Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, and Romanian President Nicușor Dan will hold a trilateral meeting in Chisinau on Thursday, August 27, as part of the events marking the 35th anniversary of Moldova’s independence.
According to the schedule released by the Romanian Presidential Administration, the trilateral meeting between Zelenskyy, Sandu, and Dan is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. at the Presidential Palace in Chisinau. Following the talks, the three heads of state will make joint statements to the press.
The official program from the Moldovan side states that Sandu will meet with the Romanian president at 2:35 p.m. After bilateral talks, Sandu and Dan will take part in a military parade on the Great National Assembly Square, dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the country’s independence. The presidents are scheduled to begin their participation in the parade at 4:45 p.m.
The Moldovan president will meet with Zelenskyy at 6:00 p.m., followed by a trilateral meeting of delegations from Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania.
In the evening, Zelenskyy, Sandu, and Dan will also take part in festive events on the Great National Assembly Square. After 9:00 p.m., the three presidents are scheduled to address the public.
On August 27, Moldova celebrates the 35th anniversary of the declaration of independence. The country’s parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence on August 27, 1991. This year’s events are taking place under the slogan “Independence Unites Us.”
Official source: Office of the President of the Republic of Moldova, statement dated August 26, 2026.
In Nepal, 53 Ukrainian citizens are currently listed as missing following the natural disaster, including 46 tourists with whom contact was lost on Wednesday morning, the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters.
According to the Nepal Tourism Police, a total of 53 Ukrainian citizens are currently considered missing as a result of the natural disaster. Thus, the 46 tourists are included in the total number of missing persons.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a report regarding the loss of contact this morning with a group of 46 Ukrainian tourists in the disaster zone. Overall, according to the Nepal Tourism Police, 53 Ukrainian citizens are currently considered missing as a result of the disaster,” the statement reads.
The Ukrainian embassies in India and China are in contact with the relevant authorities in those countries regarding search operations that could help locate the Ukrainian citizens.
“At the same time, as of now, there is no information regarding the presence of Ukrainian citizens among the dead or injured,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted.
According to information released by the ministry on Wednesday evening, at the personal instruction of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga, the Ukrainian embassies in India and China are using the known personal data of the missing citizens to take steps to establish contact with them and carry out other necessary actions.
In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ “hotline” has received eight reports from relatives regarding the loss of contact with individuals on the aforementioned list. These reports are part of the total of 53 Ukrainian citizens who are currently considered missing.
The Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Nepal has also been involved on the ground.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Consular Service, and the Ukrainian embassies in India and China are working to gather additional information, coordinate with foreign authorities to locate the Ukrainians, and provide information and assistance to their relatives.
As previously reported, as of Wednesday evening, at least 16 people had died as a result of flooding in Nepal’s Rasuwa District on the border with China, and at least 384 tourists are considered missing. Among them are 93 Nepalese residents and 291 foreigners, including citizens of the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and India. The citizenship of 111 people is still being determined.
Nine police officers who were on duty along the Nepal-China border are missing.
The nationalities of the deceased have not been specified.
During the search and rescue operations, security forces managed to rescue 25 people. Operations are ongoing.
The flooding was caused by rising water levels in the Bhote Koshi River, which originates in Tibet and flows through Nepal. The settlements located near the river were hit the hardest, particularly Timure and Syaaprubesi. The water flooded marketplaces and residential neighborhoods, caused serious damage to police stations and hydroelectric facilities, and destroyed bridges and roads.
According to preliminary data, the rise in the river’s water level may have been caused by a landslide in Tibet.
The Ukrainian embassies in India and China promptly contacted the relevant authorities to inquire whether any Ukrainian citizens were among those affected by the landslides on the border between Tibet and Nepal.
Retail sales of Ukrainian retail enterprises—legal entities—increased by 9.1% in January–July 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, according to data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
Thus, retail enterprises grew slightly faster than the country’s retail market as a whole, whose turnover increased by 9% during this period.
In July, enterprise turnover rose by 8.8% compared to July 2025 and by 3.7% compared to June of this year.
Overall, Ukraine’s retail trade turnover—which also includes estimates of the activities of individual entrepreneurs—reached approximately 1.7 trillion UAH over the seven-month period.
The difference between the growth rate of total turnover and that of legal entities is small—just 0.1 percentage points. However, the fact that comparable growth rates have been maintained indicates that the retail market’s growth is driven not only by small businesses but also by the corporate retail segment.
Retail enterprises include, in particular, national and regional supermarket chains, non-food stores, home appliance and electronics chains, pharmacies and specialty retailers, auto dealers, and other legal entities engaged in retail sales.
By the end of 2025, Ukraine’s retail trade had grown by 8.1%, so the figures for the first seven months of 2026 so far indicate that the market is maintaining higher growth rates.
Statistics from the State Statistics Service do not include territories temporarily occupied by Russia or parts of territories where hostilities are ongoing or have taken place.
Moldova and Kazakhstan remain the two largest markets for Ukrainian cheese: in January–July 2026, they accounted for 34.8% and 25.8% of Ukrainian exports, respectively, according to the Association of Milk Producers, citing data from the State Customs Service.
Germany became the third-largest buyer with a share of 13.1%.
Thus, Moldova and Kazakhstan together account for 60.6% of foreign demand for Ukrainian cheese among the markets listed, and the combined share of the three main markets reaches 73.7%, according to calculations based on data from the Milk Producers Association.
