The agricultural holding “TAS Agro” plans to invest approximately $15 million over the next three years in modernizing dairy farms to bring them into compliance with EU standards, the company’s CEO Oleg Zapletnyuk said in an interview with Delo.ua.
The CEO of the agricultural holding clarified that TAS Agro is concentrating its livestock operations in the Vinnytsia region, where it is completely rebuilding a farm, increasing the number of stalls, and implementing loose housing for livestock.
“The total investment amount is approximately $15 million over the next three years. We are investing in this step by step. This primarily concerns cows. Our goal is to transform outdated livestock farming into a highly productive sector, increase its efficiency, improve livestock housing conditions, and enhance the quality of meat and dairy products,” Zapletnyuk said.
The company’s CEO noted that the strategic plan calls for expanding the land bank from the current 80,000 hectares to 100,000 hectares by the end of 2026.
“Strategically, we plan to increase our land bank to 100,000 hectares. We are currently considering certain assets; if we manage to finalize the purchase by the end of the year, that will bring us to about 100,000 hectares. The next step is to increase it to 120,000 hectares, but that is by 2028,” he said.
Assessing the financial results, the company’s CEO noted that TAS Agro’s net profit for 2025 is expected to be in the range of $20–22 million.
“In 2025, the company’s net profit was in the range of $20–22 million, but we have not yet sold part of our production. As of today, we have effectively sold the wheat, but we have not yet updated the key financial indicators. Estimated at $20–22 million, this is actually 10% more than we had budgeted,” he emphasized.
Zapletnyuk attributed the decline in profitability compared to 2024 (over $25 million) to drought in some of the regions where the company operates and the drop in global prices for agricultural products.
Last year, the holding exported approximately 270,000 tons of agricultural products, with exports accounting for about 60% of total production. The primary destination was the EU, which received 49% of all shipments. Additionally, 25% of exports went to North African countries, 19% to Asia, and 4% of the products were sold in Middle Eastern markets. At the same time, sunflower seeds, as well as a significant portion of soybeans and rapeseed, are processed domestically at partner plants for the subsequent sale of finished products.
The TAS Agro agricultural holding was established in 2014. It cultivates approximately 80,000 hectares across six regions of Ukraine. Its specialization is crop production and dairy farming (cattle herd—5,500 head). Its grain storage capacity is 250,000 tons. Serhiy Tihipko is the founder of the “TAS” group and the beneficiary of the agricultural holding.
The state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” together with Latvian partners, has launched a project to create living memorials in the EU, under which 2,000 pine trees were planted in Latvia in honor of nearly 200 Ukrainian foresters who lost their lives, the enterprise’s press service reported on Facebook on Monday.
“The memory of the fallen must be transformed into the world’s determination to stop aggression,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the presentation of the 2026 Four Freedoms Award.
The event in the Talsi region near Kamparkalns marked the first step in the international expansion of the “Forests of Memory” project, under which nearly 50 memorial groves have already been planted in Ukraine. On April 23, a memorial plaque was installed and trees were planted on the Latvian site in honor of the Ukrainian heroes.
“Today, here on Latvian soil, we are creating a living monument to Ukrainian foresters who defended their homeland with weapons in hand. These trees will remind everyone of the courage of the Ukrainian people and the price paid for independence,” emphasized Maris Lopa, Chairman of the Latvian Forest Certification Council.
The event was organized by the Latvian Ministry of Agriculture, the Latvian Forest Certification Council, and the companies Latvijas valsts meži and Latvijas Finieris.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” predicts that this year such memorial forests will also appear in other European Union countries to strengthen international support and honor the heroic deeds of Ukrainian soldiers.
In addition, on April 19, Latvian volunteers delivered another batch of aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine: seven buses, including two minibuses for units where foresters from Volyn and Rivne regions serve.
The European Union is interested in expanding the European railway network to Lviv, Kyiv, and Odesa while ensuring transport safety, said Magda Kopczyńska, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport.
