Corruption in the energy sector is systemic and long-standing. Since 2022, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) have been investigating five high-profile cases in the energy sector, according to anti-corruption authorities.
On Tuesday, NABU and SAP posted an infographic on criminal cases in the energy sector on their Telegram channel, which, in particular, highlights the Energoatom case with losses to the state of UAH 100 million, which is currently being considered in court, and the Ukrenergo case, with losses of UAH 600 million, which is also at the stage of judicial review.
In addition, the completion of the pre-trial investigation of the Kharkivoblenergo case, with losses to the state amounting to UAH 12.6 million, and the court’s consideration of the case of bribery by the Deputy Minister of Energy are mentioned, as well as the Energoatom case on kickbacks from contractors, which is still under investigation.
“Not just Midas: 5 high-profile cases of NABU and SAP in the energy sector since 2022,” the anti-corruption authorities said in a statement.
“The criminal organization that was exposed during Operation Midas is only part of a much bigger problem. Corruption in Ukraine’s energy sector is systemic and long-standing. NABU and SAP cases in this area cover various levels: from direct bribery in the ministry to large-scale market manipulation and theft of resources at state-owned enterprises,” NABU and SAP note.
The statement notes that anti-corruption agencies continue to consistently expose these crimes regardless of the political context or the names of those involved. “Cases are brought to court, and new challenges receive an immediate response. The work to clean up one of the most strategic and at the same time most corrupt industries will continue in the future,” NABU and SAP assure.
Irina Mikhalyova, marketing director of Alliance Novobud development company, took part in the Ukrainian Building Congress (UBC), which took place on November 21 at the Parkoviy ECC in Kiev, having acted as a speaker and moderator of two discussion panels dedicated to affordable housing and the state mortgage program “єOselia”.
According to the press service of Alliance Novobud, Mikhalyova moderated the panel “Affordable Housing: How to Make Real Estate Affordable for Ukrainians”, which was attended by representatives of development companies, banks and government institutions – in particular, EcoBud Building Group, Ukrfinjitlo, State Fund for Promotion of Youth Housing Construction, Sky Bank and developer Intergal-Bud. The participants discussed the combination of state programs, market instruments of developers and bank products to form an affordable housing market under war conditions.
Special emphasis was placed on the impact of the war on purchasing power, construction rates and financing of new projects. According to Mikhalyova, state support programs, such as “єOselia”, in wartime become not only a financial instrument for the market, but also an indicator of the state’s confidence in the industry. She noted that participation in such initiatives helps developers to stabilize sales and stimulate demand for primary real estate.
In addition, CMO Alliance Novobud was a speaker at the discussion panel “єOsela – the state’s investment in recovery”, where developers and bankers shared their experience of working with the program, assessed its impact on the sales structure and discussed the prospects of reconfiguring the loan product to primarily finance primary housing. Ms. Mikhalyova confirmed the company’s readiness to develop partnership formats with banks for additional support of buyers.
Alliance Novobud is a development company operating in the residential real estate market of Kyiv and Kyiv region for more than 18-20 years, specializing in business class projects in the capital and modern residential complexes in the suburbs. According to the company, under the brand Alliance Novobud projects are realized in Kiev (Montreal House, club house Illinsky House) and Brovary (in particular, Krona Park II, Madison Gardens, “Forest Quarter” and “Lavandovy”).
According to the rating of LUN service and NV edition, at the end of 2024 Alliance Novobud entered the top 20 largest developers of Kyiv and the region, taking 15th place by the number of commissioned apartments, which, according to analysts, indicates the stability of the company in the war conditions. Industry reviews indicate that since its establishment the developer has built more than two dozen residential buildings, and its projects are characterized by monolithic-frame construction technology and medium- and business-class positioning.
The state is preparing a repeat auction for the privatization of Odesa Port Plant (OPP) to find a strategic investor, possibly at a reduced price, according to the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture after the auction scheduled for November 25 with a starting price of UAH 4.49 billion failed due to a lack of participants.
“The conditions for privatizing this asset were difficult from the outset, as the facility requires significant investment and specialized expertise. There is interest in the company on the market, but at the same time, international partners have emphasized the need for additional time and adjustments to certain conditions for full participation,” the Ministry of Economy said in a statement on Telegram.