In total, Ukraine exported 8,200 metric tons of cheese over the first seven months of 2026, which is only 1.2% more than the figure for the same period last year.
Export revenue totaled $37.4 million, increasing by only 0.5%.
This means that the value of exports is growing even more slowly than their physical volume. The estimated average price of exported products was approximately $4,560 per metric ton and remained virtually unchanged year-over-year.
At the same time, Ukraine is increasing its cheese imports at a significantly faster rate. From January through July, 28.3 thousand metric tons of cheese were imported into the country—24.7% more than a year earlier—with a total value of $168.8 million.
As a result, Ukrainian cheese exports account for less than one-third of the volume of imports, and their geographic distribution remains fairly concentrated around several key markets.
Germany’s presence in both directions of trade is particularly telling: the country accounts for 16.3% of Ukraine’s cheese imports and is simultaneously the third-largest market for Ukrainian products, with a 13.1% share.
Source: Association of Milk Producers
Ukraine ranks 38th among the countries of the world in terms of the absolute amount of government debt, estimated at about $276.2 billion, or 122.6% of projected GDP in 2026, according to an analysis by the Experts Club information and analytical center.
The ranking was compiled on the basis of the International Monetary Fund’s April World Economic Outlook database. The General government gross debt indicator — the gross debt of the general government sector — was used to compare countries.
This approach makes it possible to compare countries using a single methodology, since national definitions of government debt may differ significantly.
According to the IMF estimate, Ukraine’s government debt in 2026 amounts to about $276.2 billion, corresponding to 122.6% of projected GDP. This figure is higher than the often-published data on direct government and government-guaranteed debt because the general government methodology covers a broader public administration sector.
In the global ranking, Ukraine is positioned between Sweden, which ranks 37th with debt of $279.3 billion, and Taiwan, which ranks 39th with $269.2 billion.
In terms of the debt-to-GDP ratio, Ukraine has a significantly higher debt burden than most countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
For comparison, Poland has about $745.5 billion in government debt, or 65.7% of GDP, Romania — $297.8 billion and 61.9% of GDP, Hungary — $211.1 billion and 77.9% of GDP, and Serbia — $47.77 billion and 42.6% of GDP.
The world’s largest government debtors in absolute terms remain the United States — about $40.73 trillion, China — $22.29 trillion, and Japan — $8.95 trillion.
The total government debt of 180 countries for which comparable IMF statistics for 2026 are available amounts to about $119.4 trillion, with the top ten accounting for approximately 81% of this amount.
Experts Club notes that assessing a country’s debt sustainability requires taking into account not only the absolute size of the debt, but also its ratio to GDP and the cost of servicing it.
Ukraine’s industrial poultry sector remains highly concentrated: by 2027, the six largest vertically integrated companies will account for more than 75% of chicken meat production, according to a forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
MHP remains the largest player, accounting for well over half of Ukraine’s industrial chicken production, according to the USDA FAS report Poultry and Products Annual, published on August 19, 2026.
Industrial broiler farms accounted for about 90% of Ukraine’s total chicken production in 2025. Another 8% came from household farms, and about 2% came from culled laying hens, parent stock, and other categories of poultry.
The USDA expects the role of industrial production to continue to grow, while the share of household farms will gradually decline.
Despite MHP’s dominance, the U.S. agency characterizes the Ukrainian market as competitive. Several medium-sized producers launched expansion and productivity improvement programs in 2025–2026, and some of the new capacity is expected to enter the market in 2026–2027.
Vertical integration allows companies to simultaneously engage in poultry farming, feed production, grain and oilseed cultivation, and processing, which helps offset price and military risks. The industry’s growth is currently financed primarily through companies’ own funds, as Ukrainian businesses’ access to international capital markets remains limited.
At the same time, the country’s largest producer continues its active international expansion.
In July 2025, MHP acquired 92% of Spain’s Grupo UVESA for EUR 270 million. According to USDA estimates, following the transaction, the group controls more than 10% of the Spanish poultry market, and the acquired capacity adds approximately 160,000 metric tons of chicken meat per year.
Sales in MHP’s European segment exceeded $1 billion by the end of 2025.
In May 2026, MHP acquired a 70% stake in Th. Nitsiakos AVEE, Greece’s largest vertically integrated chicken producer, with an option to acquire the remaining 30%.
The USDA reports that the Greek company’s revenue in 2025 was nearly EUR540 million, and the transaction is expected to be completed in several tranches by December 2028.
The number of Ukrainian enterprises with access to the European Union market is also growing. In 2026, the number of Ukrainian producers, processors, poultry slaughterhouses, and cold storage facilities approved by the EU increased by two, bringing the total to 19.
Among the most notable new entrants, the USDA highlights the Lutsk Agricultural Company, part of the Avesterra Group. According to the company’s management, it is implementing a large-scale expansion program with the aim of intensifying competition with MHP in both domestic and international markets.
The USDA forecasts that chicken meat production in Ukraine will increase from 1.386 million metric tons in 2025 to 1.48 million metric tons in 2026 and 1.54 million metric tons in 2027. The bulk of this growth is expected to come from industrial enterprises in the central and western regions of Ukraine.
Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Ukraine: Poultry and Products Annual, report UP2026-0022.
