Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Comfy’s revenue in 2025 grew by 17% to UAH 55.8 bln

Home appliances and electronics retailer Comfy (Comfy Trade LLC) reported an increase in revenue to UAH 55.8 billion at the end of 2025, which is 17% more than in 2024.

According to the company’s press release, the total number of customers in the chain grew by 8% to over 12.4 million. Online sales accounted for 33% of total revenue, while online sales made through the retailer’s app grew to 25%.

It is noted that last year the company continued to invest in an omnichannel customer experience, service personalization, and digital product development. At the end of the year, the NPS customer loyalty index was 65%, and the SCI service satisfaction index reached 95%.

The Black Friday period last year is mentioned separately, as it was one of the most successful in the company’s history. Revenue for the week during which the promotion was running increased by 12% year-on-year, the number of orders grew by 15%, and the average check increased by 5%. At the same time, during Black Friday week, Comfy ranked first in Google search results for home appliances and electronics, the retailer notes.

In 2025, Comfy opened six new stores in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Odesa, Chernivtsi, and Mukachevo, as well as renovated and reformatted three stores, focusing on barrier-free retail spaces and providing areas for online order pickup. By the end of the year, the chain had 115 stores in 56 cities across Ukraine.

It is noted that the company created more than 500 new jobs throughout Ukraine, expanding its staff to 4,640 employees.

During the year, the company paid UAH 2.3 billion in taxes and fees to the state budget.

According to YouControl, Comfy Holdings Limited (100%, Cyprus) is the owner of Comfy Trade LLC, and Stanislav Ronis and Svitlana Hutsul are the ultimate beneficiaries.

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Outflow of medical personnel is one of main reasons for deterioration in availability of medical services, according to study

Ukrainians cite the outflow of medical personnel and the destruction of medical infrastructure by the aggressor as the main reasons for the deterioration in the availability of medical services during the war.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the research company Active Group and the Experts Club analytical center in early February and presented to the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Friday, 48% of respondents noted that they felt a deterioration in medical services during the war.

Among the main problems of medicine in wartime, 60% of respondents cited the outflow of medical personnel, 22.7% cited the destruction of medical infrastructure, and 13.4% cited a shortage of medicines.

“Considering that the deterioration in medical services is due to the fact that medical facilities have either been physically destroyed or doctors have left them, the fact that only 48% of respondents felt a deterioration is not a bad result. The main problems in medicine during the war are the outflow of medical personnel, followed by the destruction of infrastructure, and then the shortage of medicines. In other words, we see that the main problem is the shortage of medical personnel,” said Active Group founder Andrey Eremenko.

The reforms carried out in the medical sector in recent years have contributed to the fact that medicine continues to function, and the fact that people talk about the lack of improvement or deterioration in the quality of medical services, according to the expert, is still “not subject to harsh criticism.”

According to the survey, 7.2% currently rate the state of affairs in the healthcare system as very poor, 18.7% as rather poor, 16.7% as rather good, and 2% as very good. At the same time, 54.6% gave it an average rating.

At the same time, 29.5% of respondents completely trust their family doctor, and 61.9% trust them partially.

When assessing the possibility of obtaining consultations from a family doctor in their region, 88.8% of respondents said that it was very easy or easy to do so, while 21% said it was very difficult or difficult.

Just over 10% of respondents noted that their local hospital has a sufficient supply of medicines and modern equipment, while 45.8% said that there is a partial supply.

At the same time, 40% of respondents noted that consultations with a specialist take up to a week, 28.4% take 1-2 weeks, and 11.5% take more than a month. In 2024-2025, 68% of respondents regularly paid for medical services themselves.

At the same time, 16% of respondents noted that they spend less than 5% of their family budget on medicine, while almost 21% of respondents reported spending more than 20%.

“The study revealed both the positive and painful aspects of the Ukrainian healthcare system. The most painful issue is the brain drain. But it is important to see the strengths as well. I was very pleased that the level of trust in family doctors is very high. So, the foundation for the development of the healthcare system is there, although, in particular due to the war, there are economic barriers and barriers to accessibility,” said Maksim Urakin, founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center.

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Hungary and Serbia will launch high-speed railway line no later than March 27

According to Serbian Economist, Hungary and Serbia have agreed to launch passenger service on the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway line no later than March 27, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Belgrade.

Responding to questions about border procedures, including the introduction of the EES system, Szijjártó said that checks are planned to be kept to a minimum and organized so that they do not significantly affect the speed of transport. According to him, on the Hungarian side, inspectors, police, and customs officers will board the train before the border station, and checks will be carried out jointly with colleagues from the other side while the train is in motion.

The statement was made after the ceremonial signing of four documents during the 15th session of the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation between Serbia and Hungary in the Serbian Chamber. In particular, the parties formalized a package of agreements on expanding cooperation in the nuclear sphere, interaction between chambers of commerce and industry under the Széchenyi program in Serbia, a memorandum on expert support for Serbia’s EU accession negotiations, and the minutes of the joint commission meeting.

Earlier, Serbian authorities reported that joint passport and customs control for passenger trains is planned to be carried out on Hungarian territory at the Kelebia station, and the time required for the procedures is estimated at about 30 minutes; the issue of specific EES requirements falls within the competence of the Hungarian border police.

The Belgrade-Budapest high-speed line is being modernized for speeds of up to 200 km/h and a reduction in travel time to less than three hours; in Serbia, the Belgrade-Novi Sad (2022) and Novi Sad-Subotica (October 2025) sections have already been put into operation. On February 27, it was also reported that freight traffic had started on the line.

