The main pressure on logistics costs comes from rising rental rates: since the summer, they have increased two to three times, said Tetyana Lys, a logistics expert at the international postal and logistics company Meest China, in a comment to the “Interfax-Ukraine” news agency.
“The cost of warehouse rentals has risen the most since the summer of 2026—in some places, threefold. For our own needs, we monitor prices for warehouse space in the Kyiv region and in western Ukraine. Just a few years ago, a warehouse could be rented for $3 per square meter; later, rates rose to $4–5. Today, some offers in the Kyiv region reach $12 per square meter. After the region’s warehouse infrastructure was hit, there is significantly less available high-quality space, and property owners are dictating their terms,” Lys said.
She added that the company continues to restructure its logistics routes and is relocating warehouses from the Kyiv region to western Ukraine.
“However, the situation there is also challenging: space is in high demand, so prices have risen there as well. Back in August, the cost of Category B–C warehouse space reached as high as $5 per square meter in some locations. Now prices have risen to $7 and above,” she said.
At the same time, according to the expert, the cost of transportation itself has not changed significantly since the summer. It largely depends on fuel prices and the exchange rate, and there have been no significant fluctuations in these two indicators. Therefore, warehouses—rather than transportation—are currently the main factor driving up logistics costs.
Lys noted that the fall is traditionally the peak season in logistics, accompanied by an increase in order volume of approximately 7–10% compared to the summer and a corresponding rise in operational workload. The year 2026 was no exception.
“Our key task is to ensure the processing of a larger volume of orders without a proportional increase in operating costs, by boosting team productivity, maintaining service quality, and improving business margins,” she said, outlining the company’s priorities in this situation.
Meest China is part of the Meest holding company, has been operating in the international postal and logistics services market since 2014, and is currently the leader in deliveries from China to Ukraine. The company specializes in delivering goods as duty-free postal shipments for personal use, as well as commercial cargo for business clients. It has offices and warehouses in China and Ukraine. Currently, the company delivers shipments from China to approximately 30 countries worldwide, from South Korea and Japan to Ukraine, and also provides freight services for worldwide delivery.
On October 14, LLC “Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine” (GTSOU) announced a tender for voluntary health insurance for its employees. According to the Prozorro electronic government procurement system, the estimated cost of the service procurement is 5.318 million UAH.
According to the system, the deadline for submitting bids is October 30.
The leaders of Ukraine’s insurance market in terms of payouts for January–August 2026 were SG “TAS” – 2.758 billion UAH (1.773 billion UAH for the first 8 months of 2025), “Arsenal Insurance” – 2.166 billion UAH, “ARKS” – 2.117 billion UAH (1.350 billion UAH), Insurance Company ‘USG’ – 1.696 billion UAH (1.161 billion UAH), and Insurance Company “VUSO” – 1.695 billion UAH.
According to data from the “PRIMA” information exchange project of the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine (NAIU), there have been changes in the top five compared to the same period last year. Specifically, Insurance Company “Arsenal Insurance” and Insurance Company “VUSO,” which previously were not among the top five in terms of payouts, took second and fifth place, replacing Insurance Company “INGO” and Insurance Company “Unica.”
The leaders in the MTPL market are TAS Insurance Group—1.393 billion UAH (624 million UAH), Oranta Insurance Company—846.1 million UAH (507.7 million UAH), “Knyazha VIG” Insurance Company – 755.7 million UAH (396.6 million UAH), and “Arsenal Insurance” – 500.7 million UAH, replacing “PZU Ukraine” and “INGO” Insurance Company – 423.1 million UAH (222.9 million UAH).
Under the “Green Card” program, the top five insurers by payouts for the first eight months of 2026 were TAS Insurance Group—424.5 million UAH (416.6 million UAH), USG—348.9 million UAH (293.4 million UAH), “PZU Ukraine” – 229.5 million UAH (109.6 million UAH), “Knyazha VIG” – 106.2 million UAH (167.1 million UAH), which swapped places, and “INGO” – 90.6 million UAH (95.9 million UAH)
There have also been changes in the CASCO market: as of the end of the first eight months of 2026, “Arsenal Insurance” leads the market with 1.241 billion UAH (751.8 million UAH), having swapped places with IC “ARKS” at 1.031 billion UAH (850.3 million UAH), TAS Insurance Group – 543.3 million UAH (433.9 million UAH), VUSO – 533.5 million UAH (383,100 UAH), and USG Insurance Company – 530.3 million UAH, replacing Unica Insurance Company.
