According to the Interfax-Ukraine Culture project, the Ukrainian book market is maintaining stable demand during the war, but publishers are facing rising production costs, logistical problems, the loss of warehouses, and changing reader preferences. This is evidenced by assessments from participants at the 14th “Book Arsenal” in Kyiv, published by the Interfax-Ukraine agency on the Interfax-Ukraine Culture project website.
The 14th “Book Arsenal” has become one of the key platforms for assessing the state of the Ukrainian publishing industry. Dozens of Ukrainian publishing houses are represented at the festival—from major players to niche projects working with military, historical, Ukrainian studies, classical, and contemporary fiction.
Market representatives note that, despite the difficult economic situation, shelling, and rising costs of paper and logistics, interest in Ukrainian books remains strong. Readers are increasingly choosing publications on history, war, culture, national identity, as well as contemporary Ukrainian fiction.
Gennadiy Korber, deputy director of the Kharkiv-based publishing house “Folio,” reported that demand for books has declined, but the market continues to function. According to him, a significant portion of the publishing house’s books is still printed in Kharkiv, despite the city’s ongoing shelling, while some orders are fulfilled in other regions of Ukraine.
Among Folio’s new releases presented at the Book Arsenal are Oleksii Bobrovnikov’s novel “Red Zone” about the war and Yurii Soroka’s book “Our Knight’s Cross.” The publishing house notes a growing interest in Ukrainian history, classics, military themes, and fantasy. According to market representatives, the youth audience actively reads fantasy, although for a number of publishers this segment was not previously a primary focus.
One of the main economic challenges for the industry remains rising production costs. Publishers attribute the increase in book prices to rising costs for paper, logistics, imported raw materials, and currency fluctuations. According to market participants’ estimates, paper prices may have risen by approximately 20–25% over the past year. Ukraine has virtually no domestic production of commercial paper for the book industry, so publishers rely on imports, particularly from Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and other countries.
Russian shelling remains an additional risk factor, leading not only to production delays but also to direct losses of print runs. Folio reported instances where books were destroyed due to strikes on factories where orders were being processed.
For the Ukrainian Priority publishing house, the strike on its infrastructure was critical.
Its director, Volodymyr Shovkoshytny, said that as a result of a Shahed drone attack on the night of June 17 last year, the publisher’s warehouse and office were destroyed. According to him, about 70,000 books and office equipment were burned, and only about 4,000–5,000 damaged copies could be salvaged from the ashes and water.
Despite the losses, the publishing house set a goal to restore its catalog by the first anniversary of the attack. Ukrainian Priority’s main focus is historical, literary, and popular science literature on Ukrainian history, spanning from the Scythian era to the modern war.
Publishers are also noting a steady interest in literature on Ukrainian studies. Publisher Oleksandr Savchuk noted that after the start of the full-scale war, Ukrainians became significantly more interested in books about their own culture, history, and identity. At the same time, he said, following a sharp rise in demand during the early years of the war, the market is now seeing a certain decline, though interest in Ukrainian topics remains long-term.
Digital services are emerging as a distinct area of development in the book market. Olga Olkhova, founder of the Litcom book app, presented an update to the service at the “Book Arsenal,” which is positioned as a book market navigator and a tool for building one’s own library. The app now allows users to add books by scanning a barcode, make written and audio notes, and track who the reader has lent the book to.
According to Olkhova, non-fiction is in high demand in Ukraine, especially short audio formats based on books. The Litcom team is also conducting research on the reading habits of Ukrainians among schoolchildren, students, active readers, and the general public. They plan to release the initial results after the conclusion of the “Book Arsenal.”
Military literature remains a notable market segment. Iryna Bilotserkivska, director of the Bilka publishing house, noted that the publishing house has been working with military literature since 2018. Among the new releases is a collection of military horror stories titled “Birds in the Dark,” written by eight military authors. According to the publisher, this is effectively a new genre emerging from the experience of war.
