The newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine, Yo Osume, has arrived in Kyiv, according to the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine.
“We are pleased to announce that on August 29, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine, Mr. Osume Yo, arrived in Kyiv. A new phase in the development of strong friendly relations between Japan and Ukraine lies ahead,” the embassy said in a post on social media platform X on Saturday.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Japan has become one of Ukraine’s largest bilateral donors. As of February 2026, Tokyo has pledged and is providing approximately $20 billion in aid to Ukraine, including financial, humanitarian, and recovery and reconstruction assistance. Japan’s direct budgetary support alone has exceeded $9.8 billion since February 24, 2022.
In 2026, Ukraine has already received $850 million in budgetary support from Japan through World Bank projects. In addition, Tokyo’s contribution to the ERA mechanism, funded by proceeds from frozen Russian assets, amounts to more than $3 billion.
Japan also supplies Ukraine with energy equipment, generators, vehicles, demining equipment, and other non-lethal aid.
In May 2026, Tokyo contributed an additional $14.658 million to NATO’s PURL mechanism for the procurement of non-lethal equipment for Ukraine. At the same time, Japan continues to apply sanctions pressure on Russia.
Starting in 2027, Ukraine will launch a pilot project for the underground storage of petroleum products from the minimum reserves of oil and petroleum products (MROPP), according to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1037 dated August 13, 2026, published on the government portal.
According to the resolution, the pilot project, initiated by the Ministry of Energy, is to last no more than two years.
“Starting from the beginning of the third base year (2027), market participants and operators are required to store a portion of diesel fuel—amounting to at least 20% of the total volume of this type of petroleum product—from the MRPS in underground petroleum product storage facilities,” – states the procedure for implementing the pilot project attached to the resolution.
The project provides for the creation of an extensive system of underground petroleum product storage facilities and conditions for their safe storage, as noted in the procedure.
The Ministry of Energy has been designated as the coordinator of the pilot project, and JSC “Ukrtransnafta” as the specialized responsible storage operator.
At the same time, the operation of the specialized responsible storage operator grants other market participants the right to store petroleum products in their own underground storage facilities.
The list of state-owned facilities whose property may be used as underground storage facilities is specified in the confidential section of the resolution.
The Ministry of Energy must ensure the implementation of the project in cooperation with, among others, NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine,” “Ukrtransnafta,” and the “Market Operator.”
Serhiy Kuyun, director of the consulting firm A-95, commented on the pilot project, noting that there are currently no underground storage facilities in the country, and that with only four months remaining before the deadline, no one will even have time to develop a project. At the same time, he pointed out that the resolution provides for the use of oil pipelines, salt caverns, depleted oil or gas fields, and other geological formations for these purposes.
Kuyun also noted that in the near future, state-owned banks, by government decision, may begin providing loans for underground petroleum product storage facility projects at 10% per annum, with the state compensating for the remaining interest. According to his information, the loan amount could range from 100 million UAH to 1 billion UAH. At the same time, Kuyun suggested that in such cases, a strict condition would be imposed requiring the storage facilities to be put into operation within a year.
However, in his opinion, a year is an unrealistic deadline, so the government needs to speed up the approval of project documentation, a process that currently takes one to one and a half years. The director of A-95 also noted that private gas station network operators have already begun construction of underground storage facilities “at their own risk,” while simultaneously seeking approval for their projects.
He also drew attention to the broader issue of MZNN storage starting in 2027.
“The law (on MZNN), although blocked by subordinate regulations, is formally in effect, and currently the MZNN quota stands at 6% (of the market—ER), or approximately 600,000 metric tons. This is a volume that physically has nowhere to be stored—neither underground nor above ground. And no one is going to store it on land, because that would be business suicide. If nothing changes, the quota will automatically increase to 9% starting in 2027,” Kuyun explained.
He added that the Ministry of Energy understands the problem and has prepared amendments to the law, which already number 300.
“The positions are as follows: everyone, without exception, understands the main point—reserves are necessary, but they must be protected. And these reserves must remain in Ukraine; fantasies about storing them abroad are quickly dispelled,” the director of A-95 concluded.
As reported, parliament passed the MZNN law on November 21, 2023.
The explanatory note to Bill No. 9024-d stated that its adoption would allow for the creation of a system of minimum reserves of crude oil and petroleum products in Ukraine and would regulate relations in the sphere of managing such minimum reserves, as well as ensure Ukraine’s compliance with its obligations regarding the implementation of Directive 2009/119/EU.
According to Vasyl Danylyak, CEO of OKKO Group, establishing minimum oil and petroleum product reserves is only feasible once Ukraine has a sufficient network of underground storage facilities.
