In the 2025/26 season, Ukraine significantly increased domestic rapeseed processing—to 43% of the harvest, compared to 16% a year earlier, according to “Agribusiness Today.”
Of the approximately 3.3 million metric tons of rapeseed available, Ukrainian companies processed about 1.4 million metric tons, while about 1.9 million metric tons were exported.
The shift in market structure is already affecting shipments to the European Union. Ukraine is exporting fewer rapeseed seeds while simultaneously increasing shipments of products with higher added value.
During the first eight weeks of the new season, Ukrainian rapeseed oil exports to the EU increased approximately fivefold—to 24,000 metric tons. According to the publication’s estimates, processing about 60,000 metric tons of seeds was required to produce this amount of oil.
During this period, Ukraine accounted for about 56% of rapeseed oil imports into the European Union.
Thus, the Ukrainian rapeseed sector is gradually shifting its business model: instead of primarily exporting raw materials, an increasing portion of the harvest is being processed domestically into oil and meal.
This allows most of the value added to remain in Ukraine while reducing processors’ dependence on imported raw materials and the need to utilize other oilseed crops at processing facilities.
The Public Union UkrSadVinProm has begun recruiting Ukrainian companies to participate in the international food industry exhibition SIAL Paris 2026, which will take place on 17–21 October at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre in France.
Ukrainian producers of food products and beverages, fruit, vegetables, berries, nuts, processed products, and other representatives of the agri-food sector are invited to participate.
According to the association, participation in SIAL Paris gives Ukrainian companies an opportunity to present their products to international importers, distributors, and retail chains, hold negotiations on future contracts, and expand the geography of their exports.
A separate area of work for the Ukrainian delegation will be familiarisation with global food industry trends, including new product and packaging formats, changes in consumer preferences, and technological innovations.
UkrSadVinProm notes that companies that participated in SIAL Paris together with the association in previous years gained new business contacts, expanded the geography of their exports, and established international partnerships.
The official organiser of SIAL Paris confirms that the exhibition in 2026 will be held from 17 to 21 October. Around 295,000 professionals from 205 countries are expected to participate. The organisers also report around 5,000 key buyers with a combined purchasing power of more than EUR60 billion. Following the previous exhibition in 2024, 88% of exhibitors reported concluding contracts with partners from countries that were new to them.
Participation in such exhibitions remains one of the channels for Ukrainian food products to enter new markets, especially for companies planning to work not only with local importers but also with international retail chains, the HoReCa sector, and major distributors.
To obtain information about the participation terms, UkrSadVinProm invites companies to contact it at info@ukrsadvinprom.com.
The Public Union UkrSadVinProm is the Association of Horticulturists, Grape Growers and Winemakers of Ukraine. According to the organisation, it brings together around 200 producers of fruit, berries, nuts, and grapes, processing and winemaking enterprises, as well as scientific institutions. The association works to develop exports, introduce modern production, storage, and transportation technologies, and implement the GlobalG.A.P., ISO, and HACCP international standards. Products made by members of the association are exported to various markets around the world.
SIAL Paris is held once every two years and is one of the largest international B2B exhibitions in the food industry. Its participants include food and beverage producers, importers, distributors, retail chains, HoReCa representatives, buyers, technology companies, and start-ups. The 2026 exhibition will take place at Paris Nord Villepinte and will be open only to a professional audience.
According to Experts Club, the largest companies in Ukraine’s non-bank consumer lending market significantly increased their revenue in the first half of 2026. The combined revenue from financial services provided by the five largest players in the segment reached 7.55 billion UAH, which is 24.5% more than in January–June 2025, according to calculations by the Experts Club analytical center based on reports from the National Bank of Ukraine.
When compiling the ranking, Experts Club considered companies whose primary business is issuing consumer and short-term non-bank loans. Therefore, the leasing companies “OTP Leasing” and “ULF-Finance,” which are included in the NBU’s general ranking, were not included in the microcredit ranking.
First place goes to “Ukr Credit Finance,” which operates under the CreditKasa brand. The company’s revenue from financial services for the first half of the year reached 1.977 billion UAH, compared to 1.871 billion UAH a year earlier. This represents growth of approximately 5.7%. The company’s net profit reached 172.6 million UAH, compared to 68.1 million UAH in the first half of 2025, meaning it increased by approximately 2.5 times.
In second place is “Spozhyvchyi Tsentr” LLC (TM “ShvydkoGroshi”) with revenue of 1.504 billion UAH. A year earlier, this figure stood at 1.032 billion UAH, meaning growth reached 45.8%. At the same time, the company became the leader in net profit among leading microcredit providers—361.3 million UAH compared to 186.1 million UAH a year earlier.
Third place goes to FC “Ye Hroshi” with revenue of 1.482 billion UAH, which is 34.7% higher than the figure for the first half of 2025—1.100 billion UAH.
