During the 2025/2026 season, Ukraine earned a record 250.8 million euros in revenue from frozen raspberry exports, a 65% increase over the previous season.
Between June 2025 and May 2026, Ukrainian companies exported 63,300 metric tons of frozen raspberries, increasing the physical volume of shipments by 7%, according to data from the July analytical report by the Ukrainian Berry Growers Association, published on August 7.
Thus, the main factor driving the growth in export revenue was not an increase in volume but a significant rise in the price of Ukrainian berries. The average export price was 3.96 euros per kg, which is 54% higher than in the previous season.
In May, the final month of the 2025/2026 season, Ukraine exported approximately 2,900 metric tons of frozen raspberries at an average price of 3.95 euros per kilogram. Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany were among the main export destinations.
This revenue growth continues a trend that began as early as the 2025 calendar year. At that time, frozen raspberry exports rose from 55,700 metric tons in 2024 to 60,700 metric tons—an increase of approximately 9%—while their value jumped from 129.3 million euros to 216.7 million euros.
The average price of Ukrainian raspberries rose significantly throughout last year. While it stood at about 2.78 euros per kg at the beginning of 2025, it exceeded 3.8 euros in the second half of the year and reached 4.29 euros per kg in December.
Poland Remains the Main Market
Poland remains the largest buyer of Ukrainian frozen raspberries and is also a major European processing and re-export hub.
In 2025, Ukraine supplied 24.1 thousand metric tons of frozen raspberries to Poland. The Polish market accounted for 39.7% of Ukraine’s total export revenue from this product, or 86.1 million euros. A year earlier, that share stood at 31.8%.
Germany is the second-largest market. Direct Ukrainian shipments there in 2025 totaled 14.1 thousand metric tons, compared to 15.4 thousand metric tons the previous year. At the same time, the “Berry Growers of Ukraine” Association suggests that a portion of German demand is increasingly being met through Polish intermediaries.
The Czech Republic retained its third-place position. Ukraine supplied approximately 10,000 metric tons of frozen raspberries there annually, and the value of shipments in 2025 rose from 24.1 million euros to 39.1 million euros, primarily due to higher prices.
The price situation remains favorable for Ukrainian producers
The “Berry Growers of Ukraine” Association expects that in the 2026/2027 season, the situation on the European market may remain favorable for Ukrainian exporters.
Among the factors supporting prices, analysts cite problems with the raspberry harvest in Serbia and the uneven condition of plantations in Poland. In its July report, the association estimates Serbia’s 2026 harvest to be 20–30% below normal levels due to drought.
This potentially reduces supply from one of Europe’s traditionally largest producers and exporters of frozen raspberries and opens up additional opportunities for Ukrainian suppliers.
As a result, Ukraine is gradually increasing not only the physical volume of berry exports but also the value of its shipments. In the 2025/2026 season, price increases had a significantly greater impact on export revenue than increases in tonnage, bringing revenue from frozen raspberries to a historic high of 250.8 million euros.
Poland’s Deputy Minister of the Interior, Maciej Duszkiewicz, highlighted the contribution of Ukrainians to the functioning of the Polish economy. He made this statement during an appearance on Polsat News.
Polsat News reports that Duszczyk believes that in many cases, the absence of Ukrainians is noticeable. “If it weren’t for Ukrainian citizens, we’d be waiting 10 minutes for the bus instead of five. After all, they fill the gaps in the Polish labor market. That’s why a certain part of the Polish economy depends on refugees from Ukraine. Generally speaking, these are Ukrainians living in Poland, and we need to reiterate this more and more often, because if a situation were to arise where one day all Ukrainians united and refused to go to work, the Polish economy would grind to a halt,” he said.
He also criticized the Law and Justice (PiS) party’s proposal to deport unemployed men of draft age from Ukraine. In this context, the figure of 3,000 people has been mentioned in public discussions. “Three thousand is a small group. Let me remind you that 900,000 people have been mobilized in Ukraine, so this is no help at all. In fact, those who aren’t working in Poland are either caring for their disabled children or are people who were wounded on the front lines and are undergoing rehabilitation in Poland,” he said.
When asked whether refugees will begin returning to Ukraine once the war ends, Dushchyk replied that “this is a process we’ve observed in other countries, and it’s very easy to predict.”
