The Darnytskyi District led Kyiv in the number of sales launches for new residential complexes and new phases of existing projects in 2025—accounting for 27% of all such launches in the capital.
This is according to a study published by Intergal-Bud, whose analysts examined the geography of new construction, the transportation accessibility of districts, and changes in the structure of demand in Kyiv’s primary housing market.
The Holosiivskyi District ranked second in terms of development activity, with a 19% share. The Obolon district accounted for 13% of sales launches, the Shevchenkivskyi district for 11%, and the Sviatoshynskyi district for 9%. Another 20% or so was distributed among the capital’s other districts.
According to the company’s assessment, the full-scale war has altered the geography of Kyiv’s primary market. Development activity is gradually shifting from central districts to areas where comprehensive development projects can be implemented and mid-range housing can be offered.
Until 2022, buyers tended to compare the right and left banks, the prestige of the district, and the distance to the city center. Now, the main criteria are the price of the apartment, access to the metro, shelters, the building’s autonomous power supply, and the ability to use public transportation during air raid alerts.
Existing social infrastructure—such as schools, kindergartens, medical facilities, supermarkets, and other amenities necessary for daily life—is also of great importance.
“Intergal-Bud” operates in the Ukrainian residential real estate market and develops projects in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine.
Darnytskyi District, DEAL, INTERGAL-BUD, KYIV, NEW CONSTRUCTION, REAL ESTATE
In the first half of 2026, 8,352 thousand births were registered in Kyiv—about 11% of the total number of newborns in Ukraine.
Lviv Oblast took second place, with 6,617 thousand children born. Next were Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with 5,611 thousand newborns and Odesa Oblast with 5,450 thousand.
At the same time, the birth rate declined not only in frontline regions but also in relatively safe regions. In the Vinnytsia, Lviv, and Ternopil regions, the number of births decreased by approximately 20% compared to the first half of 2025.
The sharpest decline was recorded in the Donetsk region, where the number of newborns fell by about three times. In the Zaporizhzhia region, the figure dropped by 23%.
In total, 73,292 births were registered in Ukraine from January through June 2026, which is 16% fewer than a year earlier, OpenDataBot reported on July 22, citing data from the Ministry of Justice.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has included in the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program a new structural benchmark with a deadline of December 31, 2026, which calls for the submission to the Verkhovna Rada of specific rules to combat tax evasion under the simplified tax system.
According to the updated EFF Memorandum of Understanding, the new legislation is intended to address the issues of artificially splitting businesses to maintain preferential limits, manipulative switching between tax regimes, and the use of the simplified system to conceal actual employment relationships and evade taxes on wages and the Unified Social Tax (UST).
At the same time, IMF experts recommended revising the draft of the new Labor Code regarding the definition of employment, noting that the requirement to meet at least five of eight criteria to establish an employment relationship places an excessive burden of proof on regulatory authorities, whereas meeting three criteria is sufficient.
According to the memorandum, the fight against the shadow economy requires additional resources for all tax authorities; therefore, following the appointment of a new head of the State Customs Service (SCS) in April 2026, the government must ensure sufficient funding is available for the re-certification of all customs officials, which is scheduled to begin in mid-2026. In addition, the 2027 budget must provide sufficient funding for the State Customs Service (SCS), the State Tax Service (STS), and the Economic Security Bureau (ESB) to improve their ability to hire and retain qualified personnel.
In the document, the government highlighted the challenges of passing legislation in parliament but noted that it remains committed to eliminating the VAT exemption for sole proprietors, given its importance for combating the shadow economy, mobilizing revenue, EU accession, and attracting donor support. Although the government considers improving tax administration to be extremely important, it sees greater risks in this area than the Fund’s staff does, as administrative reforms could lead to revenue losses if they are not carefully planned and implemented.
As reported, the IMF Executive Board approved the first review of Ukraine’s four-year EFF program early Tuesday morning, allowing for the immediate disbursement of approximately $690 million in the second tranche; however, it noted the failure to meet several performance criteria and cautioned against backsliding on reforms. Taking the first tranche into account, total disbursements under the program—which has a total value of $8.1 billion and was approved in late February of this year—will amount to approximately $2.2 billion.
The updated Memorandum on Ukraine’s Economic and Financial Policies under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), following the results of its first review, also includes seven new structural benchmarks, six of which are fiscal.
de-shadowing, IMF, Individual entrepreneurs, simplified system, TAX
The Experts Club Analytical Center has released a ranking of Ukraine’s largest insurance companies by premium volume for the first half of 2026, based on data from the “PRIMA” project of the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine.
The top five insurers collected nearly 16 billion UAH in premiums. The TAS Insurance Group retained its lead, but the most notable changes occurred in the fourth and fifth positions: Arsenal Insurance entered the ranking, while VUSO dropped out of the top five.
