The business confidence indicator in the Ukrainian construction market rose by 2.5 percentage points (pp) in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the second quarter, to “minus” 32.6%, according to the State Statistics Service (Gosstat).
According to a survey of construction companies conducted by the agency, the assessment of the shortage of current orders improved by 3.6 pp to minus 47%. Thus, 51% of the companies surveyed assessed their current order volume as insufficient, while 45% considered it normal for the season.
Fifty-four percent of respondents expect prices for their services to increase in the third quarter of this year. Only 2% of respondents predict a decrease in the cost of construction work, while 45% do not expect any changes in pricing policy.
According to the State Statistics Service, the companies participating in the survey have orders for an average of six months, which corresponds to the pre-war level at the beginning of 2022.
The statistics agency notes that in the third quarter of 2025, the negative impact on construction will be caused by labor shortages (55.2%), financial constraints (42.7%), insufficient demand (22.9%), and other factors (42.8%).
Twenty-nine percent of the companies surveyed expect a reduction in the number of employees in July-September, while 56% believe that their number will remain unchanged, and 15% predict an expansion of staff.
According to the State Statistics Service, 37% of respondents noted an increase in the volume of construction work completed in the last quarter, while 24% reported a decrease. The survey showed that 99% of Ukrainian construction companies find it difficult to predict the future development of the business situation.
Statistical data are provided without taking into account the territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and parts of the territories where hostilities are (were) ongoing.
Construction of the Kvartal City shopping and entertainment center has begun at 313 Shevchenko Street in Lviv. The opening is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027, according to the website of the consulting company Retail&Development Advisor (RDA), which is the exclusive broker for the property.
According to RDA project manager Alina Abramtseva, Kvartal City will be a multifunctional space for the daily needs and leisure of the community, a place for shopping with international and national fashion operators, children’s markets, electronics stores, perfumes, cosmetics, etc.
The property is located directly on the M10 international highway, which connects Lviv with Krakivets on the Polish border. The Lviv ring road is also nearby.
The Kvartal City shopping and entertainment center will have three floors with a total area of almost 50,000 square meters and 20,000 square meters of leasable space. The complex will accommodate 75 stores. There will be an entertainment area for children, a cinema, a large food court and restaurants (2,000 square meters), and, of course, a shopping area with international and national fashion retailers, children’s markets, electronics stores, perfumes, cosmetics, etc.,” Abramtseva said.
An underground parking lot with an area of 8,900 square meters and a multi-level parking lot with an area of 14,600 square meters are planned, with a total of 523 parking spaces.
All the necessary documents for the construction of the shopping and entertainment center have been finalized, preparatory work has been carried out on the site, and construction of the complex will begin in September this year.
Chinese authorities last Saturday began construction of a giant hydropower plant on the Tibetan Plateau on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Western media reported. The Yarlung Tsangpo River, one of South Asia’s largest waterways, also flows through India and Bangladesh and joins the Ganges River. It is called the Brahmaputra in India and the Jamuna in Bangladesh.
Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, attended the project’s launching ceremony. The electricity generated by the hydropower plant is planned to be supplied outside the region; it should also meet local needs.
According to the calculations of the construction company Power China, the hydropower plant will be able to produce 300 billion kWh of electricity annually. The cost of the hydroelectric structure is estimated at $167.1 billion.
The media note that upon completion of construction, this facility may surpass the Three Gorges Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Yangtze River in Hubei Province – the largest power plant in the world.
In January, Indian authorities said they had raised concerns with China about the project and urged Beijing to ensure there was no harm to people living downriver. New Delhi promised to protect Indian national interests. For its part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the hydropower plant would not adversely affect downstream regions. The ministry added that it would keep in touch with the countries through which the Yarlung Tsangpo also flows.
Foreign Ministers of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan Bakhtiyor Saidov, Amir Khan Muttaki and Ishaq Dar signed a trilateral framework agreement on the development of a feasibility study for the Trans-Afghanistan Railway project during a meeting in Kabul on Thursday.
