Finland is allocating EUR5 million to support Ukraine’s energy sector and is also donating ten locomotives to assist the country’s railway infrastructure, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced.
“Due to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s railway infrastructure, we… are transferring 10 locomotives to Ukraine. We hope they will help keep your society moving while Russia tries to bring it to a halt. We are allocating EUR5 million to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund. This fund complements Finland’s existing support for energy resilience, providing assistance where and when it is needed,” Orpo said at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, according to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent.
He also announced that Finland will provide Ukraine with mobile heating containers in December, capable of heating medium-sized hospitals or apartment buildings.
Orpo added that Finland is preparing additional support totaling EUR3 million as part of Ukraine’s recovery program and will continue to provide significant support in the form of defense equipment.
“This year, we have provided Ukraine with five defense aid packages totaling over half a billion euros. We are currently preparing 36 packages, and we are doing so in close cooperation with the Ukrainian military. And we intend to make a decision by the end of this year,” he emphasized.
A prolonged blockade of the Black Sea could lead to a significant reduction in grain plantings during the 2026/27 marketing year (MY), primarily corn and wheat, farmers may partially shift to oilseeds, which are more profitable under these conditions, said Taras Vysotsky, Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
“Our assessment is that the area planted with grains—primarily corn and wheat—will decrease, while the area planted with oilseeds—primarily soybeans and sunflowers—will increase,” he told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday, according to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent.
“The largest reduction in acreage—as it looks today—will be for corn: we do not rule out that this reduction could even be by half,” the minister added.
Regarding wheat, he noted that a survey of farmers showed that the potential reduction in wheat acreage is 15–17%.
“From our perspective, this will reflect reality. If we had 5.1 million hectares of planted area in the 2025/26 marketing year—which included both winter and spring crops, with winter crops accounting for 5 million hectares—then we estimate that planted area in the 2026/27 marketing year will be 4–4.2 million hectares, a 17% decrease,” Vysotsky noted.
According to him, the area planted with barley will be 1.5 million hectares, and that planted with rapeseed will be 1.3 million hectares, of which 0.2 million hectares will be spring crops, which corresponds to the previous year’s figures.
The minister noted that, on average, 20 million hectares in Ukraine are planted with the six main grain and oilseed crops (wheat, barley, corn, sunflower, rapeseed, and soybeans).
According to data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, as of October 20, farmers had planted 3.93 million hectares with winter grain crops, or 75.4% of the projected area; over the past week, the planted area increased by 0.56 million hectares, whereas on the same date last year, the figure was 4.84 million hectares, or 74% of the forecast.
This year, 3.51 million hectares have already been planted with wheat (77.4% of the projected area), 0.34 million hectares with winter barley (57.9%), and 70,700 hectares with rye (92.1%). A year ago, these figures were 3.44 million hectares, 0.3 million hectares, and 60,000 hectares, respectively.
Winter rapeseed plantings in the 2026/27 marketing year exceeded the forecast: the area planted is 1.12 million hectares, or 101.4% of the planned volume, while last year 1.03 million hectares were planted.
According to estimates by the Mykhailo Ptukha Institute of Demography and Quality of Life Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the population of Ukraine in government-controlled territory currently stands at between 28 and 29 million people—as reported by the institute’s leading research fellow, Svitlana Aksyonova, on Hromadske Radio.
“This is certainly an alarming sign; this trend is certainly alarming. First and foremost, it’s not just that the number of births is decreasing, but the ratio itself is very alarming. For four consecutive years—from 2022 to 2025—the ratio remained at three. In other words, the death rate exceeded the birth rate threefold. And now we see that, to be precise, the excess is about 3.5 times. That is, the gap between the number of deaths and the number of births has widened. For me, this is a very alarming sign,” Aksyonova said.
She cited another alarming sign: the decline in the number of newborns occurred as early as the first half of the year, whereas the seasonal decline usually occurs at the beginning of the year, with the second half being more active.
