In January-March 2025, the volume of imports of passenger cars to Ukraine, including cargo and passenger vans and racing cars (UKT FEA code 8703), exceeded $1.131 billion in monetary terms, which is almost equal to the figure for the first quarter of last year ($1.134 billion).
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) of Ukraine, in March this year, passenger cars worth $411.23 million were imported to Ukraine, which is 16.6% more than in March 2024, while in January there was a 17.8% drop compared to January 2024, and in February the increase was 3% compared to February last year.
The three largest suppliers of cars to Ukraine in January-March this year were Germany, the United States and Japan, while last year it was the United States, Germany and China.
In particular, car deliveries from Germany increased by 35.7% to $228.94 million, and their share in the structure of car imports amounted to 20.24% compared to 14.88% a year earlier.
Ukraine imported $181.39 million worth of cars from the United States (down 14%). Japan, which last year was not among the top three countries with the largest car imports, supplied $108.35 million worth of cars over three months this year.
Notably, the top three did not include China, whose imports of passenger cars to Ukraine amounted to $138.18 million a year ago.
From other countries, all imports of passenger cars in the period amounted to $612.58 million, compared to $615.58 million in the first quarter of last year.
At the same time, in the first quarter of this year, Ukraine exported only $2.51 million worth of such vehicles, in particular to the UAE (51.6% of exports), the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while a year ago in the same period the country supplied $5.5 million worth of them to foreign markets, mainly to Canada, the UAE and the United States.
According to the State Customs Service, in the total structure of imports of goods to Ukraine in January-March, the share of passenger cars was 6.13%, in the structure of exports – 0.03%.
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine imported passenger cars worth $4.385 billion, 8% more than a year earlier, and exported $10.1 million (2.7 times less).
The Chinese authorities have decided to raise duties on US products from 34% to 84%, The Global Times reported on Wednesday, citing the Commission on Customs Tariffs under the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. The new tariffs are to come into effect on April 10 at 12:01 a.m. local time (7:01 a.m. ET).
In turn, Chinese state media reported that the Chinese authorities added 6 US firms to the list of unreliable organizations and 12 US entities to the list of legal entities subject to export controls.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump, having received no signals of concessions from Beijing, signed a decree to increase duties on goods from China. According to the decree, the additional 34% duty previously announced by Trump is being increased by 84%. Thus, taking into account the 20% duties that Trump imposed on goods from China in the first term of his presidency, the duties now amount to 104%.
Last week, the Chinese authorities decided to impose additional duties of 34% on goods from the United States starting April 10.
CNBC noted that the United States was ready to reconsider its position on raising duties on Chinese goods if China abandoned its retaliatory duties on American goods. However, Beijing stated that it was not going to make concessions.
In the first quarter of 2025, Ukraine increased imports of batteries and separators to $217.82 million, which is 2.5 times more than in the same period in 2024. This is evidenced by the State Customs Service data.
In March, imports amounted to $63.6 million, which is more than double the figure for March-2024 and 7% more than in February-2025.
The main suppliers:
– China – 79.2%.
– Bulgaria – 5.3%.
– Taiwan – 3.8%.
Exports of batteries from Ukraine in the first quarter – $11 million, key destinations: Poland (33.7%), France (19%), Germany (13.9%).
In 2024, imports of batteries to Ukraine amounted to $950.6 million, more than doubling compared to 2023.
The main battery manufacturers and brands whose products are actively represented in Ukrainian imports are:
– CATL, BYD, Gotion (China)
– Varta (Germany)
– Fiamm (Italy)
– Bosch (Germany)
– Yuasa (Japan)
According to Ukrmetallurgprom’s operational data, Ukrainian steelmakers produced 1.733 million tons of steel in Q1 2025, up 2.7% year-on-year.
In March, production amounted to 550.5 thousand tons, slightly lower than in February (571.8 thousand tons).
In total, Ukraine produced 7.575 million tons of steel in 2024 (+21.6% compared to 2023), and 6.228 million tons in 2023 (-0.6%). In 2021, the figure reached 21.366 million tons.
The Experts Club Information and Analytical Center has recently presented a video analysis of the top 20 steel producing countries – https://youtube.com/shorts/j7Yev2HCS4o?si=lfmGJ5jrx8036z1U
Rental rates in the market of commercial space as part of residential complexes in Ukraine have almost reached the pre-war level, but only in hryvnia equivalent, market experts say.
“Rental rates in 2022 sagged by 30-40%, but since the middle of 2023 a gradual stabilization began. Today the rates are close to pre-war indicators, especially in densely populated areas,” Ramil Mehdiyev, CEO of the development company ENSO, told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the company maintains flexibility of conditions for tenants. For example, there is a possibility of lease with the right to buy out the premises, individual approach to the payment schedule in the first months of business, in particular, the introduction of rent “vacations” for the first months.
