According to Serbian Economist, the Serbian independent civic organization KROKODIL has announced the launch of a humanitarian campaign to help the Kapitoshka kindergarten in Bucha (Kyiv region), where children are left without heat and hot meals due to prolonged power outages.
According to the organization, 167 children continue to attend the facility regularly because their parents need to work. KROKODIL notes that during blackouts, children are often forced to spend time in unheated and darkened rooms, and during alarms, in basement rooms.
According to a statement on the KROKODIL website, the goal of the campaign is to raise €12,000 by the end of February to purchase a 30 kW electric generator to meet the basic needs of the kindergarten. The organization also called on businesses, institutions, and the media to support the initiative, and on generator manufacturers and importers to consider providing assistance with equipment.
According to the initiative’s partners in Ukraine, an additional fundraiser has been launched for a generator with a target of 200,000 hryvnia.
KROKODIL (Belgrade) was founded in 2009 and operates as an independent, non-partisan public organization in the field of culture and civic initiatives. Since the beginning of the war, the organization has reported on three humanitarian trips to Ukraine: assistance to the Kharkiv Perinatal Center in 2022, support for internally displaced persons and vulnerable groups in the village of Blyznyuky in 2023, and assistance to civilians in Kherson in 2024.
According to KROKODIL, over four years, the organization has conducted 10 fundraising campaigns and raised around €50,000 with the support of more than 750 individual donors.
Details for payments from Serbia:
DINAR ACCOUNT: 170-0030039599000-25 WITH THE NOTE: DONATION FOR KAPITOŠKA KINDERGARTEN. BENEFICIARY: ASSOCIATION KROKODIL, KARAĐORĐEVA 43, 11000 BELGRADE.
Details for payments from abroad:
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAYMENTS FROM ABROAD:
ASSOCIATION KROKODIL, KARADJORDJEVA 43/2, 11000 BELGRADE, UNICREDIT BANK SERBIA JSC
EUR IBAN: RS35170003003959900122 SWIFT: BACXRSBG
USD IBAN: RS35170003003959900995 SWIFT: BACXRSBG
PAYPAL: office@krokodil.rs
Details for payments in Ukraine:
Bank: https://send.monobank.ua/jar/5dr5VveVzE (https://send.monobank.ua/jar/5dr5VveVzE)
Card: 4874 1000 2472 1964
The Kryvyi Rih Mining and Metallurgical Plant PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR, Dnipropetrovsk region) spent nearly UAH 57 million on social projects and charitable assistance in 2025.
According to the company’s press release on Monday, throughout 2025, AMKR continued to implement social and charitable initiatives aimed at supporting local communities, veterans, families of deceased employees, and victims of war.
A significant part of the aid during the war consists of direct payments and support for employees and their families: UAH 25 million was allocated to the families of deceased employees, and another UAH 5.9 million was allocated to help employees who suffered as a result of enemy shelling. The amount of funds allocated by the company to charitable projects amounted to more than UAH 9.2 million. Key social and charitable projects in 2025 include: renovation of the urology department of the First City Hospital; assistance in the development of border infrastructure; support for the Kryvyi Rih City Museum of Local History in the creation of a Memorial Bell Tower dedicated to the fallen defenders of Ukraine.
A separate and priority area of AMKR’s social work remains support for veterans and military personnel, as well as their families. In 2025, the Coordination Center continued its work, providing information and consulting support to demobilized employees. During the year, 97 individual interviews were conducted with veterans. For prompt information and communication with veterans, the Telegram channel “AMKR Veteran” is in operation, which had 254 subscribers by the end of the year.
The company maintained its supplementary health insurance program, which includes sanatorium and resort treatment, dental services, and psychological support. In 2025, 71 veterans underwent treatment and rehabilitation, 19 of whom received sanatorium and resort treatment. Dental care (emergency, routine, prosthetics, and implants) was provided to 69 people. Free physiotherapy procedures continued to be provided to military personnel and demobilized employees. In addition, in 2026, social benefits in the form of a 10% discount on meals in the company’s canteens continued to be provided.
An important area of work remains the adaptation and creation of jobs for veterans. In 2025, five jobs were created taking into account the individual needs of veterans, and one job was adapted for an employee with a Group II disability. The company continues to implement inclusive practices, in particular, ensuring the accessibility of workplaces, flexible working conditions for employees undergoing treatment or rehabilitation, as well as training managers and teams to work with veterans and people with disabilities.
AMKR also cooperates with the employment center to obtain compensation for the adaptation of workplaces for persons with disabilities. In 2025, the company received compensation for the actual costs of adapting a workplace for a veteran employee with a Group II disability. In addition, cooperation continues with the municipal non-profit enterprise “Service Office ”Veteran.”
Supporting communities, veterans, families of the deceased, and socially vulnerable groups remains an important part of AMKR’s responsibility to the city and the country, especially in the context of the ongoing war.
