KAN Development invested $120 million in education and the construction of educational institutions during the war, according to company founder Igor Nikonov.
“At KAN Development, we believe in the future and are building it today. We are creating self-sufficient ecosystems with everything you need: work, education, sports, medicine, security. During the war, we invested $120 million in education for children and are building schools of a new level,” Nikonov said on his Facebook page following his participation in the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF).
As reported, KAN Development is investing $80 million in the construction of a school in the Respublika residential complex and a school on McCain Street in Kyiv. In total, the educational institutions are designed for 2,000 students.
In September 2024, the A+ architectural and engineering college also opened in the Faina Town residential district in the capital. It became the 15th educational institution in the A+ network.
KAN Development was founded in 2001. The company’s portfolio includes Ocean Plaza, Respublika Park, Tetris Hall, Central Park, Comfort Town, Faina Town, Respublika, IQ Business Center, and 101 Tower. In more than 20 years of operation, KAN Development has created over 3 million square meters of residential, retail, and commercial real estate. The company is also actively developing its own network of A+ educational institutions.
Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ), subject to European and state co-financing, plans to implement the Mostytska-Sknyliv project in the next two years and further develop the Lviv-Uzhhorod -Chop and Lviv-Chernivtsi-Vadul-Siret (Romania), which will allow Ukraine to begin restoring and realizing its unique geographical status, said Oleg Yakovenko, director of the strategy and transformation department at Ukrzaliznytsia.
“We also plan to obtain grant funds for the Mostyska-Sknyliv project, which will connect 80 km of European gauge track between the Polish border and Lviv. Next, we are currently conducting technical and economic studies on the corridors connecting Lviv, Chernivtsi, and Romania,” Yakovenko said during the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) on Thursday, October 16.
According to him, as part of Ukraine’s integration into the European Union, UZ plans to develop 1435 mm gauge railways and European transport corridors on the territory of Ukraine. The European integration reform of the railway industry also envisages a radical change in the functioning of the entire railway model in Ukraine.
“First of all, we are talking about market reform, which involves separating the infrastructure operator within Ukrzaliznytsia from the transport operators. This will allow us to liberalize the market in the future. It will also allow us to create market mechanisms specifically for transport,” Yakovenko explained.
He named the introduction of European rules on technical compatibility and interoperability as another element of the reform. This concerns technical safety standards, as well as changes to the safety management system.
The director of the strategy and transformation department at Ukrzaliznytsia noted that a draft law “On the safety and interoperability of Ukraine’s rail transport” is currently planned to be submitted for adoption by the end of the year, while next year the company expects a law on market liberalization to be introduced.
As Yakovenko explained, it is expected that a so-called infrastructure access tariff will be formed, according to which market participants will be able to purchase certain access to transport routes from the infrastructure operator on a competitive basis.
“These tariffs will be regulated, i.e., they will be formed in accordance with the tariff formation procedure and will reflect economically justified tariffs in accordance with European rules,” emphasized the representative of Ukrzaliznytsia.
It is noted that the new system will introduce separate PSO (Public Service Obligation) contracts between passenger carriers and the state at the national level, as well as between carriers and local authorities. This should remove the financial burden from freight transport.
As reported, in September, a section of standard (“European”) 1435 mm gauge railway was opened between Uzhhorod and Chop in Zakarpattia Oblast, which will allow for direct rail connections between Uzhhorod and a number of European capitals.
In addition, in January 2025, it was reported that the reconstruction of the railway track on the section “Polish State Border – Mostyska II – Sknyliv (Lviv)” would be postponed until 2026, although in February 2024, the then Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery – Minister of Community, Territory and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov announced the start of construction by the end of 2024. Later it became known that Ukraine had failed to attract Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding for the project. It was reported that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was considering financing 50% of the project’s cost, but it has since been liquidated.
CONSTRUCTION, EU, European gauge, GRANT, LVIV, UKRZALIZNYTSIA
Prices for construction and installation work in Ukraine in August 2025 rose by 5.4% compared to August 2024, according to the State Statistics Service (SSS).
