Since the start of 2026, 135 people have died in water-related incidents in Ukraine, while 74 were rescued, according to Viktor Vitovetsky, director of the Department of Civil Protection and Preventive Activities at the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
“Since the beginning of the year—that is, over the past four months—135 people have died. These are deaths that occurred in bodies of water. Unfortunately, 10 of them were children. Although this is a lower percentage than during the same period last year, you know, that is little consolation, because it is very difficult to measure a life using any kind of statistics,” Vitovetsky said, noting that 44% fewer people died in the water in 2026 than during the same period last year.
In addition, Vitovetsky reported that 74 people were rescued, including 23 children.
According to preliminary data, Ukraine’s international reserves decreased by $3.79 billion, or 7.3%, in April and stood at $48.22 billion as of May 1, 2026, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on Thursday.
“This trend was driven by the fact that the National Bank’s foreign exchange interventions and the country’s foreign currency debt payments exceeded proceeds from the placement of foreign currency government bonds and from international partners,” the regulator noted on its website.
According to the published data, net international reserves in April decreased by $3.71 billion, or 10.0%, compared to March, to $33.47 billion.
It is noted that the share of U.S. dollar-denominated assets in international reserves as of April 1, 2026, rose to 71.0% from 70.4% at the beginning of March, while the share of euro-denominated assets fell to 19.4% from 20.3%. A year ago, the share of dollar-denominated assets in reserves was 82.9%, and that of euro-denominated assets was 10.0%.
The share of gold in international reserves as of early May was 8.3%, compared to 7.7% a month earlier and 6.2% a year earlier.
As of May 1, 2026, securities accounted for 59.5% of the international reserves, cash, funds in correspondent accounts, and deposits for 32.2%, and monetary gold for 8.3%, while a month earlier these shares stood at 55.4%, 36.8%, and 7.7%, respectively, and a year ago at 60.0%, 33.7%, and 6.2%.
As noted in the report, $377.9 million was received in the government’s foreign currency accounts at the National Bank in April, including $339.4 million from the placement of foreign currency government bonds and $38.5 million through World Bank accounts.
In addition, Ukraine received a $1.01 billion loan under an agreement with the United Kingdom within the framework of the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) mechanism; however, these funds were not credited to Ukraine’s international reserves due to their restricted purpose.
At the same time, the Ukrainian government paid $716.6 million for servicing and repaying foreign-currency government debt, including $433.7 million for servicing and repaying foreign-currency government bonds, $186.7 million for servicing and repaying debt to the World Bank, $73.4 million for servicing and repaying debt to the EU, and $22.8 million for debt to other creditors.
In addition, Ukraine paid $255.3 million to the International Monetary Fund.
On Ukraine’s foreign exchange market, the National Bank sold nearly $3.58 billion in April, which is $1.18 billion less than in March.
The revaluation of financial instruments in April increased the value of reserves by $378.0 million.
“The current level of international reserves provides financing for 4.9 months of future imports,” the National Bank added.
As reported in the regulator’s April macroeconomic forecast, the forecast for international reserves in 2026 remained virtually unchanged—$64.8 billion versus $65.0 billion in the January forecast.
At the same time, for 2027, the National Bank lowered its forecast for reserves to $66.5 billion from $72.9 billion, which is $6.4 billion, or 8.8%, less than the January estimate, and for 2028—to $61.1 billion from $70.6 billion, which is $9.5 billion, or 13.5%, less.
At a meeting on May 5, shareholders of VUSO Insurance Company (Kyiv) decided to allocate UAH 20.013 million from the remaining net retained earnings for 2024, which total UAH 98.811 million, for dividend payments.
As the company reported in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), the remaining portion of retained earnings for 2024, amounting to UAH 78.799 million, will remain undistributed.
It is noted that dividends will be paid at a rate of UAH 0.73 per share. Dividends will be paid in full directly to shareholders in accordance with the procedure established by law within six months from the date of the relevant resolution by the general meeting of shareholders.
VUSO Insurance Company was founded in 2001. It is a member of the Motor Transport Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) and the Ukrainian Insurance Federation (UIF), a participant in the Direct Loss Settlement Agreement, and a member of the Nuclear Insurance Pool.
In 2024, the company collected UAH 3.462 billion in gross premiums, which is 29.3% more than in 2023; the company’s net premiums grew by 25.55% to UAH 3.105 billion, and net earned premiums by 15.83% to UAH 2.737 billion. It paid out UAH 1.414 billion to clients, which is 45.40% higher than the volume of insurance payments and reimbursements for 2023.