In fourth place is “Aventus Ukraine,” operating under the CreditPlus brand. The company increased its revenue from 1.169 billion UAH to 1.413 billion UAH, or by approximately 20.9%. CreditPlus’s net profit nearly doubled—from 128.3 million UAH to 233.4 million UAH.
Miloan ranks fifth with revenue of 1.172 billion UAH, compared to 893.4 million UAH for the same period last year. Thus, the company increased this figure by approximately 31.2%.
The ranking of the largest microcredit companies by revenue for January–June 2026 is as follows:
CreditKasa — 1.977 billion UAH, +5.7% year-over-year
“ShvidkoGroshi” — 1.504 billion UAH, +45.8%
“Ye Groshi”—1.482 billion UAH, +34.7%
CreditPlus—1.413 billion UAH, +20.9%
Miloan—1.172 billion UAH, +31.2%
The combined revenue of these five companies grew from 6.07 billion UAH to 7.55 billion UAH.
Three other notable online lending companies made it into the top ten of all financial companies in Ukraine by revenue from financial services. MyCredit earned 1.071 billion UAH, which is 4% less than a year earlier, while Credit7 earned 1.012 billion UAH, or 6.8% more. “Bizpozika,” which specializes, in particular, in lending to entrepreneurs and small businesses, increased its revenue by a whopping 91.7%—to 1.066 billion UAH.
Thus, a significant portion of Ukraine’s highest-revenue non-bank financial companies today are involved specifically in lending to individuals and small businesses.
Experts Club notes that the first-half results indicate not only the recovery of the non-bank lending market following the shock of the first years of full-scale war but also its continued concentration around a few major digital brands.
The difference in growth rates is particularly telling. CreditKasa remains the largest company in terms of absolute revenue, but “ShvidkoGroshi,” “Ye Groshi,” and Miloan grew the fastest among the top five in the first half of the year. This means that the gap between market leaders is gradually narrowing.
At the same time, revenue growth should be evaluated alongside profitability. For example, “ShvidkoGroshi,” with revenue of approximately 1.5 billion UAH, reported a net profit of 361.3 million UAH, while CreditKasa, with nearly 2 billion UAH in revenue, earned 172.6 million UAH. CreditPlus, with revenue of 1.41 billion UAH, reported a profit of 233.4 million UAH.
In total, the NBU’s report for the first half of 2026 includes 381 financial companies, compared to 422 a year earlier. A total of 318 companies reported profits, with their combined financial result amounting to 10.8 billion UAH, compared to 8.7 billion UAH for the same period in 2025.
Another 64 financial companies ended the half-year with losses totaling 245.5 million UAH.
According to Experts Club, market dynamics point to two parallel processes: demand for fast non-bank loans remains high, and the sector itself is growing and becoming more financially stable, despite a decline in the total number of active financial companies.
Going forward, key factors for the market will include the cost of customer acquisition, the level of non-performing loans, regulation of the maximum cost of consumer loans, and the ability of companies to retain borrowers amid growing competition from banks’ digital lending products.
Data source: National Bank of Ukraine statistics for the first half of 2026, published in the NBU’s supervisory statistics section.
NBU Statistics on the Nonbank Financial Market
Chernivtsi and Transcarpathian regions accounted for 67% of all reports for illegal crossings or attempted illegal crossings of Ukraine’s state border in the first half of 2026.
According to data from the State Border Guard Service cited by OpenDataBot, 2,834 reports were filed in Bukovina over the six-month period, or 38% of the total. Another 2,170 reports, or 29%, were filed in Zakarpattia Oblast.
The Odesa region ranks third, with 997 reports, or 13%.
Thus, the Chernivtsi, Zakarpattia, and Odesa regions alone account for 80% of all recorded violations.
The situation has changed particularly significantly in the Chernivtsi region. The number of reports there is now approximately 30 times higher than it was before the start of the full-scale war. For the past two years, Bukovina has ranked first in the country in terms of the number of such violations.
Until 2022, the Odesa and Zakarpattia regions were the main leaders in this regard.
A significant increase has also been recorded in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Before the full-scale war, not a single such report was filed there; in 2022, there were only five, but by 2024, that number had risen to 1,209.
In 2025, 1,109 reports were filed in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, and in the first half of 2026 alone—there were already 377.
Across Ukraine, border guards filed 7,523 reports from January through June, which is about one-third fewer than during the same period last year.
Despite the decline, the frequency of such violations remains nearly ten times higher than pre-war levels. Before the full-scale war in Ukraine, approximately 2,700 reports were filed annually, whereas now an average of about 1,250 are filed per month.
However, the filing of a report does not automatically mean that a person is found guilty. Such cases are heard by the courts.
In 2025, the courts heard 24,519 cases under Article 204-1 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. Fines were imposed on 12,628 individuals, while 10,493 cases—or 43%—were dismissed due to the absence of an incident or the elements of an administrative offense.
The total amount of fines imposed was 85.97 million UAH, but only 24 million UAH—or 28%—was paid voluntarily.
