The M.M. Amosov National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (NAMSU), with the assistance of the Ukrainian Embassy in Italy, has received five ventilators.
As reported by the embassy on its Facebook page, the equipment will enhance the medical facility’s ability to provide care to patients and ensure the continuous work of doctors under the difficult conditions of wartime.
The project was implemented with the support of the Ukrainian association “Malva” in Verona.
The cost of housing in new developments in Italy has fallen for the first time in eight years, while the secondary market has continued to grow. This indicates a polarization of the Italian real estate market: buyer demand remains strong, but new properties are becoming more sensitive to construction costs, mortgage conditions, and regional differences.
According to Global Property Guide, citing statistics from the European Central Bank, prices for new housing in Italy fell by 1.16% year-over-year, or by 2.29% when adjusted for inflation. This marked the first annual decline in prices for new-build properties in eight years. At the same time, prices for existing homes rose by 5.15% year-over-year, or by 3.95% in real terms.
This gap indicates that the market is responding to different factors. The secondary housing market is supported by limited supply, demand in major cities, and buyer interest in completed properties. New-build properties, on the other hand, are more heavily influenced by construction costs, completion dates, mortgage rates, and buyers’ purchasing power.
According to idealista, in April 2026, the average price of existing housing in Italy rose by 0.8% month-over-month, reaching €1,906 per square meter. On an annual basis, growth was 5%, and 2.7% for the quarter. This confirms that the decline in the new-construction segment does not signify a general downturn in the entire Italian real estate market.
The situation also reflects a structural problem in the Italian market: the supply of new housing remains limited, while demand is concentrated in the strongest locations—Milan, Rome, tourist regions, and cities with a high quality of life.
For buyers, falling prices for new-build properties may open a window of opportunity, especially in regions where developers are willing to make concessions. However, in Italy’s most sought-after cities, housing affordability remains a challenge. The Guardian noted that in Milan, real estate prices have risen by 38% over five years, and the city is becoming a magnet for wealthy foreigners thanks to tax incentives and quality of life.
For foreign buyers, the Italian market remains attractive thanks to a combination of quality of life, tourism potential, tax regimes for new residents, and a wide selection of properties—from city apartments to homes in small towns.
However, the new-construction segment is becoming more heterogeneous: in some regions, prices may fall due to weak demand, while in others, they remain high due to a shortage of modern properties.
On May 21, Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Carlo Formosa and Artur Lorkowski, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, signed an agreement on a new contribution from Italy in the amount of EUR 10 million for repair and reconstruction work in Ukraine’s energy sector.
This was announced by Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Denys Shmyhal following a meeting with Lorkovsky and partners on a Telegram channel on Thursday.
“Prior to this, Italy had already contributed EUR13 million to the Energy Support Fund. We are grateful to Italy,” he noted.
According to Shmyhal, the parties paid special attention to mechanisms for attracting additional contributions to Ukraine’s Energy Support Fund as a tool for strengthening energy resilience.
“We also discussed opportunities for international businesses to invest in Ukraine’s energy sector. “The launch of updated auctions for the construction of new power generation capacity in Ukraine is an important signal to the market; we can more broadly attract international investors to the development of new capacity,” he said.
Ukraine is also preparing to present these and other opportunities at the URC conference in Gdańsk in June.
“We agreed to jointly develop mechanisms for mitigating and insuring against military risks for such investments,” the First Deputy Prime Minister added.
As reported, as of the end of April, Ukraine’s foreign partners had announced additional contributions to the Energy Support Fund totaling approximately EUR 100 million.
In total, as of early April, the Energy Support Fund of Ukraine had received grant funds totaling nearly EUR 1.854 billion from 37 foreign sponsors from 26 partner countries and three international organizations.
Italy is preparing a new tax regime for citizens who have lived abroad for a long time and wish to return to their homeland after retirement.
The essence of the initiative is the introduction of a preferential 4% tax rate on worldwide income for returning Italian expat retirees. The new regime is intended to become a separate tool of Rome’s tax policy and the first one specifically targeted at recipients of Italian pensions.
Italy currently has several preferential regimes in place for new residents, including a scheme for wealthy foreigners and a 7% regime for foreign retirees who move to certain small municipalities in the south of the country. However, these mechanisms did not fully address the situation of Italians who have worked and lived abroad for decades and then wish to return to Italy to retire.
Under the current scheme for foreign retirees, the 7% rate applies to foreign income if the individual transfers their tax residency to Italy and moves to an eligible municipality. In 2026, Italy expanded this scheme: the population limit for participating municipalities was raised from 20,000 to 30,000 residents, opening up access to the benefit for new towns in the south of the country.
The new 4% scheme could become a more targeted measure for Italian citizens abroad. Authorities hope it will help bring back some retirees who have income and savings outside Italy but maintain personal, family, or cultural ties to their homeland. For the government, it is also a way to support small towns and regions facing an aging population and population outflow.
For the real estate market, such an initiative could boost demand for housing in small towns and southern regions of Italy. Returning retirees tend to look not toward Milan or Rome, but toward more affordable locations with a low cost of living, a good climate, medical infrastructure, and the opportunity for a peaceful life. This could support the secondary housing market, long-term rentals, and services for senior residents.
In recent years, Italy has actively used tax incentives as a tool to attract capital and new residents. At the same time, authorities are reviewing tax breaks for ultra-high-net-worth foreigners: there have been discussions about raising the flat tax on foreign income for new wealthy residents from EUR 200,000 to EUR 300,000 per year.
Andrea Abodi, Minister of Sports and Youth of the Italian Republic, paid an official visit to Lviv accompanied by Carlo Formosa, the Italian Ambassador to Ukraine, during which he signed a joint action plan for 2026–2027 in the fields of youth and sports with his Ukrainian counterpart Matviy Bedny.
“ “I am here to express, on behalf of the entire government, my respect and solidarity with the Ukrainian people, who are suffering from an unjustified aggressive war that has been bringing death and destruction for four years now; a people to whom we are providing and will continue to provide support,” Abodi stated.
According to him, the contribution to Ukraine’s recovery must begin with the youth.
“The contribution to a new Ukraine must begin with the youth—the present and future of the country, which is unwaveringly focused on recovery. Youth policy, financial transparency in sports, training of specialists and research, as well as the restoration of sports infrastructure will be the first concrete steps in implementing the action plan,” the minister emphasized.
During the visit, both ministers paid tribute to the fallen defenders of Ukraine at the Heroes’ Memorial.
In addition, the Casa Italia cultural and sports center was opened in Lviv—a space created with the assistance of the Italian Association of Culture and Sport (AiCS) to support children orphaned by the war by engaging them in physical activity and creativity.
The Italian and Ukrainian delegations also met with players from the “Pokrova AMP” amputee soccer club, emphasizing the importance of veteran sports as a tool for physical and psychosocial rehabilitation.
“Minister Abodi’s visit clearly confirms that Italy stands with Ukraine: this is a partnership that strengthens new generations and brings Ukraine closer to European standards, where sport is the foundation of a strong and healthy nation,” Ambassador Formosa concluded.
Italy is focusing on supplying medical equipment for maternity wards in Ukraine, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.
“We promptly provided Ukraine with industrial boilers and electric generators to cope with power outages and supply disruptions caused by Russian attacks. Now we are focusing on sending medical equipment, especially for maternity wards,“ she said during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Rome on Wednesday.
”I believe that we Italians should be proud of this work done to support the civilian population,” she said.
Meloni also emphasized that “Italy is very interested in developing joint production of drones, a sector in which Ukraine has become one of the world leaders over the years.”