“Unica” Insurance Company once again holds the lead in voluntary health insurance with 734.7 million UAH (731.5 million UAH). Next are “VUSO” Insurance Company with 529 million UAH (398.8 million UAH), INGO Insurance Company with 528.1 million UAH (465.2 million UAH)—which swapped places—Universal Insurance Company with 401.6 million UAH (354.6 million UAH), and TAS with 325.1 million UAH (250.8 million UAH)
In the life insurance market, MetLife ranks first in payouts with 483.2 million UAH (373.9 million UAH), followed by TAS with 364.5 million UAH (263.2 million UAH), Grave Life with 321 million UAH (223.5 million UAH), “Unica Life” with 125.1 million UAH (158.6 million UAH), and PZU “Ukraine Life Insurance” with 60.5 million UAH, replacing “Arks Life.”
If the Cabinet of Ministers gives priority in rail transport to oil and fuel, then metal products should be given the same priority, said Oleksandr Kalenkov, president of the Ukrmetallurgprom Public Organization, in a post on the organization’s website.
According to him, the government is drafting a resolution that will give priority on railways, in ports, and at the border to two types of cargo: fuel and vegetable oil.
“There are no issues with fuel. Without it, businesses cannot operate, and the country will not survive the winter. But the fact that vegetable oil ended up second on the list—and metallurgy isn’t even on it—surprised me, to be honest,” Kalenkov wrote.
He added that the draft’s authors explain their choice by citing high added value and foreign exchange earnings. “I agree with that. But based on precisely these criteria, the metallurgical industry should have been among the first on the list. In 2025, our industry accounted for about 5.5% of GDP, 150 billion hryvnias in taxes, and $6 billion in foreign exchange earnings,” stated the head of “Ukrmetallurgprom.”
Kalenkov emphasized that today, steelworkers are operating under constant shelling and are on the brink of survival. Since July, seaports have been effectively closed. Now, the railway crossings on the western border and the Danube are our only route to customers. The cost of transporting raw materials has risen from $30 to $68 per metric ton of product.
“Europe needs Ukrainian steel. Our main advantage over Asian competitors lies in speed: we deliver in days or weeks, not months. Therefore, every day spent waiting in line at the border translates into lost revenue for the state. On behalf of the industry, we have officially appealed to the Prime Minister to include metal products in this pilot program under the same conditions as fuel and oil. If the state sets priorities based on added value and foreign exchange, the steel industry must be on that list,” concluded the president of the “Ukrmetallurgprom” Association.
The number of successful electronic user identifications via the National Bank of Ukraine’s (NBU) BankID system rose to 33.2 million in the third quarter of 2026, a 19.9% increase compared to the same period last year, when there were 27.7 million, the regulator reported.
According to the National Bank, compared to the second quarter of 2026, the number of identifications increased by 1%, and on average, approximately 360,000 identifications were carried out through the system per day.
In the third quarter, the “Army+” mobile app was directly integrated with BankID, simplifying the authorization process for military personnel. The “112 Ukraine” app for contacting emergency services, the “My Passport Service” app for passport services, and Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI) for access to the university’s internal services have also joined the system.
In addition, three microcredit providers have joined BankID: “Terra Credit” Financial Company LLC, “Credit to You” LLC, and “Mega Credit” Financial Company LLC, which will use the system for remote identification when issuing online loans.
Currently, the NBU’s BankID system comprises 37 subscriber-identifiers and 120 subscriber-service providers.
In the first nine months of 2026, Ukraine connected 1.9 GW of new power capacity, which represents more than 80% of the annual target, according to Viktor Mykyta, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
“As of now, we have reached 1.9 GW of connected capacity. This is more than 80% of the annual target,” Mykyta wrote on his Telegram channel following a meeting with the heads of regional military administrations.
According to him, the meeting focused primarily on local efforts to increase connected capacity and strengthen the regions’ energy resilience. Communities are working to develop a decentralized power generation system with the participation of businesses and investors.
Specifically, during the period in question, more than 620 MW of wind power capacity, more than 520 MW of cogeneration capacity, as well as more than 460 MW of solar power capacity and more than 270 MW of solar power capacity from private households were connected to the grid.
“People continue to install off-grid power systems for their homes, and this trend remains strong. We thank the heads of regional state administrations, communities, businesses, and others for their work in each individual region, which is so important for the country,” the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office stated on Friday.
DECENTRALIZATION, ENERGY, POWER GENERATION, RENEWABLE ENERGY, UKRAINE