Source: OpenDataBot, based on data from the State Border Guard Service and the State Judicial Administration, published on August 28, 2026.
According to Experts.news, the decline in the number of recorded attempts to illegally cross the state border has not yet been accompanied by a corresponding decrease in migration outflow from Ukraine through official border crossing points.
In the first half of 2026, border guards issued 7,523 citations for illegal border crossings or attempted illegal border crossings—approximately one-third fewer than a year earlier.
At the same time, official border statistics show that over the six-month period, Ukrainians left the country 7.13 million times and returned 6.89 million times.
Thus, the net difference between departures and returns amounted to 244,300 people. A year earlier, during the same period, it was comparable—about 251,000.
At first glance, these figures demonstrate a significant gap between illegal attempts to leave the country and the overall migration outflow. However, these are fundamentally different statistical categories.
244,300 is not the number of detected emigrants, but the arithmetic difference between official departures and arrivals of citizens during the first half of the year. Some of these people may return to Ukraine later.
Furthermore, this figure includes all citizens with legal grounds for crossing the border, specifically women, children, men in relevant categories, and other individuals.
The figure of 7,523, in turn, does not represent the number of Ukrainians who managed to leave the country illegally, but rather the number of administrative reports filed by border guards for detected illegal border crossings or attempts to do so.
However, the aggregate data show that the main demographic risk for Ukraine today is linked not only to illegal border crossings but also to the number of citizens who legally leave the country and subsequently do not return.
For the full year of 2025, the difference between the number of departures and returns of citizens amounted to 290,300 people. This was 1.5 times less than in 2024, when the negative balance reached nearly 443,000 people. Over the four years of full-scale war, according to OpenDataBot’s calculations, the cumulative difference between official departures and returns amounted to approximately 3.1 million citizens.
At the same time, in the first half of 2026 alone, the negative balance had already reached 244,300 people, which is about 84% of the figure for all of 2025.
June accounted for the bulk of this year’s difference: during that month, the number of people leaving Ukraine exceeded the number of returnees by 210,900. “OpenDataBot” attributes this, in part, to a seasonal increase in travel during the vacation period; therefore, final conclusions regarding annual migration can only be drawn based on the results for the whole of 2026.
Thus, the decline in the number of illegal attempts to cross the border represents a notable change compared to the peak year of 2024; however, this alone does not signify an end to the demographic outflow.
The Ukrainian chain Lviv Croissants has opened its first restaurant in the state of California—in Fair Oaks, near Sacramento. The new location is the brand’s fourth in the U.S., the company announced.
The restaurant is located at 5343 Sunrise Blvd in the Quail Pointe shopping center. It spans over 206 square meters, and the dining area seats 54 guests. The restaurant operates under the chain’s new design concept, and its operational processes are integrated into a single technology platform that Lviv Croissants uses in the U.S. market.
The franchisee of the new restaurant is Ukrainian entrepreneur Oksana Melnychuk, who has been living in the U.S. for many years. After learning about the brand through Lviv Croissants’ partners in Atlanta, she chose this franchise for her first restaurant project in California.
According to the company, more than ten franchise agreements have already been signed in the U.S. market. By the end of 2026, the chain plans to open one or two more restaurants in the U.S. and continue more active franchise expansion in 2027.
“For us, it’s important not just to enter new markets, but to create the conditions for their long-term development. That’s why we’re investing in local infrastructure, a partnership model, and standards that allow us to scale the brand without compromising on quality,” said Andriy Halytskyi, co-founder and CEO of Lviv Croissants.
According to him, California is the logical next step in the chain’s expansion in the U.S., and the company is seeing strong interest in franchising from entrepreneurs across various states.
One of the key elements of Lviv Croissants’ U.S. strategy has been the creation of its own production infrastructure. Before opening its first restaurant, the company launched croissant production in Atlanta, Georgia. From there, products are shipped to the chain’s U.S. locations, allowing for centralized quality control.
The core menu at U.S. restaurants is standardized, though individual items are adapted to local demand. It includes large and small croissant sandwiches with savory and sweet fillings, breakfast items, salads, soups, specialty coffee, and cold beverages. The Lviv Croissants U.S. website features, among other items, pastrami sandwiches, teriyaki chicken sandwiches, and the classic Lviv Croissant.
The first Lviv Croissants restaurant in the U.S. opened in August 2024 in Roswell, Georgia. In 2025, the chain expanded to the West Coast, opening locations in Kent and Takwila, Washington. The Fair Oaks location became the fourth U.S. restaurant and the first in California.
Lviv Croissants was founded in Lviv in 2015. The first franchise location opened in Sumy that same year, after which the company began rapid expansion. Currently, the chain has over 190 locations in Ukraine and also operates in Poland, the U.S., Slovakia, France, Norway, and South Korea. In 2025, the chain’s locations sold over 11.5 million croissants.
California, FRANCHISE, Lviv Croissants, RESTAURANT, U.S., UKRAINE
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