In the first half of 2026, Nestlé in Ukraine increased its sales in the country by 19.3% in value (in hryvnia) and by 10% in volume, to 56,000 metric tons, while the entire Ukrainian FMCG market in the categories where the company operates grew by 15% in value and 6% in volume during this period, according to Roman Yanovich, CEO of Nestlé in Ukraine and Moldova.
“This is a signal to invest,” he said, commenting on these results at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, and explained that overall, the Nestlé Group increased its global sales by 3.6% in the first half of this year, meaning that Ukraine is a growth driver for the company.
According to him, in the first half of 2026, the company invested 5 billion UAH in its operations in Ukraine, of which 200 million UAH went toward developing factories in Ukraine and 4.8 billion UAH toward developing product categories.
“Having invested 5 billion hryvnia in the first half of the year, we plan to invest an amount comparable to last year’s—10 billion hryvnia—by the end of 2026 to ramp up production and maintain the growth momentum we’ve achieved,” said the CEO.
He clarified that investments in factory development are expected to total 1 billion hryvnia based on this year’s results.
According to the CEO, in the confectionery category, sales growth for all players in the Ukrainian market in January–June of this year was 18% in hryvnia and 6% in volume; for prepared foods, 12% and 2%, respectively; for instant coffee, 16% and 4%; infant formula—20% and 7%, other children’s foods—20% and 10%, and animal feed—20% and 10%.
According to him, the market for coffee capsules is growing particularly rapidly—by 30% in value and 16% in volume. This market is small but has the potential to double or triple in size, Yanovich noted.
The CEO noted that Nestlé currently holds approximately half of the Ukrainian ketchup market under the “Torchin” brand and the cocoa market under the Nesquik brand, as well as one-third of the sauce market under the “Torchin” brand.
He added that as part of global campaigns, products under the Felix and ProPlan brands in the pet food category and KitKat in the confectionery category are currently being actively promoted in Ukraine, while local campaigns focus on the “Svitloch,” “Torchin,” and “Mivina” brands, as well as Dolce Gusto coffee capsules and Nesquik.
In addition, during the briefing, company representatives announced plans to expand this year’s culinary product line—which already includes more than 100 items—by approximately 20%. The “Asian line” is growing at the fastest rate—20–25%—while the category of instant noodles in cups is seeing triple-digit growth.
According to Yanovich, there is potential for improvement in the “Svitloch” brand and the coffee business, where the company aims to move up from second place to first, a position currently held by Jacobs.
The CEO stated that due to the increase in enemy shelling of warehouses, logistics is currently the top priority; therefore, the company has developed a plan to deliver goods directly to the supermarket chain without involving its distribution centers in the event of a critical situation.
He cited a labor shortage as another problem, which forced one of the company’s facilities to raise salaries by 30%. At the same time, Yanovych noted that although the company had considered options for hiring foreign workers, it is still trying to recruit staff specifically from among Ukrainians.
Yanovich also reported that in the first half of 2026, charitable donations totaled over 120 million hryvnia, and since the start of the full-scale war, the company has provided charitable aid totaling over 2 billion hryvnia.
Nestlé began operations in Ukraine in 1994 with the opening of a representative office. In 1998, it acquired a controlling stake in CJSC “Lviv Confectionery Factory ‘Svitloch,’” and since 2018, it has owned 100% of the company’s shares. In May 2003, Nestlé Ukraine LLC was founded in Kyiv, and by the end of that year, Nestlé had acquired 100% of the shares in Volyn Holding.
In 2010, Nestlé SA acquired Technocom LLC in Kharkiv, a manufacturer of instant foods under the “Mivina” brand. In 2012, Nestlé Business Service (NBS Europe) was established in Lviv; it is one of Nestlé’s seven service centers worldwide and provides support services to Nestlé divisions in more than 40 countries.
During the war, Nestlé invested EUR43 million in the construction of its fourth factory in Ukraine—in Smolygiv, Volyn Oblast—for the production of pasta, which opened in April 2025, and plans to increase its investment in the facility to EUR70 million by the end of 2027.
Nestlé’s business in Ukraine encompasses the following segments: coffee and beverages, confectionery, prepared foods (cold sauces, seasonings, soups, instant foods), infant and specialized nutrition, ready-to-eat breakfasts, and pet food.
FMCG, INVESTMENT, NESTLE, SALES, UKRAINE
Iraq is forming a new package of cooperation with American energy companies that is expected to increase oil and gas production, accelerate the processing of associated gas, and attract private capital to modernize the country’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Iraq’s Oil Minister Basim Mohammed estimated the total value of agreements between the Iraqi oil ministry and U.S. companies at approximately $200 billion. According to him, the projects should significantly expand production capacity and increase investment in the use of associated gas. Iraq’s current oil production capacity is estimated at about 4.8 million barrels per day.
At the same time, the declared $200 billion should not be viewed exclusively as the volume of already financed projects. The package includes contracts, preliminary agreements, memorandums, technical studies, and potential investment programs, the final parameters of which will be determined following negotiations.
During the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi to the United States, the Iraqi delegation held talks with representatives of Halliburton, Shell, Honeywell, Weatherford, and Baker Hughes. The parties discussed the development of oil and gas fields, the introduction of modern technologies, and increasing the efficiency of the energy sector.
