US Vice President J.D. Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold a bilateral meeting during the Munich Security Conference, which starts on February 14, CBS News reports. According to the outlet, Zelenskyy will lead the Ukrainian delegation to the annual Munich Security Conference, which will run from February 14 to 16 in Germany.
During the event, Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with US Vice President Vance, who will also attend the conference.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will lead the Ukrainian delegation to the Munich Security Conference next week, where the Ukrainian side will present the country’s position on ending the war and its vision of how to achieve “a lasting and durable peace,” said the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said he would take part in a security conference in Munich to talk about ending the Russian-Ukrainian war.
It is expected that Trump’s special envoy will also visit Kyiv after the Munich Security Conference, around the end of February.
The Munich Security Conference will take place on February 14-16.
Zaporizhzhia Iron and Steel Works “Zaporizhstal” saved $590 thousand in 2024 due to innovations in the cold rolling mill (CRM).
According to the company, the shop’s specialists not only have the knowledge to improve the mechanical properties of metal, but also to increase the efficiency of the production process itself.
“For example, in 2024 alone, the professionals of the CPP implemented solutions that brought $590 thousand in savings. This is a significant contribution to the joint work to improve competitiveness,” the company says.
In addition, a team of initiative rollers used a new approach to the production of 2.3-2.5 mm thick plates as part of the Proposal Submission System (PSS). Now, the metal first goes through all the processing stages in the form of a coil, and only then is it cut into sheets and prepared for shipment to consumers, which significantly reduces the amount of scrap.
“Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine, whose products are in great demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
“Zaporizhstal is in the process of integration into Metinvest Group, whose major shareholders are System Capital Management PrJSC (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%).
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In 2025, Agro-Region will return to traditional crop rotation, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
“Returning to traditional crop rotation will allow the company to use resources more efficiently, ensuring stability and increased yields,” said Ivan Andriychuk, director of the agroholding’s Kyiv cluster.
According to him, Agro-Region has already allocated 1.5 thou hectares for winter wheat, which is 14.6% of the total production area and is 11% less than in 2024. The area under soybeans has been reduced by one third – 1.4 thou hectares (13.7%) and halved under sunflower – 1.8 thou hectares (17.6%). At the same time, the area under winter rapeseed increased by 15% to 1.1 thou hectares (10.7%) and corn doubled to 4.6 thou hectares (43.4%).
Mr. Andriychuk explained that the company responds promptly to changes in agricultural prices, military risks and staff shortages, which also affect crop rotation adjustments.
“These factors help us to remain adaptable and ensure stable operations in the face of global challenges,” he summarized.
Agro-Region owns a land bank of 39 thousand hectares in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytsky regions. It specializes in crop production. It consists of 11 companies organized into four crop production clusters. It has two elevators: Boryspil with a capacity of 73 thousand tons and Myropil with a capacity of 52 thousand tons.
Agro-Region’s annual harvest of grains and oilseeds is up to 200 thousand tons.
In April 2021, the Swedish company Lobiu Sala AB, owned by the former Minister of Economy of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavičius, received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to buy the Swedish Agro Region Stockholm Holding, which manages the Agro-Region group of companies in Ukraine.
The State Fund for Youth Housing Construction (Derzhmolodzhytlo) has provided housing for 2,240 families during the period of housing programs for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and plans to solve the housing issue of about 1,400 more families in 2025, the press service of Derzhmolodzhytlo told Interfax-Ukraine.
“In total, as of February 6, 2025 (and since 2017, when IDPs appeared as a separate category in state and local housing programs – IF-U), the State Youth Housing Agency has provided housing for 2,240 IDP families. In particular, 996 IDP families received a loan program funded by a grant from the German government through KfW Development Bank for a total of UAH 1.627 billion,” said Mykola Marchuk, Chairman of the Board of the State Agency for Housing and Urban Development.
In addition, 890 IDP families received loans under the program of providing citizens with affordable housing at the expense of the state budget, which was financed in 2017-2019. Another 138 families received government loans for IDPs and ATO (JFO) participants to purchase housing. Active lending took place in 2019. Today, new loans are provided through the repayment of previously issued loans. In addition, 110 families received loans through local targeted programs, and 106 families received loans at the expense of the authorized capital of the State Agency for Housing and Urban Development.
According to the agency, the active request is many times higher than the assistance provided. In particular, only for the program of providing soft loans at the expense of grant funds from the German government through KfW (CMU Resolution No. 451 of April 28, 2021), 30.5 thousand candidates were registered as of January 1, 2025, and as of February 1, 34.4 thousand candidates were registered in the register.
The grant program provides for the most favorable conditions for IDPs in Ukraine: a minimum down payment of 6%, a fixed loan rate of 3%, and a loan term of up to 30 years or until the borrower reaches retirement age. The loan object may be housing on the secondary market not older than 50 years from the date of commissioning. A family of one or two people can buy a 52.5-square-meter home and an additional 21.5 square meters for each additional family member.