According to the statistics agency, in August 2025 compared to August 2024, prices increased in all segments of construction: in residential construction, the increase was 5.7%, in non-residential construction – 5.5%, and in engineering construction – 5.2%. At the same time, compared to July of this year, prices rose by 0.2%, 0.1%, and 0.6%, respectively.
In August 2025 to December 2024, prices for construction and installation works increased by 4%, while in the first eight months of 2025, construction prices increased by 6% compared to the same period a year earlier.
As reported, in 2024, prices for construction and installation works increased by 7.9% compared to the previous year, and in 2023, they rose by 15.8% compared to 2022.
The State Statistics Service indicated that the figures do not include temporarily occupied territories and parts of territories where hostilities are (were) ongoing.
The Nikkei Asia news portal reported that the Japanese company Sojitz will invest in the construction of a new international airport in Tashkent.
According to the publication, Sojitz will start implementing the project this year. The construction is part of the company’s $1 billion infrastructure investment.
The Tashkent airport will be built in partnership with the Saudi company Vision Invest on the basis of a public-private partnership. Sojitz plans to invest tens of billions of yen, or hundreds of millions of dollars, in the project. The company has previously participated in international airport projects in Kumamoto and Okinawa prefectures, as well as on the islands of Palau.
“The project for a new airport in Uzbekistan was approved in August 2025. According to the plan, its opening is scheduled for 2028. The new airport will be able to handle up to 20 million passengers per year and provide more than 40 takeoffs and landings per hour, making it the largest in Central Asia,” the article notes.
Sojitz also plans to participate in other infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan. Together with the Turkish company Ronesans International, it plans to build a large 800-bed hospital, a 1 GW wind farm, and a 1.6 GW thermal power plant in Samarkand.
According to Nikkei Asia, Uzbekistan is the largest country in the region with a population of 37 million. Annual GDP growth exceeds 6%, and tax breaks and incentives are available for foreign investors. The corporate tax rate is 15%.
“As of October 2024, 54 Japanese companies are operating in Uzbekistan, twice as many as in 2019. In June, Sojitz opened its first official office in Tashkent,” the publication notes.
The article also notes that other Japanese companies are actively developing infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan. For example, Toyota Tsusho, through its subsidiary Eurus Energy Holdings, is exploring a site for a 500 MW wind farm and has signed an agreement with NEC to build data centers. Marubeni, in partnership with the UAE, is implementing a project to build a wastewater treatment plant.
In addition, Nikkei Asia reports that Uzbekistan is in talks with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry to expand cooperation in the extraction of mineral resources, particularly those of strategic importance.
The cost of housing construction since the beginning of 2025 has increased on average by 10-25% depending on the class of housing, the main factors of growth were the rise in the cost of construction materials and logistics, as well as the increase in wages in the industry, Ukrainian developers told the agency “Interfax-Ukraine”.
“The cost of construction in 2025 continues to rise, and this has already become a systemic phenomenon rather than a temporary challenge. Since the beginning of the year, costs have risen by 10-15% on average, depending on the class of housing. Among the key factors are the rise in the price of construction materials, increased logistics costs, currency fluctuations, shortage of qualified personnel and salary increases,” the press service of City One Development told the agency.
According to the company, prices for construction materials since the beginning of 2025 show a moderate growth of 10% on average. Thus, the price of concrete has increased by 6%, metal – more than 2%, cement – more than 10%, plaster – more than 13%, and bricks have risen in price by more than 9%. At the same time, the phase of a sharp price jump in the market of construction materials has already passed, the developer believes.
“We recorded the most significant price increase compared to the pre-war period in 2024. Then the price of metal rose by 21%, concrete – by 47%, bricks – by 10%. Such dynamics indicates that the market has already passed the phase of a sharp price jump, and the current growth is a gradual correction rather than a new shock,” the company said.
