The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has lowered its forecast for Ukraine’s grain production by 13% and exports by 26% due to the country’s depleted stocks.
According to the February forecast, the country’s ending grain stocks in the 2024-2025 marketing year (MY, July-June) are estimated at 1.8 million tons, up 19% from last year, but significantly lower than before the large-scale invasion in February 2022.
The EU will remain an important destination for Ukraine given its liberalized trade policy and geographical proximity. At the same time, Ukrainian exporters continue to regain their traditional markets, made possible by the efficient operation of the Black Sea ports, the report says.
According to the USDA, the wheat harvest in 2024/25 MY in Ukraine will amount to 22.9 mln tons, which is the same as last year, but its exports will decrease by 19% to 15 mln tons. The barley harvest will be 3% lower than in the season-2023/24, and is estimated at 5.9 million tons, while exports will amount to 2.6 million tons. The forecast for rye production was lowered by 18% to 190 thousand tons.
Rye has become a niche crop for Ukrainian farmers, so its production and exports can vary significantly from year to year, the USDA said.
The USDA forecasts the largest reduction in corn, the production of which will decrease by 24% compared to 2023/24 MY – to 24.6 mln tons, while exports will fall by 33% – to 19.6 mln tons. The ending stocks of the grain are forecasted at 722 thsd tonnes, up slightly from the previous year, but significantly lower than the 2.8 mln tonnes that were in reserve at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Initial registrations of new and used buses (including minibuses) in Ukraine in January 2025 increased by 37% compared to the first month of 2024 – up to 233 units, Ukravtoprom reported on its Telegram channel.
Compared to December last year, when a record number of buses was registered for the month, demand for them in January 2025 decreased by 29.4%.
According to the association, the share of new vehicles in this volume was 64% (last year it was 70%).
Most often among the new buses in January, domestic vehicles were registered for the first time – Ataman buses from Cherkasy Bus – 36 units, Etalon buses from Chernihiv Automobile Plant – 34 units, and ZAZ buses from Zaporizhzhia – 27 units.
The most frequently registered used buses were Mercedes-Benz – 25 units; VDL – 15 units and VW – 11 units.
As reported with reference to Ukravtoprom data, in 2024, the initial registrations of new and used buses decreased by 19% compared to 2023 – to 2,241 thousand units, in particular, new buses by 24% – to 1,296 thousand, used buses – by 12%, to 945 units.
From February 25 to 27, 2025, the fourth international specialized exhibition “AGROPRO EXPO 2025” will be held at the International Exhibition Complex “SOF EXPO Samarkand”, located in the heart of the Central Asian region – the city of Samarkand.
“AGROPRO EXPO 2025” is an agricultural exhibition with a wide range of expositions, which will feature
For three days, leading companies from Europe and Asia will present advanced projects in the agricultural sector.
The exhibition will feature products from both local and global manufacturers and brands, including the full range of equipment for working on the land – combines, tractors, forage harvesting equipment, fertilizer equipment, and others. The event will also be attended by representatives of banks and lessors to provide a comprehensive solution to the problems of entrepreneurs.
For more details and to participate in the exhibition, please follow the link.
As of December 31, 2024, 4 million 260.08 thousand non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, had temporary protection status in the EU, which is 25.59 thousand, or 0.6%, more than a month earlier, Eurostat reports.
“The largest absolute increase in the number of beneficiaries was observed in Germany (+8830; +0.8%), Poland (+3705; +0.4%) and the Czech Republic (+3435; +0.9%),” the agency said.
It is noted that the number of people under temporary protection in December decreased only in Denmark (-1,995; -5.1%), Italy (-1,310; -0.8%) and France (-595; -1.0%).
According to Eurostat, Germany remains the country with the largest number of refugees from Ukraine in the EU and the world by a growing margin – 1 million 161.45 thousand by the end of 2024, or 27.3% of the total number of beneficiaries in the EU.
The top three also includes Poland – 991.63 thousand, or 23.3%, and the Czech Republic – 388.63 thousand, or 9.1%.
Spain (226.62 thousand), Romania (179.72 thousand), and Italy (163.10 thousand) follow with a significant lag.
According to Eurostat, in general, in 2024, the number of migrants from Ukraine with temporary protection status decreased by 52.14 thousand people, but at the end of 2023, the data from Switzerland, where 68.05 thousand such citizens are currently staying, was not taken into account.
In Germany, in 2024, the number of refugees from Ukraine with temporary protection status decreased by 89.80 thousand due to the data update at the end of 2023, while in Poland it increased by 36.84 thousand, in the Czech Republic – by 15.59 thousand, in Spain – by 31.70 thousand, in Romania – by 33.87 thousand, and in Italy – by 1.73 thousand.
In recent months, Eurostat has also clarified that the data for Spain, Greece, and Cyprus take into account some people whose temporary protection status is no longer valid.
According to the agency, compared to the population of each EU member state, the largest number of temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people at the end of 2024 was observed in the Czech Republic (35.7), Poland (27.1) and Estonia (25.8), while the corresponding figure at the EU level is 9.5.
It is also worth noting that at the end of 2024, Ukrainian citizens accounted for more than 98.3% of temporary protection beneficiaries. Adult women accounted for almost half (44.8%) of temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU, children for almost a third (31.9%), while adult men accounted for less than a quarter (23.2%) of the total. A year earlier, the share of women was 46.2%, children 33.2% and adult men 20.6%.
More than 100 thousand people with temporary protection status at the end of 2024 were also in Slovakia – 131.53 thousand, the Netherlands – 121.30 thousand and Ireland – 109.99 thousand.
