Nova Poshta, the leader in express delivery in Ukraine and part of the Nova Group, processed 2.41 million shipments in a single day on December 22, exceeding the previous record of 2.25 million set on December 23, 2024, by 7.1%, the company announced on Friday.
“This is a joint record for the company and our customers, in particular entrepreneurs whose goods we delivered and who, despite all the challenges and difficult conditions, continue to work and support our country’s economy,” said Volodymyr Poperechnyuk, co-owner of Nova Poshta, in a press release on Friday.
It is noted that in 2023, the record day was December 18, when the company processed 2.01 million parcels throughout Ukraine.
The company added that on peak days in December, more than 1,000 additional colleagues from the office were involved in processing parcels.
“Nova Poshta has a pre-New Year tradition when support office employees join the work in branches, at terminals, in fulfillment, as couriers, and as contact center operators,” the company said.
Nova Poshta previously reported that in the first half of 2025, it delivered 238 million parcels and cargoes, which is 7% more than in the same period in 2024, as well as 5.9 million international parcels.
As of October 6, the leader in express delivery in Ukraine had 44,983 service points, including 14,336 branches and 30,647 parcel terminals. In the first half of this year, the branch network grew by 708 points to 13,985, and the number of parcel terminals increased by more than 4,000 to 28,326.
Nova Poshta’s consolidated net profit for January-September 2025 increased by 35.1% compared to the same period last year, to UAH 2 billion 876.38 million, consolidated net income – by 21.7%, to UAH 45 billion 727.67 million.
The main activity of Nova Poshta is express delivery of documents, parcels, and palletized large-sized cargo.
The average cost of housing in Portugal reached historic highs in 2025 amid sustained demand and limited supply, and analysts expect prices to continue to rise in 2026 despite tight affordability conditions.
According to data from the Portuguese Statistical Office (INE), in October 2025, the median bank valuation of residential real estate exceeded the threshold of €2,000 per square meter for the first time, reaching approximately €2,025 per square meter, which is 17.7% more than a year earlier. This marks more than a year of double-digit annual growth in housing prices.
The apartment segment is rising in price faster than villas: according to Global Property Guide estimates, the median bank valuation of apartments reached €2,345 per square meter (+22.1% year-on-year), while villas reached €1,472 per square meter (+11.8%). The highest prices are recorded in the Greater Lisbon agglomeration and in the Algarve tourist region.
According to the Idealista portal, by November 2025, the median asking price for residential real estate across the country reached around €3,000 per square meter (+7.8% year-on-year). At the same time:
Lisbon remains the most expensive market, with an average price of €5,914 per square meter (+4% over the year).
In Porto, the average price is around €3,908 per square meter (+5.9% over the year).
Inland regions (the center, part of Alentejo) are significantly cheaper – in many municipalities, prices range from €1,400 to €1,700 per square meter, while the most affordable districts in the country, according to local research, offer housing from €800 to €900 per square meter.
At the end of 2024, the INE housing price index (HPI) rose by 9.1%, with existing housing rising by 9.7% and new housing by 7.5%. In real terms (adjusted for inflation), prices have been rising continuously since 2013 and have increased by more than 80% during this period, which is significantly higher than the dynamics in neighboring Spain.
The market remains extremely active. In the first half of 2025, 84,247 residential properties were sold in Portugal, 20% more than in the same period in 2024. Sales of secondary housing amounted to 67,578 properties (+20.6% year-on-year), and new housing – 16,669 (+17.7%).
95% of transactions were made by buyers with tax residency in Portugal (about 80,000 properties, +21.9% year-on-year). Foreigners (both from the EU and third countries) purchased 4,205 properties, which is 7.2% less than a year earlier. Experts attribute the decline in the share of foreigners to reforms: the abolition of “golden visas” for real estate investments and the termination of the Non-Habitual Resident preferential tax regime from 2024, which reduced fiscal incentives for foreign investors.
At the same time, 2024 saw a record volume of transactions: in the third quarter of 2024 alone, €9.05 billion worth of housing was sold (+28% year-on-year), with 93.5% of buyers being Portuguese residents and the share of foreigners at around 6.5%.
Supply remains a bottleneck in the market. In the first half of 2025, 13,244 new homes were completed in the country, only 4.9% more than a year earlier and significantly below the rate of increase in the number of transactions. At the same time, the number of building permits issued is growing rapidly: in the first six months of 2025, 21,057 new housing units were licensed (+28.8% year-on-year), reflecting the growing confidence of developers and the expected acceleration in the introduction of new housing in the coming years.