As part of the grant agreement, the German government provided Ukraine with EUR 42.5 million in two tranches (EUR 25.5 million and EUR 17 million) on a non-refundable basis. Under this program, the State Agency for Youth and Housing has already selected 20 participants. In the coming days, the agency will issue the 1000th loan under this program.
“For 2025, the State Budget envisages an increase in the authorized capital of the State Agency for Housing and Urban Development by UAH 24 million. We also expect UAH 75 million to be repaid by borrowers from previously issued loans. And we expect that programs funded by local governments will be financed at the level of UAH 240 million this year. We will use these funds to meet the housing needs of young people and partially to lend to IDPs and combatants. We are working to preserve and continue the joint project with Germany,” Marchuk said.
He reminded that on January 31, 2025, the Council of Europe Development Bank (EBRD) decided to allocate a loan of EUR 50 million for a mortgage program for Ukrainian IDPs through the State Agency for Youth and Housing.
“Thanks to the EBRD funding, a new stage of the IDP program will be launched in the near future on terms completely similar to those of the program with KfW. According to estimates, EBRD funding will allow about 1.1 thousand IDP families to purchase housing this year, and state and local programs will help about 300 more,” Marchuk said.
In January 2025, Ukraine exported 8.1 thousand tons of dairy products, which is 12% more than in December 2024, and 23% more than in January 2024, the Association of Milk Producers (AMP) reported, citing data from the State Statistics Service.
The industry association noted that the main export categories were milk and cream, condensed – 29%, milk and cream, not condensed – 21%, whey – 18% and cheeses – 12%.
In January 2025, compared to December 2024, Ukraine increased natural exports of butter to 749 tons (+71%), ice cream to 490 tons (+37%), condensed milk and cream to 2.33 thousand tons (+16%), whey to 1.44 thousand tons (+12%), butter to 422 tons (+10%) and cheese to 935 tons (+9%). However, over the past month, Ukrainian exporters have reduced shipments of milk and cream, not condensed to 1.72 thousand tons (-9%) and did not supply casein to foreign markets.
The AMP noted that January exports in 2025 increased compared to January 2024 for the following products: butter (+198%), ice cream (+77%), whey (+55%), cheeses (+52%), butter (+42%), and condensed milk and cream (+38%). Ukrainian exporters shipped milk and cream, not condensed, by 32% less than last year.
AVM analyst Giorgi Kukhaleshvili suggested that Ukrainian companies stepped up export activity in January 2025, taking advantage of high prices for commodities in the world. In particular, the European market was in demand for large wholesale quantities of butter. Consequently, demand for butter, cheese, and milk powder increased in January on export markets, likely due to preparations for the Chinese New Year and Ramadan.
At the same time, in January 2025, Ukraine imported 5.02 thousand tons of dairy products, which is 34% less than in December and 6% less than in January 2024. Compared to December 2024, Ukraine increased imports of whey to 628 tons (+17%), butter to 615 tons (+165%) and ice cream to 51 tons (+53%), the AMP summarized.
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has reminded that as of January 1 of the reporting year 2025, an updated list of states (territories) for transfer pricing purposes came into force.
The Ministry notes that this is provided for by Law No. 3813-IX, adopted on June 18, 2024, on the peculiarities of tax administration during martial law for taxpayers with a high level of voluntary compliance with tax legislation. The list itself was approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 1505 of December 27, 2024.
It is noted that when determining the list of states for transfer pricing purposes, the Government of Ukraine takes into account the following criteria states (territories) included in the list of offshore zones approved by the Cabinet of Ministers; states (territories) included in the list of states (jurisdictions) that do not implement or improperly implement the FATF recommendations; states (territories) whose competent authorities, based on the results of two consecutive reporting (tax) periods (years), do not ensure timely and complete exchange of information on tax policy with taxpayers, as well as do not exchange data on tax risks.
The Ministry of Finance believes that these changes are important for Ukrainian business, as they relate to the effective management of transfer pricing risks to ensure the financial stability of companies.
As reported, the updated list of states (territories) contains 46 states (territories) instead of 78. The list includes countries from the list of offshore zones approved by the government and the FATF blacklist. FATF, as well as states (territories) that do not ensure timely and complete exchange of tax and financial information.
We are talking about 9 states and territories: American Samoa, Guam, the DPRK, Myanmar, Namibia, the Netherlands Antilles, Alderney, Trinidad and Tobago, and Fiji.
According to the resolution, 41 countries or territories were removed from the list, including: Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cape Verde, China Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (EU), Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ireland, the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands of the Kingdom of Spain, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija of the Republic of Serbia, Cuba, Curacao, Laos, Lebanon, Mauritius, and Qatar.
The list also includes the Macao Special Administrative Region of China, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Federated Territory of Labuan Malaysia, Morocco, Martinique, and the Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Montenegro, Oman, Paraguay, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Autonomous Region of Madeira of the Portuguese Republic, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Source: http://relocation.com.ua/ministry-of-finance-updated/
