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.
