According to estimates by “Intergal-Bud,” the Darnytskyi district has both the highest level of development activity and the highest concentration of housing near metro stations. This is stated in a study published by “Intergal-Bud.”
Approximately 70,000–74,000 apartments are located within a 15-minute commute of metro stations in the district. In the Holosiivskyi district, this figure is estimated at 53,000–57,000; in the Shevchenkivskyi district, 45,000–48,000; in the Obolonskyi district, 40,000–42,000; and in the Sviatoshynskyi district, 33,000–35,000 apartments.
The Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts together form the largest cluster of modern residential development on the Left Bank. Analysts cite its advantages as a significant volume of new supply, lower apartment prices compared to central districts, proximity to the metro, and well-established commercial and social infrastructure.
An additional factor is the wider selection of properties available for purchase through government mortgage programs.
“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
Oil prices are rising sharply on Wednesday afternoon, with the price of Brent crude surpassing the $95-per-barrel mark during trading for the first time since early June.
As of 1:31 p.m., the price of September Brent futures on the London-based ICE Futures exchange rose by $2.83 (3.11%) to $93.84 per barrel. Earlier in the session, prices reached $95.47 per barrel.
WTI crude oil futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) electronic trading platform have risen by $2.69 (3.19%) to $87.03 per barrel.
Both grades are trading at six-week highs amid fears of new disruptions to oil supplies from the Middle East.
The U.S. and Iran continue to exchange blows, with the U.S. military attacking targets in Iran for the 11th consecutive night. Last night, the U.S. military attacked the Iranian port cities of Chabahar and Konarek, located on the coast of the Gulf of Oman, as well as the major industrial center of Tabriz.
In addition, the Yemeni Houthis have announced a blockade of Saudi Arabian ports and are threatening to attack tankers carrying Saudi oil in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This strait is a key point on one of the two main routes through which Saudi Arabia exports oil to Asia; the other runs through the Strait of Hormuz.
“We believe that the price of oil will fluctuate between $80 and $90 per barrel depending on the news,” said Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Management. “If the Red Sea is indeed closed, prices will jump above $100 per barrel, but we are not seeing that happen yet.”
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported yesterday that U.S. inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels last week. Analysts surveyed by Trading Economics had expected a decline of 1.5 million barrels.
The API receives data from refinery operators, oil storage facilities, and pipeline operators on a voluntary basis. Data from the U.S. Department of Energy on oil inventories, which is more important to the market, will be released on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. local time.
Brent, MIDDLE EAST, OIL, SUPPLY, WTI
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.