According to the press service of Alliance Novobud, concrete and rebar have increased in price by approximately 5-7% since the beginning of the year, waterproofing materials – by 7-10%, cable products by 10-15%. In addition, insulation and reinforced concrete products have significantly increased in price – up to 25%, PVC windows – by almost 20%, heating radiators – by 23.5%.
“We can note an increase in the cost of building materials in the range of 7-25%, which is caused by exchange rate fluctuations on the import component, logistics costs due to the war and change of routes and devaluation of the hryvnia”, – explained the developer.
In addition, the prices for almost all types of construction and installation works have increased: since the beginning of the year the growth amounted to 15-25%, noted in Alliance Novobud.
According to the information of Ramil Mehdiyev, CEO of Enso Company, engineering systems and finishing materials have risen in price the most. At the same time, the expert noted that prices for certain locally produced building materials remain stable.
In turn, DIM Construction Director Vladimir Zhigman noted that construction materials, which depend on imported components, energy costs in production or logistics, have gone up in price the most.
“The rise in the price of concrete mixes, reinforcement, insulation and engineering solutions is the result of broken chains, not just inflation. The materials that have risen in price the most are those that rely on imports, energy costs in production or delivery. For example, basic materials are increasingly imported, and logistics have lengthened – the time to order materials has increased by one and a half to two times,” he explained.
According to the expert, if in pre-war 2021 the share of imported building materials in the construction market of Ukraine amounted to 14%, then by the middle of 2025 it has increased to about 30%. Prices for foreign materials are largely unchanged, while Ukrainian manufacturers are forced to raise prices for their products due to relocation, suspension and limitation of production due to the war.
Now Ukraine is fully dependent on imported glass, which has increased in price by 10-20%, said Avalon commercial director Oleksandr Baryliuk. According to him, there are no prerequisites for a decrease in the cost of building materials, although due to the recession in Europe certain imported products may become cheaper.
“Glass has increased in price most of all. Ukraine is fully dependent on imported raw materials from Europe. Additionally, manufacturers often artificially create shortages during the season of peak demand, which raises the cost even more. As a result, glass has risen in price by 10-20% and remains one of the most unstable materials for construction,” he explained.
Rising prices for construction materials and construction works are one of the main contributors to the rising cost of housing construction, confirmed developer RIEL.
“More resource is needed to realize projects today. This is due to the rising cost of materials and construction and installation works. The cost of a square meter in a new building in Lviv and Kiev in 2025 increased by 25% compared to 2021”, – reported his experts.
In addition, the cost of construction was also affected by the increase in wages in the construction industry.
“It is in 2025, the figures have not changed significantly – by 5-7% since the beginning of the year, but compared to the beginning of 2024, the growth is 15-18%. This is affected by the increase in the wage fund, the cost of materials and operation of machinery – in general everything has gone up in price,“ added Maxim Odintsov, development director of the Odessa construction company ”Two Academics”.
In the first half of 2025, 51,500 apartments were commissioned in Ukraine, which is 6.7% less than in the same period last year, according to the State Statistics Service. The total area of new housing was 4.27 million square meters (-6.4%).
The leaders in construction remain the Kyiv region (9,853 apartments), Kyiv (7,380), and Lviv region (5,646, +8.9%). Together, they accounted for almost half of all new construction.
The main breakthrough was in the Odesa region, where 6,570 apartments were completed, which is 56% more than a year earlier. Growth was also seen in the Cherkasy (+51.6%), Mykolaiv (+35.8%), Chernihiv (+24.4%), and Ternopil (+23.7%) regions.
At the same time, a serious decline was recorded in the Kharkiv (-40.4%), Zhytomyr (-37.7%), Zaporizhzhia (-30.6%), Sumy (-29.1%), and Volyn (-27.2%) regions. The reasons for this are proximity to the front line, population migration, and falling demand.
Experts note that the overall decline in volume does not mean a crisis: the market is becoming more multipolar. Kyiv is gradually losing its monopoly, and new construction centers are forming in Odesa and Lviv.
