As the new school year approached, passenger traffic across Ukraine’s western border during the last full week of summer—August 22–28—fell by 4.6% from last week’s record high to 755,000, according to daily statistics from the State Border Guard Service, as tracked by the “Interfax-Ukraine” agency.
According to the State Border Service, the number of outbound border crossings this week fell to 364,000 from 391,000 the week before, while the number of inbound crossings fell to 391,000 from 400,000.
The number of vehicles passing through border crossing points remained at 145,000, while the number of vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo fell to 433 from 466.
The highest outbound traffic was recorded on Saturday (60,000 per day), and the highest inbound traffic on Sunday (62,000), while the lowest outbound traffic was on Monday (46,000) and the lowest inbound traffic on Thursday (50,000).
According to the State Border Guard Service, as of 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, the largest number of passenger cars were waiting to cross the border with Poland at the “Krakivets” border crossing point (BCP)—80—and the “Ustyluh” BCP—65. Smaller lines were observed at the “Shehyni” checkpoint (45 vehicles), the “Hrushiv” checkpoint (30), the “Nyzhankovychi” checkpoint (20), and the “Ugryniv” checkpoint (10).
In addition, 12 buses had accumulated at the “Krakivets” checkpoint, and at the “Shehyni” checkpoint, 170 pedestrians were also waiting in line, which is very rare.
At the border with Slovakia, there was a line of 20 cars at the “Maly Berezny” checkpoint, 15 cars and 2 buses at the “Uzhhorod” checkpoint.
At the border with Hungary, 20 passenger cars each were waiting to cross at the “Tisa” and “Vylok” border checkpoints, while 15 were waiting at the “Luzhanka” checkpoint and 10 at the “Kosyno” checkpoint.
At the border with Romania, 40 cars had accumulated at the “Dyakivtsi” checkpoint and another 6 at the “Krasnoilsk” checkpoint, while at the border with Moldova, there was a line of 25 cars at the “Mamalyga” checkpoint.
Last year, passenger traffic across the border during this week was still at its peak at the time—769,000—though the number of people entering the country significantly exceeded the number leaving—by 33,000 compared to 27,000 this year.
The following week last year, passenger traffic dropped immediately by 10%, and over the course of the week—by another 12.4%.
As previously reported, starting May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine—which had begun with the start of the war—turned into an inflow that lasted until September 23, 2022, totaling 409,000 people. However, since the end of September—possibly influenced by news of mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, followed by massive shelling of energy infrastructure—the number of people leaving has exceeded the number of those entering. In total, from the end of September 2022 until the first anniversary of the full-scale war, this figure reached 223,000 people.
In the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings out of Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service, exceeded the number of border crossings into the country by 25,000; in the third year—by 187,000; in the fourth year—by 221,000; and since the start of the fifth year by 44,000, of which 31,000 have occurred since the beginning of summer.
In its July inflation report, the National Bank maintained its estimate of 0.3 million people migrating from Ukraine last year due to the deterioration of the security situation at the end of the year and the easing of exit rules for young people, but noted that this figure will be less than 0.5 million in 2024. The NBU continues to forecast a net outflow of 0.2 million in 2026, while net returns, according to its forecast, will begin in 2027 and amount to about 0.1 million people, increasing to 0.5 million people in 2028.
According to UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of June 30, 2026, stood at 5.159 million, and globally at 5.687 million, compared to 5.213 million and 5.687 million, respectively, as of April 30.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data for July 2026, there were 3.80 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.70 million in January of this year and 3.34 million in July 2025.
BORDER, MIGRATION, PASSENGER TRAFFIC, State Border Guard Service, UKRAINE
The volume of capital investments in Ukraine from January through June 2026 increased by 9.9% compared to the same period in 2025—to 307.915 billion UAH, according to the State Statistics Service.
The agency specifies that 39.5% of the total value of capital investments made (or 121.5 billion UAH) was accounted for by industry, while 11.4% (35 billion UAH) went to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
The vast majority of investments were concentrated in tangible assets—94.5% of the total volume. In particular, the largest amounts were invested in machinery, equipment, and inventory (36.1%), engineering structures (22.4%), non-residential buildings (11.4%), and vehicles (10.7%).
