Imports of goods to Ukraine from January through April 2026 increased by 30% in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2025—reaching $32.2 billion— and by 47% compared to January–April 2024—to $21.9 billion, according to data from the Telegram channel of the State Customs Service (SCS) of Ukraine.
Despite the growth in imports, exports remain nearly at the 2024 level—at that time, they amounted to $13.4 billion for January–April, $13.3 billion for the same period in 2025, and $13.9 billion for the first four months of this year.
“At the same time, taxable imports amounted to $22.3 billion, accounting for 69% of the total volume of imported goods. The tax burden per 1 kg of taxable imports in January–April 2026 was $0.55/kg,” the agency stated in a Friday release.
The largest volumes of goods were imported into Ukraine from China ($8.7 billion), Poland ($3.1 billion), and Turkey ($2.2 billion).
The largest exports from Ukraine went to Poland ($1.5 billion), Turkey ($1.2 billion), and Italy ($857 million).
Of the total volume of goods imported in January–April 2026, 72% consisted of machinery, equipment, and transportation—$13.3 billion (with 74.3 billion UAH paid to the budget during customs clearance, or 26% of customs revenue), fuel and energy products – $5.3 billion (UAH 103.5 billion paid, or 36% of payments), and chemical industry products – $4.6 billion (UAH 38.4 billion paid to the budget, accounting for 14% of customs revenue).
The top three most exported goods from Ukraine were: food products – $8.5 billion, metals and metal products – $1.3 billion, and machinery, equipment, and transportation – $1.2 billion.
“In January–April 2026, during customs clearance of exports of goods subject to export duties, UAH 585.9 million was paid to the budget,” the State Customs Service added.
In April 2026, Ukraine reduced its electricity imports by 41%—to 558,300 MWh, according to the DIXI Group analytical center, citing data from Energy Map.
“This is the second consecutive month of declining volumes of purchases from abroad,” the center noted.
At the same time, exports rose by 10%—to 33,300 MWh—but remained insignificant and occurred only during specific hours of temporary surplus in Ukraine’s power grid. By the end of the month, Ukraine had imported 17 times more electricity than it exported.
As explained by DIXI Group, the decline in imports and the modest growth in exports in April were driven by several factors. On the one hand, predominantly warm and clear weather, as well as longer daylight hours, contributed to increased generation from solar power plants and reduced the load on the power grid due to lower consumption. On the other hand, the security situation remained tense: at least three waves of heavy shelling were recorded during the month (on April 1–2, 3, and 16), resulting in infrastructure damage and limitations on available generation. An additional factor was the temporary reinstatement of differentiated price caps starting April 1, which reduced the economic attractiveness of imports during certain hours.
Under these conditions, consumption restrictions were periodically applied to balance the power system, but they were significantly less extensive than in March.
Hungary accounted for the largest share of imports in April—305,600 MWh, or 55%. Poland and Romania accounted for 125,200 MWh and 124,200 MWh, respectively—22% each. Meanwhile, Moldova accounted for 3.2 thousand MWh (1%), and Slovakia for 0.13 thousand MWh (<0.1%).
For comparison: in April 2025, imports amounted to 187.0 thousand MWh—three times less than in the reporting month.
“The average utilization of the permitted transmission capacity in April was 36.9% of the approved nominal value (2.1 GW),” DIXI Group reported. In turn, in March of this year, this figure stood at 60.4%. The maximum value of 88.4% was recorded on April 19 between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
The nominal capacity limit for imports from EU countries to Ukraine and Moldova has been 2.45 GW since January. At the same time, part of this capacity is used for electricity imports to Moldova, so approximately 2,100 MW of commercial imports are available to Ukraine. However, the amount of permitted import capacity for each country in the bloc is dynamic and may vary depending on the operational situation in the countries’ power systems.
Kazakhstan plans to completely stop purchasing electricity from Russia starting in 2027 thanks to the commissioning of its own power generation facilities, said the country’s Deputy Minister of Energy, Sungat Esimkhanov.
According to him, if the planned power facilities are commissioned in late 2026 or early 2027, Kazakhstan will be able to meet domestic demand without Russian supplies. “If we commission all of our planned power facilities by the end of this year or early next year, I think that in 2027 we will not purchase any electricity from Russia at all,” Esimkhanov said at a press conference.
In recent years, Kazakhstan has purchased electricity from Russia annually due to a shortage of its own capacity. According to the Ministry of Energy, the deficit is decreasing: in 2024 it stood at 2.1 billion kWh, in 2025—about 1.5 billion kWh, and in 2026 it is expected to be at the level of 1–1.2 billion kWh. The government expects to eliminate this deficit by 2027.
Earlier, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Energy Erlan Akkenzhenov stated that the country intends to fully meet the economy’s electricity needs by the end of the first quarter of 2027. To this end, Kazakhstan is implementing 81 energy projects with a total capacity of 15.3 GW and an investment volume of over 13 trillion tenge, or more than $25 billion.
Moving away from Russian supplies will be a significant milestone in Kazakhstan’s energy policy. For the country, this means reducing dependence on external electricity sources and transitioning to a more self-sufficient energy balance model. However, the plan’s success will depend on the timing of new facilities coming online, the condition of the grids, and the power system’s ability to handle peak loads.