Market participants are also noting a shift in buyers’ expectations regarding the quality of the book as a physical product. While previously part of the audience focused primarily on price, readers now more often pay attention to printing quality, layout, illustrations, cover design, and the collectible value of the publication. The festival’s booths feature gift editions, designer series of classics, and collectible books with colored edges, embossing, and illustrations.
Svitlana Stretovych, editor-in-chief and founder of Stretovych Publishing House, presented the Ukrainian translation of Agatha Christie’s autobiography at the “Book Arsenal”—the first time it has been published in Ukrainian. According to her, the book was originally published worldwide in 1977, but Ukrainian readers had not yet had access to a translation.
Thus, the Ukrainian book market continues to operate amid war, rising costs, and infrastructure risks. Demand has become more selective, yet interest in history, war, national identity, Ukrainian literature, and high-quality publications remains strong. For publishers, “Book Arsenal” remains significant not only as a fair but also as a platform for direct contact with readers, authors, and partners.
“Book Arsenal” is an annual international festival in Kyiv that brings together publishers, authors, readers, cultural institutions, and representatives of the creative industries.
In 2026, the festival will be held for the fourteenth time and remains one of the main public platforms of the Ukrainian book market.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/culture/1171986.html
Over half a million transactions and nearly 50 billion UAH—this is the state of the agricultural land market in Ukraine more than four years after the moratorium was lifted, according to the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography, and Cadastre. The average price per hectare of land in Ukraine currently stands at 75,100 UAH. The most expensive land is currently in Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv regions, while the most active land purchases this year are taking place in Vinnytsia and Chernihiv regions.
501,619 agricultural land purchase and sale transactions totaling 49.7 billion UAH have been concluded in Ukraine over the past four years since the opening of the land market. The total area of the plots covered by these transactions is 977,200 hectares.
We are tracking the trends on the Land Market in Ukraine page.
Ukrainians concluded a record 131,300 transactions last year. This is 13% more than in 2024. At the same time, the total value of transactions jumped by 43%: from 12.5 billion UAH to 18 billion UAH. While in 2024 a hectare of land cost an average of 47,300 UAH, in 2025 it was already 61,800 UAH. Thus, land prices rose by nearly a third over the course of the year.
The land market continued to rise in price in 2026 as well. In just the first four months, Ukrainians concluded 39,797 transactions totaling 6.17 billion UAH. Although the number of transactions decreased by 5% compared to the same period last year, the cost of land continued to rise rapidly, reaching 75,100 UAH/ha. This is 26% more than a year earlier.
It is worth noting that while prices rose, the area of land sold decreased. While 92,900 hectares were sold in January–April 2025, this year the figure was 82,100 hectares.
January has so far been the most expensive month of 2026—at that time, the average price per hectare reached 95,700 UAH. Buyers were most active in March, when 12,276 deals were concluded.
Traditionally, prices vary significantly by region. The most expensive land is currently in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, where a hectare costs an average of 179,600 UAH. The price is nearly the same in Kyiv Oblast—178,200 UAH/ha. The top five most expensive regions also include Lviv Oblast (153,400 UAH/ha), Ternopil Oblast (120,000 UAH/ha), and Vinnytsia Oblast (93,400 UAH/ha).
In contrast, the lowest prices are found in the frontline and southern regions. In Donetsk Oblast, a hectare of land costs 30,700 UAH, in Kherson Oblast—38,500 UAH/ha, and in Mykolaiv Oblast—44,100 UAH/ha. The regions with the lowest land prices also include Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (46,500 UAH/ha) and Odesa Oblast (47,800 UAH/ha).
Land is being sold most actively in the central and northern regions of the country. Thus, the highest number of transactions since the beginning of the year was recorded in Vinnytsia Oblast—3,416. Next are Chernihiv (3,279), Sumy (3,261), Poltava (2,963), and Khmelnytskyi (2,905) regions.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/landmarket-2026
According to preliminary data, Germany set a new record for the number of citizenships granted in 2025: at least 309,852 people in 14 federal states received German passports, reports RND, citing an investigation by Welt am Sonntag.
