On June 17, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a decision to provide a long-term loan of up to EUR50 million to Volyn West Wind-2 LLC and Volyn West Wind-3 LLC, both majority-owned by VI.AN Holding, a member of the OKKO Group, to finance the construction and operation of a 189 MW wind farm in Ukraine.
According to the bank’s materials, the EBRD loan will be part of the project’s secured debt financing, with participation from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB).
The project will also receive guarantee support and grant funds for technical assistance from the European Union under the Ukraine Investment Framework through the HI-BAR program, which reduces risks for investors and helps attract funding to renewable energy and climate technology projects.
Against the backdrop of significant losses in power generation capacity due to the war, this investment is expected to help reduce the electricity shortage, support decarbonization, and strengthen the private sector’s role in the development of renewable energy.
According to the bank’s estimates, the new wind farm will generate approximately 467 GWh of electricity annually and reduce CO2 emissions by about 300,000 metric tons per year. The total cost of the project is estimated at EUR262 million.
OKKO Group brings together more than 10 diverse businesses in the fields of manufacturing, trade, construction, insurance, services, and other sectors. The group’s flagship company is the “Galnaftogaz” concern, which operates one of Ukraine’s largest gas station networks under the “OKKO” brand, comprising approximately 400 gas stations.
The founder and ultimate beneficiary of the group is Vitaliy Antonov.
As previously reported, in April 2025, the EBRD, IFC, and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) announced a EUR157 million loan to the “Galnaftogaz” Group for a 147 MW wind farm in the Volyn region.
Agricultural LLC (STOV) “Ratnivsky Agrarian” (Ratne, Volyn region) intends to obtain a permit for pollutant emissions for a reconstructed livestock complex in the village of Yakushiv (Kovel district), according to the website of the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.
According to the official announcement, the project provides for the loose housing of cattle on deep litter in four cowsheds. Each of them is designed for 1,000 head, which will provide a total capacity of 4,000 head at a time.
It is expected that the complex will house 1,525 cows, 1,670 calves of various age groups, and 805 other cattle and bulls. During the warm season, the animals will be kept on pastures. The total time spent in the cowsheds will be no more than five months per year. Heat will be supplied to the cowsheds by a wood-fired boiler (200 kW). In addition, to ensure a reliable power supply, the complex is equipped with four diesel generators, each with a capacity of 50 kW.
The project has already undergone an environmental impact assessment (EIA), following which the Volyn Regional State Administration’s Department of Ecology and Natural Resources issued a positive conclusion at the end of December 2025. Since the capacity of the complex exceeds the threshold of 1,000 places for cattle, the facility falls under the second category of activities that may have a significant impact on the environment.
At the same time, calculations confirmed that there were no exceedances of the maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants, so no measures to forcibly reduce emissions are planned.
Ratnivsky Agrarian LLC was registered in 2011. It specializes in cattle breeding and fattening of breeding breeds using modern technologies.
According to data from the Opendatabot service, at the end of 2024, the company received income of UAH 259.1 million, net profit of UAH 17.53 million, has debt obligations of UAH 126.16 million, and assets are estimated at UAH 1.04 billion. According to the results of the first three quarters of 2025, its activities are characterized by further growth in assets: UAH 204.98 million in revenue, UAH 40.56 million in net profit, UAH 222.95 million in debt obligations, and assets increased to UAH 1.27 billion.
The authorized capital of STOV “Ratnivsky Agrarian” is UAH 48.144 million, and the ultimate beneficiary is Vita Shevchuk.
According to the Law “On Air Protection,” facilities are divided into three groups: the first includes enterprises that are required to implement the best available technologies (permission is issued by the Ministry of Economy); the second includes facilities on state registration, regulated at the OVA level; the third group includes entities with minimal impact. The EIA procedure is mandatory for livestock complexes with more than 1,000 head of cattle.
Swiss company Nestlé has launched the first production line at its new vermicelli factory in Smolyhiv (Torchynska settlement community, Lutsk district, Volyn region), which is the result of a CHF40 million ($50 million at the current exchange rate) investment announced 30 months ago, according to a press release issued by the company on Monday. according to a company press release on Monday.
“The production capacity of the first line will enable the company to produce 5,000 tons of vermicelli by the end of 2025, with a planned increase in production with the opening of additional lines in the next two years,” the release said.
Nestlé notes that the Smolyhiv factory is the fourth factory opened in the company’s 30 years of operation in Ukraine.
“With the opening of the new factory, the company has created a European hub for food production in Ukraine in Volyn, combining the new factory in Smolyhiv with the one already operating in neighboring Torchyn,” the statement said.
