The Ukrainian company Kovlar Group (Kovlar Group, Ammokote TM) announced its participation in the first meeting of the Verkhovna Rada working group on the application and development of legislation in the field of construction products on the market, which took place on February 16 in the format of a video conference.
According to the parliament’s announcement, the working group operates under the Committee on State Administration, Local Self-Government, Regional Development, and Urban Planning and was created to develop solutions for the implementation of the new EU Regulation 2024/3110, which establishes uniform rules for the admission of construction materials to the market.
The first meeting discussed issues related to the official translation of the Regulation, analysis of its provisions, and preparation of a “road map” of changes for various types of construction products, as well as a review of approaches to conformity assessment and strengthening of product quality control in the domestic market.
The Verkhovna Rada Committee previously reported that the working group on construction products was headed by Committee Chair Olena Shulyak, and that members of parliament, government officials, and relevant experts were to be involved in the work.
Kovlar Group is a Ukrainian company that manufactures passive fire protection products; it works, in particular, with Ammokote brand products and is a leader in its market. Representatives of the company participate in the work of technical committees on standardization in the field of fire safety and protection of buildings and structures.
Kovlar Group LLC was founded in 2015 with a registered capital of UAH 1.2 million. Its founders and ultimate beneficiaries are Kostyantyn Kalafat (40%), Andriy Ozeychuk (35%), and Lyubov Vakhitova (25%). According to OpenDataBot, the company earned UAH 46,980,400 in revenue and UAH 6,109,800 in net profit in the first three quarters of 2025.
US President Donald Trump hopes to reach an agreement on resolving Russia’s war against Ukraine by fall 2026, linking the desired timeline to the US domestic political calendar, media outlets reported, citing The New York Times.
Earlier, a more immediate deadline of “by early summer” was publicly announced. Reuters, citing The New York Times, reported that the Trump administration is increasing pressure on Kyiv in an attempt to end the war “by early summer.” The deadline “by autumn” is tied to the US midterm elections, which are scheduled for November 3, 2026.
Meanwhile, European intelligence officials commented to Reuters that they were skeptical about the possibility of reaching a lasting agreement as early as 2026 and pointed out that, in their assessment, Russia was not showing any interest in real peace, using the negotiating track to obtain economic and sanctions concessions.
Ukrainian citizens ranked third among foreign buyers of residential real estate in Turkey in January 2026, purchasing 77 properties, according to data cited by Turkish media with reference to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). The first and second places were taken by citizens of the Russian Federation (219 purchases) and Iran (118).
Overall, foreigners bought 1,306 housing units in Turkey, which is 20.8% less than in January 2025. The share of transactions involving foreigners in the total volume of home sales in the country amounted to 1.2%.
Geographically, foreign demand at the beginning of the year was concentrated in the largest and most “tourist” regions: in January, foreigners bought 595 units in Istanbul and 375 in Antalya.
The total number of housing transactions in Turkey in January amounted to 111,480, which is 4.7% less than a year earlier. Against this backdrop, the decline in sales to foreigners continued, and local observers link the downturn, among other things, to rising prices and discussions of the parameters of “investment” citizenship and the incentives associated with it.
The trend toward cooling foreign demand was also noticeable in the full-year 2025 results: foreigners purchased 21,534 units (-9.4% y/y). By nationality, Russians led (3,649), followed by Iranians (1,878) and Ukrainians (1,541). By location in 2025, foreigners most often bought in Istanbul (7,989), Antalya (7,118), and Mersin (1,800).
Up to four in ten cancer cases worldwide can be prevented, according to a joint statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) following a new global analysis.
According to the authors’ estimates, 37% of all new cancer cases in 2022, or about 7.1 million cases, were linked to preventable causes. The analysis covers 30 modifiable risk factors, including tobacco, alcohol, high body mass index, low physical activity, air pollution, and ultraviolet radiation, as well as, for the first time, nine infections that can cause cancer.
The WHO indicates that tobacco remains the leading preventable cause of cancer (about 15% of new cases), followed by infections (about 10%) and alcohol consumption (about 3%). Lung, stomach, and cervical cancer are among the most significant contributors to preventable morbidity.
The organization notes that the proportion of preventable cases is higher in men than in women – 45% versus 30%. Regional differences are also significant: among men, the highest proportion is recorded in East Asia (57%), the lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean (28%), and among women, the range is from 24% in North Africa and West Asia to 38% in sub-Saharan Africa.
WHO and IARC emphasize the need for prevention, including strengthening tobacco control policies, alcohol regulation, HPV and hepatitis B vaccination, improving air quality, improving occupational safety, and creating a healthier environment for nutrition and physical activity.
On February 19, the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) decided to classify the state-owned PIN Bank as insolvent. As in the case of Motor Bank, the reason was the failure to comply with the regulator’s written request to submit a revised financial recovery plan, taking into account the comments made after the bank was classified as problematic, according to the NBU website.
The National Bank also emphasized that PIBank is not systemically important (its share in the sector is 0.01% of assets) and was classified as problematic on December 16, 2025, due to a violation of the minimum regulatory capital requirements.
The bank’s regulatory capital on the date of the decision was UAH 73 million, while the National Bank’s minimum requirement was UAH 200 million.
The Deposit Guarantee Fund will reimburse depositors in full, including interest, as of the end of the day before the start of the procedure for withdrawing the bank from the market, except in cases specified by law.
As reported, in February 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine seized 88.89% of the shares of PIN Bank, which belonged to Russian businessman Yevgeny Giner, in favor of the state.
According to the National Bank, at the beginning of the year, the financial institution ranked 59th (UAH 212.7 million) among 60 banks in Ukraine in terms of total assets, and its loss for 2025 amounted to UAH 63.2 million.
The volume of agricultural production in Ukraine in January 2026 increased by 3.2% compared to the same period last year, according to the State Statistics Service (Gosstat).
According to the agency, the growth was driven exclusively by the livestock sector. Data on crop production for this period is traditionally unavailable.
The main driver was agricultural enterprises, which increased production by 11.9%. The best dynamics in this segment were shown by Vinnytsia (25.7%), Lviv (25.1%), and Kirovohrad (19.7%) regions. Overall, growth was recorded in 18 regions.
However, there was a decline in private households: production volumes fell by 15% compared to January 2025. The largest decline in the private sector was recorded in Zakarpattia (index 54.6%), Donetsk region (60.5%), and Lviv region (75.1%).
In regional terms, the largest decline in all categories of farms was recorded in Donetsk (index 60.5%), Zakarpattia (68.3%), and Chernivtsi (82.9%) regions. At the same time, Vinnytsia (+22.9%) and Lviv (+22.7%) regions became the leaders in overall growth.
As reported, at the end of 2025, agricultural production in Ukraine decreased by 6.8% compared to 2024. The decline in crop production was 7.5%, and in livestock production, 4.1%. Only Chernihiv, Sumy, and Vinnytsia regions maintained positive dynamics over the past year.