“Sometimes, those who say, ‘I’m staying,’ end up leaving because something happens. And those who say, ‘I’ll leave as soon as the war ends,’ end up staying. Of course, these trends change with each passing month, as the roots they put down in the host society—in this case, Polish society—grow deeper and deeper. “If someone has enrolled their children in school, they’re learning Polish; if a person is working in the labor market, the likelihood that they’ll return to Ukraine without a strong incentive to do so is practically very low,” he noted.
Ukraine exported $14.1 billion worth of food products in January–July 2026, according to data from the State Customs Service. Based on calculations using State Customs Service statistics, food products accounted for about 58.5% of Ukraine’s total merchandise exports, which amounted to $24.1 billion over the seven-month period.
Metals and metal products ranked second among export categories at $2.5 billion, or slightly more than 10% of total exports.
Machinery, equipment, and transportation vehicles were exported in the amount of $2.1 billion, corresponding to approximately 8.7% of total exports.
Thus, food products, metal products, and machinery collectively accounted for about 77.6% of Ukraine’s merchandise exports.
Poland remained the largest market for Ukrainian goods over the seven-month period, with $2.8 billion worth of products shipped there. Exports to Turkey totaled $2 billion, and to Germany—$1.5 billion.
Overall, Ukrainian exports in January–July 2026 grew by 3.8% compared to the same period last year—rising to $24.1 billion from $23.2 billion.
At the same time, imports grew much faster—by 26.6%, to $58.1 billion.
Marshal of the Polish Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty has stated that Ukraine’s accession to the European Union will require the Ukrainian side to reconsider controversial chapters of its own history, including its assessment of the mass killings of Poles in Volhynia during the Second World War.
Czarzasty made the statement on August 10 in Szczawnica following a meeting with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Polish Press Agency PAP reported.
Czarzasty stressed that he personally supports Ukraine’s future membership in the EU but believes that European integration entails not only economic benefits but also the acceptance of a certain system of values and historical responsibility.
“The EU is about democracy and values; it is not merely an ATM,” the Marshal of the Sejm said, adding that it is also necessary “to call genocide genocide.” In his opinion, no nation can escape its own history.
The main subject of the historical dispute remains the mass killings of the Polish population in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in 1943–1945, responsibility for a significant portion of which the Polish side places on the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
In Poland’s state historical policy, these events are officially classified as genocide. As early as 2016, the Sejm enshrined this interpretation in a parliamentary resolution, and in 2025 Poland went further: by law, it designated July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance of Poles — Victims of the Genocide Committed by the OUN and UPA in the Eastern Territories of the Second Polish Republic. The law was adopted unanimously by the Sejm and subsequently approved by the Senate.
The Polish side demands three things from Ukraine above all: recognition of the genocidal nature of the crimes, the opportunity to search for and exhume the remains of Polish victims without obstruction, and the dignified burial and commemoration of those killed. Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance regards the depoliticisation of exhumations as one of the key conditions for genuine historical reconciliation.
Warsaw therefore no longer views the issue solely as a dispute among historians. In recent years, it has become part of the state’s remembrance policy and is increasingly being linked by Polish politicians to the issue of Ukraine’s European integration.
Official Kyiv does not deny the mass killings of the Polish population or the need to honour the memory of those killed. However, it avoids accepting the Polish formula of sole responsibility on the part of Ukraine and the official classification of the entire Polish-Ukrainian conflict of that period as a genocide of Poles.
The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance predominantly uses the terms “Volhynia Tragedy” and “Ukrainian-Polish confrontation.” In July 2026, UINR head Oleksandr Alforov stated during a joint Ukrainian-Polish commemoration that the tragic events of 1943 must be remembered and that relations between the two nations should be built on mutual respect and acknowledgement of past mistakes.
The Ukrainian side also points out that not only Poles but also Ukrainians were killed in the Polish-Ukrainian confrontation, including as a result of retaliatory actions by Polish armed formations and the policies of the Polish state. Notably, in July 2026, Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Piotr Łukasiewicz also publicly stressed the need to take Ukrainian victims into account.
When the Polish Sejm legislatively designated July 11 as a day of remembrance for the “victims of the genocide committed by the OUN and UPA” in June 2025, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the decision unilateral and warned that such steps did not contribute to achieving mutual understanding and reconciliation. Kyiv proposed focusing on the joint work of historians, searches, exhumations and the dignified commemoration of all victims.