Overall Ranking of Insurance Companies
The TAS Insurance Group took first place, collecting 3.857 billion UAH in premiums. Compared to January–June 2025, this figure increased by 11.6%.
ARKS remained in second place with premiums totaling 3.146 billion UAH. Its premiums grew by 15.2%.
“Unica” took third place with 3.076 billion UAH. The company demonstrated the highest growth rate among the top three, increasing its premium volume by 23.5%.
“Arsenal Insurance” moved into fourth place, collecting 2.978 billion UAH. A year earlier, it had not been among the top five insurers.
“INGO” took fifth place with premiums totaling 2.934 billion UAH. Its premium income increased by 22.9%, but the company dropped one spot due to the rapid growth of “Arsenal Insurance.”
The gap between fourth and fifth place was only 44 million UAH, indicating intense competition among the largest general insurers.
MTPL Insurance Ranking
The TAS Group remained the largest player in the mandatory motor third-party liability insurance market, collecting 2.112 billion UAH in premiums. Growth compared to the first half of 2025 was 13.4%.
Oranta took second place with 1.569 billion UAH in premiums and 6.5% growth. Knyazha Vienna Insurance Group ranks third with 1.172 billion UAH in premiums, a 2.8% increase over last year’s figure.
Arsenal Insurance took fourth place with 805.3 million UAH. Rounding out the top five is PZU Ukraine, which collected 614.8 million UAH and returned to the ranks of the segment’s leaders.
INGO and USG, which were among the top five a year earlier, dropped out of the ranking. The combined premium volume of the five largest MTPL insurers totaled approximately 6.27 billion UAH.
The MTPL market remains one of the most concentrated segments of the Ukrainian insurance industry.
Companies with a well-developed regional network, a large customer base, and the ability to quickly settle mass insurance claims have a competitive advantage.
“Green Card” Ranking
The most notable changes occurred in the international motor liability insurance market.
PZU Ukraine took first place, more than doubling its premium volume—by 101.8%—to 656.6 million UAH. A year earlier, the company had ranked third.
The TAS Group moved up to second place. Its premiums decreased by 19.9%, to 519 million UAH.
USG took third place, with its premiums declining by 37.6% to 341.6 million UAH. Knyazha Vienna Insurance Group ranked fourth with 194.1 million UAH and growth of 6.7%.
Rounding out the top five was VUSO with 135.7 million UAH, replacing INGO in the ranking.
The combined premiums of the top five totaled approximately 1.85 billion UAH. PZU Ukraine’s surge was the most notable change among all the insurance segments reviewed.
CASCO Ranking
“Arsenal Insurance” became the new leader in the CASCO market, collecting 1.523 billion UAH in premiums. Over the year, this figure increased by 30.1%.
“ARKS,” which previously held first place, moved down to second place with a result of 1.499 billion UAH. Its premiums grew by 15.9%. The gap between the two leaders was only 24 million UAH.
Third place went to “VUSO” with 761.3 million UAH and growth of 25.1%. “Unica” is in fourth place, having increased its premiums by 33.5% to 753.8 million UAH.
“Universalna” took fifth place with premiums totaling 680.3 million UAH, which is 25.3% higher than the result for the first half of 2025.
The five largest companies collected approximately 5.22 billion UAH in the CASCO segment. All companies in the ranking showed double-digit growth, which may be due to rising costs of vehicles, repairs, and spare parts, as well as higher insurance coverage amounts.
Voluntary Health Insurance Ranking
The composition and order of the top five companies in the voluntary health insurance market remained unchanged.
Unica remained the market leader, collecting 1.333 billion UAH in premiums. Growth stood at 7.3%.
“Universalna” took second place with 774.1 million UAH and growth of 30.9%. “INGO” is in third place, having increased its premiums by 36.6% to 714.3 million UAH.
“VUSO” took fourth place with 577.7 million UAH.
The company demonstrated the highest growth rate among the top five—41.8%.
ARKS retained fifth place, collecting 361.9 million UAH, which is 12.4% more than last year’s figure.
The combined premium volume of the top five companies reached 3.76 billion UAH. The segment’s rapid growth is driven by corporate health insurance programs, which employers use to attract and retain employees.
Ranking of Life Insurance Companies
The life insurance market maintains the most stable leadership structure.
MetLife ranks first with premiums totaling 1.599 billion UAH. Over the past year, the company’s premium income grew by 11.4%. It accounts for approximately 57% of the top five companies’ combined premiums.
TAS ranks second with 525.7 million UAH. The company posted the highest growth rate among the segment’s leaders, increasing its premiums by 21.9%.
Grave Ukraine Life Insurance ranks third with 308.7 million UAH and 9.1% growth.