AMKR CEO Mauro Longobardo stated that since the beginning of the war, the company has allocated approximately UAH 767 million to social and charitable initiatives.
“Supporting our people remains an unconditional priority for us. In particular, during this period, UAH 119.40 million was allocated to the families of deceased employees, and another UAH 11.39 million was allocated to help employees who suffered as a result of enemy shelling,” said the CEO, adding that the company is operating in extremely difficult conditions.
As reported, in 2025, AMKR increased its tax and fee payments to budgets at all levels by almost 28% compared to 2024, to UAH 8.5 billion. Of this amount, UAH 1.8 billion went to the state budget and UAH 2.6 billion to local budgets.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest producer of rolled steel in Ukraine. It specializes in the production of long products, in particular, rebar and wire rod. The company has a full production cycle, with production capacities designed for an annual output of over 6 million tons of steel, more than 5 million tons of rolled products, and over 5.5 million tons of pig iron.
ArcelorMittal owns Ukraine’s largest mining and metallurgical complex, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, and a number of small companies, including ArcelorMittal Beryslav.
Estimated number of population in regions of Ukraine based on number of active mobile sim cards (mln)
In January 2026, Ukraine reduced exports of beef and cattle amid a seasonal lull, rising logistics costs, and declining demand, according to the Milk Producers Association (MPA), citing data from the State Customs Service.
The industry association noted that live cattle exports in January amounted to about 958 tons, which is 36% less than in December 2025 and 33% less than in January 2025. Foreign exchange earnings in this segment fell to $1.82 million, which is 46% less than in December 2025.
Exports of fresh or chilled beef in January this year decreased by 32% compared to December, to 292 tons, but significantly exceeded the volume of January last year, when it amounted to 21 tons. Revenue for this product in the reporting period amounted to $2.22 million.
The actual volume of frozen beef exports amounted to 966 tons, which is 34% less than in December and 31% less than in January 2025. The monetary proceeds amounted to almost $4.62 million.
“The decline in exports in January is likely due to increased shelling of port infrastructure, which led to higher logistics costs due to risk insurance and route changes. In addition, the market saw a traditional decline in demand at the beginning of the year after active purchases at the end of 2025,” said Georgiy Kukhiashvili, an analyst at the association, whose words are quoted in the report.
According to the UMA, beef imports also declined. In particular, purchases of chilled meat fell to 6 tons (-54% compared to the previous month), and frozen meat to 81 tons (-18%).
The foreign trade balance in January 2026 remained positive and amounted to $7.82 million, the UAA concluded.
Rising costs of raw materials and energy resources have led to an average 40% increase in the price of bread and flour in Ukraine over the past two years, according to the Ukrainian Flour Millers Association.
According to the association’s analytical report, published on the APK-Inform website, the price growth rate has been consistently high: in 2024, bread rose in price by 20-22%, and in 2025 — by another 19-23%. A similar 40% increase over a two-year period was also recorded for wheat flour.
According to the association, the price of premium wheat bread rose by 44% over the year to UAH 63.5/kg, rye bread by 45% to UAH 50.6/kg, and loaves by 34% to UAH 30.9/kg.
“Currently, the actual selling prices of flour are 10-15% lower than the declared prices and are practically equal to the cost price. With the average cost of grade 2 wheat at 10,300 UAH/ton and processing costs of no less than 2,500 UAH/ton, a 3% profit margin is a great achievement for flour millers,” the report notes.
Experts note that unlike bakers, who can compensate for the low profitability of social varieties with premium and small-piece products, millers are deprived of this opportunity due to the small sales volumes of packaged flour.
At the same time, “Flour Millers of Ukraine” noted a growing trend in Ukraine toward home baking.
“The population is increasingly turning to home baking. It is much cheaper, tastier, and becoming fashionable,” the industry association noted, adding that premium bread under the Tsar Bread and Kulynichi brands, which is distinguished by its excellent taste, costs more than UAH 100 per 1 kg and is unaffordable for many residents of Ukraine.
Flour exports from Ukraine fell to 66,800 tons in 2025, the lowest level since 2006, according to a report by the Ukrainian Flour Millers Association published by APK-Inform.
According to the data, this figure is 36.6% lower than the pre-war level in 2021 (105,300 tons) and 15.3% lower than the volume in 2022 (78,900 tons).
“The war has practically blocked the opportunity for our flour millers to earn extra money on the international market. Problems with logistics have led to the loss of almost all our usual markets. Only Moldova remains, and there is now an opportunity to export to the European Union, which accounts for more than half of the total volume,” the document notes.
The association emphasized that deliveries are currently carried out exclusively by rail and road transport. At the same time, experts stressed that until Ukrainian ports are opened, there will be no opportunity to compete with other exporters on the world market, nor any hope for growth in foreign trade volumes.
According to the Ukrainian Flour Millers Association, the recorded volume of flour exports of 66.8 thousand tons is the lowest since 2006, when only about 10.5 thousand tons of this product were supplied to foreign markets.