According to the State Statistics Service, the main source of funding for capital investments in January–June of this year remains the own funds of enterprises and organizations—75.4% (232.114 billion UAH).
As previously reported, capital investments in Ukraine in 2025 increased by 20.3% compared to 2024, reaching 893.6 billion UAH.
agricultural sector, INDUSTRY, INVESTMENT, State Statistics Service, UKRAINE
Ukraine has joined the group of Europe’s most dynamic defense-tech markets and ranked third among the European countries reviewed in terms of foreign direct investment attracted to the Space & Defence sector between January 2021 and November 2025, reports the Experts Club information and analytical center.
The findings are based on Colliers’ study Defence Deployment: How Europe’s military build-up and transformation reshapes property demand. Colliers divided Europe’s leading defense-tech markets into three groups. The United Kingdom, Germany, France and Turkey form the first tier; Sweden, Italy, Spain, Norway and Poland are included in the second; while Ukraine, Finland and Estonia are classified as fast-growing technology disruptors in the third tier.
Colliers does not assign individual rankings to countries within each tier. Ukraine is nevertheless singled out as one of Europe’s leading markets for technologies developing directly from battlefield experience, particularly drones, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and autonomous systems.
Ukraine’s position is even stronger in foreign direct investment. According to fDi Markets data used by Colliers, Ukraine ranks third for Space & Defence FDI behind only the United Kingdom and Romania, while ahead of France, Latvia, Germany, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland and Bulgaria.
Colliers also identified 38 major geographical defense-tech clusters across Europe. Among the most significant are London and southeast England, the Paris region, Munich and Bavaria, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Stockholm, Oslo, Warsaw, Rzeszów, Upper Silesia, Helsinki-Espoo, Tampere, Oulu, Tallinn, Tartu, Ankara and Istanbul. No separate Ukrainian geographical cluster is marked on the Colliers map, although Ukraine is classified among the fastest-growing defense-tech markets.
The expansion of Ukraine’s ecosystem is also reflected in Brave1 data. By July 2026, the cluster had awarded developers almost 1,000 grants worth more than UAH 5.8 billion in total. At the European level, further growth is expected to be supported by ReArm Europe / Readiness 2030, whose potential mobilized defense spending Colliers estimates at up to EUR800 billion.
As of August 24, the volume of lending to Ukraine’s agricultural sector had increased by 25 billion hryvnias compared to the same date in 2025—reaching 105 billion hryvnias, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky announced at a briefing on Friday.
“An additional 2 billion hryvnias in loans were issued over the past week. Overall, looking at the total as of today, the figure stands at 105 billion hryvnias as of August 24. This is 25 billion more than on the same date last year. Lending options are expanding,” he said.
As previously reported, according to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1012 dated August 13, 2026, agricultural producers are now able to obtain preferential loans under the government’s “5-7-9%” program for up to 90 million hryvnias to finance their operations, without the requirement that the funds be used for investment purposes.
Previously, loans to replenish working capital were capped at 5 million hryvnia.
As reported, the Ukrainian Maritime Corridor ceased operations on July 22 following enemy attacks. Farmers appealed to the government for assistance due to a sharp drop in market prices, difficulties with exporting their products, and the need for additional funds for storage.
The newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine, Yo Osume, has arrived in Kyiv, according to the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine.
“We are pleased to announce that on August 29, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine, Mr. Osume Yo, arrived in Kyiv. A new phase in the development of strong friendly relations between Japan and Ukraine lies ahead,” the embassy said in a post on social media platform X on Saturday.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Japan has become one of Ukraine’s largest bilateral donors. As of February 2026, Tokyo has pledged and is providing approximately $20 billion in aid to Ukraine, including financial, humanitarian, and recovery and reconstruction assistance. Japan’s direct budgetary support alone has exceeded $9.8 billion since February 24, 2022.
