The State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine has announced the privatization of the state-owned enterprise “Drohobych Salt Plant” for the second time, according to a Facebook post by the company’s director, Oleg Petrenko.
“The State Property Fund is announcing the privatization of our enterprise for the second time. As the head of the enterprise, I support privatization—it can bring new investments and growth to the enterprise. The main thing is that this process be conducted consistently and transparently, without backroom deals or haste that could be manipulated to serve someone’s interests,” he noted.
The company’s director noted that the Drohobych Salt Works is a profitable enterprise that has been operating for over 600 years, preserving the traditional method of salt boiling, and is one of the few such facilities in Europe.
“Drohobych salt has a future. And we believe that we can build that future without losing what we have already achieved,” Petrenko concluded.
The state-owned enterprise “Drohobych Saltworks” has been in operation since the 14th century and is one of the oldest continuously operating salt production facilities in Europe. The enterprise extracts natural brine and produces table salt using traditional technology. In 2024, the plant produced and sold 678.3 metric tons of salt.
According to Opendatabot, in 2025, the revenue of the Drohobych Salt Works State Enterprise grew by 40.3%—to 34.4 million UAH—and its net profit increased by 33.8%, to 849,200 UAH.
Drohobych, INVESTMENT, PRIVATIZATION, saltworks, STATE PROPERTY FUND
The Ministry of Economy and Environment of Ukraine has decided to provide a total of 56 million hryvnias in state support to the “ART PACK INDUSTRIAL” industrial park in the Khmelnytskyi region and the “KRONOSPAN RIVNE” industrial park in the Rivne region, the ministry announced on August 21.
The “ART PACK INDUSTRIAL” industrial park will receive 9.699 million UAH to construct access roads to the park’s territory. An additional 46.305 million UAH will be allocated to “KRONOSPAN RIVNE” for the development of energy infrastructure.
“Government incentives are a practical tool that enables the creation of industrial infrastructure, attracts investment, and fosters the development of the manufacturing sector,” said Vitaliy Kindrativ, Deputy Minister of Economy and Environment of Ukraine. According to him, this support will allow the industrial parks in the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne regions to launch new production facilities more quickly.
Following the new decision, four industrial parks have already received state support since the beginning of 2026 to implement four projects totaling approximately 152 million hryvnias. In late May, “SMART TECH INDUSTRY” in the Poltava region and “Sparrow Park Lviv” became the first recipients this year, receiving over 96.5 million hryvnias. Of this amount, 5.5 million UAH was allocated for the construction of gas and water supply networks in the Poltava industrial park, and another 91 million UAH was allocated for the restoration of infrastructure in the Lviv industrial park that was damaged by a rocket strike.
Government funding for industrial parks is provided on a co-financing basis. Typically, the state covers up to 50% of the project cost, while for de-occupied and frontline territories, as well as for the restoration of infrastructure damaged by hostilities, the share of state support can reach 80%. The maximum amount of funding is up to 150 million hryvnias per industrial park.
Recipients of the funds are required to commission at least 5,000 square meters of industrial real estate within three years and attract at least two participants—industrial enterprises—to the park. The Ministry of Economy has extended the deadline for submitting applications for state incentives in 2026 until August 31.
The “ART PACK INDUSTRIAL” industrial park was included in the state register on December 17, 2025. It is located within the Khmelnytskyi city community, covers 10.22 hectares, and was established for a term of 50 years. The park’s primary focus is stated as the production of paper and paper products. In April 2026, “ART PAK SERVICE” LLC became the managing company.
“KRONOSPAN RIVNE” operates in the village of Horodok in the Rivne District and occupies approximately 85 hectares. The park was entered into the registry in July 2021. Its main areas of focus are the woodworking and furniture industries, as well as warehousing. The initial concept calls for the creation of approximately 1,100 jobs.
For “KRONOSPAN RIVNE,” the current funding is not the first instance of state support. In 2025, the park received an additional 55.3 million UAH for the construction of infrastructure for a cogeneration plant. According to the Rivne Regional State Administration, Kronospan has invested over 560 million euros in production in the region over the past few years, and the industrial park is viewed as a core platform for the development of a furniture cluster.