Between 50 thousand and 100 thousand of them were in Belgium – 87.24 thousand, Austria – 85.56 thousand, Norway – 78.77 thousand, Finland – 69.39 thousand, Bulgaria – 68.94 thousand, Switzerland – 68.05 thousand, Portugal – 65.29 thousand and France – 58.53 thousand (data on children are mostly not included – Eurostat).
This is followed by Lithuania – 48.25 thousand, Latvia – 48.09 thousand, Sweden – 46.41 thousand, Hungary – 39.17 thousand, Denmark – 36.92 thousand, Greece – 32.537 thousand, Estonia – 35.44 thousand, Croatia – 25.95 thousand, Cyprus – 22.16 thousand, Iceland – 4.2, 22 thousand and Liechtenstein – 0.70 thousand.
Eurostat clarified that all data relate to the granting of temporary protection on the basis of EU Council Decision 2022/382 of March 4, 2022, which establishes the existence of a massive influx of displaced persons from Ukraine due to Russia’s military invasion and entails the introduction of temporary protection. On June 25, 2024, the European Council decided to extend temporary protection for these persons from March 4, 2025 to March 4, 2026.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of January 16, 2025, was estimated at 6.303 million, and in the world at 6.863 million, which is 49 thousand more than as of December 16.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data, there are 3.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), approximately 160,000 people displaced from the frontline areas in the east and south between May and October 2024 due to the intensification of hostilities.
As Deputy Economy Minister Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March 2023, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP. In its January inflation report, the National Bank estimated the outflow from Ukraine in 2024 at 0.5 million (0.315 million according to the State Border Guard Service). The NBU also maintained its 2025 outflow forecast at 0.2 million.
Source: http://relocation.com.ua/the-number-of-refugees-from-ukraine-in-eu-es/
Metinvest Group’s Kametstal plant, which was built at the facilities of Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (Kamianske, Dnipro region), increased its tax and fee payments by 30% in 2024 compared to 2023, to almost UAH 2.815 billion.
According to a press release, the plant has remained a steady support for Ukraine’s economy for the third consecutive year of war, despite all the objective difficulties.
“Almost UAH 639 million, which is 34 million more than in 2023, was received by the budget of the city of Kamianske. The regional and state budgets received almost UAH 2.176 billion,” the company says.
It is specified that the largest contributions to the budgets of different levels are the unified social tax – almost UAH 457 million (+14% by 2023), land payments to the local budget increased by UAH 21.5 million compared to 2023 and amounted to more than UAH 386 million (+6% by 2023). The personal income tax is also significant – almost UAH 394 million (+12% by 2023), and the military fee amounted to UAH 37 million (+28% by 2023).
Environmental tax increased by 17.5% compared to 2023, to UAH 181 million.
Yevgeniya Zamiashvili, CFO of the plant, noted that Kametstal, along with all the company’s enterprises, works for the country’s economy, remaining a stable producer of demanded steel products and a responsible taxpayer in the most difficult times.
“As a key enterprise in the city, we remain the largest donor to the city budget. The company’s responsible deduction of funds in full means supporting stable salary payments to employees of the city’s utilities, ensuring the operation of medical facilities and the most important city programs,” said the CFO.
The press service reminds that in 2024, Metinvest Group, including its associates and joint ventures, increased the payment of taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine by 36% compared to 2023, up to UAH 19.8 billion.
As reported earlier, in 2023, KAMETSTAL increased its payment of taxes and duties by 34.8% compared to 2022, to UAH 2.154 billion. “In 2022, KAMETSTAL paid UAH 1.598 billion in taxes and fees, which is higher than in 2021.
“Kametstal was created on the basis of PJSC Dnipro Coke Plant (DKKhZ) and CMC of PJSC Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMK).
According to the 2020 report of Metinvest Group’s parent company, Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) owned 100% of the shares in DCCP.
In January-September 2024, PJSC Interpipe Nizhnedniprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant (Interpipe NTZ, Dnipro) reduced its consolidated net profit by 57.6% compared to the same period in 2023, to UAH 501.810 million from UAH 1 billion 183.320 million.
According to the interim report on consolidated financial results for the first nine months of the year, which was reviewed by Interfax-Ukraine, the company reduced its net income by 28.3% to UAH 6 billion 229.471 million.
Retained consolidated earnings as of the end of September 2024 amounted to UAH 4 billion 455.675 million.
As reported, in January-September 2023, Interpipe NTZ received a consolidated net profit of UAH 1 billion 183.320 million, while it ended the same period in 2022 with a net loss of UAH 1 billion 933.986 million.
The company ended 2023 with a consolidated net profit of UAH 748.896 million against a loss of UAH 1 billion 233.944 million in 2022.
“Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial company, a manufacturer of seamless pipes and railway wheels. Interpipe employs about 9 thousand people.
The company has five industrial assets: “Interpipe Nizhnedneprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant (NTZ), Interpipe Novomoskovsky Pipe Rolling Plant (NMPP), Interpipe Niko Tube, Dnipropetrovs’k Vtormet and Dnipro Steel, an electric steelmaking complex under the Interpipe Steel brand.
The ultimate owner of Interpipe Limited is Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk and his family members.
“Interpipe manufactures longitudinal welded pipes with diameters ranging from 152 to 530 mm. Its production capacity exceeds 850 thousand tons.
According to the third quarter of 2024, Interpipe Ukraine LLC owns 12.0902% of its shares, KLW Limited (Cyprus) – 60.8197% and Interpipe Limited (Cyprus) – 21.8405%.
The authorized capital of PJSC Interpipe NTZ is UAH 100 million, with a share price of UAH 0.25.