“In the medium term, I would like to see several European-gauge rail corridors running unimpeded from Poland all the way to Kyiv, from Prague to the southern route via Uzhhorod, and then all the way to Kyiv and Odesa,“ she said at the ”Ukraine-EU“ business summit in Brussels on Wednesday, according to a correspondent for the ”Interfax-Ukraine” agency.
Kopchynska noted that Ukraine has already very quickly built 22 km of European-gauge track from Chop to Uzhhorod, and the EU has allocated funds to Ukraine to begin construction of the line that will run to Lviv.
The European Commission representative emphasized that when planning new financial programs, the EU is increasingly encountering the principle of “dual use” of infrastructure—taking into account issues of proper functioning and safety of transport infrastructure.
“Now, based on Ukraine’s terrible experience, member states are much more aware that it is not enough to simply build something. We also need to make sure we know how to protect it,” she emphasized.
Kopchynska noted that over the past 10 years, there has been a growing recognition of the need to extend transport corridors beyond the EU’s borders, which has become the basis for expanding the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) beyond 2022 to include Ukraine, specifically Odesa.
“We tried to convince member states 10 years ago that it might be a good idea for these corridors, which are located within the EU, to extend beyond the EU’s borders. This didn’t work until February 2022,” Kopchynska stated.
She drew particular attention to the role of the so-called “Solidarity Lanes,” which the EU introduced after the start of the full-scale war, when the operation of Ukrainian Black Sea ports was effectively blocked. According to her, these routes have proven their effectiveness and remain important for Ukraine and the world even after the reopening of Black Sea shipping.
“I think the situation is improving somewhat, but if you ask me whether everything is perfect and running smoothly, that’s not the case,” Kopchynska said, calling for the further development of the “Solidarity Lanes.”
In her view, the construction of border crossing infrastructure should be considered in a way that ensures maximum simplification, given that Ukraine is still not part of the Schengen Area.
Kopchynska emphasized that it is also necessary to develop inland waterways and operational seaports in the Black Sea.
“And yes, once airspace is open, we will also need developed airports in Ukraine,” added the Director-General of the Directorate for Mobility and Transport.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, housing prices in the European Union rose by 5.5% year-on-year, and by 5.1% in the eurozone. Compared to the third quarter of 2025, growth stood at 0.8% for the EU and 0.6% for the eurozone. Eurostat released the latest data on April 7.
Among EU countries, an annual price decline was recorded only in Finland, at 3.1%. The highest growth rates were seen in Hungary, where housing prices rose by 21.2%, Portugal, by 18.9%, and Croatia, by 16.1%. On a quarterly basis, prices rose the most in Slovenia (5.1%), Hungary (4.2%), and Portugal (4.0%), while declines were observed in France, Finland, and Estonia.
New statistics confirm that the European housing market remains in a phase of sustained price appreciation following the 2023 correction. According to Eurostat, after negative trends in the second and third quarters of 2023, price growth in the EU resumed and by 2025 had once again settled above the 5% mark on an annual basis.
A broader analysis of Eurostat’s housing data shows that this is not a short-term spike but part of a long-term trend. By the end of 2024, housing prices in the EU were 53% higher than in 2010, while rents rose by 25% over the same period, and inflation stood at 39%. Separately, in its statistical review for Q4 2025, Eurostat notes that from 2015 to the end of 2025, housing prices in the EU rose by 64.9%, while rental rates increased by 21.8%.
For the market, this means that real estate in the EU is appreciating faster than both consumer prices and rents, and the main pressure is now shifting to countries in Central and Southern Europe, where growth rates are significantly higher than the European average. Against this backdrop, investors and developers are likely to continue focusing on markets with double-digit price growth, primarily in Hungary, Portugal, and Croatia.
Ukrainian honey producer BEEHIVE (part of the EFI Group) is considering opening production facilities in Europe due to the European Union’s reinstatement of import duties on honey, which has led to the company losing ground in the European retail market, said BEEHIVE General Manager Semen Gagarin.