Official federal statistics for 2025 have not yet been published, so these are preliminary figures. The tally does not yet include complete data from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt, and for several states, information from cities and districts was used. Even in this incomplete form, the figure already exceeds the previous record set in 2024, when approximately 291,955 foreigners received German citizenship.
The main reasons for the increase were the reform of the citizenship law and the migration waves of the previous decade. Since June 2024, Germany has allowed naturalization after five years of residence instead of the previous eight, and in cases of exceptional integration achievements—in some instances after three years. In addition, the new legislation generally allowed individuals to retain their previous citizenship, which sharply increased the appeal of a German passport for citizens of countries where renouncing their first citizenship had been a deterrent.
According to official Destatis data for 2024, Syrians constituted the largest group of new German citizens—83,150 people, or 28% of all naturalizations. They were followed by citizens of Turkey—22,525, Iraq—13,545, Russia—12,980, and Afghanistan—10,085. The number of naturalizations of Russians rose particularly sharply: from approximately 1,995 in 2023 to 12,980 in 2024, a trend Destatis attributes primarily to the option to retain previous citizenship.
In 2025, according to German media reports, Syrians, Turks, and Russians were again among the largest groups of new citizens. In North Rhine-Westphalia, 3,841 Russian citizens received German passports, a 67.4% increase from the previous year. This state has become one of the largest centers for naturalization in the country: in 2025, 76,156 citizenships were issued there.
Ukrainians are not yet the main driver of the record wave of naturalizations, but their share could rise sharply starting in 2027.
According to the Bundestag, 8,920 Ukrainian citizens received German citizenship in 2024, placing Ukrainians among the top 10 groups of new German citizens. There are currently no separate official federal figures for Ukrainians for 2025 in publicly available statistics.
German municipalities are already anticipating a new surge in applications from Ukrainians. The first major wave of refugees from Ukraine arrived in Germany after February 24, 2022, so by spring 2027, some Ukrainians will have reached the five-year residency requirement necessary to apply for citizenship.
At the same time, RND notes that temporary protection status does not in itself confer an automatic legal entitlement to naturalization, but the possibility of dual citizenship makes applying more attractive.
The Ukrainian community in Germany has become one of the country’s largest foreign groups. According to Destatis, as of November 30, 2025, 1.158 million Ukrainian citizens were living in Germany—more than seven times the number before the start of the full-scale war. By the end of 2024, Ukrainians were the second-largest group of foreigners in Germany after Turkish citizens.
Allegro, Poland’s largest marketplace, plans to introduce delivery from the platform’s Polish sellers to Ukraine starting this June, and to create a separate platform, Allegro.ua, for Ukrainian companies in the future, according to a report by the Polish publication Wiadomosci Handlowe, citing sources.
“We are seeing a clear growth trend in cross-border e-commerce and increasing interest from foreign customers, including those from Ukraine. To support our partners even more effectively in their regional expansion, we are now implementing the first phase of a new delivery method—Allegro International Ukraine,” the article states.
It is noted that in the first phase of launching delivery to Ukraine, several hundred sellers from Poland will join the program.
“As part of the next phase, Allegro will open up to a wider range of Polish sellers who want to reach customers living in Ukraine,” the publication explains.
According to Wiadomosci Handlowe, Allegro’s integration with Ukrainian sellers could take place as early as 2027.
“This would be a turning point and, at the same time, proof that Allegro intends to seriously compete with marketplaces operating in Ukraine, such as Rozetka,” Wiadomosci Handlowe noted.
Overall, the marketplace is currently in the preparatory phase for launching this new initiative, specifically by recruiting partners and providing them with technical and operational support.
