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.
Rental rates for warehouse space in Ukraine have increased by 12–13% over the past few months, UTG Director Yevgeniya Loktionova told the “Interfax-Ukraine” news agency.
“Due to the destruction and rapid reduction in vacant space, the market has turned into a ‘landlord’s market.’ In recent months alone, as the shortage has worsened, rates for high-quality space have risen by an average of 12–13%,” she noted.
According to UTG, in the Kyiv region, the prime effective rental rate for Class A space remains in the range of $5–$5.5 per square meter per month (excluding VAT and OPEX), while in some deals for the most sought-after or well-protected properties, it reaches $6 per square meter. In western regions (particularly Lviv Oblast), rates range from $6 to $7 per square meter.
As previously reported, according to a WINHUB study, as of early September, Ukraine’s warehouse infrastructure had shrunk by 50%—from 4.2 million square meters at the start of 2022, with the enemy having destroyed 2.1 million square meters (Classes A/B). New construction between 2022 and 2026 (800,000 square meters) only partially offset these losses. The situation is even more acute in the capital region, where more warehouses were lost in the first eight months of 2026 than during the entire period from 2022 to 2025. In total, 68% of the inventory (1.5 million square meters) was lost.
UTG was founded in 2001. The company has developed over 1,300 real estate concepts. Over the years, 4.7 million square meters of commercial space in Ukraine have been leased with the company’s involvement.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, Valery Kirilko, CEO of the “Industrial Parks of Ukraine” group of companies, believes that one solution for changing Ukraine’s warehouse logistics model—given the enemy’s destruction of warehouse and logistics infrastructure—is to create a decentralized network of small warehouses, particularly within industrial parks.
“The war has shown just how vulnerable large distribution centers are. Therefore, we may need to partially move away from concentrating large volumes of goods in a single location and transition to a decentralized network of small warehouses,” –he wrote on Facebook.
According to his proposal, this could mean replacing a single large warehouse spanning tens of thousands of square meters with many smaller ones—ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 square meters—located in different regions and logistically convenient locations.
“That is precisely why we are currently developing the ‘HELP.Warehouse’ program. We are creating several standard designs for small warehouse complexes that can be quickly adapted to a specific plot of land and implemented simultaneously in different regions of Ukraine,” Kirilko noted.
He emphasized that the company is ready to take on the design of standard warehouse facilities, the search for and acquisition of land plots, matters related to utilities and infrastructure, the selection of construction contractors, the organization of construction, and the coordination of project implementation.
“With proper organization, such facilities can be built in approximately 3–5 months. And today, there is another important factor at play—the Ukrainian construction market is going through a challenging period. But that is precisely why many construction companies are willing to work with minimal profit margins, quickly assemble teams, and carry out projects at competitive costs,” he believes.
Kyrylko added that industrial park sites across Ukraine are being considered separately.
“Some of them are already prepared to provide land plots for such projects on preferential or even free terms during the initial period. We can begin restoring warehouse and logistics infrastructure right now,” he notes.
Kirilko invited those who are able to finance such projects—including those who own a land plot that can be leased free of charge for a year, industrial parks that can provide a small plot free of charge for a year, and construction companies acting as investors—to join the initiative.
The company “Industrial Parks of Ukraine” has been active in the development of industrial parks since 2019. According to its data, nearly one in three industrial parks established or registered in Ukraine is or has been supported by the company’s specialists.
According to information on its website, the company manages seven industrial parks, has developed 56 industrial park concepts, and has facilitated the registration of 37 industrial parks.
INDUSTRIAL PARK, INFRASTRUCTURE, LOGISTICS, UKRAINE, WAREHOUSE
Nova Poshta, the leader in express delivery in Ukraine and part of the Nova Group, plans to expand its network of sorting centers and is seeking entrepreneurs, owners of logistics centers, and warehouse properties with an area of at least 500 square meters for long-term cooperation.
According to a post by “Nova Poshta” on its Telegram channel on Tuesday, the company is looking for partners who are ready to receive, sort by destination, and ship cargo and packages.
In turn, Nova Poshta will provide the cargo flow, business model, standards, and technological solutions, as well as the ability to scale operations, and may also offer risk insurance.
“Terms are negotiated on a case-by-case basis,” the company emphasized, adding that it is interested in proposals from Kyiv, the Kyiv region, and the eastern regions of Ukraine.