Despite the political dispute over terminology, substantial progress has been made in practical matters over the past year. Ukraine resumed issuing permits to the Polish side for search and exhumation work. In 2026, investigations were conducted, in particular, in the former villages of Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska in Volhynia, while on August 7, Ukraine’s interdepartmental commission approved new exhumation work in Huta Peniatska in the Lviv region and in the village of Uhly in the Rivne region.
Work in Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska was completed on August 7, and the remains discovered there are to be reburied. Thus, one of the most acute practical issues that had complicated relations between Warsaw and Kyiv for several years has gradually begun to move forward.
Following his meeting with Stefanchuk, Czarzasty also called for political and historical conflicts not to be transferred to relations between Polish and Ukrainian societies. According to him, a permanent channel of communication must be maintained between the parliaments of the two countries and mutual trust must be restored. At the same time, he stressed that “without a secure Ukraine, there is no secure Poland” and expressed support for Ukraine’s membership in the EU and Poland’s participation in the country’s post-war reconstruction.
Poland remained the largest market for Ukrainian exports and the second-largest supplier of goods to Ukraine during January–July 2026, according to data from the State Customs Service.
Ukraine exported $2.8 billion worth of goods to Poland, while Polish exports to the Ukrainian market totaled $5.5 billion.
Thus, the total trade volume between the two countries over the seven-month period reached approximately $8.3 billion.
Ukraine’s bilateral trade balance in goods was negative by approximately $2.7 billion.
Poland accounted for about 11.6% of Ukraine’s total goods exports and approximately 9.5% of its imports.
Turkey became the second-largest market for Ukrainian goods, with exports totaling $2 billion, while Germany ranked third with $1.5 billion.
In terms of the volume of imports into Ukraine, China took first place by a wide margin, with $16.8 billion. Germany ranked third after Poland, with $3.8 billion.
Overall, Ukraine’s merchandise imports for January–July rose by 26.6% to $58.1 billion, while exports increased by 3.8% to $24.1 billion.
Nova Post in Poland has begun collaborating with Orlen Paczka—a network of approximately 6,500 pickup points and 8.5 parcel lockers—according to a company announcement posted Thursday on LinkedIn.
“We are constantly improving our logistics solutions to support business growth and ensure convenience for customers at every stage of delivery,” the company emphasized. Nova Post had previously partnered with InPost, Poland’s largest network, which operates over 35,000 pickup points, more than 27,000 of which are parcel lockers.
For its part, Orlen Paczka noted that the partnership with Nova Post is another step toward opening up its infrastructure to companies operating in the international market.
According to the press release, the service is available for the delivery of S, M, and L-sized packages weighing up to 20 kg.
Jakub Karon, CEO of Nova Post in Poland, said in an interview with Wiadomości Handlowe in June of this year that the company had a total of 122 branches throughout Poland, including 30 company-owned branches, 16 franchise branches, 31 mini-branches, and 45 PUDO branches, and its plan for 2026 is to open approximately 300 more branches. He emphasized that the Polish parcel locker market is oversaturated, so Nova Post currently has no plans to build its own network and will instead expand in this market through partnerships.
In 2021, the Polish conglomerate Orlen launched the Orlen Paczka postal service with its own pickup points and parcel lockers. In 2024, the service entered into a strategic partnership with Allegro, Poland’s largest marketplace.
As reported, last year the NOVA Group handled 522 million shipments, 29 million of which were in Europe. The group, which currently ranks 30th globally in parcel volume among express delivery and postal services, aims to enter the top 20 by 2030 and increase the number of shipments to 2 billion.
Vyacheslav Klimov, co-owner of Nova Poshta, noted during the “Dialogues with NV” event dedicated to European integration that Nova Post Europe, part of the NOVA Group, plans to double its network of branches in Europe by 2026 and keep its strategic focus on ensuring the fastest possible delivery times.
In the first half of 2026, 239 new service points were opened in Europe, bringing the total number of Nova Post’s own service points abroad to more than 950. Moldova and Poland led the expansion in the first half of the year, with 112 and 80 new service points, respectively. In addition, five Nova Post partner pickup points opened in New York in June.