FUEL, petroleum product, storage facility, UKRAINE, UKRTRANSNAFTA
From August 1 to 26, Ukraine exported 1.423 million metric tons of grains, oilseeds, and their processed products via alternative routes, which accounts for one-third of the volume required for this period, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky said at a briefing on Friday.
“From August 1 to 26, 1,423 thousand metric tons of grains, oilseeds, and products derived from them were exported. This accounts for 33% of the demand for this period. Grains accounted for the smallest share—822 thousand metric tons. For grains, we exported only 21% of the potential demand. The rest consists of oil, oilseeds, and meal. In principle, export volumes in these categories meet current demand,” he said.
Vysotsky noted that exports by rail and via the Danube each amounted to approximately 600,000 metric tons, while road transport remains the smallest in volume—about 80,000 metric tons. Of this volume, about 40,000 metric tons are oilseeds, which is due to the high cost of road transport.
According to him, if the current pace is maintained, Ukraine could export about 1.5 million metric tons of agricultural products via alternative routes by the end of August.
By the end of September, up to 2 million metric tons could be exported via alternative routes, as previously forecast by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
The “Khortytsia” distillery in Zaporizhzhia, one of the key production assets of the international alcohol holding company Global Spirits, was completely destroyed as a result of a Russian attack and cannot be restored, the company’s press office told NV Business on August 28; the news was also reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Global Spirits, the facility was struck four times, after which the fire raged for at least three hours. The company lost approximately 3–4 million bottles of finished products, for which excise taxes had already been paid. Some of the goods were completely burned, while others melted and must be disposed of. The company estimates the average cost of a single bottle at approximately 100 UAH.
Thus, the cost of the destroyed finished products alone could amount to about 300–400 million UAH, not including the cost of production equipment, buildings, infrastructure, and losses resulting from the plant’s shutdown.
The “Khortytsia” plant was built from the ground up and began operations in 2003. Prior to the fire, it employed more than 500 people, and the bottling lines had a capacity of up to 16 bottles per second. In addition to “Khortytsia” vodka, the company produced products under the “Morosha,” “Pervak,” “Medova,” “Pshenichna Sloza,” and Gold Ukraine brands.
This is already the second major blow to Global Spirits’ logistics and production infrastructure in the past month and a half. On the night of July 19, a Russian missile destroyed the company’s main finished goods warehouse in the Kyiv region. At that time, the warehouse facilities and inventory were destroyed, and preliminary damage exceeded 100 million UAH, of which approximately 74 million UAH consisted of previously paid taxes.
Following the loss of its Zaporizhzhia facility, Global Spirits retains its other production sites. The holding company’s official website, under the “Our Plants” section, currently lists the Odessa Cognac Plant and the “Hetman” plant in Lviv. The Lviv facility has six modern Italian production lines and manufactures approximately 160 varieties of vodka.
The Odessa Cognac Plant is one of the oldest enterprises in the industry in Ukraine. Its history dates back to 1863 and is linked to the Shustov dynasty. Global Spirits acquired the facility in 2007. The plant has a full production cycle for brandy and cognac, Europe’s largest distillation facility, and a stock of more than 15,000 barrels of cognac spirits.
In addition to its Ukrainian facilities, the list of production sites on Global Spirits’ corporate website includes the Owensboro Distilling Company in Kentucky, USA, which produces American bourbon, as well as Compañía Tequilera Hacienda La Capilla in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, where tequila is produced.
Global Spirits positions itself as one of Europe’s largest international spirits holding companies. Its products are available in more than 87 countries, its headquarters are located in New York, and its proprietary distribution infrastructure covers 31 U.S. states. The company reports a production capacity of over 300 million bottles per year and more than 5,000 employees.
Its portfolio includes more than 15 alcoholic beverage brands, among them “Khortytsia,” “Morosha,” “Pervak,” Shustoff, Oreanda, San Marino, “Medova,” and others.
Over the years, the “Khortytsia” brand has repeatedly been ranked among the world’s largest vodka brands. As early as 2006, it made the top 10 of the World Millionaires’ Club; in 2015, the IWSR named “Khortytsia” the world’s third-largest vodka brand by sales volume; and in Drinks International’s 2019 ranking, the brand was also among the top three globally.
By the end of 2025, Global Spirits had strengthened its position in the global vodka market. In The Spirits Business’s The Brand Champions 2026 ranking, published in June, “Khortytsia” took third place among the world’s best-selling vodka brands with a volume of 11.7 million nine-liter cases, trailing only Smirnoff and Absolut. Another Global Spirits brand—“Morosha”—took fourth place with 11.2 million cases and was named the 2026 Vodka Brand Champion.