“When the 17.3% tariff was reinstated, we didn’t expect it. At one point, our margin dropped by 20% at the base level, and we started getting pushed out of retail chains—we were left with only 10–15% of the list of retailers we had previously. For us, this was a real ‘cold shower,’” he said at the Forbes Ukraina Exporters Summit.
According to Gagarin, entering complex markets, particularly the British Morrisons chain or the German REWE, requires significant preparation. He emphasized that for Ukrainian honey to make it onto the chain’s shelves, the manufacturer had to offer extreme terms. Specifically, in Germany, the company was forced to provide a “55% margin for the chain” to have a chance of gaining entry.
The general manager explained that BEEHIVE used a “top-down” pricing model in the EU, taking into account competitors’ pricing policies. Under this model, if the product’s cost price is EUR1, the shipping price to the EU must be EUR1.5, and the final shelf price for the consumer will reach around EUR2.5.
“We always work based on the shelf price and the competitor’s price: if their price is EUR3, we need to be a little cheaper to give the buyer a reason to vote for us with their money,” he said.
Assessing the competitive environment, Gagarin noted that Ukrainian producers have to compete with European family-owned companies that have a 150-year history. Since honey is largely a commodity, unique taste or a price advantage become key success factors. To ensure stable expansion, he advised his colleagues to first capture the maximum share of the local Ukrainian market in order to have the financial cushion needed for costly investments in marketing and product listings abroad.
Currently, the company sees two paths forward: either wait for Ukraine’s full EU membership, which would eliminate customs barriers, or localize production directly in Europe.
“Exporting is expensive, exporting takes time, and exporting is complicated. But it’s doable if you have a ‘margin buffer,’ are ready to invest in trading houses, and hire ‘native speakers’ who will communicate with clients in their own language,” Gagarin concluded.
EFI Group (Effective Investment Technologies), founded in 2007, implements business projects in Ukraine. Its investment areas include healthcare and medtech, the paper, food, and woodworking industries, and the supply of agricultural products. Most of the group’s assets are export-oriented and hold international FSC, IFS, and BRC certifications.
The company’s businesses include Feednova, a producer of animal fats and feed additives; the “Beehive” honey production plant; the “Medical Star” honey retail chain, the Zhytomyr Cardboard Plant, the cardboard packaging manufacturer “Sem Ecopack,” the timber processor “Forest Technology,” the agricultural products supplier “Efi Agro,” and the online medical hub Doc.ua.
According to The Serbian Economist, Serbia has aligned itself with two European Union resolutions that extend existing restrictive measures related to the war in Ukraine.
The first EU resolution concerns measures against Russia’s actions regarding the occupied regions of Ukraine that are not under Kyiv’s control. Essentially, this is an extension of the special sanctions regime for another year—until February 24, 2027. Serbia supported this extension along with a number of other EU candidate countries and partners.
The second decision concerns sanctions against specific individuals, companies, and organizations in connection with the situation in Ukraine. These are not “general sanctions against Russia as a whole,” but rather an extension of the list of targeted restrictions on specific individuals until March 6, 2027.
The wording stating that Serbia “will ensure the alignment of its national policy” with this decision means the following: Belgrade has declared that it will act in line with EU policy on these two specific issues. The European Union separately noted and welcomed Serbia’s alignment in official statements.
This does not mean that Serbia has fully aligned itself with the entire EU sanctions package against Moscow. It concerns specifically these two separate decisions, not full alignment with Brussels on sanctions.
For Serbia, this is yet another example of partial foreign policy alignment with Brussels on issues related to Ukraine and Russia.
Serbia is a candidate country for EU membership and is regularly under close scrutiny by Brussels regarding the alignment of its foreign and sanctions policies with European decisions. Against this backdrop, such steps by Belgrade are usually seen as a signal of its willingness to maintain working-level coordination with the EU on specific international issues, primarily those related to the Ukrainian agenda.
