Thanks to Ukraine’s participation in the POLARIN project under the Horizon Europe program, two new international research projects are launching at the “Akademik Vernadsky” station and on the icebreaker “Noosphere,” according to the National Antarctic Scientific Center (NASC).
“At the ‘Vernadsky’ station, researchers will study the aerosol-mediated dispersal of microbial communities in polar regions as part of the MICROAIRPOLAR project. The second project—TRICUSO-FLOATS—is dedicated to monitoring carbon in the Southern Ocean; for this project, six argon buoys equipped with a range of sensors will be deployed from aboard the icebreaker ‘Noosphere,’” the NANC stated in a press release on Tuesday.
Specifically, as part of the MICROAIRPOLAR project, which is being carried out by scientists from the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain) and Northumbria University (United Kingdom), special MicroAirCollector equipment will be installed at three stations in the Arctic and three in Antarctica to collect samples of microorganisms from the air. Scientists will conduct genetic analysis to determine exactly what the wind carries into the polar regions and will track the trajectories of air masses and the movement of bacteria in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as between them.
As part of the second project—TRICUSO-FLOATS, carried out by scientists from the National Oceanography Center (United Kingdom), the Norwegian Research Center, and Sorbonne University (France)—carbon monitoring will be conducted in the Southern Ocean. To this end, six argon buoys equipped with a range of sensors will be deployed from the Noosphere to measure total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon content, which will help quantify how much carbon the Southern Ocean absorbs.
Both studies will begin during the next Antarctic season, which starts in late 2026.
The NASC also notes that POLARIN brings together 64 polar research infrastructures belonging to organizations from around the world. MICROAIRPOLAR and TRICUSO-FLOATS are the first winning projects to gain access to the “Vernadsky” and “Noosphere” stations as part of POLARIN.
“For Ukraine, such initiatives represent an opportunity to participate in cutting-edge scientific research and to be an active member of the global polar community,” the NASC concludes.
As of July 21, Ukrainian farmers had threshed 1.34 million hectares—or 11% of the projected area—and harvested 5.47 million metric tons of grain from the new crop, according to the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.
Wheat production totaled 2.6 million metric tons from an area of 633,200 hectares, with an average yield of 41.1 centners per hectare.
Barley production totaled 2.56 million metric tons from an area of 580,500 hectares, with a yield of 44.1 centners per hectare.
Peas yielded 301,400 metric tons from an area of 121,600 hectares, with a yield of 24.8 centners per hectare.
The Odesa region currently leads in terms of the volume of early grain and legume crops harvested, with 1.597 million metric tons harvested from an area of 385,000 hectares. In the Mykolaiv region, 1.303 million metric tons were harvested from an area of 365.5 thousand hectares. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, 1.005 million metric tons were harvested from an area of 256.5 thousand hectares.
Winter and spring rapeseed have already been threshed across an area of 216,200 hectares, yielding 429,600 metric tons with an average yield of 19.9 centners per hectare.
According to data from the Pension Fund of Ukraine as of July 1, 2026, approximately 2.4 million Ukrainian pensioners—or 24% of the total number—receive between 3,001 and 4,000 UAH per month.
The average payment within this group is 3,581.58 UAH. Another 335,800 people, or 3.4% of pensioners, receive no more than 3,000 UAH, while 1.72 million people receive between 4,000 and 5,000 UAH.
At the same time, approximately 3.21 million people—or nearly one-third of all pensioners—receive a pension of more than 7,000 UAH. Payments exceeding 20,000 UAH are made to 436,200 people, including 29,500 pensioners who receive more than 30,000 UAH per month.
The average pension nationwide is 7,272.68 UAH; however, it exceeds the amount received by most recipients due to significantly higher pensions for certain categories.
State-owned PrivatBank and Limagrain, one of the world’s largest seed companies, have launched two partnership financing programs for agricultural producers ahead of the fall planting season, the bank’s press service reported.
“We are expanding financing options and offering farmers new tools that are more effective and convenient, given the specific nature of agricultural production,” the press service quoted Mykhailo Kovalov, head of PrivatBank’s Department of Documentary Operations and Trade Finance, as saying.
According to the announcement, farmers can take advantage of a working capital financing program to purchase seeds and a promissory note program, which allows for flexible payment planning and optimizes the financial burden on the farm.
The bank noted that both programs offer preferential financing terms as well as a simplified application process.
For more details on the loan terms, please contact Limagrain Ukraine managers or visit your nearest PrivatBank branch.
Limagrain—a seed company founded by farmers in France over 50 years ago—ranks fourth in the global seed industry. The company has been operating in Ukraine since 2008. The main crops it breeds include corn, sunflower, rapeseed, spring and winter wheat, and spring and winter barley (for feed and brewing). The company’s global network of branches spans 56 countries. Each year, the company invests approximately 14% of its revenue in research.
