The German company Knauf will build a plant for the production of drywall and dry building mixtures in Borshchiv (Ternopil region), with investments in the project amounting to EUR 150 million, said Dmytro Kysylevskyi, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic development.
According to him, the design capacity of the new plant will be 30 million square meters of drywall and 320 thousand tons of dry mixes.
“This will be the second Knauf plant in Ukraine. The first one is located in Kyiv and is currently operating at full capacity – about 25 million square meters of drywall and 200 thousand tons of dry mixes. This is enough to meet the domestic demand of the Ukrainian market, but after the war, the demand will increase significantly. That is why the new plant in Borshchiv is an investment with faith in victory,” Kysylevsky wrote on his Facebook page.
Previously, Knauf also owned a plant in Soledar (Donetsk region), which was destroyed by the occupiers. The company took its employees out and employed them at the Kyiv plant, which employs 425 people in total, the MP said.
Kysylevsky noted that Knauf has officially announced that it has stopped investing and is leaving the Russian market. At the same time, in 2023, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) included Knauf in the now canceled list of international sponsors of war because of its continued operations in Russia.
“According to my information, they have finally left Russia. And all international companies that have not yet done so should do the same. The best way to improve your reputation after a long withdrawal from Russia is to build factories in Ukraine,” the MP emphasized.
Knauf is a leading global manufacturer of gypsum and building materials.
According to Opendatabot, by the end of 2023, Knauf’s Kyiv plant (Knauf Gypsum Kyiv LLC) increased its net revenue by 65% to UAH 3.53 billion, and its net profit by 2.6 times to UAH 1 billion.
Since the beginning of 2024-2025 marketing year and as of January 8, Ukraine exported 22.442 mln tonnes of grains and pulses, 705 thsd tonnes of which were shipped this month, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported, citing the data of the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
According to the report, as of the same date last year, the total shipments amounted to 19.422 mln tons, including 1.03 mln tons in January.
In terms of crops, since the beginning of the current season, 9.977 million tons of wheat have been exported (209 thousand tons in January), 1.976 million tons of barley (8 thousand tons), 10.8 thousand tons of rye (0) and 10.162 million tons of corn (487 thousand tons).
The total export of Ukrainian flour since the beginning of the season as of January 8 is estimated at 38.1 thsd tonnes (0.5 thsd tonnes in January), including 35 thsd tonnes of wheat (0.5 thsd tonnes).
Prices for carrots in Ukraine have been rising for several weeks, analysts of the EastFruit project report. Experts explain the rise in prices for this product by the fact that many local producers have exhausted stocks of quality root crops, whose harvest in 2024 was significantly affected by unfavorable weather conditions.
At the moment, the price range for carrots is already voiced in the range of 25-32 UAH/kg ($0.59-0.76/kg), depending on the quality and volume of offered batches of vegetables, which is on average 10% more expensive than a week earlier.
Market participants explain another price increase in this segment by stable demand for quality carrots. At the same time, the supply of these root crops on the Ukrainian market has noticeably decreased this week. Many producers have already announced the end of the season of realization of available stocks of products. Some farms offer for sale residual lots or refrain from selling at all, hoping to realize vegetables closer to spring at higher prices.
It should be added that today the price of carrots in Ukraine is already on average 2.3 times higher than in early January 2024. Industry experts explain this price level by the reduction in the harvest of this product in the current season due to weather anomalies in the summer.
You can get more detailed information about the development of the market of carrots and other horticultural products in Ukraine by subscribing to the operative analytical weekly – EastFruit Ukraine Weekly Pro. Detailed product information is available at here.
According to the Ukrainian Center for Transplant Coordination (UCTC) on its website, 28 medical centers performed transplants. In particular, 337 patients received kidney transplants, 107 received liver transplants, and 71 received heart transplants. In addition, after a significant break, a lung transplant was performed at the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
According to the UCTC, the largest number of organ transplants were performed by Lviv TMC (140) and the National Center of Surgery and Transplantation named after A.A. Shalimov (140). Shalimov National Center of Surgery and Transplantation (91) and the Heart Institute (52).