The decision also has regional significance. Kazakhstan remains part of the Central Asian power grid and is connected to the Russian power grid, so reducing imports from Russia does not mean a complete technological disconnect. However, from an economic and political standpoint, the move to replace Russian supplies demonstrates Astana’s desire to strengthen its own energy security and reduce vulnerability to external disruptions.
For Russia, this means a gradual loss of a portion of its electricity export demand from Kazakhstan. For Central Asia, it is a signal to accelerate the modernization of power generation, the construction of new thermal power plants, the development of renewable energy, and the improvement of grid reliability, as power shortages remain one of the region’s main infrastructure challenges.
Between April 13 and 19, Ukraine reduced electricity imports by 21%—to 114,900 MWh, according to the DIXI Group analytical center, citing data from Energy Map.
“At the same time, exports increased more than fourfold—from 2,200 MWh to 10,300 MWh—but these volumes remain insignificant and occur only during specific hours of temporary surplus, without affecting the supply of domestic demand,” the center noted.
Throughout the week, Russia continued its attacks on energy infrastructure. In particular, on April 16, another massive shelling of the power grid took place, with energy facilities in Kyiv and the southern regions as the main targets.
At the same time, weather conditions partially stabilized the situation in the power grid. A gradual rise in temperature and sunny weather contributed to a decrease in electricity consumption and an increase in solar power generation, which allowed for partial compensation of the losses caused by Russia and helped avoid large-scale blackouts.
According to DIXI Group data, electricity imports from April 13 to 19 decreased by 15–27% across all sources. At the same time, supplies from Slovakia remained absent for the second week in a row.
Hungary accounted for the largest share of imports—61.8 thousand MWh, or 53.8%. Romania accounted for 27.8 thousand MWh (24.2%), Poland for 24.7 thousand MWh (21.5%), and Moldova for 0.6 thousand MWh (0.5%).
At the same time, electricity exports remained limited and were carried out exclusively during specific hours of surplus—primarily during nighttime and daytime periods with lower load.
According to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UAC), citing customs statistics, Ukraine imported 30,800 tons of pork in 2025, a 15-fold increase from the previous year.
“The sharp increase in imports was a natural market reaction to the shortage of domestic raw materials. The decline in livestock numbers and the escalation of hostilities in the east of the country forced many enterprises to close, leading to higher prices for Ukrainian pork. At the same time, the decline in meat prices on foreign markets during the summer made imported supplies more economically attractive for stabilizing domestic demand,” experts noted.
According to analysts, total pork production in the country in 2025 amounted to 606,000 tons, which is 10% less than in 2024 and 11% below the average for the past five years. Meanwhile, total domestic consumption needs are estimated at 648,000 tons.
The pig herd in Ukraine had shrunk to 4.5 million head by the end of 2025, a 12% decrease compared to 2024. The majority of the commercial herd (64%) is concentrated in specialized enterprises—2.9 million head—while 1.6 million head are kept on private farms.
“The industry continues to operate under extremely difficult conditions. In addition to military risks, producers are under pressure from rising production costs. Under these circumstances, the share of more price-competitive imports is growing, although current supply volumes are still 25% lower than in 2023,” the UACB emphasized.
Export destinations remain limited: in 2025, Ukraine supplied only 2,200 tons of meat to foreign markets (-26%). The main consumers are countries in the Middle East (48.1%) and Asia (23.6%). The combined share of shipments to African countries and Southeast Asian nations is approximately 17%.
As reported, agricultural sector experts predict that restoring the pig farming industry to pre-war levels will require not only stabilization of the security situation but also the implementation of government support programs to rebuild the industrial herd in de-occupied regions.
Imports of goods to Ukraine from January to March 2026 increased by 26% in monetary terms compared to the same period last year—from $18.5 billion to $23.4 billion, while exports totaled $10.1 billion compared to $9.9 billion a year ago, according to data released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine (SCSU).
“At the same time, taxable imports amounted to $16.2 billion, accounting for 69% of the total volume of imported goods. The tax burden per 1 kg of taxable imports in January–March 2026 was $0.54/kg,” the agency stated in a post on its Telegram channel on Monday.
According to the published data, the largest volumes of goods were imported into Ukraine from China ($6.3 billion), Poland ($2.2 billion), and Turkey ($1.6 billion).
The largest exports from Ukraine went to Poland ($1.1 billion), Turkey ($840 million), and Germany ($659 million).
Of the total volume of goods imported in January–March 2026, 71% consisted of machinery, equipment, and transportation—$9.5 billion (upon customs clearance of these goods, 53.9 billion UAH, or 26% of customs revenue, was paid to the budget), fuel and energy products—$3.8 billion (UAH 77.3 billion was paid, or 37% of customs revenue), and chemical industry products—$3.4 million (UAH 28.2 billion was paid during customs clearance, or 13% of customs revenue).
The top three most exported goods from Ukraine included food products—$6.3 billion, metals and metal products—$929 million, and machinery, equipment, and transportation—$848 million.
The State Customs Service added that in January–March 2026, 509.5 million UAH was paid to the budget during customs clearance of exports of goods subject to export duties.