According to BPI Research estimates, the growth in housing prices in Portugal is likely to continue in 2026. This is indicated by a stable labor market, record employment, and real wage growth, which support household purchasing power, as well as the stabilization of interest rates in the eurozone at “neutral” levels after a period of sharp tightening. Analysts expect that, given the current set of factors, prices in 2026 will grow at a rate above the European average, although probably slower than the double-digit figures of 2024-2025 (we are talking about high single-digit percentage growth, provided there are no new shocks in the eurozone). This will sustain investor interest but keep pressure on housing affordability for the local population, especially in large cities and on the coast.
Against the backdrop of rapid growth in international gold prices, residents of a number of Asian countries really did rush to buy bullion — and in the first half of the day, stores sometimes closed by noon. Vietnamese people in a number of cities lined up at dawn when legislation finally abolished the state monopoly on gold trading.
Meanwhile, the price of gold has already surpassed $4,300 per ounce and continues to hit historic highs.
Growing expectations of a Fed interest rate cut and tensions in US-China relations have pushed investors toward “safe havens” — gold has become a safe asset. Against the backdrop of inflationary pressure and market volatility, the precious metal is once again in the spotlight for investors.
In Australia, at the peak of gold price growth, areas and rivers traditionally used by amateur gold miners (washing gold in river streams) are once again attracting attention. Some people are earning hundreds of dollars in just a few hours. This phenomenon is being covered by the media as a “gold renaissance” not only in the corporate sector, but also among mass investors.
Earlier, the Experts Club analytical center presented an analysis of the world’s leading gold-producing countries in its video on YouTube channel — https://youtube.com/shorts/DWbzJ1e2tJc?si=YuRnDiu7jtfUPBR9
The IMC agricultural holding has completed the sunflower harvest from an area of 24.8 thousand hectares and collected over 81 thousand tons with a record yield of 3.3 t/ha, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
IMK cited data from the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture, according to which, as of October 6, 2025, the average sunflower yield in Ukraine was 1.83 tons/ha.
“The sunflower harvest was not easy — the weather this year made its adjustments more than once. We exceeded the planned yield indicators, the average oil content reached a record 54%, and in some fields it reached an incredible 64%,” said IMC Chief Operating Officer Bohdan Kryvitsky.
IMK also completed the sowing of winter wheat for the 2026 harvest on an area of 21,000 hectares, which is 18% of the company’s total land bank.
“This year, due to problems with autopilot systems caused by the operation of electronic warfare equipment, we were forced to return to sowing with physical markers. Despite this, we worked in an organized manner and met the optimal deadlines,” Kryvitsky commented.
IMK Agroholding is an integrated group of companies operating in the Sumy, Poltava, and Chernihiv regions (northern and central Ukraine) in the segments of crop production, elevators, and warehouses. The land bank is 116,000 hectares, storage capacity is 554,000 tons, and the 2024 harvest is 864,000 tons.
IMK ended 2024 with a net profit of $54.54 million, compared to a net loss of $21.03 million in 2023. Revenue grew by 52% to $211.29 million, gross profit quadrupled to $109.10 million, and normalized EBITDA increased 25-fold to $86.11 million.
In September 2025, Ukraine processed a record monthly volume of rapeseed, exceeding 250,000 tons. For the first time in a long time, domestic processing exceeded monthly exports of this crop by 236,000 tons, according to the analytical industry agency APK-Inform.
“At the same time, in late September and early October, trade in this sector slowed down due to the expected decision on the mechanism for exempting soybean and rapeseed producers from the 10% export duty. Against this backdrop, the supply of rapeseed decreased,” analysts noted.
Experts added that a number of processors reported low rapeseed supplies to enterprises and the likely completion of its processing and transition to sunflower, stocks of which were accumulated quite well in September.
Nevertheless, plants raised their demand prices for rapeseed in an attempt to attract more offers, to UAH 23,000-23,500/ton CPT and above for real volumes and large batches, according to APK-Inform.
The price of gold continues to rise rapidly on global markets: December futures on the Comex exchange rose to $3,965 per troy ounce on Monday, a new historic high. Since the beginning of the year, gold has risen in price by almost one and a half times.
The main drivers of growth were increased demand for safe-haven assets and political instability in the US and Europe.
In Washington, federal agencies have been shut down for six days now, as Congress has been unable to approve a temporary budget. Against this backdrop, investors are pulling their money out of stocks and bonds and putting it into gold, which they see as a safer bet in times of crisis.
Adding to the nervousness is the political crisis in France: Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after criticism of the composition of the new cabinet, causing another surge of volatility in European markets.
“We see both fundamental and situational factors for a further rally in gold. If current conditions persist, the price could reach $4,200 per ounce by the end of the year,” UBS analysts predict.
According to experts, if political uncertainty in the US and the EU persists, gold could consolidate above the $4,000 mark.
Earlier, the Experts Club analytical center presented an analysis of the world’s leading gold-producing countries in its video on YouTube — https://youtube.com/shorts/DWbzJ1e2tJc?si=9YBue5CS6dz-tA6_
