Czech railway operator Leo Express will launch a new international train in June 2026 that will connect Frankfurt and Frankfurt Airport with the Polish city of Przemyśl, located near the Ukrainian border.
According to the company, the route will pass through Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. The train will depart from Przemyśl and travel via Kraków, Ostrava, Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Erfurt to Frankfurt and Frankfurt Airport. In the opposite direction, the train will operate daily.
Przemyśl has become one of the key transport hubs for Ukrainian passengers since the beginning of the full-scale war, as the city is located approximately 10 km from the Ukrainian border and is connected by railway routes with Ukraine. The new service will allow passengers to travel more conveniently from the border region to the Czech Republic and Germany without complicated transfers.
The length of the route will be more than 1,300 km, making it one of the longest direct railway routes in Europe. According to the carrier and specialized media, the train will operate daily in both directions, and the launch of the route is expected in June 2026.
For Ukrainian travelers, the route may become an important additional channel of connection with Central and Western Europe. It will connect Przemyśl with major transport hubs in Germany and the Czech Republic, including Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt and one of Europe’s largest airports.
The new train will also strengthen Poland’s role as a transit corridor for Ukrainians. Since 2022, Polish cities, primarily Przemyśl, Rzeszów, Kraków and Warsaw, have become the main transfer points for trips between Ukraine and EU countries.
For Leo Express, the launch of the line means the expansion of its international network and increased competition in the railway market of Central Europe. The company positions the new route as a direct connection between Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Ukrainian border region.
Leo Express is a private Czech railway and bus operator working on routes in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and other countries of the region. The company develops international passenger transportation and competes with state-owned and private operators in Central Europe.
According to data from the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics (INE), foreign buyers purchased 41,086 houses and apartments in Portugal in 2025, a 6.6% increase from the previous year.
Brazilian citizens became the largest group of foreign buyers. In 2025, they purchased 9,808 properties, a 27.5% increase from 2024. Angolan citizens ranked second with 4,145 purchases, a 2.2% increase. The French took third place, purchasing 3,765 properties, a 6.2% decrease from the previous year.
According to INE data, foreign buyers with tax residency in Portugal completed 34,834 transactions, an increase of 11.4% compared to 2024. At the same time, purchases by non-residents declined: foreigners without tax residency in Portugal purchased 8,471 properties, which is 13.3% less than a year earlier. This marked the third consecutive year of declining activity among non-residents.
This gap indicates a shift in the structure of foreign demand. The Portuguese real estate market is increasingly relying not on traditional foreign investors, but on foreigners already residing in the country. These may include migrant workers, relocators, families with long-term residence permits, and members of diasporas, primarily Brazilian and Angolan.
Foreigners, as before, are purchasing more expensive properties than local residents. According to INE data, the average value of real estate purchased by buyers with tax residency in Portugal was €234,120. Buyers from EU countries paid an average of €335,640, while buyers from non-EU countries paid €470,277 per property. British and American buyers purchased particularly expensive properties: the average transaction price was €512,585 and €479,403, respectively.
Geographically, demand from non-residents remains concentrated in the most attractive regions. In 2025, the Algarve accounted for 29.7% of non-resident transactions, the Northern region for 20%, the Central region for 14.9%, and Greater Lisbon for 12.5%. In terms of transaction value, the Algarve’s dominance is even more pronounced: the region accounted for 42.4% of total non-resident investment in housing.
The INE also noted strong growth among buyers from Ukraine, Cape Verde, and Venezuela: the number of transactions by citizens of these countries increased by more than 25% in 2025. However, the exact number of properties purchased by Ukrainians is not disclosed in the brief INE publication or in reports by the Portuguese media.
For Ukrainians, Portugal remains an attractive destination due to its safety, access to the EU, labor market, diaspora ties, and the possibility of long-term residency. At the same time, following the removal of real estate as a basis for the Golden Visa, investment demand has become less tied to obtaining a residence permit and more dependent on actual relocation, income levels, and long-term residency plans.
Thus, Portugal’s housing market maintains high foreign demand, but its structure is changing. Brazilians have strengthened their leadership due to linguistic and migratory proximity; Angolans remain an important group of buyers; and the French, British, and Americans continue to play a major role in the higher-end segments. Ukrainians are not yet among the largest buyers but are demonstrating one of the most notable growth rates.
PJSC “Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant” (DMZ), part of the DCH Steel division of businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, reduced its net loss by 78.3% in January-March of this year compared to the same period last year—to UAH 29.031 million from UAH 133.943 million.