The ministry added that in the current conditions of martial law and high risks, large industrial assets face a number of objective challenges: for OPZ, these are not only market conditions and security factors, but also the total cost, which may exceed the starting price, in particular, investment obligations.
“In order to increase the chances of selling assets at market value, the ministry supported a bill by a group of MPs that provides for the possibility of putting up large privatization objects with a gradual reduction in the starting price,” the message says.
The Ministry of Economy reminded the auction winner of the main investment obligations: to maintain the main activities of the plant; to invest at least UAH 500 million in the modernization of facilities and the development of production; repay within 12 months the debts on wages and to the budget, which as of the end of June 2025 exceeded UAH 366.8 million; gradually repay overdue accounts payable (except for claims of sanctioned persons and structures associated with the Russian Federation/Belarus) and comply with environmental and social standards.
OPZ’s revenue for January-June this year amounted to UAH 322.63 million, while its net loss was UAH 280.79 million. In 2024, the plant increased its revenue to UAH 944.22 million from UAH 494.57 million a year earlier, but its net loss increased to UAH 1 billion 839.3 million from UAH 1 billion 94.58 million.
Acting Chairman of the Board and Director of OPZ Yuriy Kovalsky said in an interview with NV Business in August this year that in August 2024, the plant’s management tried to launch one of the two ammonia units, but this step was not successful. Since then, OPZ has been converted to grain transshipment, and this activity has been the company’s only source of income, but at the end of June, as a result of a Russian air attack, the storage facilities were significantly damaged, which suspended transshipment operations. According to Kovalsky, OPZ’s partner in grain transshipment is the trader V AGRO LLC. In the 2024-2025 marketing year, approximately 638,000 tons of grain were transshipped: 625,000 tons of corn and 12,700 tons of soybeans.
The acting chairman of the board also said that OPZ had significantly optimized its costs, sold non-core assets, and was actively working with creditors, in particular Naftogaz of Ukraine, to offer a future investor a viable debt structure of about UAH 2.5 billion.
Kovalsky noted that for security reasons, OPZ does not plan to resume production in the near future, but is maintaining its production lines in full technical readiness so that it can resume operations as soon as possible. He estimated the cost of restarting the plant at approximately 30 million cubic meters of gas.
Ukraine has tried several times to privatize the enterprise, but without success. In 2009, the winner of the tender for the sale of OPZ was Nortima, a company controlled by the former owner of PrivatBank, Ihor Kolomoisky, for UAH 5 billion. However, the tender commission refused to recognize the company as the winner due to the low price and suspicion of collusion among the participants, and declared the tender invalid.
Then, in 2016, Ukraine twice put 99.567% of OPZ shares up for sale: in July at a starting price of UAH 13.175 billion, and in December at a reduced price of UAH 5.16 billion, but both times without success. The lack of interest in Odesa Port Plant was linked, in particular, to its debt of over $250 million to Dmitry Firtash’s structures, as confirmed by the Stockholm Arbitration Court.
At the end of July 2018, the State Property Fund of Ukraine selected a consortium led by Pericles Global Advisory, consisting of White&Case LLP, Kinstellar, KPMG Ukraine, and SARS Capital, as an investment advisor for the privatization of Odesa Port Plant. Before the coronavirus crisis, it was expected that the company could be put up for sale as early as August 2020, but the Fund then postponed these plans until 2021 and ultimately did not implement them. In the last years before the war, fertilizer production at the company was carried out intermittently on a tolling basis.
Germany’s GDP remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the previous three months, according to final data from the Federal Statistical Office.
This coincided with both the previously announced data and the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Trading Economics.
Germany’s economy grew by 0.3% year-on-year in the third quarter. This figure was also unchanged and in line with experts’ expectations.
“Weak exports had a dampening effect on economic activity in the third quarter, while capital expenditure increased slightly,” said Destatis President Ruth Brand.
Government spending in July-September remained unchanged from the previous three months, while capital expenditure rose by 0.3%. At the same time, consumer spending fell by 0.3%, the first decline in seven quarters.
Exports of goods and services fell by 0.7%, while imports remained unchanged.
In the second quarter, Germany’s GDP fell by 0.2% q/q and rose by 0.3% y/y.
