China remains the undisputed leader among Ukraine’s trading partners in terms of import volume. In the first six months of 2025, Ukraine imported Chinese goods worth US$8.15 billion. This is more than twice the figures for Poland ($3.58 billion) and Germany ($3.18 billion), which ranked second and third, respectively.
High import volumes were also recorded from Turkey ($2.53 billion) and the United States ($2.31 billion). Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and France round out the top ten key suppliers with volumes ranging from $1.2 billion to $979 million.
“The formation of such an import structure indicates Ukraine’s excessive dependence on Chinese goods, especially in the electronics, technology, and industrial products segments. Such an imbalance poses risks to economic stability, as any political or logistical restrictions will immediately affect the domestic market,” emphasized Maksim Urakin, founder of Experts Club and economist.
At the same time, experts point to the diversification of supplies from European Union countries. Poland, Germany, Italy, and France together account for more than $8.5 billion in imports, forming a significant segment of the domestic consumer and industrial market.
Economists predict that, provided the hryvnia exchange rate remains stable and import flows continue at current levels, the trade deficit with China will continue to grow. This will require an adjustment of state trade policy towards stimulating domestic production and searching for alternative markets.
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According to the results of the first half of 2025, Poland remains Ukraine’s main trading partner in terms of export volumes. According to research by Active Group and Experts Club, exports to Poland amounted to US$2.45 billion.
Turkey ranks second with USD 1.71 billion, and Italy ranks third with USD 1.17 billion. Other major partners include: Germany ($1.09 billion), Spain ($976 million), the Netherlands ($919 million), China ($847 million), Egypt ($776 million), Romania ($679 million), and Hungary ($652 million).
“The structure of Ukraine’s exports shows a clear focus on European Union countries. Poland, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands together account for more than half of total exports. This indicates Ukraine’s strategic integration into the European economic space,” emphasized Maksim Urakin, founder of Experts Club and economist.
He also noted that Turkey remains a critically important partner for Ukrainian agricultural and metallurgical exports, while China and Egypt are key markets for agricultural products, particularly grains.
“The presence of trading partners such as Egypt and China diversifies Ukrainian exports,” Urakin added.
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On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted the credentials of the newly appointed ambassadors of the Czech Republic, Norway, and Germany.
“I accepted the credentials and spoke with the newly appointed ambassadors of the Czech Republic, Norway, and Germany,” he wrote on Telegram.
The president also congratulated them on the start of their diplomatic missions and thanked them for their countries’ support of Ukraine.
They also discussed strengthening cooperation, particularly in the security and defense sector.
“Together, we are adding to the security and stability of the whole of Europe and moving towards a reliable and guaranteed peace in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy concluded.
Germany is one of the countries that enjoy the greatest trust and sympathy among Ukrainians. This is evidenced by the results of an all-Ukrainian survey conducted by Active Group in cooperation with the Experts Club information and analytical center in August 2025.
According to the survey, 76.7% of Ukrainian citizens have a positive attitude toward Germany (51.3% are mostly positive, 25.3% are completely positive). Only 4.0% of respondents expressed a negative attitude (3.3% – mostly negative, 0.7% – completely negative). Another 18.7% of Ukrainians are neutral, and 1.0% admitted that they do not know enough about this country.
“For Ukrainians, Germany is first and foremost a guarantor of stability in the European Union, a country that made a huge contribution to supporting Ukraine during the war. At the same time, economic cooperation is also essential: in the first half of 2025, bilateral trade exceeded $5.63 billion, of which Ukrainian exports amounted to $1.58 billion and imports from Germany exceeded $4.05 billion. The negative balance of about $2.5 billion demonstrates that we import more than we export, but this reflects the high demand for German technology and equipment,” said Maksym Urakin, founder of Experts Club.
In turn, Oleksandr Poznyi, co-founder of Active Group, emphasized that the positive attitude of Ukrainians goes far beyond the economy.
