Imports of trucks to Ukraine in January 2026 decreased by 45% in monetary terms compared to the same month in 2025, to $41.1 million, according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the published data, compared to December last year, imports of these vehicles fell by 2.5 times.
Most trucks last month were imported from France – $6.1 million (38.3% less than last year), but their share in total imports of these vehicles increased to 14.9% from 13.3%. Thailand was the second largest exporter with $4.7 million (11.4% share), followed by Lithuania with $4.6 million (11.26%).
In January last year, the top three truck suppliers were the United States, Germany, and France.
Imports of trucks from all other countries decreased by 10.3% to $25.7 million.
At the same time, according to statistics, Ukraine exported only $0.22 million worth of trucks in January, mainly to Turkey, and a year ago there were also insignificant export deliveries (worth $0.76 million), mainly to Romania.
As reported, in 2025, imports of trucks to Ukraine increased by 5.5% compared to 2024, to $999.5 million. with the largest imports coming from France ($169.2 million, up 42.8% from the previous year), Poland ($162.7 million, down 14.7%), and the United States ($109 million, up 2%).
FRANCE, freight vehicle, IMPORTS, LITHUANIA, THAILAND, TRUCK
Foreign and local investors have stepped up deals in Thailand’s hotel market, betting on buying properties in prime locations for subsequent renovation, upgrading, and “repositioning” in a more expensive segment, The Nation Thailand reported.
Colliers Thailand estimates that the value of hotel deals in the country could exceed 12 billion baht in 2026, while in 2025, about six hotels with 1,574 rooms were sold for a total of 10.14 billion baht, with the main locations of interest to investors being Bangkok, Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, Krabi, and Chiang Mai.
Colliers also points to the typical “investment profile” of such deals: investors are more likely to choose properties with an expected return of 6% per annum, buildings up to 10-15 years old, and hotels with more than 150 rooms in order to reduce capital expenditures and improve the economics of the project. Against the backdrop of a decline in the average occupancy rate across the country in 2025 to approximately 72%, hoteliers maintained and increased their rates, which supported RevPAR and interest in upgrading product quality.
Separately, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group reported that 2025 was a record year for Thailand’s hotel transaction market, with total deal volume estimated at 26.4 billion baht, and investors increasingly considering reconceptualization projects and mixed formats, including hotels with branded residences.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, from January 1 to December 21, 2025, 31.756 million foreign tourists visited the country, which is 7.25% less than in the same period in 2024. The largest markets during this period were Malaysia (4.38 million), China (4.36 million), India (2.40 million), and Russia (1.80 million).
Based on the results of the whole of 2025, the agency estimates the inbound flow at almost 32.97 million tourists (-7.23% y/y) and the revenue from their spending at 1.536 trillion baht (-4.71%). The top 10 markets by number of arrivals included Malaysia (4,520,856), China (4,473,992), India (2,487,319), Russia (1,898,837), South Korea (1,555,227), Japan (1,091,227), the United Kingdom (1,083,162), the United States (1,081,929), Taiwan (987,633), and Singapore (967,341).
Ukraine did not make it into the top ten countries in terms of tourist flow to Thailand in 2025. This means that the flow from Ukraine was lower than that of the country in 10th place (Singapore – about 967,000 tourists).
In the resort real estate market, this usually leads to tougher competition for buyers and developers focusing on audiences from countries that generate the main tourist flow (primarily Malaysia, China, India, Russia, and other top 10 markets).
Chinese short video-sharing service operator TikTok plans to invest $8.8 billion in building data centers in Thailand over five years, TikTok’s Vice President of Public Policy Helena Lersch said during an event in Bangkok on Friday.
In January, Thailand’s Board of Investment announced TikTok’s plans to invest $3.8 billion in the country. It is unclear whether this amount is included in the total amount of investments announced by Lersh. The number of TikTok users in Thailand is over 50 million.
The Eastern Interregional Main Directorate of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection has imposed restrictions on the import of meat products from Thailand to Ukraine due to the registration of African swine fever (ASF) in that country, the agency’s press service reports.
According to an order of the Chief State Veterinary Inspector of Ukraine dated October 13, 2023, the ban applies to the import of animals belonging to the families of pigs, tayas and tapirs, as well as genetic material and products from animals of the listed families.
At the same time, the ban does not apply to products that have been processed by a method that guarantees the destruction of the causative agent of this disease in accordance with the requirements for the import (shipment) into the customs territory of Ukraine of food products of animal origin, feed, hay, straw, as well as by-products of animal origin and products of their processing, processing, approved by Order of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food No. 553 of November 16, 2018.
African swine fever (Montgomery’s disease) is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, first recorded in 1903 in South Africa. It cannot be treated or vaccinated. The spread of the virus can only be stopped by quarantine measures.
ASF is not dangerous for humans, but it causes economic losses, as all animals in the infected area must be destroyed.
Thailand’s government on Tuesday approved a decision that all foreign tourists entering the country will be charged a fee of 150,300 baht – landing tax, local media reported.
“Thailand’s Cabinet has approved a decision to charge a tourist fee upon entering the country. The fee will range from 150 baht for those arriving at land borders to 300 baht 650 baht for those arriving at airports,” the newspaper said.
The tentative date for the fee is June 1, 2023.
It will not be paid by those entering Thailand on diplomatic passports and work permits. The fee will also not be charged for children under the age of two years and transit passengers who spend less than a day in the country.
The government has also instructed the Bureau of Immigration to introduce a rule whereby tourists will be able to use receipts for tourist fees from a previous trip when applying for a re-entry permit.
Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, explained that the fee will be used to promote domestic tourism and insurance while tourists are in Thailand.
This is not the first time the Thai authorities have announced plans to introduce a levy on foreign tourists. In January 2022 they announced their intention to introduce a fee in April of that year. Its size was also supposed to be 300 baht. Then the fee was postponed to January 1, 2023, but was again postponed, as opposed by representatives of the tourism business, fearing that its introduction will slow the recovery of foreign tourist traffic after the pandemic coronavirus.