In addition, Global Spirits’ “Pshenichna Slioza” vodka nearly tripled its sales in 2025—to 6.1 million nine-liter cases—and entered the global top 10 for the first time, taking eighth place.
Thus, the destruction of the Zaporizhzhia plant affected not only a major Ukrainian enterprise but also the production base of the holding company, whose brands are among the global leaders in the vodka market. At the same time, the presence of facilities in Lviv, Odesa, and outside Ukraine allows Global Spirits to redistribute part of its production, although the company has not yet disclosed exactly where the volume previously produced by the “Khortytsia” plant will be compensated for.
According to NV Business, citing YouControl, Global Spirits Group LLC’s revenue in 2025 fell by 54.3% to 1.4 billion UAH; however, the company moved out of a loss of 235.3 million UAH and posted a net profit of 57 million UAH.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, Valery Kirilko, CEO of the “Industrial Parks of Ukraine” group of companies, believes that one solution for changing Ukraine’s warehouse logistics model—given the enemy’s destruction of warehouse and logistics infrastructure—is to create a decentralized network of small warehouses, particularly within industrial parks.
“The war has shown just how vulnerable large distribution centers are. Therefore, we may need to partially move away from concentrating large volumes of goods in a single location and transition to a decentralized network of small warehouses,” –he wrote on Facebook.
According to his proposal, this could mean replacing a single large warehouse spanning tens of thousands of square meters with many smaller ones—ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 square meters—located in different regions and logistically convenient locations.
“That is precisely why we are currently developing the ‘HELP.Warehouse’ program. We are creating several standard designs for small warehouse complexes that can be quickly adapted to a specific plot of land and implemented simultaneously in different regions of Ukraine,” Kirilko noted.
He emphasized that the company is ready to take on the design of standard warehouse facilities, the search for and acquisition of land plots, matters related to utilities and infrastructure, the selection of construction contractors, the organization of construction, and the coordination of project implementation.
“With proper organization, such facilities can be built in approximately 3–5 months. And today, there is another important factor at play—the Ukrainian construction market is going through a challenging period. But that is precisely why many construction companies are willing to work with minimal profit margins, quickly assemble teams, and carry out projects at competitive costs,” he believes.
Kyrylko added that industrial park sites across Ukraine are being considered separately.
“Some of them are already prepared to provide land plots for such projects on preferential or even free terms during the initial period. We can begin restoring warehouse and logistics infrastructure right now,” he notes.
Kirilko invited those who are able to finance such projects—including those who own a land plot that can be leased free of charge for a year, industrial parks that can provide a small plot free of charge for a year, and construction companies acting as investors—to join the initiative.
The company “Industrial Parks of Ukraine” has been active in the development of industrial parks since 2019. According to its data, nearly one in three industrial parks established or registered in Ukraine is or has been supported by the company’s specialists.
According to information on its website, the company manages seven industrial parks, has developed 56 industrial park concepts, and has facilitated the registration of 37 industrial parks.
INDUSTRIAL PARK, INFRASTRUCTURE, LOGISTICS, UKRAINE, WAREHOUSE
According to “Serbian Economist”, Ukraine ranked sixth among Montenegro’s foreign tourism markets in July 2026 in terms of the number of overnight stays in collective accommodation facilities, as evidenced by new MONSTAT data published on August 27.
Ukrainian tourists spent 43,400 nights in hotels, tourist complexes, hostels, and other collective accommodations. In total, approximately 7,350 tourists from Ukraine stayed at such accommodations during the month.
Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Russia ranked ahead of Ukraine in terms of the number of overnight stays. Ukrainians accounted for about 4.4% of all overnight stays by foreign guests.
At the same time, the flow of tourists from Ukraine remains fairly stable. The number of tourists from Ukraine has remained virtually unchanged compared to July of last year, while the number of overnight stays decreased by approximately 3%.
Serbia remains the leader in Montenegro’s tourism market, accounting for about a quarter of all foreign overnight stays. At the same time, the influx of Russian tourists rose sharply in July: the number of overnight stays by Russians increased by more than 60% year-over-year.
In total, 244,800 tourists and 1.08 million overnight stays were registered in Montenegro’s collective accommodation establishments in July. Foreigners accounted for over 90% of overnight stays.
However, the actual role of Ukrainians in Montenegro’s tourism sector is greater than what the July hotel statistics indicate. MONSTAT does not include private apartments and vacation rentals—which Ukrainian tourists actively use—in this monthly report. As of 2025, Ukraine accounted for 4.7% of foreign overnight stays in Montenegro’s private sector.