According to the Ministry of Economy, there are currently 123 registered industrial parks in Ukraine. As of the end of 2025, 37 industrial enterprises had been built or were under construction on their territories, and the total volume of attracted investments exceeded 45 billion UAH.
The 2026 state budget allocates 1 billion UAH for the development of industrial infrastructure in industrial parks as part of the “Made in Ukraine” policy to support Ukrainian manufacturers.
government support, INDUSTRIAL PARK, INDUSTRY, INFRASTRUCTURE, INVESTMENT
According to “Serbian Economist”, the Chinese company Reliance plans to invest 100.5 million euros in the construction of a high-tech battery manufacturing plant in the Serbian city of Indija; the project is expected to create about 250 jobs, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on August 20.
According to him, the plant will produce batteries for unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous vehicles, robots, household appliances, and other devices.
“We are talking about a high-tech company, one of the world’s best in the production of batteries for drones, autonomous vehicles, robots, household appliances, and other devices,” the publication Danas quoted Vučić as saying, citing his interview with Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS).
A framework agreement with the investor is expected to be signed in late August 2026, and construction work could begin as early as late October.
Vucic clarified that Reliance was one of 14 companies with whose representatives the Serbian side held talks during his most recent trip to China.
Judging by the name and the product profile described by the president, this refers to Jiangsu Reliance New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., which operates under the Reliance Battery brand. However, the Serbian authorities have not yet publicly disclosed the full legal name of the investor in the Indija project.
According to Reliance itself, the company was founded in Changzhou, China, in November 2021 and specializes in the development and production of high-power cylindrical lithium-ion cells. It manufactures 21700 and 46-series cells based on NCA and LFP, and conducts research into semi-solid-state and solid-state batteries as well as dry-electrode technology.
The company explicitly lists drones, eVTOLs, humanoid and logistics robots, power tools, household cleaning equipment, electric motorcycles and bicycles, automobiles, backup power systems, and specialized equipment among the applications for its batteries.
Thus, if the project is implemented, India will gain another high-tech manufacturing facility related to the electrical engineering industry. The city has already established a large industrial cluster between Belgrade and Novi Sad. In particular, in April 2025, Europe’s first factory of the Japanese company JFE Shoji, worth over 50 million euros, began operations here; it manufactures motor cores for home appliances and the automotive industry.
The Toyo Tire Serbia plant also operates in Inji, and in 2026, the Japanese company began construction here on a new European research and development center worth 29 million euros.
Following the completion of construction of the first phase of its bioethanol plant with an annual capacity of 83,000 metric tons, the OKKO Group plans to build the second phase with an annual capacity of 120,000 metric tons, according to the group’s CEO, Vasyl Danyliak.
“We are first building the first phase of the plant with a capacity of 83,000 metric tons of bioethanol, and then we will expand capacity. And we want to produce 120,000 metric tons of bioethanol per year in the second phase,” Danilyak said on the Fedoriv vlog on YouTube.
He added that the group plans to consume 50% of the bioethanol it produces in the future and export the remaining 50% to European markets.
Citing the experience of bioethanol production in the U.S., he noted that the capacity of plants in that country is at least 1 million metric tons, which, he said, allows for “economies of scale.”
As reported in early July 2026, citing Vasyl Danylyak, CEO of the OKKO Group of Companies, the group had to postpone the full launch of its EUR110 million bioethanol plant from the third quarter of 2026 to the first quarter of 2027. Danylyak attributed this to delays in the manufacture of certain units.
He noted, however, that part of the facility—specifically, the storage area for finished products—has already been completed.
Danylyak also pointed out that the retail chain itself would not be able to consume all of the plant’s bioethanol—which has a design capacity of 83,000 metric tons—even if it were to add 10% bioethanol to gasoline on its own. At the time, he noted that the group would be able to consume up to 60% of the bioethanol production capacity.
The group planned to sell the remainder to other retail chains or export it.
