Only eight of the 29 European countries that have a national minimum wage raised it in their national currency between January and July 2026, according to Eurostat data.
The largest increase over the six-month period was recorded in North Macedonia—6.9%.
Next were Romania and Estonia—both at 6.8%—followed by Belgium at 5.8%, Greece at 4.5%, Luxembourg at 2.5%, France at 2.4%, and the Netherlands at 1.9%.
In the remaining 21 countries, the minimum wage in national currency remained unchanged between January 1 and July 1. This group includes, in particular, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Ukraine.
At the same time, the absence of an increase in the nominal minimum wage effectively means a decline in its purchasing power in countries where consumer prices continued to rise during this period.
Eurostat publishes comparative data on minimum wages twice a year—as of January 1 and July 1. Changes that occur between these dates are reflected in the next semi-annual update of the statistics.
As of July 1, 2026, the minimum wage among EU countries ranged from 620 euros in Bulgaria to 2,771 euros in Luxembourg. When candidate countries are included, the lowest figure was recorded in Ukraine—169 euros.
According to Serbian Economist, Ukraine and Serbia have agreed to expand cooperation in the areas of animal health and food safety, which could help remove veterinary and sanitary barriers to bilateral trade in agricultural products.
The relevant Memorandum of Understanding was signed on August 8 in Belgrade during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s official visit to Serbia.
The practical significance of the agreement for businesses may lie in the further harmonization of veterinary certificates, sanitary requirements, and control procedures necessary for the supply of food products and products of animal and plant origin between the two countries.
Serbia is interested in increasing imports from Ukraine of soybeans, soybean meal, flaxseed, and other agricultural products. Serbian companies, in turn, are exploring opportunities to increase shipments to the Ukrainian market of seeds, fruit tree seedlings, baby food, and other products.
The signing of the document coincided with the resumption of negotiations between Ukraine and Serbia on the creation of a free trade area.
In May 2026, the parties officially resumed negotiations on the relevant agreement after a long hiatus. Ukraine currently remains the only European country with which Serbia does not have a free trade agreement.
In 2025, trade between the two countries totaled approximately $442 million. Serbia exported about $203 million worth of goods to Ukraine, while Ukraine exported $239 million worth to Serbia.
Already in the first quarter of 2026, bilateral trade reached $152.8 million, with Serbian exports to Ukraine accelerating significantly.
The combination of the future free trade agreement and the simplification of veterinary and sanitary procedures has the potential to significantly expand the range of goods traded between Ukraine and Serbia.
https://t.me/relocationrs/3412
According to The Serbian Economist, Serbia has provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid totaling approximately 63 million euros since the start of the full-scale war, said Andon Sapundži, Serbia’s ambassador to Ukraine.
About 10 million euros of this amount was allocated to support Ukraine’s energy sector and restore damaged infrastructure.
Serbia also announced an additional contribution of 2 million euros as part of the UNDP’s “Green Energy for Ukraine” program.
The funds are planned to be used to install transformer equipment with a total capacity of 63 MW to meet the needs of Kryvyi Rih. The equipment is expected to be commissioned in early 2027.
According to the ambassador, Serbian companies are already exploring opportunities to participate in Ukrainian reconstruction projects. Areas of particular interest include energy, construction, the production of building materials, transportation infrastructure, and industrial cooperation.
He emphasized that Ukraine’s reconstruction should not be postponed until the end of the war, as some energy and infrastructure needs must be addressed immediately.
Serbian business participation in major projects is currently in the stage of assessing opportunities and seeking specific partnerships.
https://t.me/relocationrs/3406
According to “Serbian Economist”, Serbia has provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid totaling approximately 63 million euros since the start of the full-scale war, said Andon Sapundži, Serbia’s ambassador to Ukraine.
About 10 million euros of this amount was allocated to support Ukraine’s energy sector and restore damaged infrastructure.
Serbia also announced an additional contribution of 2 million euros as part of the UNDP’s “Green Energy for Ukraine” program.