“Of course, it’s better to wait until the end of the year, when all trends become clearer. We have certain patterns: in the first half of the year, slightly fewer children are born than in the second. But this time, the decline occurred as early as the first half of the year. And that, too, is a very alarming sign,” she emphasized.
According to Aksyonova, the difficult conditions of last winter—in particular, prolonged power and heating outages—may have influenced the decisions of Ukrainian families.
“I thought that the impact of this harsh winter, with its power and heating outages, would become apparent in the second half of the year, since the decision to have a child is made at least nine months before the baby’s birth. But the decline occurred earlier. It was also very distressing for me to see that during the winter, families with young children were effectively left to deal on their own with the problems the entire country was facing. They had to think not only about caring for a newborn but also about where to get a battery, how to warm up formula, and how to provide the child with basic necessities. “This is very difficult, and I think it will influence young families’ decisions about having children,” she explained, adding that, at the same time, part of the decline in the country’s birth rate can be attributed to pregnant women leaving the country for safety reasons.
In addition, Aksyonova drew attention to changes in the composition of Ukrainian refugees, noting a slight increase in the proportion of men among those who have received temporary protection in European countries.
According to estimates by the Institute of Demography, Ukraine’s population in government-controlled territory currently stands at less than 30 million people.
“According to our calculations, it’s between 28 and 29 million people. We no longer even estimate the figure at 30 million. But this is always a range, because such calculations involve a great many assumptions. However, it is clear that the population is declining,” she explained.
Currently, the Institute of Demography is working on a new migration strategy designed to facilitate the return of Ukrainians after the war.
“The Institute of Demography is currently engaged in very painstaking work on a migration strategy that is gradually developing mechanisms for the return of Ukrainians from abroad. This is a complex task. As they say, there are no simple solutions to complex problems. Unfortunately, there is no single universal tool for this problem that would allow us to bring people back quickly,” Aksyonova concluded.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever stated that the European Commission will not propose new mechanisms for using frozen Russian assets to meet Ukraine’s financial needs.
“I am certain of this, because that was precisely what was being discussed,” he said Wednesday in the Belgian Parliament while reporting on the results of last week’s EU summit.
At the same time, De Wever did not rule out that other EU member states might try to reopen the discussion. He criticized Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who stated on the radio that he wanted to “take that money.” According to the Belgian prime minister, some recently elected European leaders are putting forward arguments that he had already refuted last year.
De Wever said he had warned his colleagues about the possible legal consequences of even such rhetoric, and that warning had the desired effect. “One of my colleagues told me on the sidelines that I had gone through this discussion like a flamethrower,” he said.
Last year, De Wever strongly opposed the use of frozen Russian assets totaling about 185 billion euros, which are held in the Belgian depository Euroclear. Instead, EU leaders approved a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine for 2026–2027; however, estimates suggest this amount will not be sufficient.
At last week’s summit, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the EU for an additional 70 billion euros in support for next year.
EU, frozen Russian assets, Prime Minister of Belgium, UKRAINE
The total transit of grains and oilseeds from Ukraine through neighboring Moldova, Slovakia, and Hungary increased by 46.5% in September compared to August, but the bulk of the increase came from Moldova and Slovakia, Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.
According to his data, transit through Moldova rose by 59.7%—to 107,000 metric tons in September from 67,000 metric tons in August; through Slovakia—by 61.5%, to 336,000 metric tons from 208,000 metric tons; and through Hungary—by 8.5%, to 115,000 metric tons from 106,000 metric tons.
“An increase is possible; we’ll see how much. We’re working on all fronts,” Vysotsky emphasized.
At the same time, he refrained from making any forecasts.
“We’ll report the actual results every month,” the minister noted.
Regarding the prospects for opening a maritime grain corridor, the head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy stated that “there are currently no signals from our partners that could be interpreted as providing any kind of planning horizon.”
“The situation remains unchanged—no more, no less,” Vysotsky said.