In 2026, Ukraine has already received $850 million in budgetary support from Japan through World Bank projects. In addition, Tokyo’s contribution to the ERA mechanism, funded by proceeds from frozen Russian assets, amounts to more than $3 billion.
Japan also supplies Ukraine with energy equipment, generators, vehicles, demining equipment, and other non-lethal aid.
In May 2026, Tokyo contributed an additional $14.658 million to NATO’s PURL mechanism for the procurement of non-lethal equipment for Ukraine. At the same time, Japan continues to apply sanctions pressure on Russia.
Starting in 2027, Ukraine will launch a pilot project for the underground storage of petroleum products from the minimum reserves of oil and petroleum products (MROPP), according to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1037 dated August 13, 2026, published on the government portal.
According to the resolution, the pilot project, initiated by the Ministry of Energy, is to last no more than two years.
“Starting from the beginning of the third base year (2027), market participants and operators are required to store a portion of diesel fuel—amounting to at least 20% of the total volume of this type of petroleum product—from the MRPS in underground petroleum product storage facilities,” – states the procedure for implementing the pilot project attached to the resolution.
The project provides for the creation of an extensive system of underground petroleum product storage facilities and conditions for their safe storage, as noted in the procedure.
The Ministry of Energy has been designated as the coordinator of the pilot project, and JSC “Ukrtransnafta” as the specialized responsible storage operator.
At the same time, the operation of the specialized responsible storage operator grants other market participants the right to store petroleum products in their own underground storage facilities.
The list of state-owned facilities whose property may be used as underground storage facilities is specified in the confidential section of the resolution.
The Ministry of Energy must ensure the implementation of the project in cooperation with, among others, NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine,” “Ukrtransnafta,” and the “Market Operator.”
Serhiy Kuyun, director of the consulting firm A-95, commented on the pilot project, noting that there are currently no underground storage facilities in the country, and that with only four months remaining before the deadline, no one will even have time to develop a project. At the same time, he pointed out that the resolution provides for the use of oil pipelines, salt caverns, depleted oil or gas fields, and other geological formations for these purposes.
Kuyun also noted that in the near future, state-owned banks, by government decision, may begin providing loans for underground petroleum product storage facility projects at 10% per annum, with the state compensating for the remaining interest. According to his information, the loan amount could range from 100 million UAH to 1 billion UAH. At the same time, Kuyun suggested that in such cases, a strict condition would be imposed requiring the storage facilities to be put into operation within a year.
However, in his opinion, a year is an unrealistic deadline, so the government needs to speed up the approval of project documentation, a process that currently takes one to one and a half years. The director of A-95 also noted that private gas station network operators have already begun construction of underground storage facilities “at their own risk,” while simultaneously seeking approval for their projects.
He also drew attention to the broader issue of MZNN storage starting in 2027.
“The law (on MZNN), although blocked by subordinate regulations, is formally in effect, and currently the MZNN quota stands at 6% (of the market—ER), or approximately 600,000 metric tons. This is a volume that physically has nowhere to be stored—neither underground nor above ground. And no one is going to store it on land, because that would be business suicide. If nothing changes, the quota will automatically increase to 9% starting in 2027,” Kuyun explained.
He added that the Ministry of Energy understands the problem and has prepared amendments to the law, which already number 300.
“The positions are as follows: everyone, without exception, understands the main point—reserves are necessary, but they must be protected. And these reserves must remain in Ukraine; fantasies about storing them abroad are quickly dispelled,” the director of A-95 concluded.
As reported, parliament passed the MZNN law on November 21, 2023.
The explanatory note to Bill No. 9024-d stated that its adoption would allow for the creation of a system of minimum reserves of crude oil and petroleum products in Ukraine and would regulate relations in the sphere of managing such minimum reserves, as well as ensure Ukraine’s compliance with its obligations regarding the implementation of Directive 2009/119/EU.
According to Vasyl Danylyak, CEO of OKKO Group, establishing minimum oil and petroleum product reserves is only feasible once Ukraine has a sufficient network of underground storage facilities.
FUEL, petroleum product, storage facility, UKRAINE, UKRTRANSNAFTA