The funds are planned to be used to install transformer equipment with a total capacity of 63 MW to meet the needs of Kryvyi Rih. The equipment is expected to be commissioned in early 2027.
According to the ambassador, Serbian companies are already exploring opportunities to participate in Ukrainian reconstruction projects. Areas of particular interest include the energy sector, construction, the production of building materials, transportation infrastructure, and industrial cooperation.
He emphasized that Ukraine’s reconstruction should not be postponed until the end of the war, as some energy and infrastructure needs must be addressed immediately.
Serbian business participation in large-scale projects is currently in the stage of assessing opportunities and identifying specific partnerships.
According to preliminary data, Ukraine’s international reserves decreased by $70.4 million, or 0.1%, to $51.2 billion in July, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on Friday.
“This trend was driven by the National Bank’s foreign exchange interventions and the country’s debt payments in foreign currency,” the regulator noted on its website.
According to the published data, net international reserves in July decreased by $668.9 million, or 1.8%, compared to June, to $36.3 billion.
The share of dollar-denominated assets in international reserves as of August 1, 2026, decreased to 64.7% from 66.5% a month earlier, while the share of euro-denominated assets rose to 27.0% from 25.6%. A year ago, these figures stood at 73.5% and 17.5%, respectively.
The share of gold in international reserves as of early August stood at 7.0%, compared with 6.9% a month earlier and 6.8% a year earlier.
It is noted that $1.6 billion was credited to the government’s foreign currency accounts at the National Bank in July, including $683.3 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), $498.7 million through World Bank accounts, and $458.6 million from the placement of foreign currency government bonds.
In addition, Ukraine received $5.1 billion from the European Union (EU) as part of a defense tranche under the Ukraine Support Loan program; however, due to the earmarked nature of this funding, these funds do not directly enter the international reserves. In July, the government converted $3.4 billion of these funds into hryvnia, which correspondingly contributed to an increase in international reserves.
At the same time, the Ukrainian government paid $515.4 million for servicing and repaying public debt denominated in foreign currency, including $433.3 million for servicing and repaying foreign-currency government bonds, $58.7 million for servicing and repaying debt to the World Bank, $6.9 million for servicing debt to the EU, and $16.5 million for debt to other creditors.
In addition, Ukraine paid $174.2 million to the IMF.
The revaluation of financial instruments in July increased the value of reserves by $300.6 million.
The National Bank’s foreign exchange interventions totaled nearly $4.79 billion, which is $296.0 million less than in June.
“The current level of international reserves is sufficient to finance 4.2 months of future imports,” the National Bank added.
As previously reported, in its July macroeconomic forecast, the regulator raised its estimate of international reserves for the end of 2026 to $69.7 billion from $64.8 billion, for 2027 to $73.7 billion from $66.5 billion, and for 2028 to $70.0 billion from $61.1 billion.
Transgaz, the Romanian gas transmission system operator, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. company Argent LNG, which provides for the possibility of investing in the construction of a large LNG terminal in Louisiana.
The project will have a capacity of 25 million metric tons of LNG per year, or approximately 35 billion cubic meters of gas. The first deliveries are expected in 2030.
One of the main goals is to establish a long-term supply route for American gas through Romania to Moldova and Ukraine, and further on to Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Germany.
The project is intended to strengthen the so-called Vertical Gas Corridor, which is gradually becoming one of the key routes for supplying non-Russian gas to Central and Eastern Europe.
The corridor connects the gas transmission systems of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Moldova. It can be used to transport both Azerbaijani gas and LNG from the U.S., which arrives via the Revithoussa and Alexandroupolis terminals in Greece.
For the Balkans, the project is significant because it provides the region with another major source of gas and fosters additional competition among supply routes. The more American and other non-Russian LNG that flows through Greece and Romania, the more the gas infrastructure of all of Southeast Europe will change.
Moldova has already tested this route: U.S. LNG was delivered via Greece and then injected into Ukrainian underground storage facilities.
Transgaz also controls 75% of the Moldovan gas transmission system operator Westmoldtransgaz.