It is also specified that Nova Post will handle the delivery of packages from Polish sellers to Ukrainian customers.
Allegro is the largest marketplace in Poland, which also operates in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia.
In 2021, the company announced the acquisition of the Czech e-commerce group Mall Group and the logistics company WE|DO. The deal was finalized in April 2022, allowing the marketplace to enter the markets of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia.
The United Kingdom and France blocked a proposal for NATO member states to allocate 0.25% of their GDP to military aid for Ukraine, according to The Telegraph.
Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledged that his plan would not be implemented because it had not received sufficient support.
“I don’t think this proposal will be put to a vote,” he told reporters, without naming the opponents.
According to The Telegraph, the idea was blocked by the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and Canada.
Rutte had hoped to secure approval for this proposal at the upcoming annual NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
This week, ministers began discussing what, in the opinion of the alliance’s civilian chief, should become a concrete manifestation of support for the war-torn country.
“An alliance insider reported that at least seven member states, which spend more than 0.25% of their GDP on military aid to Ukraine, have expressed their support. However, any proposals adopted by NATO require unanimous support from all member capitals,” the report states.
According to publicly available data compiled by the Kiel Institute, the Netherlands, Poland, as well as the Nordic and Baltic countries, provide aid at a level of 0.25% of GDP or higher. The size of the UK’s military contribution—the third largest after the US and Germany—is also uncontroversial, despite the fact that it does not reach the 0.25% of GDP mark.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to allocate at least £3 billion per year—approximately 0.1% of GDP—in the near future.
Most of the criticism is directed at countries such as France, Spain, Italy, and Canada, which have repeatedly been accused of not doing their part. These countries—three of which are Europe’s third, fourth, and fifth-largest economies—lag behind many of their smaller allies in terms of aid levels.
Rutte argues that aid to Ukraine “is not distributed evenly within NATO,” and that many countries “are not spending enough to support Ukraine.”
The NATO chief, who served as the Dutch prime minister for 14 years, has long argued that Europe must take on greater responsibility for supporting Ukraine, in response to Donald Trump’s complaints about the continent “freeloading.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office stated: “The UK continues to work with NATO allies on all proposals to ensure the best possible support for Ukraine from the alliance.”
Representatives from France, Italy, Spain, and Canada did not respond to The Telegraph’s requests for comment.
According to the Interfax-Ukraine Culture project, Lviv-based sound engineer Volodymyr Punko received a Latin Grammy statuette for his work on the album Y El Canto de Todas, becoming the first Ukrainian sound engineer to win this award. The winner announced this on his Facebook page.
“It is an honor for me to say that I am the first sound engineer in Ukrainian history to receive such an award,” Volodymyr noted.
In the comments on the sound engineer’s post, friends, colleagues, and followers congratulated him on this historic victory, calling the award a well-deserved recognition of his many years of professional work and talent. Users wrote that they were proud of the Ukrainian’s achievement on the international stage, wished him new creative successes, and noted that Ukraine’s first Latin Grammy statuette in the field of sound engineering is a significant milestone for the entire Ukrainian music industry and further proof of its presence on the global cultural map.
The award was given for his participation in the creation of the album by Spanish guitarist Rafael Serrallet, recorded together with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv National Philharmonic under the direction of conductor Serhiy Khorovets. The album won in the “Best Instrumental Album” category.
According to the sound engineer, he was responsible for the entire sound production process—from recording to final mastering—working to combine orchestral precision with musical expressiveness.
The project brought together the musical traditions of Latin America, Spain, and academic symphonic performance. The album features orchestral interpretations of works by Latin American female composers, with the guitar playing a central role. The Latin Grammy Awards ceremony took place earlier in Las Vegas, though Punko himself was not present at the ceremony and received his award later.
The Latin Grammy Awards are one of the most prestigious international music awards, presented by The Latin Recording Academy for achievements in Latin American music.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/culture/1170688.html?utm_source=telegram