Of the total investment in the plant during 2024–2026, amounting to EUR 110 million, EUR 35 million is the group’s own contribution, and EUR 75 million is debt financing. Of this amount, EUR 60 million was provided by the EBRD for a nine-year term, and another EUR 15 million by Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine for a seven-year term.
According to Danilyak, the plant’s annual capacity is 83,000 metric tons of bioethanol, 70,000 metric tons of animal feed, and 270,000 metric tons of corn processing.
OKKO Group brings together more than 10 diverse businesses in the fields of manufacturing, trade, construction, insurance, services, and other sectors. The group’s flagship company is the “Galnaftogaz” concern, which operates one of Ukraine’s largest gas station networks under the “OKKO” brand, comprising approximately 400 gas stations.
The group’s founder and ultimate beneficiary is Vitaliy Antonov.
The Ukrainian leasing company Avtokredit Plus LLC, operating under the PlanetAvto brand, launched an initial offering of Series C corporate bonds totaling 100 million UAH on August 17, according to company materials and the PFTS stock exchange.
The issue consists of 100,000 registered, interest-bearing, unsecured bonds with a par value of 1,000 UAH each. The initial offering is taking place through the PFTS from August 17 to August 31, 2026. The investment company “UNIVER Capital” is acting as the organizer and underwriter.
The coupon rate for the first four interest periods is set at 24% per annum in hryvnia, with interest payments made quarterly. For subsequent periods, the prospectus provides for the possibility of setting the rate within a range of 5–35% per annum, in accordance with the terms of the issue.
The maturity date of the bonds is set for August 11, 2031. The terms of the issue also provide for mandatory periodic redemptions by the issuer, giving bondholders the opportunity to exit their investment prior to final maturity in accordance with the dates specified in the prospectus.
The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its auto finance leasing programs in Ukraine. On its website, PlanetAvto notes that 100% of the proceeds from the offering are earmarked for these purposes.
This is the company’s third corporate bond issue. In 2018, “Avtokredit Plus” issued Series A bonds worth 50 million UAH, and in 2021, Series B bonds worth 100 million UAH. According to the issuer, both previous issues were redeemed on time and in full.
As of the end of 2025, Avtokredit Plus’s equity stood at 74.9 million UAH, total assets at 132.2 million UAH, and net income at 4.3 million UAH.
Following the completion of the initial public offering and the registration of the issuance report with the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the company plans to list the bonds on the secondary market.
“Autocredit Plus” was registered in Dnipro in 2006 and specializes in financial leasing, the sale, and financing of automobiles. The company’s primary business activity is financial leasing.
According to Experts Club, 180 active jewelry companies in Ukraine list foreign nationals as ultimate beneficiaries, with owners from Israel, Turkey, and Russia being the most common, according to data from Opendatabot published on August 17, 2026.
Israeli citizens are listed among the beneficiaries of 22 jewelry companies, Turkish citizens of 20, and Russian citizens of 19. Foreign business owners also include citizens of Georgia, the United States, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, China, and other countries.
However, a single company may have multiple ultimate beneficiaries with citizenship in different countries, so these figures cannot be added together to determine the total number of companies.
Separately, Opendatabot analyzed companies with Russian beneficiaries. Of the 19 active companies where Russian citizens are listed among the owners, only one reported revenue over the past two years—the Bila Tserkva Jewelry Factory.
At the same time, its most recent reported revenue amounted to only 10,900 UAH for 2023.
Among all jewelry companies with foreign beneficial owners, only 32 enterprises submitted financial statements for 2025.
Specifically, 11 companies with Israeli owners submitted reports, five with U.S. beneficiaries, four with Swiss beneficiaries, and two each with owners from Turkey and China.
As of the end of July 2026, a total of 1,282 jewelry companies were registered in Ukraine. Thus, foreign beneficiaries are present in approximately 14% of the industry’s legal entities—this figure is based on the findings of the Experts Club analytical center and an analysis of data published by Opendatabot.
Together with sole proprietorships, there are currently 7,865 businesses operating in the country’s jewelry sector. At the same time, legal entities are showing more stable growth: their number has been increasing for five consecutive years, and in 2025, the number of new companies exceeded the number of closed ones by 54.