PZU Ukraine Life Insurance ranks fourth, having collected 205.3 million UAH, which is 8.5% more than a year earlier.
Arks Life rounds out the top five with premiums of 175.5 million UAH and growth of 3.9%.
The combined premium volume of the five largest life insurance companies totaled 2.81 billion UAH.
Key Findings from Experts Club
The Ukrainian insurance market maintained a high level of concentration in the first half of 2026. The same companies hold leading positions in several segments at once, but there is no single leader across all segments.
The TAS Group tops the overall ranking and the MTPL market; PZU Ukraine took first place in Green Card insurance; “Arsenal Insurance” has become the leader in comprehensive auto insurance (CASCO), “Unica” retains first place in health insurance, and “MetLife” continues to dominate the life insurance sector.
“Arsenal Insurance” demonstrated the most notable strengthening of its position. It entered the overall top 5, took first place in comprehensive auto insurance, and ranked fourth in compulsory auto liability insurance.
At the same time, the “Green Card” results show that insurers’ positions can change rapidly, even within a single year. PZU Ukraine’s premiums more than doubled, while those of TAS and USG declined significantly.
Premium growth does not always correspond to a comparable increase in the number of policies. A significant portion of this trend may be attributed to rising costs of vehicles, medical services, repairs, and other insured items. To fully assess a company’s position, it is necessary to consider not only premiums but also claims payments, loss ratios, reserves, capital, and the speed of claims settlement.
According to the National Agency for Insurance Supervision (NAIS), as of the end of June 2026, there were 47 insurers operating in the Ukrainian insurance market. Ten companies specialized in life insurance, while another participant—the Export-Credit Agency—held special status.
In 2027, Ukraine may begin the process of gradually raising electricity and gas rates for households after developing appropriate protection programs.
This is stated in the updated memorandum on Ukraine’s economic and financial policies under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), following the results of its first review.
“The government has committed to conducting an assessment by the end of February 2027 of utility support programs aimed at protecting vulnerable households. Once appropriate protection programs have been developed, household tariffs should be gradually increased—this process can begin in 2027,” the document’s authors state.
According to the text of the memorandum, the goal of this process is to meet the needs for recovery and debt reduction in the energy sector, while full price liberalization will eventually be necessary to attract post-war investment.
“The Ukrainian government (IF-U) emphasized that tariff increases should occur only after an assessment and, if necessary, reform of existing social protection systems,” the authors of the document noted, among other things.
It is noted that large-scale quasi-fiscal measures in the energy sector and the existing tariff structure pose serious risks to investment, reconstruction, and the development of a stable energy supply and power grid.
According to preliminary expert estimates—which will be refined during future technical assistance—fixed energy tariffs that are below market rates—in particular, due to moratoriums imposed since the start of the war—cost at least 2.2% of GDP annually in the form of off-target subsidies resulting from the quasi-fiscal activities of state-owned energy enterprises, while targeted transfers for public utilities account for about 0.6% of GDP in the budget.
“Significant fiscal risks arise from fixed utility rates for households, which currently amount to about 55% of comparable supply contracts,” the document states.
As a result, the energy sector is increasingly relying on in-kind contributions, grants, and preferential financing to meet its needs for repairs and imports. For example, Naftogaz took on additional debt to finance repairs and imports, causing its debt to rise by 63% year-over-year in 2025. The government is currently seeking donor support to ensure the timely completion of necessary repair work and the implementation of plans to strengthen resilience, the authors of the document noted.
Ukrainian farmers received over 137 million UAH in government aid for maintaining breeding herds of goats and sheep as part of the second phase of the first stage of the program to support the development of livestock farming and agricultural processing, according to a press release from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.
According to the report, in July, 536 farms and other agricultural producers received funds through the Ukrainian State Fund for Support of Farming Enterprises.
Support is provided to producers who maintain between 5 and 500 breeding goats and/or sheep. The budget subsidy amounts to 2,000 UAH per head.
The Ministry noted that the funds are intended to help agricultural producers maintain their herds, support economic activity in rural communities, and contribute to the recovery of sheep and goat farming, whose herds, according to the Ministry, have declined by nearly 30% compared to the pre-war period.
The program is funded as part of the World Bank’s ARISE project, aimed at revitalizing Ukraine’s agricultural sector.
Applications can be submitted through the State Agrarian Register (DAR).
As previously reported, in February, agricultural producers submitted 1,621 applications through the State Agrarian Register (DAR) within two days to receive subsidies for maintaining goats and sheep, totaling 203.6 million UAH.
In June, as part of the first phase of the program for the development of livestock farming and agricultural processing, farmers received over 93 million UAH in state support for maintaining breeding herds of goats and sheep.