Earlier, the Experts Club information and analytical center released a video analysis of global economic trends and the outlook for the world’s major economies until the end of 2025 – https://youtu.be/kQsH3lUvMKo?si=LnQWU3r2Kd5HesPh
Source: http://relocation.com.ua/germanys-gdp-remained-unchanged-in-the-third-quarter/
The net profit of the state-owned PrivatBank for the first three quarters of 2025 increased by 4.7% compared to the same period last year, to UAH 50.63 billion, which accounted for 42.4% of the total financial result of the banking system, according to data from the National Bank of Ukraine.
According to the regulator’s statistics, another state-owned bank, Oschadbank, with a net profit of UAH 13.88 billion, which is 17.3% more than the figure for the first nine months of last year, and Raiffeisenbank, with a net profit of UAH 1.2 billion, which is 17.3% more than the figure for the first – Oschadbank with a net profit of UAH 13.88 billion, which is 17.3% more than the figure for the first nine months of last year, as well as Raiffeisen Bank – UAH 7.33 billion, which is 19.2% more than last year’s figure.
In the top five most profitable banks, the state-owned Ukreximbank retained its fourth position with a net profit of UAH 6.96 billion, which is 18.5% more than last year, while Universal Bank (mono) came in fifth with UAH 5.10 billion, up 27.7% year-on-year.
In addition, in the third quarter of this year, Universal Bank surpassed Ukrsibbank in terms of total assets and ranked seventh among 60 banks in the market in terms of this indicator.
Positions six to ten were taken by banks whose financial results for the first three quarters of 2025 declined year-on-year.
PUMB took sixth place in the list with a net profit of UAH 4.79 billion, which is 7.6% less than last year, while Ukrsibbank moved to seventh place with a result of UAH 4.11 billion due to an 18.5% decrease in profit, and OTP Bank came in eighth, reducing its financial result by 6.5% to UAH 3.90 billion.
The ninth and tenth positions among the most profitable banks at the end of the first three quarters of the year were taken by the state-owned Ukrgasbank with a result of UAH 3.90 billion (-16.5%) and Credit Agricole Bank with a profit of UAH 3.63 billion (-29.0%), respectively.
Five other banks earned more than UAH 1 billion in net profit in the first nine months of this year: Citibank – UAH 3.18 billion (-13.8%), state-owned Sens Bank – UAH 2.64 billion (-21.9%), Pivdenny Bank – UAH 2.11 billion (+7.9%), A-Bank – UAH 1.22 billion (+21.3%), and Kredobank – UAH 1.10 billion (-11.0%).
Eleven out of 60 banks ended the first nine months of 2025 with a loss
In particular, the largest loss was incurred by RVS Bank, which was withdrawn from the market in early November – UAH 139.6 million against UAH 10.6 million in profit last year, with the financial institution’s assets falling by 63.0% over the year to UAH 1.65 billion.
The second largest loss was incurred by the nationalized PIN Bank – UAH 44.0 million, which also suffered a loss of UAH 34.9 million in the first nine months of last year. Bank Alliance closed the top three with a loss of UAH 42.6 million, having earned a profit of UAH 51.0 million in the first three quarters of last year.
Ukrainians’ spending abroad, which is recorded under the item “travel imports,” will decrease by approximately 10% in 2025 compared to last year and will amount to about $12 billion, according to the forecast of Serhiy Nikolaychuk, First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
“In 2023, Ukrainians’ spending abroad reached its peak – about $20 billion. After that, we are seeing a gradual decline: quite sharp in 2024, and this year we expect another decline of about 10%,” he said in a podcast by the Center for Economic Strategy.
Nikolaichuk clarified that Ukrainians’ card payments abroad are included in these statistics as part of imports of services in the “travel” category. At the same time, the reduction in spending is occurring despite the fact that Ukrainian migration continues.
“We estimate that due to migration alone, Ukraine’s population will decrease by about 200,000 people in 2025. But people who have moved abroad are gradually adapting, earning more income locally and using fewer resources from Ukraine, including through card payments,” the NBU representative explained.
According to the National Bank, in the first nine months of 2025, Ukrainians made transactions abroad with Ukrainian bank cards worth UAH 262.0 billion, which is 1.9% more than in the same period last year. Of this amount, UAH 213.9 billion was spent at retail terminals, and UAH 48.1 billion was spent on cash withdrawals.
The number of transactions abroad increased by 9.3% to 275.6 million transactions, of which 270.2 million were non-cash payments, while cash withdrawals accounted for 5.5 million.
