Imports of tractors to Ukraine in January-May 2025 amounted to $355.9 million, which is 3.8% less than in the same period in 2024, according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the published statistics, tractors were mainly imported from the United States (19.7% of total imports of this equipment, or $70.1 million), Germany (17.3% or $61.4 million) and China (17.2% or $61.3 million), while a year earlier it was Germany ($59.7 million), the Netherlands ($53.6 million) and China ($44.2 million).
In May of this year, imports of tractors decreased by 10% to $60.2 million by May 2024, which is also 29% less than the volume of imports in April of this year.
According to statistics, only $2.5 million worth of tractors were exported in the first five months of this year, mostly to Romania, Zambia and Germany.
As reported, imports of tractors to Ukraine in 2024 amounted to almost $784 million, which is 5.6% less than a year earlier, while exports amounted to $5.44 million against $5.74 million.
According to the State Customs Service, in the first five months of 2025, imports of electric batteries and separators to Ukraine increased 2.3 times to $382.7 million. The main suppliers are China (76%), Taiwan (5.8%) and Vietnam (4.3%).
In May, imports of batteries amounted to $94.4 million, which is 92% more than in May 2024 and 34% more than in April. In particular, $14.8 million of products were imported from Vietnam, while for the entire 5 months – $16.5 million.
Exports of Ukrainian batteries amounted to $20.7 million, with the main destinations being Poland (29.4%), France (14.5%) and Germany (11.8%).
As a reminder, since the end of July 2024, Ukraine has exempted imports of electric generators and batteries from customs duties and VAT. In 2024, imports of generators reached $732.5 million (+3.7% compared to 2023), and imports of batteries reached $950.6 million (twice as much as in 2023).
In January-May 2025, Ukraine imported lead and lead products worth $3.413 million, which is 8.1 times more than in the same period in 2024. In May, imports amounted to $644 thousand.
At the same time, exports of lead products decreased by 16.1% to $3.638 million (in May – $679 thousand).
In 2024, Ukraine increased lead imports by 2.4 times to $2.391 million, while exports decreased by 22.9% to $11.401 million. For comparison: in 2023, imports amounted to $989 thousand, and exports – $14.778 million.
In January-May 2025, imports of power generating sets and rotating electrical converters (UKTZED 8502) increased 7.5 times in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2024, to $632.2 million, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
Most of these devices were imported from the Czech Republic ($120 million, or 19% of the total), Austria ($88.7 million, or 14%), and the United States ($78.8 million, or 12.5%). Last year, the main suppliers were China, the Czech Republic, and Austria.
In May 2025, imports increased 11 times by May 2024, and by 39.3% by April 2025 to $115.7 million.
Exports of generators remained insignificant at $2 million over five months, mainly to Latvia, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
In January-May 2025, Ukrainian companies increased imports of copper and copper products by 20% compared to the same period last year, to $77.971 million. This is evidenced by the data of the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
Copper exports also increased by 17.8% to $38.762 million over the same period. In May, the volume of imports amounted to $16.245 million, and exports – $9.635 million.
For comparison, in 2024, the volume of copper imports remained virtually unchanged compared to 2023 and amounted to $140.797 million. At the same time, exports increased by 22.4% to $88.237 million.
In 2023, despite the war, Ukraine doubled its copper imports to $140.795 million (+120% yoy), while exports decreased by 20.1% to $72.078 million. The upward trend in copper trade in 2025 indicates a recovery in demand for the metal from both the domestic market and foreign buyers.
Copper is widely used in electrical engineering, pipe manufacturing, alloys, medicine and other industries.
imports, exports, copper
On June 23, a second auction will be held for gas supplies to Ukraine from Greece via the Trans-Balkan corridor after the first auction on May 29 failed to take place, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and the Ukrainian Gas Transmission System Operator said on Thursday.
As noted in particular by the Ministry of Energy, Deputy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk called on traders to actively participate in booking the product.
“At the end of 2024, the guaranteed capacity was set at 7 million cubic meters per day. The parties are now working to increase the guaranteed capacity to 11.5 million cubic meters per day by 2025,” the ministry said.
According to Kolesnik, having a joint product in the form of gas transportation from other countries, in particular from Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania to Ukraine using an economically advantageous tariff, it is possible to increase the capacity and tariff revenues of each of the participating countries, as well as ensure the supply of non-Russian resources to the EU.
“This is a way to integrate our existing infrastructure into the pan-European infrastructure on fairly competitive terms and with resources to cover the consumption of Central and Eastern Europe,” the deputy minister noted.
As emphasized by Vladislav Medvedev, acting director general of OGTSU, for Ukraine, the Trans-Balkan pipeline means access to new sources of gas: liquefied gas coming from all over the world to Greek and Turkish LNG terminals; Azerbaijani gas transported via the TAP gas pipeline; and Romanian and potentially Bulgarian offshore gas.
“Currently, together with the TSO operators of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova, we have introduced a joint package product for gas imports from Greece to Ukraine on competitive terms until October 2025. This product temporarily resolves the issue of high tariffs along the route,” he said.
According to Medvedev, the next step is to develop a long-term commercial solution to enable gas transportation along the entire route to Central European markets.
As reported, the first auction on May 29 for booking capacity for gas transportation from Greece to Ukraine along the Trans-Balkan route for June in the amount of 2.9 million cubic meters per day ended without any bids from participants.
Gas transmission system operators in Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine have developed a scheme for supplying natural gas from Greece to Ukraine via the Trans-Balkan corridor. In particular, Bulgaria’s Bulgartransgaz EAD, Greece’s DESFA SA, Romania’s Transgaz SA, and Moldova’s VestMoldTransgaz SRL, together with Ukraine’s OGTSU, are jointly offering a route package product for natural gas supplies for the period from June to October 2025, which will facilitate gas transportation from Greece to Ukraine.
To increase the attractiveness of the route, the parties have agreed on a single gas transit tariff with a 25% discount. For the Ukrainian operator, the discount will be 46%.
The operators of the countries participating in the project will hold a single auction to allocate capacity at all points of the Trans-Balkan Corridor along the natural gas transportation route from Greece to Ukraine.
On the fourth Monday of each month, tenders will be held for the sale of capacity for the following calendar month. A single-price auction mechanism will be implemented for capacity allocation.
The proposed transport package can only be used for gas supplies to Ukraine. Previously, gas was not supplied to the country via the Trans-Balkan corridor.