“We have signed a trilateral framework agreement on the development of a feasibility study for the Trans-Afghanistan-Pakistan Railway project, which is of strategic importance for the whole of Eurasia,” the Uzbek Foreign Minister said in his telegram channel.
He noted that this transportation corridor will improve trade, support Afghanistan’s economic recovery, and open new routes to world markets through southern ports.
According to Saidov, during the meeting, the Uzbek side reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening trade ties, expanding cooperation in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, textiles and construction, as well as increasing the capacity of the Termez International Trade Center (opened in Uzbekistan near the Afghan border).
As reported, in February 2021, representatives of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan signed a joint action plan for the construction of the Mazar-e-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway with a length of 573 kilometers and a transit potential of up to 20 million tons of cargo per year following talks in Tashkent.
The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) have expressed interest in financing the project.
In April 2024, during Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to Moscow, a preliminary agreement was reached on Russia’s participation in the project. The volume of Russian cargo transportation along the projected route can be estimated at 8-15 million tons annually.
According to the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, the construction of the Trans-Afghan railway line will take at least 5 years, with a preliminary cost of $4.8 billion.
AFGHANISTAN, CONSTRUCTION, PAKISTAN, Trans-Afghan railroad, UZBEKISTAN
At URC-2025, SCM Group’s Intech investment company umgi has presented a project to build a grain terminal in Pivdennyi port with a planned annual transshipment capacity of 9 million tons and the ability to receive Post-Panamax vessels at its own berths. According to the press release, the estimated cost of the project is $200 million.
“We are pleased to join the recovery process. One of umgi’s initiatives was included in the Catalog of Investment Projects presented at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 in Rome,” the company said in a statement.
It is specified that due to its strategic location and efficient infrastructure, such a terminal will play a key role in the export of Ukrainian agricultural products. This is a unique opportunity to invest in Ukraine’s strategic infrastructure, expand grain transportation capacity, and strengthen the country’s role in global trade.
Overall, the investment potential of key sectors of the Ukrainian economy over the next decade exceeds $300 billion. This figure includes rebuilding the destroyed sectors, transforming the economy and building a stable and environmentally friendly future. Realizing this potential will create a demand for equipment worth EUR33.8 billion annually in Ukraine.
A catalog with 250 current projects can be found here: https://kse.ua/…/07/Investment-catalog-Ukraine-2025.pdf
umgi is an investment company focused on the development of businesses in the raw materials and processing industries. It was founded in 2006 by SCM Group. Investment focus: mining; by-product and waste management; production of industrial goods and services. The total value of the portfolio companies is estimated at over $500 million.
NovaSklo plans to start construction of a float glass plant in the Kyiv region in March 2026.
As NovaSklo CEO and founder of investment company EFI Group Igor Lisky told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the URC-2025 recovery conference, investments in the project amount to more than €240 million.
The project is being implemented with the support of UkraineInvest and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
The project includes, in particular, the construction of a plant with a capacity of 24.8 million m2 of glass per year. The enterprise will reduce dependence on imports of flat glass and will produce products for export.
Liski noted that the project could pay for itself in 6-7 years.
He said that a memorandum had been signed on the sidelines of the conference between NovaSklo and three leading European equipment manufacturers – Horn Glass Industries AG (Germany), Zippe Industrieanlagen GmbH (Germany) and Bottero S.p.A. (Italy), which will be the main suppliers of technology and equipment.
According to Liska, NovaSklo has already secured a plot of land for production and purchased a license for sand extraction.
Commenting on the risks associated with the construction of an industrial facility in Ukraine, Liska noted that “this is an important symbolic project because it is a symbol of Ukraine’s recovery.”
“Broken glass and broken windows are always a symbol of decline and war. A new plant that produces high-quality glass is a symbol that we, Ukrainians, have a future, and we will rebuild Ukraine with the best glass and the best technology. We must do everything in our power to ensure that Ukraine has a different future,” he said.
Liski noted that the project is finalizing the signing of contracts with financial institutions for lending.
“This is a good margin project because all glass is currently imported, which involves high transportation costs. This project is efficient and has good margins. We think that the payback period will be 6-7 years,” he said.