Mehdiyev noted that the company reserves 20-30% of commercial space for further management or lease to fill the LCD with necessary services. For the rest of the premises there may be restrictions fixed in the contract, for example, a ban on opening nightclubs, pawnshops or establishments with harmful emissions.
A similar approach is practiced by KAN Development, its press service reported. Thus, the developer leases a certain share of premises to ensure the availability of key services – medical services, pharmacies, grocery stores. Agreements also fix restrictions for types of business, for example, a ban on noisy activities.
More recently, lease agreements are also often supplemented with special clauses that regulate relationships not during power outages or reimbursement of alternative energy costs, said Avalon Chief Operating Officer Jaroslaw Wozniak.
In general, rental rates for commercial lots in the residential complexes depend significantly on the specific object, its location, traffic and functionality, said commercial director of Intergal-Bud Anna Laevskaya. According to her, “Intergal-Bud” leaves in its own rental fund premises with a payback period of up to 12 years.
“In residential complexes with high occupancy the price may be even higher, because the flow of people and cars there is very large,” she explained.
About 50% of commercial premises in Perfect Group’s residential complexes remain in the developer’s ownership, said Alexey Koval, the company’s project manager. At the same time the share may vary depending on a particular residential complex and its location.
He emphasized that although now there are no “anti-crisis” discounts, which were offered to tenants at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the developer still provides loyal rates for the first year of rent with a gradual increase in subsequent years, which is fixed in the contract.
According to Alexander Gorlach, founder of TKN-Consulting, rental rates were as high as 70% of pre-war levels at the end of 2024.
“In fact, rates have now almost recovered in hryvnia, but not in currency. However, commercial real estate in newly settled residential complexes is the most predictable investment. As of the end of 2024 the rates at some landlords were up to 70% of pre-war rates”, – he commented to the agency ‘Interfax-Ukraine’.
According to him, now the rates for commercial premises in the LCD are 800-1.5 thousand UAH/sq. m/month for the most popular format – premises up to 60 sq. m. with active traffic. Premises with inconvenient layout, stairs, low traffic are rented cheaper, for 200-500 UAH/sq. m/month.
The expert noted that today the most active solvent tenants are pharmacy chains and food direction (cafes, pizzerias, etc.), which choose lots with the area of 40-50 square meters. m.
At the same time, some development companies, in particular Alliance Novobud, do not lease commercial premises, but sell them completely.
“We do not lease commercial premises, but sell them. The owners of the space make their own decision on what exactly to do. Usually they study the already available business infrastructure, weigh their possibilities, studying supply and demand,” said Irina Mikhaleva, CMO of Alliance Novobud.
In March, Ukraine’s agricultural exports totaled 5.4 million tons worth $2.1 billion, with the share of agricultural products accounting for 58% of the country’s total exports of $3.6 billion, with corn and sunflower oil being the key items, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food reported on Telegram.
According to the report, the top 5 categories of Ukrainian agricultural exports include corn – $514 million (2.4 million tons), sunflower oil – $503 million (441 thousand tons), wheat – $254 million (1.1 million tons), soybeans – $150 million (370 thousand tons), and poultry meat – $95 million (41 thousand tons).
The minister emphasized that compared to last year’s March, the value of exports increased by $87 million (+4%). This became possible due to the continued strong position of more marginal products (sunflower oil, soybeans, poultry) in the export structure and the overall growth of prices for agricultural products.
“The agricultural sector remains the backbone of the Ukrainian economy, providing more than half of the country’s foreign exchange earnings in times of war. Our producers continue to demonstrate competitiveness in the global market, and the Ministry is consistently working to diversify markets and expand the export potential of the processing industry,” Koval said.
According to him, the average export prices for basic commodities in March 2025 per ton were as follows: corn – $215, sunflower oil – $1,141, wheat – $225, soybeans – $407, poultry – $2,300. This price environment on world markets contributed to an increase in the value of Ukrainian agricultural exports.
At the same time, there has been an increase in exports of certain types of processed foods. In particular, exports of bakery products increased by 24% compared to March 2014 to $29.5 million (+$7.7 million), butter – by 254% to $9.87 million (+$7.3 million), and cheese – by 32% to $5.3 million (+$1.4 million).
The main trading partners in March were Turkey ($270.8 mln), Italy ($171.1 mln), Spain ($170.4 mln), Egypt ($162.4 mln) and the Netherlands ($121.6 mln).
