The Ukrainian Dairy Industry Association (UDIA) advocates a return to a full food labeling regime to prevent future product counterfeiting and misleading consumer information, according to a statement from the Association.
In its view, at the start of the full-scale invasion, legislative changes that allowed labeling requirements to be suspended were justified; however, today enterprises in frontline regions have sufficient state support tools under the “Made in Ukraine” policy—specifically, compensation for equipment purchases, recovery programs, and property insurance.
Furthermore, even in areas close to the combat zone, manufacturers have the ability to establish stable supply chains and continue operations without the need to maintain simplified labeling requirements, the Association believes.
“At the same time, it is precisely in these regions that the activities of certain manufacturers of counterfeit products are currently being observed, who are effectively using the resolution as a tool to legitimize unscrupulous practices. Therefore, maintaining this regulation poses risks to public health, misleads consumers, and effectively creates favorable conditions for illegal business and food fraud,” the Association emphasizes.
As reported, on March 3, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 186 “Certain Issues Regarding the Labeling of Food Products Under Martial Law,” which temporarily permits manufacturers not to update labeling in cases of forced changes to the recipe due to raw material shortages or supply issues.
Apartel Skhidnytsya is a 5-star wellness resort in Skhidnytsia featuring 269 rooms of various types and 12 cottages. From the very beginning, the resort was conceived as a year-round destination, so the summer season here boasts extensive amenities and a packed calendar of events.
The Summer Series 2026 kicked off on May 16 with a performance by MONATIK. A series of major concerts and events is scheduled at the resort throughout the summer. One of the highlights will be a performance by Dorofeeva & Positiff, who are reuniting as a duo after a long hiatus. This is a major event for the Ukrainian music scene and a comeback that fans have been waiting for for years. Also on the season’s lineup are Druga Rika, CHEEV, Vitaliy Kozlovskyi, ARKUSH, DZIDZIO, Anna Trincher, Ochi v Ochi, Mila Nitić, YAKTAK, KOLA, and other artists.
One of the main summer venues will be Central Park, a large outdoor space on the grounds of Apartel Skhidnytsya. In winter, it served as an ice rink, and this season it will become an active recreation area with a roller rink, two padel courts, a tennis court, and a multi-purpose field for soccer, basketball, and volleyball.
An outdoor pool with a waterfall has already been prepared for the summer, featuring the renowned Chornomork restaurant, which adds a touch of the Black Sea to the Carpathian getaway. They have also renovated one of Apartel Skhidnytsya’s signature features—the Infinity Pool. This pool offers a panoramic view of the Carpathians, bringing “a piece of the sea to the mountains.”
One of the resort’s strongest offerings is wellness. In 2025, Apartel Skhidnytsya received an award from the World Luxury Hotel Awards. It combines a 2,000 m² spa, a medical Biohacking Center, physical therapy, wellness programs, and personalized bodywork sessions. Guests can come for a few days to unwind or undergo longer restorative treatments to improve sleep, reduce fatigue, and give their bodies time to fully recharge.
This summer, a day camp featuring a program in the format of a large-scale game will be launched for children. Participants will have their own journals, complete challenges, collect badges, and take part in various activities throughout the day. The program will include quests, creative workshops, games with non-toxic paints, water balls, and boats. A special highlight will be evening stargazing through a telescope.
The culinary offerings at Apartel Skhidnytsya complement the resort’s overall experience. There are two restaurants, a lobby bar, and a food court on the premises, and the menu combines European cuisine, local products, and signature dishes so that guests can choose a dining experience that suits their vacation rhythm.
Gastronomic evenings, creative workshops, orchestra performances, and open-air events are also planned for the summer. At Apartel Skhidnytsya, we aim to create a vacation experience where every day has its own atmosphere and a reason to make it brighter and more fulfilling.
“You shouldn’t directly compare the sea and the mountains. These are different vacation scenarios. Our goal is to give guests everything they come for on vacation—and a little more. Pools, sports, a spa, medical rehabilitation, children’s programs, concerts, gastronomy, and service should work together as a single experience. When a person gets all of this in one place, there’s no need to explain why they should come back,” comments Vasyl Krulko, co-owner of the Apartel Resorts hotel chain.
The resort holds the international Green Key eco-certificate, which confirms the resort’s compliance with modern standards of eco-friendly and responsible hospitality. At the same time, Apartel Resorts works with the local community to develop the region as a year-round resort.
Apartel Skhidnytsya Wellness Resort is the kind of destination that is increasingly drawing visitors to Skhidnytsya for a full, enriching vacation—a place to spend time with family, have fun, attend large-scale concerts, and truly recharge.
According to the Interfax-Ukraine Culture project, nearly 40% of Ukrainians attend cultural events once every six months or less, most often at movie theaters, according to the “Culture in Ukraine” study by Research.ua, which was presented by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine on Thursday in Kyiv.
Specifically, when asked about the frequency of attending cultural events, 37% of respondents said they attend such events once every six months or less, 26%—once every few months, 30%—once a month or more often, and 7% noted that they do not attend cultural events.
