Nova Post Europe, part of the NOVA Group, plans to double its network of branches in Europe by 2026 and keep its strategy focused on ensuring maximum delivery speed, said Vyacheslav Klimov, co-owner of the express delivery leader Nova Post.
“I believe Nova Post is the only company capable of delivering a package from Berlin to Warsaw the next day. Accessibility—we already have more than 300 branches across Europe. And we will continue this expansion in 2026: by 2026, the network will double,“ Klimov said at the ”Dialogues with NV” event dedicated to European integration in Kyiv on Thursday, according to a correspondent for the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to him, the company has achieved its greatest success in Moldova, and overall, Nova Post is already operating profitably in 5 out of 16 markets, even though the first European branch in Warsaw was opened only in October 2023.
“None of the 16 markets we’ve entered behave the same way. At least in our business, the essence of the European Union is that it is by no means a unified structure in terms of consumer habits: every country has local leaders—very tenacious and very strong. And in each of these markets, you have to make local decisions. That is, think globally, but work and think about how to satisfy the consumer exclusively locally,” Klimov emphasized.
He added that in the global market, no one cares about a company’s origin, so you can only win the competition by offering faster, more accessible, and more reliable services.
Among the obstacles to development, the founder of the NOVA Group cited the National Bank of Ukraine’s limit on financing business abroad at $1 million per month.
Klimov also views as a risk the fact that combining European requirements with Ukrainian bureaucratic procedures could create additional difficulties for the development of Ukrainian business; among other things, he is cautious about the requirements to establish a transport regulator in Ukraine.
Nova Post Europe processed 13 million international shipments in 2025 and plans to increase this volume by over 30% in 2026 and maintain this pace through 2030, Nova Post Europe CEO Oleksandr Lysovets previously stated in an interview with Forbes Ukraine. According to him, these plans will be supported by a new phase of European expansion with investments exceeding $5 million.
The main activity of Nova Poshta, the core asset of the NOVA Group, is express delivery of documents, parcels, and palletized oversized cargo. Its ultimate beneficial owners are Volodymyr Poperechnyuk and Klimov.
The Tea&Food division of Biosphere Corporation, represented by the Graff and Ritz Barton brands, increased its production and sales by 2.5 times compared to the previous year, according to the company’s press service.
According to the report, sales volume increased from 1.4 million packs in 2024 to 3.5 million packs in 2025. Monthly turnover at the end of the year exceeded UAH 35 million, and the Graff brand entered the top 4 tea brands in Ukraine in terms of sales volume in retail chains. The company’s share of the domestic tea market is estimated at 5%.
“The growth of our tea business was driven by a strong marketing strategy and the development of relationships with major retail chains. The next step in our development is international expansion,” said Andriy Zdesenko, founder and CEO of Biosphere Corporation.
CupSoul CEO Iryna Broslavtseva emphasized the brand’s readiness to compete in foreign markets.
“The quality of our tea has been recognized not only by Ukrainian consumers, but also by numerous awards, including international ones. This proves that we are creating a European-quality product in Ukraine that can be competitive in foreign markets,” the press service quoted Broslavtseva as saying.
CupSoul, which is responsible for the tea division within the corporation, added that at the end of 2025, it began exporting Graff tea to Spain. During 2026, it plans to enter the Canadian market and further expand in Europe, particularly in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, where the trademark has already been registered.
Despite a rocket attack on the production complex in Dnipro in the spring of 2025, which damaged the workshop and destroyed raw material stocks, the company resumed production within a month. Currently, the tea range includes 124 items. Over the past year, the brand has received a number of professional awards, including the Red Dot Award for packaging design and bronze awards at the Effie Awards Ukraine.
Biosphere Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of household and personal hygiene products in Ukraine and one of the leaders in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Its production facilities consist of six modern factories in Ukraine and two in Europe. Its portfolio of 25 brands includes Freken BOK, Smile, Novita, Lady Cotton, PRO service, Alufix, Vortex, Graff, and others, with about 2,000 SKUs. According to the release, Biosphere products are represented in more than 25 countries and over 100 retail chains, including METRO, Auchan, Spar, Billa, Carrefour, Albert, and Hofer.
The founder and CEO of the corporation is Andriy Zdesenko.
The House of Europe program has announced an open grant competition, Culture Helps Solidarity, for cultural initiatives that help Ukrainians integrate into European communities and support the reintegration of veterans through culture.
The amount of support is up to €20,000 for a project with one partner and up to €30,000 for a project with two or more partners. Grant funds can cover fees, travel, production, marketing, rent, and operational activities.
Non-profit cultural organizations officially registered in Ukraine and participating countries with experience working with displaced persons or veterans are eligible to participate. In addition to the EU, the list of eligible jurisdictions for partners includes Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and a number of countries in the region, including Serbia, which expands opportunities for Ukrainian organizations to cooperate with partners outside the EU.
Applications will be accepted until March 31, 2026 (2:00 p.m. Kyiv time), and the results of the competition are expected to be announced by the end of May. A total of 15 projects are expected to receive funding, with a deadline for implementation of May 31, 2027. Applications must be submitted online in English. There is no application fee for the competition.
The Experts Club think tank has analyzed European countries’ responses to the fuel crisis. European countries’ responses to the 2026 fuel crisis have so far been mixed. Some governments are directly intervening in the fuel market by restricting exports, introducing price caps, and releasing reserves. Others are limiting themselves to price monitoring and coordination at the EU and G7 levels, trying not to provoke a shortage with even tougher measures.