At the same time, according to the UCC, the fourth largest private clinic in terms of the number of transplants is Oberig (Capital LLC, Kyiv), where 44 liver and two kidney transplants were performed.
The UCTC also reports that in 2024, the number of hematopoietic stem cell transplants increased by 18%: 404 bone marrow transplants were performed in 11 medical institutions, 58 of which were for children.
The largest number of bone marrow transplants was performed at the National Children’s Specialized Hospital “Okhmatdyt” (81), Kyiv City Center for Nephrology and Dialysis (74), and Cherkasy Center for Oncology, Hematology, Transplantation and Palliative Care (72).
At the same time, five medical centers perform allogeneic transplants, including three from unrelated donors.
As of the beginning of 2025, there are 3578 patients on the national waiting list, including 2276 waiting for kidney transplants, 586 for liver transplants, and seven for split liver transplants.
There are 615 patients on the waiting list for heart transplantation, 50 patients are waiting for lung transplantation, and 26 patients are waiting for a heart-lung complex.
There are 20 patients waiting for a kidney and pancreas transplant.
In December 2024, Ukraine imported 8 tons of cattle in live weight worth $57 thousand, which is 73% less than in December 2023, the Association of Milk Producers (AMP) reported, citing preliminary data from the State Customs Service.
The industry association noted that Ukraine also reduced imports of chilled beef by 26% to 17 tons and frozen beef by 9% to 203 tons compared to November 2024. Compared to December 2023, imports of chilled beef increased by 57%, and imports of frozen red meat increased by 1%.
In general, in 2024, Ukraine reduced imports of cattle by 25% to 478 tons, increased imports of chilled beef by 13% to 154 tons and 17% of frozen beef to 2.54 thousand tons.
Anna Gorkun, the founder of the premium Ukrainian wine brand 46 Parallel, has signed the first M&A agreement in the Ukrainian wine industry in the last 15 years and attracted an investor – the international group of companies Vinos de La Luz, which is known for its wineries in the USA, Argentina, Spain and Italy.
“A little less than a month ago we signed an agreement under which all 100% passed to the new owners – Vinos de La Luz, a group of companies that owns production facilities in the USA, Argentina, Spain and Italy. This is a significant event not only for the company itself, but also for the Ukrainian economy as a whole. The very fact that during the war a foreign investor acquires Ukrainian business and intends to develop it exactly in Ukraine, with a Ukrainian team and supporting the philosophy of the brand to remain Proudly Ukrainian is a victory and a huge achievement,” Gorkun wrote on Facebook.
She noted that thanks to the agreement, the trademarks of 46 Parallel Wine Group (in particular, Grand Admiral, El Capitan and Apostrophe) are now part of the global portfolio of Vinos de La Luz, which has more than 100 years of history of wine production.
46 Parallel Wine Group is incorporated in 2019 in Kiev. Under Gorkun’s leadership, the company’s wines have won more than 115 medals at reputable international and national competitions. The company also represents Ukraine on the world stage, in particular at the Wine Museum in Bordeaux (France). At the time of signing the agreement, the company’s products were represented on the markets of Ukraine and Japan.
According to Opendatabot, the company’s revenue in 2023 amounted to UAH 5.473 million, which is 1.8 times less than in 2022 and 3.4 times less than pre-war 2021. Net loss in 2023 amounted to UAH 698.3 thousand compared to UAH 2.64 million net profit in 2022. The company’s assets in 2023 decreased by 23.3% to UAH 9.464 mln, and debt obligations by 33.3% to UAH 4.35 mln. The authorized capital is UAH 845 thousand.
The beneficiary of the company since December 2014 is Natalia Burlachenko through Big Wines LLC, which owns 100% of shares of Parallel Wine Group LLC 46.
Vinos de La Luz is an international group of companies with its own wineries in the United States, Argentina, Spain and Italy, with more than a century of experience in winemaking. The group actively develops wine brands of different origins and is present in numerous global markets.