Among the main sources of cultural news in 2025 were social media (75%) and messaging apps (65%), specifically: Telegram is a source of cultural news for 58% of respondents, Facebook – 51%, Instagram – 46%, and YouTube – 42%.
Among the most popular formats for cultural events are movie theaters (66% of respondents), music concerts (42%), and theater performances (40%).
Regarding barriers to attending cultural events: lack of funds (54% of respondents), lack of time (42%), lack of events nearby (26%), and lack of company (17%).
The survey was conducted December 22–30, 2025, via online interviews; the sample consisted of 2,000 respondents; the survey covered the adult urban population of Ukraine in all regions, excluding temporarily occupied territories.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/culture/1171698.html
According to the Interfax-Ukraine Culture project, the 14th international “Book Arsenal” festival began in Kyiv on Thursday, bringing together over 150 participants from the book market, authors, publishers, artists, and intellectuals from Ukraine and abroad, reports a journalist from the “Culture” department of Interfax-Ukraine.
Over the course of four days, more than 240 events—including discussions, public talks, lectures, readings, workshops, presentations of new books, and meetings with authors—will take place at the Art Arsenal. In addition to the literary program, the organizers have also prepared musical and performance components for the festival.
This year’s artistic component of the “Book Arsenal” features 15 exhibition projects that combine contemporary art, documentary film, archival practices, and reflections on the Ukrainian experience of war.
The focus theme of this year’s festival, “Carry Your Freedom,” is curated by Ukrainian journalist, human rights activist, military serviceman, and former prisoner of war Maksym Butkevych.
Also returning to the festival this year is the “Writer’s Program,” curated by Andriy Lyubka, a Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemember, volunteer, poet, prose writer, and translator.
In an exclusive comment to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture Tetyana Berezhna said that despite the heavy workload associated with her government duties, she continues to read fiction regularly, as she considers it essential for strategic thinking.
“I am absolutely convinced that in order to develop visionary skills and think strategically, we need to read a great deal of both fiction and other literature,” Berezhna said.
According to her, among the books that have made the greatest impression on her recently are “Against Cultural Amnesia” by Vira Ageyeva and the essays of Yuri Shevelov, edited by Yevgen Stasinevich.
The minister also mentioned that she is currently reading children’s books with her five-month-old daughter. Separately, she advised Ukrainians to pay attention to the poetry of Bohdan-Ihor Antonych to support their morale and mental health.
“Book Arsenal” is one of the largest international literary and arts festivals in Eastern Europe, bringing together Ukrainian and foreign authors, publishers, intellectuals, artists, and public figures every year. The festival was founded in 2011.
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, “Book Arsenal” became one of the key platforms for discussions on culture, memory, war, and Ukrainian identity.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/culture/1171814.html
In 2025, foreign buyers purchased 41,086 homes and apartments in Portugal, a 6.6% increase from the previous year, according to Portugal’s National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Brazilian citizens constituted 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, marking 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 11.4% increase from 2024. At the same time, purchases by non-residents declined: foreigners without tax residency in Portugal acquired 8,471 properties, 13.3% fewer than the previous year. This marked the third consecutive year of declining activity among non-residents.
This gap reflects 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 living in the country. These may include migrant workers, relocators, families with long-term residence permits, and members of diasporas, primarily Brazilian and Angolan.
Foreigners continue to purchase 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 EUR234,120. Buyers from EU countries paid an average of EUR335,640 per property, while buyers from non-EU countries paid EUR470,277. British and American buyers purchased particularly expensive properties: the average transaction price was EUR512,585 and EUR479,403, 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 INE’s brief 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.
The Ukrainian company Kovlar Group has been recognized as the leader of Ukraine’s fire protection industry based on the assessment by experts of the Ukrainian Business Award, according to a report on the website of the Ammokote brand.
According to the report, the organizers of the award noted the company’s stable development in 2025 and its contribution to the formation of Ukraine’s fire protection industry. The assessment was carried out taking into account the company’s financial indicators, market position and business reputation.
Ukrainian Business Award positions itself as a business award that recognizes companies that develop the economy, introduce innovations and form new industry standards.
According to the company, Kovlar Group offers more than 20 types of fire protection products for steel, concrete and wooden structures, cable systems and engineering communications. The products are manufactured under the Ammokote trademark and, according to the company, in certain segments account for up to 80% of the Ukrainian market.
The company notes that the development of domestic production of fire protection materials is of particular importance for Ukraine in the context of the restoration of industrial, residential, social and critical infrastructure. Fire protection of building structures, cable lines, engineering communications and industrial facilities is one of the key elements of safety in modern construction.
Kovlar Group works in the field of passive fire protection and manufactures Ammokote products for the fire protection of metal structures, engineering communications and air ducts, wooden and concrete structures, cables and cable lines. The company also provides services for the design of fire protection works, application of fire protection materials, equipment rental, materials expertise and regulatory and methodological support.
The company’s head office is located in Kyiv at the address: 27 V. Hetmana Street. The company’s website also indicates regional areas of work in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Kharkiv and Rivne.
Contact phone: +38 (067) 323-24-30
E-mail: info@kovlargroup.com
ammokote.com