The need for space, employees, and equipment depends on the projected cargo volume for a specific location, the company noted.
As previously reported, in January–June 2026, “Nova Poshta” increased its consolidated net profit by 24.3% compared to the same period in 2025—to 2.195 billion UAH—and its revenue by 31.8%, to 39.127 billion UAH.
As of July 13, 2026, the company’s network comprised 54,700 service points: 16,800 branches and 37,900 parcel lockers throughout Ukraine.
In 2025, Nova Poshta increased its revenue by 21.6% compared to 2024—to 54.2 billion UAH—and its net profit rose by 4.4%—to 2.6 billion UAH. The number of packages and shipments delivered increased by 7.4%—from 486 million to 522 million—with international shipments rising by 52.6%, from 19 million to 29 million.
Nova Poshta’s core business remains the express delivery of documents, packages, and palletized bulky cargo. The company is the leader in express delivery in Ukraine. Its ultimate beneficial owners are Volodymyr Poperešniuk and Vyacheslav Klimov.
The Russian marketplace Wildberries plans to commission two large logistics complexes in Kazakhstan with a total area of over 260,000 square meters in the first quarter of 2027, according to Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev.
“In the first quarter of next year, the company is carrying out construction and installation work on a facility of about 160,000 square meters in Almaty. And in Astana, there will be a facility of about 100,000 square meters,” the minister said at a briefing at the Kazakh government on August 4.
According to him, these projects are part of the previously announced development program for Wildberries’ Kazakhstani division. Currently, the company leases approximately 46,000 square meters of warehouse space in the country.
Shakkaliyev also noted that Wildberries has not submitted any new requests to the Kazakhstani authorities regarding the search for or opening of additional warehouse facilities.
However, official data on the distribution of space among cities contradicts the minister’s statements. A statement published by the Kazakh government indicates that the Wildberries logistics hub currently under construction in Astana will have an area of 160,000 square meters, not 100,000 square meters.
Investments in the Astana complex are estimated at 47.7 billion tenge. The project is expected to create approximately 6,000 jobs, and construction is also scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027.
Representatives of the merged company RWB had previously reported that a 160,000-square-meter facility is under construction in Astana, and a complex covering more than 100,000 square meters is being built near Almaty. Thus, the total area of the two centers will indeed exceed 260,000 square meters, although the final distribution of space between the cities still needs to be clarified.
The cost of the Wildberries logistics center in Almaty was previously estimated by the Kazakhstani authorities at 43.2 billion tenge. The exact completion date for this facility was not specified in the relevant announcement.
The new centers are expected to expand the marketplace’s capacity for receiving, storing, sorting, and delivering goods within Kazakhstan. Expanding the local warehouse network may also reduce delivery times and increase the number of Kazakhstani entrepreneurs operating through the platform.
In 2025, the volume of retail e-commerce in Kazakhstan, including marketplaces, reached 3.769 trillion tenge. Sales through marketplaces accounted for 3.238 trillion tenge, or 86% of the total e-commerce market.
Wildberries is one of Kazakhstan’s largest e-commerce platforms. Previously, the Ministry of Trade reported on plans by Wildberries and Ozon to build three fulfillment centers in Astana and Almaty with a total area of 291,000 square meters and a combined investment of 101.3 billion tenge.
Given the energy situation in Ukraine, the warehouses of the state-owned enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’ have accumulated over 220,000 cubic metres of firewood, which is enough to provide for the social sector, the population and the military, the press service of the state-owned enterprise reported on Telegram.
‘The situation in the energy sector is extremely difficult. We have high hopes that Ukrainian cities will withstand it. But we are preparing for any scenario. (…) Procurement continues uninterrupted, and despite the extremely complicated logistics, the warehouses are constantly being replenished,’ the state-owned enterprise emphasised.
According to information from ‘Forests of Ukraine,’ despite prolonged power outages, there has been no significant increase in demand for firewood. Since the beginning of 2026, forestry enterprises across the country have sold only 15,000 cubic metres.
The state-owned enterprise emphasised that it considers fuel supplies to the Armed Forces of Ukraine to be no less of a priority, which are also being fulfilled in full in accordance with the terms of the contracts. If necessary, foresters are ready to increase supplies.
‘Forests of Ukraine’ assured that it would leave prices for social firewood unchanged until the end of the heating season and advised households to start thinking about the next season and replenish their stocks in advance.
