the 2024 season and will account for 49% of its total production area.
At the same time, the agroholding plans to reduce sunflower acreage by 34%, to 44 thou hectares (or 13% of the crop structure). The agricultural holding explained this decision by further optimizing land use and restoring long-term agronomic sustainability.
“In 2025, Kernel will also reduce its soybean acreage to 27 thou hectares, while a year earlier it had 72 thou hectares under soybeans.
“As of the date of the report, winter crops – including 95 thou hectares of winter wheat and 3.45 thou hectares of rapeseed – are in generally good condition, with no significant risks beyond the usual seasonal factors at this stage,” the agricultural holding summarized.
Kernel is the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil, one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. In addition, it is engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
In FY2024, Kernel’s net profit decreased by 44% compared to FY2023 to $167.95 million, while revenue increased by 4% to $3.581 billion and EBITDA decreased by 30% to $381 million.
In 2024, the State Enterprise (SE) Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) increased its revenue by 39% to UAH 5.56 billion, according to the SE’s report.
“In 2024, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority continued to perform its functions in difficult wartime conditions. The company managed to ensure the stable operation of the port infrastructure, which was reflected in its financial performance. Revenues grew by 39% compared to the planned, and net income by 28%,” USPA said in a Facebook post on Monday.
It is reported that the net financial result exceeded expectations by 2.6 times. Cargo turnover amounted to 97.2 million tons.
In 2024, USPA transferred more than UAH 4 billion to the state and local budgets, of which UAH 339 million was allocated to local budgets and UAH 361 million to the single contribution to compulsory state social insurance, the press service of the state-owned enterprise reported.
Earlier it was reported that according to the assessment of the financial condition and stress testing of the largest Ukrainian state-owned enterprises prepared by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, in 2023, USPA’s profitability improved due to an increase in revenues to UAH 4 billion, compared to UAH 3.3 billion in 2022. Against the backdrop of stable port operations, in 2023 it earned a net profit of UAH 850.4 thousand against a loss of UAH 494.2 thousand in the previous year and is projected to be profitable in the five-year perspective.
USPA is responsible for the operation and development of seaport infrastructure, management and safety of navigation. The company is state-owned and belongs to the Ministry of Infrastructure. USPA is financed by port dues, fees for services subject to state regulation, rent and other sources not prohibited by law.
