The “Yarich” confectionery group has raised $10 million from the Norwegian state investment fund Norfund, which it will use to modernize production and further develop the business, Norfund announced,
“Yarich’s impressive growth in recent years, despite the war, reflects the strength and dedication of its management and owners. Supporting strong teams and helping reliable companies achieve further growth is a key part of Norfund’s investment approach,” said Norfund Project Manager Anastasia Andriyevska.
According to the fund, the funds will be used to modernize production facilities, specifically to install a new pretzel production line, which will enable the company to expand its product range and enter new market segments.
“This investment is a strong signal of confidence in Ukrainian business and the resilience of our team. It will facilitate further expansion into new product categories and continued growth in both the Ukrainian and export markets,” said Tetyana Shermolovych, the company’s CEO.
Norfund noted that Yarych’s production site in the Lviv region, which employs about 500 people, is a key hub for export development. In recent years, the company has significantly increased its exports, primarily to Poland.
Yarych Holdings Limited is the parent company of the “Yarych” confectionery group, whose production facilities are located in the village of Staryi Yarychiv in the Lviv region. The group specializes in the production of long-lasting cookies and crackers under the Yarych brand. The holding company directly owns 84.94% of Yarych Confectionery Factory LLC, while another 15.06% is owned by Yarychiv LLC.
Norfund is Norway’s state-owned investment fund, which finances private companies and projects in developing countries with the aim of creating jobs and supporting sustainable economic development. In Ukraine, the fund operates through the Investment Fund for Ukraine, established in late 2024 to support Ukrainian businesses and attract private capital.
As previously reported, the Norwegian government allocated 250 million Norwegian kroner for Norfund’s investments in Ukraine as part of the Nansen Support Program.
In late 2025, the fund also invested $15 million in the Rebuild Ukraine Fund (REBUF), managed by Dragon Capital, and approximately EUR8.5 million in the expansion of the M10 industrial park in the Lviv region.
BUSINESS, confectionery industry, EXPORTS, INVESTMENTS, MODERNIZATION, Norfund, PRODUCTION, YARYCH
On July 6, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine and Kuwait held an online conference with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait, attended by approximately 50 business representatives from both countries.
The event was co-chaired by Gennadiy Chizhikov, President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Firas Al-Oda, Acting Director General of the Kuwaiti Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The meeting marked the first practical event of this kind between the chambers after a hiatus of more than six years.
The main goal of the event was to establish direct contacts between Ukrainian and Kuwaiti entrepreneurs. The parties presented current trade and investment opportunities and identified promising areas for cooperation.
In his remarks, Maxim Subkh, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Kuwait, emphasized the importance of revitalizing the business component of bilateral relations, particularly in the context of involving Kuwaiti businesses in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction projects.
Gennadiy Chizhikov, President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, urged Kuwaiti businesses to view Ukraine not only through the lens of the war, but first and foremost as a country of opportunities and a future member of the European Union.
Conference participants discussed the possibility of systematic cooperation through working groups in priority sectors, including agriculture, the food industry, construction, energy, IT, and logistics. The parties also exchanged contact information, presentations, and commercial proposals.
According to the data provided, trade between Ukraine and Kuwait amounted to $336.6 million in 2024 and $90.8 million in 2025. In the first five months of 2026, bilateral trade had already reached $102 million, exceeding the figure for the entire year of 2025.
BUSINESS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, INVESTMENTS, KUWAIT, UCCI, ЧИЖИКОВ
The cow herd in Ukraine will continue to shrink and, as of January 1, 2028, could fall to 917,000 head, compared to an estimated 1.055 million head at the beginning of 2026, while milk production, after many years of decline, will stabilize at around 6.7 million metric tons per year, according to the study “The Dairy Industry of Ukraine in the Context of European Integration.”
Vadym Chagarovsky, Chairman of the Ukrainian Dairy Enterprises Association, noted during the study’s presentation at Agro Ukraine Week 2026 that despite the steady decline in the cow herd in Ukraine, productivity is rising and the volume of milk sent for processing is increasing.
According to the study, the total dairy cow herd across all farm categories decreased from 2.018 million head in 2018 to 1.055 million head in 2026, a decline of 48%.
The largest decline is occurring on private farms, where the herd size decreased by 55% between 2018 and 2026—to 660 thousand head—and may fall to 500 thousand head by 2028.
At the same time, following a prolonged decline, the herd size at agricultural enterprises is projected to grow from 395 thousand head in 2026 to 417 thousand head in 2028.
Milk production in Ukraine has also declined in recent years—from 10.2 million metric tons in 2017 to 6.9 million metric tons in 2025, or by 33%.
At the same time, the study’s authors predict that the long-standing decline in milk production will come to an end and that production will stabilize at 6.7 million metric tons in 2026–2027.
Milk production at agricultural enterprises will continue to grow—from 3.4 million metric tons in 2026 to 3.7 million metric tons in 2027—while production on private farms will decrease from 3.3 million metric tons to 3 million metric tons, respectively. The share of industrial milk production is forecast to increase from 46% in 2025 to 55% in 2027.
Chagarovsky also emphasized that the Ukrainian dairy industry retains its potential for growth thanks to industrial production and the modernization of enterprises.
According to the study, Ukraine’s dairy industry currently produces 6.9 million metric tons of milk per year, accounts for about 0.25% of GDP, and generates 124 billion hryvnia in output. Ukraine’s share of global milk production stands at 0.7%.