PrivatBank is Ukraine’s largest bank. According to the National Bank, the financial institution’s total assets as of June 1, 2026, amounted to 965.11 billion UAH (22.7% of the total).
The state-owned bank noted that, according to regular Brand Health Tracking surveys for the first quarter of 2026, the level of trust in it is higher than that of other financial institutions on the market and stands at 49%. The bank attributes this to the availability of accessible, personalized, and digitized products for its customers.
Insurance Company “Universal” (Kyiv) collected 2.04 billion UAH in insurance premiums from January through June 2026, which is 27% more than during the same period in 2025, according to the insurer’s website.
According to the data, of this total, UAH 678.9 million (+25%) came from comprehensive auto insurance (CASCO), UAH 616.8 million (+36%) from health insurance, UAH 172.9 million (+45%) from compulsory motor third-party liability insurance (OSCPV), UAH 157.3 million (+14%) from accident insurance — 157.3 million UAH (+14%), aviation insurance — 129.9 million UAH (+24%), property insurance — 92.2 million UAH (+11%), travel insurance — 42 million UAH, and other types of insurance — 152 million UAH.
The main shareholder of IC “Universalna” is Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Canada)—a holding company that, through its subsidiaries, is primarily engaged in accident insurance, property insurance, and investment management.
Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands), the parent company of the Metinvest mining and metallurgical group, reduced its debt to $1.027 billion as of June 30, 2026, down from $2.242 billion at the end of 2021.
According to Metinvest B.V.’s annual report, released on Monday, Metinvest made significant progress in reducing its debt burden during the reporting period. As a result, total debt as of December 31, 2025, stood at $1.441 billion, a 15% decrease compared to the previous year. At the same time, the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio rose to 1.4x, an increase of 0.4x compared to the previous year.
It is noted that bonds listed on the Euronext Dublin stock exchange continued to constitute the bulk of the group’s capital structure—representing 88% of the debt portfolio, compared to 85% as of December 31, 2024.
Metinvest continued to actively manage its debt obligations. In the first half of 2025, the issued Senior Notes totaling EUR300 million were fully repaid upon maturity. As a result, the total amount of debt repaid since the beginning of 2022 reached $801 million.
In addition, it is noted that the overall reduction in debt during this period was driven by the full and timely repayment of senior bonds (two series); liability management measures, including cash tender offers and private repurchases; scheduled repayment of bank loans; a reduction in reliance on short-term trade finance; and the optimization of lease assets. These results were achieved despite the war and the loss of operational control over certain Ukrainian assets.
In parallel with measures to reduce its debt burden, Metinvest continued to secure targeted financing to support its operations and investment priorities. Specifically, in July 2025, a 11.5-year buyer’s credit facility in the amount of EUR23.6 million was secured for Northern GOK to finance the purchase of equipment for a project to thicken tailings. This credit line, guaranteed by the Finnish export credit agency Finnvera, marked Metinvest’s first instance of securing long-term financing for capital expenditures in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.
In addition, in April 2026, the group successfully completed the redemption of bonds maturing in 2026, marking another important milestone amid the ongoing war. To date, Metinvest has fully repaid three separate bond series, with total payments on these instruments exceeding $1 billion. These results were achieved despite the challenges of full-scale war, the loss of control over certain Ukrainian assets, and ongoing operational difficulties. At the same time, no debt has been restructured since the start of the war. According to pro forma figures, taking into account the redemption of the 2026 bonds, the group’s net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was less than 1x, the report notes.
As previously reported, Metinvest’s EBITDA in 2025 decreased by 24.2% compared to 2024—to $765 million from $1.009 billion. The year ended with a net loss of $191 million, compared to a net loss of $1.152 billion in 2024. Revenue decreased by 6% to $7.242 billion. At the same time, revenue from the mining segment fell by 25% year-over-year to $2.135 billion due to the absence of coking coal concentrate sales and a decline in iron ore product sales (by 11%). The segment’s contribution to total revenue was 29% (a decrease of 8 percentage points year-over-year).
In 2025, revenue from the metallurgical segment increased by 6% year-over-year to $5.107 billion, primarily due to growth in sales of finished products, semi-finished products (up 4% and 7%, respectively), and other products and services (up 40%). Meanwhile, coke sales fell by 20% year-over-year. This segment accounted for 71% of total revenue in the reporting period (an increase of 8 percentage points year-over-year).
For the year, the group posted an operating profit of $319 million, compared to an operating loss of $858 million in 2024.
At the time, Metinvest CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov noted in his comments that the full-scale war continues to test both the nation and the group, which remains steadfast.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its facilities are located in Ukraine—in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions—as well as in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The holding company’s main shareholders are the SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of the Metinvest Group.
