In 2025, the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant in Zaporizhia increased its rolled steel production by 15.2% compared to the previous year, from 2 million 426.7 thousand tons to 2 million 794.6 thousand tons.
According to the plant’s press release on Monday, steel production for the year amounted to 3 million 212.2 thousand tons (in 2024 – 2 million 890.8 thousand tons), pig iron – 3 million 567.8 thousand tons (3 million 106.3 thousand tons).
In December, Zaporizhstal produced 314,000 tons of pig iron and 278,500 tons of steel. It shipped 251,400 tons of rolled products, compared to 309,100 tons of pig iron, 273,200 tons of steel, and 251,300 tons of rolled products in the previous month.
Acting CEO of Zaporizhstal Taras Shevchenko stated that even in the most difficult conditions of wartime, metallurgy remains the foundation that supports the country’s economy and stability.
“Despite shelling, power outages, and logistical challenges, Zaporizhstal and other Metinvest enterprises in Zaporizhia are not just maintaining their operations – they are adapting, increasing their efficiency, and continuing to export Ukrainian products, providing foreign currency and tax revenues to the country’s budget and supporting the Ukrainian army. After all, we understand that preserving budget-generating enterprises today is the key to Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction in the future,” the CEO noted.
As reported, in 2024, Zaporizhstal increased its rolled steel output by 18.1% compared to 2023, from 2 million 54.7 thousand tons to 2 million 426.7 thousand tons, steel by 17.2%, to 2 million 890.8 thousand tons, and pig iron by 14.2%, to 3 million 106.3 thousand tons.
In 2023, Zaporizhstal increased its rolled steel production by 57.2% compared to 2022, to 2 million 54.7 thousand tons, steel by 65.4%, to 2 million 466.9 thousand tons, and pig iron by 35.3%, to 2 million 718.9 thousand tons.
Zaporizhstal is one of Ukraine’s largest industrial enterprises, whose products are in high demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
Zaporizhstal is a joint venture of the Metinvest Group, whose main shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Steel Limited (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
UN Tourism (United Nations World Tourism Organization) has published a list of the 20 destinations with the fastest recovery in inbound tourist traffic based on the results for January-September 2025 (change compared to 2019), according to data from the World Tourism Barometer.
The top 20 also includes: Bhutan (+203%), Qatar (+138%), El Salvador (+88%), Albania (+83%), Bahrain (+76%), Uzbekistan (+73%), Bahrain (+76%), Curaçao (+68%), Moldova (+63%), Ethiopia (+58%), Tanzania (+57%), Saudi Arabia (+56%), Colombia (+56%), Brazil (+47%), Morocco (+47%), Egypt (+45%), Malta (+44%), Mongolia (+44%), Andorra (+43%), US Virgin Islands (+42%) and Guatemala (+40%).
Overall, international tourist arrivals worldwide in January-September 2025 increased by 5% compared to the same period in 2024 and were 3% higher than in pre-pandemic 2019, according to the World Tourism Barometer.
On January 1, 2026, Bulgaria officially switched to the euro and became the 21st country in the eurozone. For the Bulgarian economy, this step is largely institutional in nature: for many years, the lev was tightly pegged to the euro through the currency board, so the market did not expect a sharp change in the monetary regime. At the same time, the country will get a seat on the ECB’s governing bodies and deeper integration into the eurozone’s financial system, according to the Experts Club information and analytical center.
Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club analytical center, believes that the effect of the transition will be determined by how quickly the authorities “knock down” inflation expectations among the population and businesses: “The euro itself does not make the economy richer overnight, but it reduces transaction costs and increases investor confidence. The key test in the first few months will be controlling price speculation and communicating clearly with consumers.”
The main domestic risk around which public debate in Bulgaria is centered is inflationary expectations and fears of price “rounding” in retail and services. Such fears traditionally accompany currency changes, even if the actual effect is usually limited in time and concentrated in the sector of daily household expenses.
After Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone, six countries remain in the EU that do not use the euro: Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, and Romania.
According to Experts Club estimates, the expansion of the eurozone will be slow in the coming years, as each of these countries has its own “stop factors” — from political constraints to failure to meet convergence criteria and budget deficit problems.
In Poland, for example, the government has publicly stated that the country is “not yet ready” for the euro and considers the zloty to be an instrument of macroeconomic flexibility that has helped it weather past shocks.