According to the statement, the company is expanding its vermicelli production to meet growing demand in both Europe and Ukraine under the Maggi and Mivina brands. The new factory is an export-oriented enterprise: 75% of its products will be supplied to EU markets under the Maggi brand, which will increase foreign currency inflows to Ukraine. At the same time, 75% of the raw materials for production come from local suppliers in Ukraine, with wheat and sunflower oil being the key ingredients.
“The factory’s advantageous geographical location in western Ukraine creates ideal conditions for Nestlé to produce in Ukraine for both the local market and for export,” said Alessandro Zanelli, CEO of Nestlé in Ukraine and Southeast Europe, in a press release.
He added that the factory is a modern, digital, and fully automated production facility.
Ivan Rudnytskyi, head of the Volyn Regional State Administration, recalled that a factory producing ketchups and sauces under the Torchyn brand and a Nestlé distribution center are already operating in the region, and the launch of the new factory has created more than 300 new jobs, and that this number will increase in the near future to more than 1,500 people in the newly created production hub in Volyn.
Nestlé is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, operating in 187 countries. It offers a wide range of products and services for families and pets.
It has over 2,000 brands. Nestlé began operations in Ukraine in 1994 with the opening of a representative office, acquired a controlling stake in ZAT Lvivska Kondyterska Fabryka Svitloch in 1998, and has owned 100% of the company since 2018.
In May 2003, Nestlé Ukraine LLC was established in Kyiv, and at the end of that year, Nestlé became the owner of 100% of the shares of Volynholding.
In 2010, Nestlé SA acquired Technocom LLC in Kharkiv, a manufacturer of instant products under the Mivina brand. In 2012, Nestlé Business Service (NBS Europe) was established in Lviv, which is one of seven Nestlé service centers in the world and provides support services to Nestlé divisions in more than 40 countries.
Nestlé’s business in Ukraine includes the following areas: coffee and beverages, confectionery, culinary products (cold sauces, seasonings, soups, instant products), baby and special nutrition, ready-to-eat breakfasts, and pet food.
At the end of last year, Dzanelli reported that Nestlé in Ukraine had increased production by 7-8% in 2024 and expects 10% growth in 2025.
According to OpenDataBot and official statistics, the German automotive company Kromberg & Schubert became the largest employer in Volyn.
The company employs over 5,000 people in Ukraine. It manufactures cable networks for cars. Previously, the WOG network was the largest employer in the Volyn region.
The trade flow of agricultural products through road and railway checkpoints in Volyn increased 19 times in 2022, and the number of food products (1-24 groups of UKTZED) cleared by customs posts in the “export” mode increased 10 times, the press service of the Volyn Customs reported.
“Volyn Customs coped with a significant increase in workload due to promptly taken measures to optimize the time of customs procedures, redistribution of personnel, joint projects with border guards and the Polish side of the pilot projects of vehicle passage,” the report quotes the head of Volyn Customs Yuriy Ivaskiv as saying at a field meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy.
Commenting on the work of Polish veterinary services on the Ukrainian-Polish border, Ivaskiv said that the Ukrainian side had repeatedly raised this issue at international meetings. However, the Polish side has stated that it is impossible to speed up these types of state control due to contradictions with the legislation of the European Union.
“Certain types of control (in particular, veterinary control – IF-U) can only be carried out at the border,” Ivaskiv reminded.
He noted that in August of this year, on average, 625 trucks were accepted at the Dorohusk checkpoint from Yahodyn per day, of which only 43 were carrying food products. Given the fact that all grain goods, including technical grain, are sent by the customs authorities for veterinary control, and product samples are examined within 2-3 days, trucks with this category of goods are waiting to cross Yahodyn in a separate electronic queue, he explained.
Ivaskiv reminded Volyn agricultural producers of the new requirements of the Customs Code, which will come into force on November 7, 2023. He recommended that everyone should not hesitate to apply for customs simplification in the NCTS or the status of an authorized economic operator (AEO).
“This will allow agricultural businesses to export products to the European market without having to present the goods to customs,” summarized the head of the Volyn Customs.
Because of the snowfall that began on Thursday, the movement of transport to the state border checkpoints in several regions has slowed down, the press service of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported.
“The longest queues were formed on the border with Poland at the entrance to the checkpoints “Shehyni”, “Krakivets”, “Rava-Russkaya” in Lviv region, as well as before the checkpoints “Yagodin” and “Ustilug” in Volyn,” – said in the message.
It specifies that at the same time checkpoints in Transcarpathian and Chernivtsi regions are not overloaded.
“Take this information into account when crossing (the border – IF-U). In the meantime, border guards together with employees of the National Police, if necessary, carry out reverse traffic to pass cars and try to clear passengers and vehicles as quickly as possible”, – summarized in the State Border Guard Service.