“Germany is viewed as a strategic ally in the political and security dimensions. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees have found refuge there, and large-scale financial and military assistance plays a key role in the stability of our country. The combination of these factors explains why more than three-quarters of Ukrainians have a positive attitude towards Germany and why this country remains among the absolute leaders of trust in our society,” he added.
The survey was part of a broader study of international sympathies and antipathies of Ukrainians in the current geopolitical context.
The full video is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgC9TPnMoMI&t
You can subscribe to the Experts Club YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
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The total volume of German exports, adjusted for calendar and seasonal factors, fell by 0.6% in July compared to the previous month, to €130.2 billion, according to a report by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis). Imports decreased by 0.1% to €115.4 billion.
Year-on-year, exports grew by 1.4% and imports by 4.3%.
Exports to the US in July fell by 7.9% compared to June, to their lowest level since December 2021. This is the fourth consecutive month of decline. Shipments to China fell by 7.3%, and to the UK by 3.1%. Exports to European Union countries increased by 2.5%, while exports to Russia fell by 12.4% (to €526.5 million, a drop of 19.8% compared to July 2024).
Imports from EU countries rose by 1.1% last month, and from the UK by 7.8%. Supplies from China fell by 2.4%, from the US by 10%, and from Russia by 43.9% (to €80.7 million, a drop of 40.3% compared to a year earlier).
In January-July, exports from Germany to Russia fell by 6.8% compared to the same period last year, while imports fell by 37.4%.
Germany’s foreign trade surplus fell to €14.7 billion in July from €15.4 billion in June. A year earlier, the surplus was €17.7 billion.
Source: http://relocation.com.ua/nimechchyna-v-lypni-skorotyla-eksport-do-ssha/
Germany is losing industrial jobs at an accelerated rate – and this is no longer a localized slump, but a steady trend. According to a fresh study by EY, the industry cut employment by 2.1% over the year, with the auto industry losing about 51,500 jobs (-6.7% year-on-year). Weak demand, expensive energy, competition from Asia, US duties and the expensive transition to electric vehicles are squeezing margins and forcing concerns to optimize staffing levels. In Q2 2025, industry revenue fell 2.1% YoY to €533bn, continuing a series of quarterly declines.
Structurally, the auto sector was the hardest hit, but contractions are also evident in mechanical engineering and metals, while chemicals and pharma are showing relative stability, as evidenced by both public excerpts from the EY barometer and industry commentary in the German business press. In aggregate, German industry has shed around a quarter of a million jobs since 2019, reflecting the cumulative effect of several consecutive shocks.
Operational metrics point to a sluggish cycle, with new orders in manufacturing falling in June and annualized turnover declining; this combination usually signifies weakness over the horizon of the coming quarters, even if individual months produce technical bounces in production. At the macro level, this is combined with a fall in GDP in Q2 and a downward revision of the dynamics of the beginning of the year.
The political backdrop has become tougher, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz openly stating that the current welfare state model is “unfundable” without reforms, signaling a possible shift in budget priorities in favor of incentives for employment and industrial competitiveness. For business, this means less room for “inertia” subsidies and more pressure on productivity, R&D and export adaptation.
What this means for companies and the labor market. Automakers and their supply chain will likely face a second wave of restructuring to accommodate the EV economy and US tariff geopolitics; engineering will continue to lose low-margin positions to Asian competitors, and growth will shift to high-engineering value-added niches. For chemicals and pharma, the window of resilience is preserved through contractual models and pricing power, but energy-intensive segments remain vulnerable to spot gas and electricity disruptions. The labor market will be “two-speed”: release on the assembly line and in basic metalworking in parallel with a shortage of specialists in automation, electronics, software, battery technologies and chemical technologies – this is already evident in the structure of vacancies and industry surveys.
Conclusion. The job cuts are not the “end of industry” but a painful realignment: Germany is losing mass jobs where it is losing out on costs and is trying to retain and grow employment in capital- and knowledge-intensive segments. The key to a turnaround is cheaper energy, faster permitting procedures, prioritization of industrial investments and retraining for the electric and digital agenda. In the meantime, order and turnover statistics signal that the bottom of the cycle has not yet been passed.
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