As of January 1, 2025, the insurer’s assets grew by 25.76% to UAH 1.917 billion, equity by 22.45% to UAH 755.839 million, liabilities increased by 28.01% to UAH 1.161 billion, and cash and cash equivalents by 36.09% to UAH 758.730 million.
The average price of a single-family home in the U.S. resale market exceeded $400,000 in the first quarter of 2026, despite weak demand and reduced mortgage availability, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
According to NAR, the median price of an existing single-family home in the U.S. rose by 0.5% year-over-year to $404,300. Price increases were recorded in 71% of urban markets, or in 167 of the 235 metropolitan areas tracked. At the same time, the pace of price increases has slowed: in the fourth quarter of 2025, annual growth stood at 1.2%.
Regional trends remain mixed. In the Northeast, the median price reached $506,500, up 4.9% over the year. In the Midwest, homes cost an average of $308,100, with a 3.6% increase. In the South, prices remained virtually unchanged at $362,300, while in the West, the most expensive region, they fell by 2.9% to $607,600.
The rise in single-family home prices is occurring against a backdrop of weak buyer activity. According to NAR, existing home sales in March 2026 fell by 3.6% from the previous month, with declines recorded in all regions. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun noted that the market remains sluggish due to declining consumer confidence and weaker job growth.
High mortgage rates remain one of the main constraints on demand. Even with slowing price growth, buying a home is becoming less affordable for many American families: monthly mortgage payments remain high, and sellers are in no hurry to lower prices due to limited supply of quality housing.
The new-home market, however, looks softer. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the median price of a new home sold in March 2026 was $387,400, down 6.2% year-over-year. This is due to a high inventory of new homes on the market and developers’ efforts to stimulate demand.
JSC Ukrnafta and the Finnish company Wärtsilä signed a framework agreement on the supply of complete equipment for gas piston power plants during a meeting between Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and the Ukrainian side, announced First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.
“Together with the Finnish-Ukrainian Investment Facility (FUIF) and JSC Ukrnafta, we are implementing a phased program to deploy distributed gas piston power generation,” he wrote on Telegram.
According to Shmyhal, as part of the first phase, an EUR 80 million loan from the EBRD has already been secured, a loan agreement has been signed, a state guarantee has been confirmed, and procurement is underway in accordance with EBRD procedures.
For the subsequent phases, Ukraine plans to use FUIF funding to scale up the program, specifically by installing gas piston power plants based on Wärtsilä equipment.
The First Deputy Prime Minister added that all relevant projects are aimed at promptly strengthening the energy security of the regions, balancing Ukraine’s integrated power grid, and securing critical infrastructure.
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, has been granted the right to officially sell Starlink services in Ukraine to support Ukrainian businesses, according to a company statement.
The agreement allows for the official supply of Starlink high-speed internet kits and services to large corporations, medium-sized businesses, and manufacturing enterprises.
Starlink will also be available to the country’s public institutions, including schools, universities, hospitals, clinics, and other facilities.
“This enhances the resilience and efficiency of Ukrainian companies. In addition, we plan to develop joint offerings that will combine Starlink services with Kyivstar’s core telecom services, creating comprehensive solutions for businesses with high reliability and support,” Kyivstar’s Director of New Business Development, Ilya Polshakov, is quoted as saying in the release.
Customers will be able to obtain all necessary financial documents from the mobile operator as an authorized Starlink distributor in Ukraine and pay for all transactions in hryvnia.
Starlink is a global satellite network with thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit that provides broadband internet access. The service delivers high-speed internet to remote regions and locations requiring additional connectivity options.
In November 2025, Kyivstar launched free messaging using Starlink Direct to Cell (D2C) technology, which is already used by nearly 5 million customers out of a total subscriber base of 22.4 million. This year, Kyivstar plans to expand the service to other messaging apps and real-time multimedia sharing.
As of the end of 2025, Kyivstar served 22.4 million mobile subscribers and 1.2 million “Home Internet” subscribers. In 2025, the company increased its EBITDA by 30% to UAH 27 billion, with revenue growing by 30.3% to UAH 48.2 billion; including a 23.1% increase in EBITDA in the fourth quarter of last year—to UAH 7.2 billion—on the back of a 30.1% rise in revenue—to UAH 13.5 billion.
