Schneider Electric has introduced a new generation of Easy UPS 3S Pro three-phase uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) with capacities ranging from 10 to 40 kVA, designed for small and medium-sized businesses, small data centers, medical facilities, manufacturing plants, commercial buildings, and telecommunications and transportation infrastructure.
The company announced the launch of the solution in markets that adhere to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, specifically in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Schneider Electric Ukraine has not yet issued a separate announcement regarding the start of sales for the new product line directly in Ukraine.
The Easy UPS 3S Pro is available in versions with internal and external battery packs. The equipment’s efficiency exceeds 96% in double-conversion mode and reaches 99% in ECO mode, which helps reduce the system’s own energy consumption.
For facilities with increasing loads, parallel operation of multiple UPS units is supported—both to increase power capacity and to provide redundancy according to the N+1 configuration. The systems can also share a common battery bank, which helps reduce capital expenditures on battery infrastructure.
The equipment is designed to operate under various operating conditions. It features a wide temperature range, dust filters, and a protective coating on the electronic circuit boards. The Easy Loop function allows certain system tests to be performed without connecting a separate load bank.
Schneider Electric has placed special emphasis on remote monitoring. The built-in Network Management Card enables monitoring via the EcoStruxure IT platform, and BACnet support allows the UPS to be integrated into building management systems.
The network management module is certified to the IEC 62443-4-2 cybersecurity standard, which is becoming increasingly important as power supply, automation, and IT infrastructure systems converge.
For the Ukrainian market, the new product line is of particular interest given the need to improve the energy resilience of facilities where even a brief power outage or degradation in power quality can lead to operational shutdowns. This includes server rooms and data centers, telecommunications equipment, manufacturing facilities, medical institutions, retail, and other critical infrastructure.
At the same time, a UPS does not replace power generation or long-term battery energy storage. Its primary function is to ensure the continuity and quality of the power supply, as well as to support the load until a generator starts up, a switchover to another line occurs, or another backup source is connected.
Schneider Electric has been operating in Ukraine since 1994. The company is present in more than 100 countries worldwide and employs approximately 160,000 people.
Office real estate regained the top spot among commercial real estate investment sectors in Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of 2026, according to data from Colliers.
Offices accounted for 29% of total investment in the CEE-6, up from 23% a year earlier. With a total market volume of EUR 5.8 billion, this corresponds to approximately EUR 1.7 billion in investments.
Retail real estate became the second-largest segment, with a 27% share, up from 21% in the first half of 2025.
Investor interest in residential and “living” properties grew even faster. Their combined share rose from 7% to 19%.
At the same time, industrial and logistics real estate—which was the largest market segment just a year ago—saw its share decline from 31% to 17%. This was due not only to changes in activity within the warehouse market itself but also to the rapid growth of transactions in other real estate classes.
Colliers notes that in the office segment, investors are primarily seeking modern buildings in prime locations with high energy efficiency and a stable stream of rental income.
The situation is becoming more challenging for outdated office buildings. They must either undergo modernization or be considered for repurposing.
Thus, the structure of the CEE market is gradually changing: after several years of logistics dominance, capital is once again flowing more actively into traditional offices and retail real estate, while institutional housing is emerging as a major investment segment in its own right.
Investments in commercial real estate across the six largest markets of Central and Eastern Europe reached EUR5.8 billion in the first half of 2026, increasing by approximately 7% compared with the same period last year, according to the Colliers CEE Investment Scene H1 2026 report.
The study covers Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. The investment volume was above the average for the first halves of the past five years, which amounted to EUR4.6 billion, and above the ten-year average level of EUR5.1 billion.
Poland became the largest market, where the volume of transactions exceeded EUR3 billion. It accounted for around 52% of all CEE-6 investments. The Czech Republic ranked second with more than EUR1.4 billion, while Hungary attracted almost EUR600 million, showing the best first-half result since 2021.
According to Colliers, the market recovery differs from previous investment cycles. Capital is returning selectively, with investors giving preference to properties with stable income, good locations, high energy efficiency and long-term demand from tenants.
Offices became the largest segment, followed by retail real estate, residential properties and institutional rental, as well as industrial and logistics real estate.
Colliers forecasts that by the end of 2026, the volume of investments in CEE-6 commercial real estate may reach EUR12.5-13 billion, compared with EUR11.6 billion in 2025, and approach the peak levels observed before the pandemic.
Among the main risks for the market, experts cite high interest rates, rising refinancing costs, geopolitical tensions, weakness in German industry and energy costs. At the same time, additional investment opportunities are being created by infrastructure projects, the defense industry, the energy transition, artificial intelligence, reindustrialization and the relocation of production closer to European consumers.