According to the company’s interim report, available to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, revenue from ordinary activities during this period fell by nearly sevenfold—to UAH 131.165 million from UAH 886.267 million.
The uncovered loss as of the end of March 2026 amounted to UAH 778.384 million.
In Q1 2026, the company produced 279 tons of metal products; the company’s products were not sold for export. Taking into account the current situation in Ukraine, the industry, and existing restrictions, in accordance with the work plan adopted for 2026, the following operational activities are planned: production of rolled steel from customer-supplied billets (40,000 tons), and production of spare parts in the repair and mechanical workshop (RMW). The production plan for 2026 was drawn up based on the assumption that hostilities will continue and therefore production capacities will be affected.
The average number of full-time employees is 484, and the payroll fund amounts to UAH 37.842 million.
The main achievement of last year was the completion of the project (which began in 2023) to transition PC-2 production to continuously cast billets, which helped reduce production costs. Currently, all standard sizes of channel sections sold by the company in accordance with Ukrainian and European standards have been transitioned to standard cast billets.
To improve energy efficiency, work continues on the construction of a new above-ground water pipeline from Shoreline Pumping Station No. 1 to supply process water to the wastewater treatment plant serving PC-2, which will enable energy savings and reduce transmission losses. To optimize electricity costs, the number of operational power transformers was maintained at the minimum operational level. As of March 31, 2026, 109 transformers were decommissioned, and an additional 2 units that were not involved in production processes were dismantled.
The report notes that for the period until the end of the military aggression, the company’s primary goal is to continue and maintain production at current levels and achieve a minimal but positive financial result. Following the end of the war, in the context of post-war reconstruction and deepening economic integration with the EU, the company is developing a comprehensive modernization strategy incorporating “green” production technologies to achieve competitiveness in the European market and minimize environmental risks in Ukraine.
In this context, the company’s leading specialists are exploring the construction of an electric steelmaking complex (ESCC) with a capacity of 450,000 tons per year. The ESFC will supply billets to the rolling mills of PJSC “DMZ” and reduce harmful emissions to a level that will allow for the export of products to the EU under the Common Market Access (CMA) tariff regime. Purchased scrap metal will be used as raw material. The cost of rolled products manufactured from the company’s own square billets will allow for a higher margin on sales and ensure that the production capacity of Mill 550 is utilized to its maximum annual level—190,000 tons.
In the second phase, to expand the product range, it is proposed to modernize Mill 550 by installing additional universal rolling stands for the production of I-beam rolled steel with a capacity of 30,000 tons per year. This type of rolled steel is currently 100% imported into Ukraine; if produced at PJSC “DMZ,” it will generate additional margin revenue compared to cast billets. It is planned to expand the product range and increase sales margins by constructing a light-gauge mill with a capacity of 120,000 tons per year during the third phase.
According to the 2025 annual report, DMZ increased its loss by 5.5 times last year compared to 2024—to UAH 1,225.795 million—while revenue from ordinary activities fell by 3.2 times—to UAH 1,664.980 million.
As reported, DMZ posted a net loss of 222.117 million UAH for 2024, compared to a net profit of 504.591 million UAH in 2023. The plant reported a net profit of 4.225 million UAH for 2022, while in 2021 it stood at 1.725157 billion UAH.
DMZ reported a net profit of UAH 1.725157 billion in 2021, whereas it ended 2020 with a net loss of UAH 394.091 million.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, cast iron, rolled products, and products made from them. The plant has a full metallurgical production cycle: a blast furnace shop, an oxygen converter shop, coke and chemical production, and rolling production, which consists of two section rolling mills (Mill 800 and Mill 550). However, due to the shutdown of the blast furnace in 2022, sales of long steel products in the first quarter of 2026 from the plant’s own inventory consisted only of isolated orders from remaining stock. Due to the shutdown of coke production in May 2025, sales of remaining coke products were made from inventory.
On March 1, 2018, the DCH Group signed an agreement to purchase the Dnipro Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) data for the first quarter of 2026, Drampisco Limited (Cyprus) owns 97.7346% of DMZ’s shares.
According to the 2025 report, the ultimate beneficial owner (controller) of PJSC “Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant” is Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi, a citizen of Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Type of beneficial ownership: indirect controlling influence, percentage of share capital (indirect influence): 87.96%.
The share capital of the private joint-stock company is UAH 574.994 million, and the par value of a share is UAH 0.25.
JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” increased its net loss by 17.3% in January-March 2026 compared to the same period in 2025—to 7.9 billion UAH—as a result of constant enemy shelling and rising energy costs, according to a company statement on Facebook on Monday.
“The first quarter of 2026 was a difficult test for Ukrzaliznytsia. The enemy carried out 541 strikes on railway infrastructure and rolling stock—that is half the number of all attacks in 2025,” Ukrzaliznytsia reported.
The company specified that 1,700 railway facilities were damaged as a result of enemy attacks, and 28 railway workers were injured while performing their duties.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia’s consolidated interim financial report, net revenue increased by 2.2% to 21.8 billion UAH, while gross losses rose by 35.9% to 7.2 billion UAH.
The operating loss for the first quarter of 2026 also rose by 16.5% to 6.6 billion UAH.
In addition, due to abnormal cold weather, freight volumes for January–March 2026 decreased by 6.4% compared to last year—to 34.8 million tons of cargo, the report states.
It is noted that long-distance passenger traffic decreased by 10% compared to the same period in 2025, down to 5.8 million passengers. The company attributed this to enemy attacks on passenger trains and railway infrastructure.
“Because of this, railway workers were forced to temporarily reduce or change train routes. The situation was further complicated by rising fuel prices amid the conflict in the Middle East and general market instability,” the statement said.
It is noted that in March of this year, the purchase price of diesel fuel rose by nearly 50%, and the increase in electricity prices resulted in additional costs of 2.58 billion hryvnias.
“Ukrzaliznytsia is forced to optimize development and restoration costs as much as possible to ensure uninterrupted service under difficult conditions, although it requires additional resources for repairs,” the company added.
At the same time, Ukrzaliznytsia stated that it is exceeding its operational efficiency improvement program by more than 10.2 billion UAH, specifically by leasing space through Prozorro, transferring non-core assets, and other measures.
The Kernel agricultural holding, one of the largest in Ukraine, has increased the size of its land bank by 48% over the past year—to 530,000 hectares—following the acquisition of Enselco Holding Limited (approximately 190,000 hectares) and the sale of a portion of assets comprising leased land in the Kharkiv region (approximately 14,000 hectares) to Agroton Public Limited.
“As a result of the completion of both transactions, the total area of leased agricultural land under the Group’s management reached 530,000 hectares, which is 48% more than in the previous year, further strengthening the Group’s position as the largest agricultural producer in Ukraine,” – according to the consolidated financial report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 (FY, January–March 2026).
The document notes that “Kernel” has completed the 2026 planting campaign across the entire area of its expanded land bank.
“Unfavorable weather conditions in late winter and early spring forced the replanting of part of the acreage under winter crops. Following these adjustments, corn remains the primary crop, accounting for 48% of the planted area (255,000 ha compared to 172,000 ha last year), which has generally remained unchanged compared to the 2025 crop structure,” the report states.
The group also expanded the areas planted with sunflowers (to 88,000 ha from 46,000 ha) and rapeseed (to 43,000 ha from 3,000 ha), increasing their shares to 17% and 8%, respectively, compared to 13% and 1% in the previous planting season. The area under wheat in absolute terms increased from 94,000 ha to 106,000 ha, while its share in the crop mix decreased from 26% to 20%.
The area under soybeans decreased significantly—from 24,000 ha to 9,000 ha—and currently accounts for only 2% of the total planted area.
As reported, in April 2026, Kernel signed an agreement to acquire Enselco Holding Limited for $348 million. The company comprises an integrated agribusiness with a land bank of approximately 190,000 hectares, a network of grain storage facilities, agricultural machinery, and a rail fleet for grain transportation.
According to the report, an agreement to sell approximately 14,000 hectares of leased land in the Kharkiv region, along with agricultural machinery and a grain storage facility, was signed on May 22.
Kernel Agri-Holding is the world’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, Ukraine’s largest grain exporter, an operator of an extensive network of logistics assets, and a leading producer of grain and oilseeds in Ukraine. It is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. It is engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
According to the results for the first nine months of 2026, Kernel reduced its net profit by 5% to $208 million, while its revenue increased by 0.4% to $3.092 billion, and EBITDA by 1% to $403 million.
The M.M. Amosov National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (NAMSU), with the assistance of the Ukrainian Embassy in Italy, has received five ventilators.
As reported by the embassy on its Facebook page, the equipment will enhance the medical facility’s ability to provide care to patients and ensure the continuous work of doctors under the difficult conditions of wartime.
The project was implemented with the support of the Ukrainian association “Malva” in Verona.