In the Czech Republic, President Petr Pavel has called for more active movement towards the euro as a factor in trade and decision-making, but there is no political consensus on the timing in the Czech Republic.
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, on the contrary, has stated several times that the country should not adopt the euro.
Sweden formally relies on the results of the 2003 referendum, when 55.9% of voters opposed the introduction of the euro.
Denmark, unlike the others, has a legally enshrined right not to introduce the euro (opt-out), confirmed by a referendum in 2000.
Experts Club notes that Romania is considered the next country after Bulgaria that is most likely to apply for the introduction of the euro. However, the actual timeline depends on inflation and the budget trajectory: the European Commission indicated in its convergence materials that Romania does not meet the conditions for adopting the euro, including the parameters of public finance sustainability and legal compatibility. The public guidelines in the Romanian discussion mention a target date of around 2029, but the timing may shift depending on economic indicators and fiscal adjustments.
KP MGS “Nikolaevelectrotrans” on December 31 announced its intention to conclude a contract with IC “VUSO” for the purchase of services of compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles (trolleybuses).
According to the message in the system of electronic public procurement Prozorro, at the expected cost of purchase of services of UAH 818,5 thousand the price offer of IC “VUSO” amounted to UAH 660,1 thousand.
Insurance companies “Oranta” – UAH 790,4 th, “Arsenal Insurance” – UAH 796,9 th participated in the tender.
IC VUSO, INSURANCE, MTPL insurance, Nikolaev Elektrotrans, TROLLEYBUSES
First Logistics Company (FLC), a leader in grain transportation by rail, has demonstrated growth in freight traffic for the third consecutive year. In particular, in 2025, it increased the transportation of agricultural products by 8.1% and construction materials by 6.8% compared to 2024, according to the company’s press service.
“A year of challenges, a year of tension, a year of working in conditions of full-scale war. And at the same time, another year in which we proved that development is possible even in the most difficult conditions,” the company wrote on its Facebook page.
PLK specified that in 2025, it transported 2.26 million tons (48.7%) of grain cargo and 1.16 million tons (51.3%) of inert materials. Of this, 900,000 tons were delivered to Ukrainian seaports and 200,000 tons to the land border with the EU.
As the company noted, these results were made possible by the work of the team, the trust of customers and partners, and the defenders of Ukraine, who ensure the ability to work in wartime conditions.
PLC expressed its conviction that in 2026 it will be able to achieve even greater results — already in the conditions of recovery and development of a peaceful Ukraine.
First Logistics Company is one of the leaders in the Ukrainian market for the transportation of grain crops by rail. It cooperates with international traders ADM, Bunge, CHS, NCH, Louis Dreyfus, Glencore, Cargill, and others. It has its own rolling stock of over a thousand railway cars and leased cars of various modifications.
PLC provides a full range of services in the field of freight transportation by rail and is part of the MS Capital holding. MS Capital also includes Ukraine’s largest Audi dealership, Audi Center Odessa South, the Avtostrada group of companies, the Pryluky Agricultural Company, and the Bekhivsky Granite Quarry.
According to YouControl, the founder and beneficiary of First Logistics Company is Maxim Shkil.
January 4 marked World Braille Day, established by the UN General Assembly to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication and the realization of the rights of blind and visually impaired people.
In Ukraine, according to the National Health Service of Ukraine, there has been an increase in the number of cases of vision loss or deterioration: in 2021, 17,478 such diagnoses were registered, in 2022 – 19,551, and in the first seven months of 2023, doctors have already recorded more than 19,000 diagnoses, which exceeded the figure for the whole of 2022. This was reported by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, noting the impact of full-scale war on the increase in the number of people with visual impairments.
At the same time, official statistics do not usually provide a single public “consolidated” figure for the total number of blind and visually impaired people in Ukraine. Public and specialized resources in various estimates cite figures of around 70,000 blind people and around 100,000 people with visual impairments (including children), emphasizing that these are estimates.
The Braille alphabet was created by French educator Louis Braille: he began working on the tactile code in 1824, based on the ideas of Charles Barbier’s “night writing” developed for the military. Braille adapted the six-dot cell-based system for easy reading and writing by the blind, and the first edition of his method was published in 1829.