Colliers is a global professional services and investment management company operating in more than 70 countries. Its annual revenue amounts to around $6 billion, its workforce totals around 28,000 people, and assets under management amount to approximately $110 billion.
BUSINESS, COLLIERS, EUROPE, EXPERTS CLUB, INVESTMENTS, REAL ESTATE
The EU economy today faces challenges such as rising energy prices, fragmentation of the single market, complex administrative rules, and competition that is not always fair, said European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen.
“For a long time, the European economic model was based on several self-evident truths: cheap imported energy, open global trade, ever-wider access to the Chinese market, strategic protection from the U.S., and the West’s technological edge. These truths have disappeared,” the EC President stated while delivering a speech on Thursday in Paris at the annual “2026 Meeting of French Entrepreneurs” conference.
Von der Leyen sees the solution to these pressing problems as restoring entrepreneurs’ freedom to invest in the short term and, in the long term, making innovation, productivity, and scaling up the sustainable drivers of European economic growth.
The European Commission President outlined her prescriptions for healing the European economy.
The first priority is to simplify regulations and restore a level playing field. The goal is to reduce the administrative burden by 25% for all businesses and by 35% for small and medium-sized enterprises by 2029.
“However,” von der Leyen continued, “the demand for simplicity must be combined with the demand for fairness regarding foreign competition. This is particularly relevant to our relations with China. China is our major economic partner, and our position is clear and unwavering: to reduce risks, but not to sever ties. However, being a partner does not mean putting up with constant imbalances.”
She identified the financing of EU member states’ economies as the second priority. In her view, far too many projects remain stalled because the initial investment step is too risky, demand is too uncertain, or capital is too expensive. Of course, the EC President noted, these efforts cannot be financed solely through national budgets.
“But Europe has savings. Unfortunately, these savings are ‘idle.’ 10 trillion euros in household savings continue to sit in bank deposits, and a significant portion of European savings is invested outside our continent. Europe must now channel these funds to support its own businesses,” von der Leyen said.
Among other measures to strengthen the EU economy, she highlighted the comprehensive development and consolidation of the EU single market, reducing energy costs, the adoption of artificial intelligence as a “powerful driver of productivity,” and expanding free trade with international partners.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the founders of the 2KOLYORY embroidered clothing brand—whose production facilities have repeatedly suffered damage as a result of enemy strikes—have decided to close their business, as reported on the brand’s Facebook page.
“We are closing 2KOLYORY. For over 10 years, we have been building 2KOLYORY—here in Ukraine. We sewed embroidered shirts, shared a part of our culture with the world, and worked with people we love and cherish. The war has changed more than just our lives. It has changed our business. Our production facility has survived three shelling attacks. They left behind damaged walls, windows, doors, utilities, and traces of destruction,” the post reads.
The post notes that 2KOLYORY was a brand of embroidery known in Ukraine, Europe, and America.
“We recovered. We kept working. We looked for opportunities. We fulfilled orders even when it seemed we had no strength left. But the time has come to be honest: we can no longer continue on this path in the format we’ve operated in all these years,” the founders wrote.
They assured that all orders currently in production will be fulfilled in full by the end of September.
“Perhaps this isn’t quite the end. Perhaps this is the end of 2KOLYORY as you knew it, and the beginning of something new,” the post reads.
The brand’s story began in 2015, when husband and wife Igor and Oksana Kovalenko founded their own production facility.
The brand has a store in Kyiv, and its online store offers a wide selection of linen and cotton embroidered clothing for women, men, and children, as well as home textiles.
Retail sales of Ukrainian retail enterprises—legal entities—increased by 9.1% in January–July 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, according to data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
Thus, retail enterprises grew slightly faster than the country’s retail market as a whole, whose turnover increased by 9% during this period.
In July, enterprise turnover rose by 8.8% compared to July 2025 and by 3.7% compared to June of this year.
Overall, Ukraine’s retail trade turnover—which also includes estimates of the activities of individual entrepreneurs—reached approximately 1.7 trillion UAH over the seven-month period.
The difference between the growth rate of total turnover and that of legal entities is small—just 0.1 percentage points. However, the fact that comparable growth rates have been maintained indicates that the retail market’s growth is driven not only by small businesses but also by the corporate retail segment.
Retail enterprises include, in particular, national and regional supermarket chains, non-food stores, home appliance and electronics chains, pharmacies and specialty retailers, auto dealers, and other legal entities engaged in retail sales.
By the end of 2025, Ukraine’s retail trade had grown by 8.1%, so the figures for the first seven months of 2026 so far indicate that the market is maintaining higher growth rates.
Statistics from the State Statistics Service do not include territories temporarily occupied by Russia or parts of territories where hostilities are ongoing or have taken place.