Serbia has chosen the most aggressive form of intervention. The authorities have temporarily suspended exports of oil, gasoline, and diesel until March 19, explaining that this is to protect the domestic market from shortages and price spikes. Reuters notes that Serbia had already been controlling fuel prices since February 2022, meaning that the current decision is a continuation of a more interventionist regulatory model.
Hungary has opted for a mixed scenario. On the one hand, Budapest has introduced a price cap on gasoline and diesel for cars registered in Hungary. On the other hand, the government decided to use state reserves, and the Minister of Economy, according to Hungarian media reports, also announced a reduction in excise duties and a ban on the export of some petroleum products. This is a typical example of a combined anti-crisis scheme, where the authorities simultaneously try to keep retail prices down and maintain the physical availability of fuel on the market.
Croatia has chosen a softer approach—limiting maximum retail prices for a two-week period. The government has set a maximum price of EUR1.50 per liter for Eurosuper, EUR1.55 for diesel, and EUR0.89 for “blue diesel,” and has also limited prices for liquefied gas. Zagreb has stated outright that without this measure, diesel would cost EUR 1.72 per liter and gasoline EUR 1.55. This means that Croatia is trying not to isolate the market, but to soften the final effect on households and businesses.
Slovakia and, to some extent, the Czech Republic have focused not on retail regulation but on supporting physical supplies. After the failure of supplies via Druzhba, Slovakia approved the use of 250,000 tons of oil from strategic reserves for refining, while Hungary and Slovakia began negotiations on the use of reserves back in February. The Czech Republic, in turn, announced its readiness to send small volumes of oil to Slovakia via the eastern Druzhba pipeline.
The UK has not yet introduced price caps or export bans. Treasury Secretary Rachel Reeves said the government was monitoring the situation closely and warned retailers that it would not allow “excessive profits” amid the oil shock. This approach is closer to a supervisory model: the authorities are signaling to the market that they are ready to tighten control over the behavior of sellers, but are not moving to direct price administration.
At the pan-European level, caution prevails for now. The G7 and the EU are discussing possible measures, including the use of strategic reserves, tax changes, and carbon price adjustments, but no decision on coordinated release of reserves has been made yet. France, as chair of the G7, says that “all options are on the table,” but acknowledges that there is no immediate shortage in Europe.
The European Commission, for its part, points to the structural vulnerability of Europe, which imports more than 90% of its oil and about 80% of its gas.
The main conclusion for Europe now is that countries are responding differently depending on their own vulnerability. Balkan and Central European countries, which are dependent on imports and specific supply routes, tend to act faster and more aggressively — through bans, price caps, and reserves. The large economies of Western Europe are still favoring coordination, market pressure, and preparing tools in case the situation worsens. But if the oil shock drags on, the current targeted measures could turn into a broader wave of European intervention in the fuel market.
In the “Medium and Long-Term Market” section of the UEB, trading continued for February and March 2026. In total, six companies formed positions for the sale or purchase of natural gas: Ukrnafta, VK Ukrnaftoburinnya, SP BNK, Kyivvodokanal, LTK Elektrum, and Energo Zbut Trans. A total of 15.71 million cubic meters of natural gas was sold in this section, which is 10 times more than in the previous week. Natural gas was sold with delivery to the gas transmission system and underground gas storage facilities in February and March. The prices of the positions sold ranged from UAH 18,833 to UAH 20,833 per thousand cubic meters, excluding VAT.
On the short-term natural gas market of the UEB, participants formed bids on the intraday market and the day-ahead market. A total of 29 deals were concluded with a total volume of 1,087 (+26.88%) thousand cubic meters.
Fundamental indicators in Europe remained weak amid mild weather and stable gas supplies. Traditionally, from late March to May, there is a decline in demand for heating and cooling, which often leads to a seasonal decline in prices. This makes spring one of the most attractive periods of the year for concluding forward contracts. Prices may be relatively attractive before the summer heat or unexpected supply disruptions lead to renewed volatility. On Thursday, gas markets were characterized by high volatility in both directions across the curve.
The overall fill rate of EU gas storage facilities fell to 30.19% by February 25. The market expects lower withdrawal rates for the remainder of the winter period.
Natural gas imports from Europe averaged around 25.2 million cubic meters per day and were virtually unchanged from the previous week.
The average level of reserves in underground storage facilities in Europe fell to 29.99% at the end of the gas day on February 27, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe. This is 16 percentage points lower than the average for the last five years.
The fill rate of underground storage facilities in Germany and France, Europe’s leading economies, is significantly lower than the European average — 20.6% and 21.4%, respectively, and 10.7% in the Netherlands.
The spot price of gas with “day ahead” delivery on the benchmark European TTF hub closed at $387 per 1,000 cubic meters on Friday.
Since the beginning of 2025, the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine has ceased. Europe is trying to compensate for the shortage of Gazprom’s pipeline gas supplies by importing liquefied natural gas. At the end of 2025, countries in the region purchased 109 million tons of LNG (142 billion cubic meters after regasification), which is 28% more than in 2024. In February 2026, liquefied gas imports reached 9 million tons, which is 9% higher than a year earlier.
Despite high demand, there remains a large unused capacity reserve—on February 27, terminals were operating at 64% of their throughput capacity.
Europe entered the current heating season with incomplete underground gas storage facilities. The need to replenish the reserves used up during this period will be an additional factor driving demand on the global market throughout the coming year.
Given not only technical but also realistic and economic constraints that will limit the European injection campaign in the summer of 2026, the question of how much Europe will be able to fill its UGS facilities by next winter and how risky the 2026/27 heating season will be will be relevant.