To transition to an industrial model of sector development and increase production to 10 million metric tons of milk per year, investments totaling EUR9 billion are needed to establish a raw material base. Specifically, this includes increasing the herd by 750,000 cows and constructing approximately 700 industrial dairy farms. According to the study’s authors, an additional EUR6 billion needs to be allocated to modernizing and expanding processing capacities.
The study “Ukraine’s Dairy Industry in the Context of European Integration” was prepared by the Ukrainian Dairy Industry Association.
Cow, dairy industry, EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, INVESTMENTS, MILK, PRODUCTION
The biopharmaceutical company Biopharma plans to launch a plant in Arad, Romania, in late 2027, with an initial investment of EUR85 million, company president Kostyantyn Yefimenko told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“We have already completed construction of the building and will finish installing all utility lines by September 1. We have already ordered the filling line. By the end of June, we will have contracted for the reactor equipment and all other process equipment. We will begin operations in December 2027,” Yefimenko said.
The initial investment in the plant in Arad is EUR85 million; the Romanian project as a whole will consist of four phases of varying sizes. Total investment in the plants in Uzhhorod and Arad is approximately $500 million.
He noted that the company’s development is not focused on a single project.
“Bila Tserkva is our flagship plant. We’re not shifting our focus; we’re developing all of them—Uzhhorod and Arad—and we’ll continue to build in Latin America,” Yefimenko said.
As previously reported, Biopharma plans to launch the first phase of its plant for the production of pharmaceutical products and immunobiological preparations in Uzhhorod in September 2026, which will provide a full cycle of blood plasma processing. The company has already invested EUR67 million in construction; the total cost of the first phase is EUR75 million. According to the plan, the volume of blood plasma-derived drug production in Uzhhorod will be twice that of production in Bila Tserkva, amounting to up to 1.5 million liters of blood plasma per year; the project in Romania is twice as large.
During the “Industrial Evolution: Manufacturing Drives the Economy” forum in Bila Tserkva, Yefimenko also announced that Biopharma had registered its albumin product in Brazil.
Biopharma exports its products to dozens of countries and plans to expand its presence in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America while continuing to increase its production capacity.
To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, Ukraine needs to attract approximately EUR550 billion in additional investment beyond what it is currently investing in decarbonization.
This was reported in a press release by the DIXI Group think tank, citing new data from the Climate Neutrality Tool, developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) specifically for Ukraine as part of the “Green Agenda for Armenia, Moldova, and Ukraine” project with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
“According to new data from the Climate Neutrality Tool—a model developed by SEI specifically for Ukraine—achieving climate neutrality by 2050 is both realistic and feasible,” the center noted.
As stated in the press release, SEI analyzed the sectors that have the greatest impact on greenhouse gas emissions in Ukraine and assessed their potential for transitioning to a clean economy. In particular, the energy sector has the greatest investment needs: approximately EUR 311 billion. This is followed by transportation—approximately EUR133 billion—and industry—EUR90 billion. Funding will not come solely from the public sector but will be shared between public and private entities.
SEI transferred the Climate Neutrality Tool to the Green Transition Office and, in May, conducted training for government officials on its use. Ukrainian government representatives gained the analytical capabilities and expert knowledge needed to assess decarbonization pathways, plan for green reconstruction, and support both Ukraine’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and its Low-Carbon Development Strategy through 2050.
SEI’s main partner in Ukraine is the Green Transition Office, an independent advisory body under the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine.
The project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The tool covers 55 measures identified as the most effective for reducing emissions in Ukraine and enables policymakers and experts to create and compare various scenarios regarding emissions reductions, investment needs, GDP growth, and new jobs.
“We have developed a practical tool that allows Ukraine to continuously analyze and update its transition path to a clean economy. As new data becomes available and political priorities shift, the government can easily rerun the model and make informed decisions based on the latest data,” said Gotham Mutkumaran, an expert in energy system modeling at SEI Tallinn.
CLIMATE NEUTRALITY, DECARBONIZATION, DIXI Group, INVESTMENTS, SEI
“ORION.GROUP,” a manufacturer of stainless steel equipment and containers (Kyiv Oblast), has launched a mobile production complex that is unique in Ukraine. It allows for the bending, welding, and grinding of metal structures outside the factory—on the customer’s premises. The mobile production complex is used to manufacture and assemble tanks with a diameter of over 5 meters, the transportation of which in assembled form is difficult, expensive, or impossible. The investment in this project amounts to 35 million UAH.
This was announced by Dmytro Kysilevsky, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development.
“ORION.GROUP” products for farmers and the food industry are sold with a 25% cost reimbursement to buyers from the state. This program is part of the “Made in Ukraine” policy for the development of Ukrainian manufacturers.
Currently, the ORION.GROUP mobile production complex is being used in the construction of a bioethanol plant in the Ternopil region. After that, the plan is to use this equipment to build an agricultural processing complex in an industrial park in the Khmelnytskyi region.
“ORION.GROUP” manufactures stainless steel tanks for the beer, juice, dairy, bioethanol, confectionery, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. In addition to Ukraine, the company has built plants and production lines in 65 countries worldwide. In 2011–2013, “ORION.GROUP” was engaged by the French consortium NOVARKA to construct the confinement (arch) over the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
In 2025, the company’s sales volume amounted to 440 million UAH. During this period, the company paid 97 million UAH in taxes. The company employs 127 people.
INVESTMENTS, Kysilevsky, machine building, ORION.GROUP, STAINLESS STEEL