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Real wages, level (logarithms)

Real wages, level (logarithms)

Open4Business.com.ua

More than half of Ukrainians have not seen any improvements after healthcare reforms, 64% have encountered unofficial payments — survey

50.5% of Ukrainians said they had not seen any improvements after the medical reforms (in particular, the introduction of the National Health Service), 24.7% reported improvements, and another 24.8% were undecided.

At the same time, 64% of respondents said they had encountered unofficial payments in medical institutions, and 52.2% considered the medical system to be corrupt (another 44.3% considered it to be “partially corrupt”). This is according to the results of a survey conducted by the research company Active Group using the SunFlowerSociology online panel.

Active Group Director Oleksandr Pozniy noted that against the backdrop of more critical assessments of the reform, people often separate their trust in a particular doctor from their trust in the system as a whole.

“We can say that family doctors, especially those who have been specifically and consciously chosen, are trusted. It is quite a common situation when people may not trust the system, but trust a specific doctor they know. At the same time, reform exists when it changes everyday experience, and although some changes have taken place, there is still dissatisfaction with this reform,” he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Friday.

According to the study, Ukrainians most often assess the state of the healthcare system as “average” (54.6%), “rather poor” (18.7%), or “very poor” (7.2%); 2.9% said “very good” and 16.7% said “rather good.”

At the same time, the level of trust in family doctors remains relatively high: 29.5% of respondents said they completely trust them, 61.9% said they partially trust them, and 8.6% said they do not trust them.

The survey also identified problems with access to medical care and resources at the local level. In particular, 23.8% of respondents believe that it is “very easy” to get a consultation with a family doctor, 55.1% say it is “easy,” 18.1% say it is “difficult,” and 2.9% say it is “very difficult.” Only 10.1% responded that their local hospital has “enough” modern equipment and medicines, 45.8% said “somewhat enough,” and 32.4% said “no.”

In addition, according to respondents, the wait time for an appointment with a specialist exceeds one month in 11.5% of cases, lasts 2–4 weeks in 19.8% of cases, 1–2 weeks in 28.4% of cases, and up to one week in 40.2% of cases.

Active Group founder Andriy Yeremenko attributed some of the negative assessments to the scale of direct household expenses.

“In fact, we see that more than 90% pay for treatment in one way or another, although medicine is formally free. If you don’t have insurance, you still pay — either for medicine or for procedures. Therefore, the issue of financial accessibility remains key for most families,” he said.

According to the survey results, in 2024–2025, 68.2% of respondents said they paid for medical services or medicines themselves on a regular basis, 25.1% said they did so occasionally, and 6.7% said they did not pay.

At the same time, 20.9% reported spending more than 20% of their family budget on medicine, another 23.2% spent 11-20%, 39.8% spent 5-10%, and 16.1% spent less than 5%.

Maksym Urakin, PhD in Economics and founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center, commenting on the survey data, said that high proportions of healthcare costs affect not only well-being but also economic stability.

“As an economist, I want to emphasize that medicine is an integral part of a country’s economic stability, and when healthcare costs erode family budgets, it affects consumption and people’s ability to recover. In international monitoring methodology, it is considered catastrophic if a person spends more than 10% of their budget on medicines. And here we see a sign of a serious financial burden,” he stressed.

Separately, participants drew attention to the dynamics of medicine prices and the effectiveness of compensation mechanisms. Thus, 52.3% of respondents said that the prices of medicines they buy regularly had “increased significantly,” 43.9% said they had “increased slightly,” 3.6% said they had “remained unchanged,” and 0.2% said they had “decreased.”

Regarding the state program for reimbursement of the cost of medicines, 13.1% of respondents said they use it, 70.6% said they do not use it, and another 16.3% said they have heard of it but have not used it. Among those who received medicines under the program, 24.7% said they received them free of charge, and 75.3% said they paid extra.

Grigory Soloninka, a member of the board of the Kyiv Regional Organization “VULT” and professor at the Kyiv Medical University, believes that the pandemic and full-scale war have significantly influenced the perception of the reform, but there are also “positive elements.”

“To a certain extent, there are reforms: there are positive aspects and there are negative aspects. But this negativity was largely influenced, first of all, by the pandemic, then by the war — that is, our reforms began, perhaps, at the wrong time. But there are positives from these reforms, and we see that there is a good program for people over 40, screening,” he said.

The survey also separately assessed the impact of the war on the availability of medical services: 48.1% of respondents reported that they felt access had deteriorated due to the war, 36.9% said no, and 15% were undecided. Respondents identified the outflow of medical personnel (60.3%) as the most acute problem in healthcare during wartime, followed by the destruction of infrastructure (22.7%) and a shortage of medicines (13.4%).

The survey was conducted on February 11–12, 2026, using a self-administered questionnaire, with a sample of 1,000 respondents aged 18 and older throughout Ukraine, excluding temporarily occupied territories. The theoretical statistical error is up to 3.1% with a 95% confidence level.

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Media reported Afghan strike on facilities in Pakistan, data on “nuclear facility” unconfirmed

The Afghan TV channel Ariana News reported, citing local sources, that Afghan forces struck a “nuclear facility” in Pakistan, as well as a military base near Abbottabad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province).

At the same time, there was no independent confirmation of the claim that the “nuclear facility” had been hit at the time of publication. Reports by international agencies on the sharp escalation between Pakistan and the Afghan authorities referred to the use of drones and strikes on military targets, but without indicating that nuclear infrastructure had been hit. Specifically, Reuters reported that Afghan authorities said drones were used against military targets in Pakistan, while Pakistan’s information minister said attempted drone strikes were intercepted and damage was avoided.

The escalation between the countries in recent days has been accompanied by mutual strikes and conflicting statements from the sides about the results of the attacks.

 

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