Earlier, the minister reported that in September, Ukraine managed to export 2.4 million metric tons of agricultural products, or 46% of what was supposed to be exported, including 1.4 million metric tons of grain (38%), 444,000 metric tons of oilseeds (83%), oil—311,000 metric tons, or 64%, and meal—280,000 metric tons, or 46% of the potential required exports.
EXPORTS, GRAIN, HUNGARY, MOLDOVA, SLOVAKIA, TRANSIT, UKRAINE
MasterZoo, a Ukrainian pet store chain, has launched an updated online store at masterzoo.ua; the company invested $100,000 in the site’s upgrade. Additionally, MasterZoo’s first mobile app is now available for download, with over $30,000 invested in its development, the company’s press office told the “Interfax-Ukraine” news agency.
“We are investing in building a digital ecosystem that will meet the various needs of pet parents—from regular purchases to finding new products and professional recommendations. At the same time, we are mindful of the specifics of the pet retail industry: there are categories where it’s important for pet parents to see the product in person, try on clothing or accessories for their furry friend, or get in-person advice. Therefore, our goal is not to pit online against offline, but to combine their advantages and create a seamless customer experience. “For us, investing in technology is a strategic investment in MasterZoo’s future,” comments Oksana Kyrychenko, CEO of MasterZoo.
The new platform offers product recommendations based on your pet’s type and breed, expanded features in the customer’s personal account, an auto-renewal service (10% discount on repeat orders), and other personalized offers. The updated platform features over 18,000 SKUs from more than 350 brands. The first mobile app is now available for download on the App Store and Google Play.
The chain is developing an omnichannel model in which brick-and-mortar pet stores and digital services complement each other. More than 200 pet stores in 40 cities are gradually becoming not only retail locations but also part of the e-commerce infrastructure—serving as pickup points, locations for reserving products, and, in the future, fulfillment centers (grey stores) for packing and shipping online orders via postal carriers or the company’s own courier service.
MasterZoo strives to make shopping convenient and personalized regardless of where the customer interacts with the brand. The importance of the digital channel is also confirmed by sales trends: while the online channel accounted for an average of 15% of MasterZoo’s total sales in 2024, its share rose to 18% in 2025 and reached 25% in 2026.
MasterZoo’s data confirms that customers are increasingly combining online and offline shopping. Specifically, one in every three to four dry pet food buyers already uses multiple sales channels. At the same time, the average order value for online shoppers is 2.5 times higher than the average order value at brick-and-mortar pet stores, and the LTV (lifetime value) of omnichannel customers is nearly four times higher than that of customers who shop exclusively at physical locations.
Pickup plays a key role in this model. Currently, it accounts for about 35% of all MasterZoo online orders. Over 40% of pickup orders in the network are placed in Kyiv. Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa follow in terms of the number of such orders.
“We are seeing how the habits of Ukrainian pet parents are changing: online shopping is becoming increasingly common not only in large cities but also in smaller towns. The share of orders from outside regional centers has risen from 26.4% to 29.7%, and the number of orders using MasterZoo’s own courier delivery service has nearly tripled over the past year (+182%). At the same time, customer delivery preferences vary by location: in small towns, about 80% of orders are delivered by “Nova Poshta,” while in Kyiv, the figure is 39%. “That’s why it’s important for us not just to develop our online store, but to create a flexible system where every customer can choose the most convenient way to shop and receive their purchases, regardless of where they live,” says Alisa Dashevska, e-commerce director of the MasterZoo pet store chain.
MasterZoo (Petmaster LLC) is Ukraine’s largest pet retailer, comprising over 200 pet stores in 40 cities and 19 grooming salons in seven Ukrainian cities. In 2026, the chain has already opened 15 new stores, including in cities where it previously had no presence—Pryluky and Kamianets-Podilskyi. It is part of the Ukrainian family-owned Suziria Group. The chain’s product range includes over 18,000 SKUs from more than 350 brands.
According to OpenDataBot, Petmaster LLC’s revenue for 2025 grew by 18.81% to 2,282,281,000 UAH, while net profit decreased by 24% to 6,256,000 UAH in 2025, compared to 8,234,000 UAH in 2024.