Separate talks were held with Chevron. Iraq proposed that the company expand its activities in the southern fields and participate in oil refining, petrochemical, and gas infrastructure projects.
Chevron, for its part, expressed interest in developing the southern fields, laying pipelines to regional ports, and creating oil storage facilities. Iraqi authorities stated their readiness to speed up the allocation of land plots, the issuance of permits, and the creation of the necessary infrastructure.
Halliburton received a contract from Basra Oil Company to provide integrated management services for the Bin Omar and Sindbad fields in southern Iraq. The agreement provides for integrated asset development management, as well as support for the design, procurement, and construction of infrastructure.
In fact, Iraq is seeking to move from separate service contracts to a long-term presence of American companies in production, processing, oilfield services, digital field management, and the construction of export infrastructure.
For Baghdad, American capital is important not only as a source of financing. Large U.S. companies can provide access to enhanced oil recovery technologies, modern drilling and compressor equipment, automation of production processes, and international project management standards.
An additional task is the diversification of export routes. Iraq is interested in developing pipelines, oil storage facilities, and new outlets to regional ports in order to reduce dependence on a limited number of supply routes.
What opportunities are opening up for Ukraine
The scale of Iraqi projects creates opportunities not only for American operators. A significant part of the work will be carried out by international EPC contractors, oilfield service companies, and equipment suppliers that form their own global procurement chains.
For Ukrainian companies, the most realistic path is not the independent development of oil fields, but participation in the projects as suppliers, engineering partners, and subcontractors of American operators.
One of the main areas could be pipe and metallurgical products. Field development and export infrastructure construction projects will require casing, tubing, and trunk pipelines, sheet metal products, tanks, metal structures, and elements of industrial buildings.
Ukrainian manufacturers could also supply pumping and compressor equipment, shut-off valves, electric motors, transformers, cable products, switchgear, and modular substations.
A separate niche is connected with the processing of associated gas. Iraq needs gas gathering networks, compressor stations, gas purification and treatment units, small power plants, and electricity transmission equipment. American agreements provide for increased investment specifically in gas projects.
Ukrainian engineering companies can participate in the design of pipelines, tank farms, compressor and pumping stations, industrial facilities, and power supply systems.
There are also prospects for the IT sector. This concerns the implementation of SCADA systems, automated oil and gas metering, digital field modeling, equipment condition monitoring, and industrial cybersecurity.
Another area could be the technical diagnostics of pipelines, protection of metal from corrosion, inspection of existing infrastructure, and preparation of projects for its modernization.
The development of the oil and gas sector will also create demand in related industries. The construction of industrial facilities will require cement, road materials, specialized machinery, mobile buildings, warehouse equipment, water supply systems, and transport logistics.
Additional opportunities may arise for Ukrainian food producers. Large projects are accompanied by the creation of workers’ settlements, logistics centers, and new service enterprises, which increases demand for flour, vegetable oil, poultry meat, cereals, and ready-made food products.
A trilateral model could be optimal, in which an American company acts as the operator or general contractor, a Ukrainian enterprise supplies equipment, materials, or engineering solutions, and an Iraqi partner provides registration, local logistics, and interaction with government agencies.
Working through American operators and international EPC contractors allows Ukrainian enterprises to obtain more transparent technical requirements, safety standards, and quality control procedures.
At the same time, Ukrainian companies will need to undergo supplier prequalification, confirm that their products comply with API, ASTM, or the requirements of a specific customer, prepare English-language technical documentation, and provide after-sales service for the equipment.
For a systematic entry into the market, it would be advisable to form a separate catalog of Ukrainian manufacturers of oil and gas and energy equipment. It should specify production capacities, international certificates, experience in export deliveries, and readiness to work through American general contractors.
The next stage could be a trilateral business mission Ukraine–USA–Iraq with the participation of manufacturers of pipes, energy equipment, engineering, and digital companies.
The most logical venues for such events are Baghdad, Basra, and Houston, where Iraqi customers, oilfield service companies, and the main decision-making centers of the American energy industry are concentrated.
Maxim Urakin, founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center, commenting on the structure of Ukraine’s foreign trade, noted the need to move to a more complex export model.
“Ukraine needs to increase not only the physical volume of supplies, but also the share of products with high added value,” Urakin emphasized.
In his opinion, in order to reduce the trade deficit, Ukraine needs to develop processing industries, machine-building, the food industry, and technological exports.
Applied to Iraq, such a strategy means a transition from predominantly traditional commodity supplies to the export of pipes, metal structures, equipment, software solutions, and engineering services.
Iraq is already a profitable market for Ukraine with a large positive trade balance. However, participation in energy and infrastructure projects would make the relationship more long-term and increase the share of industrial products in Ukrainian exports.
According to the Experts Club information and analytical center, in January–June 2026 Iraq ranked 53rd among Ukraine’s largest trading partners.
Trade turnover between the countries amounted to $151.123 million. Ukraine exported goods to Iraq worth $151.051 million, while imports of Iraqi products amounted to only $72 thousand.
The positive trade balance for Ukraine reached $150.979 million. Thus, virtually the entire bilateral trade turnover was formed by Ukrainian exports. The data are presented in the table accompanying the Experts Club analysis published on July 16, 2026.
For comparison, at the end of 2025, Ukraine’s trade turnover with Iraq was estimated at $392.836 million. Ukrainian exports amounted to $392.513 million, imports to $323 thousand, and the positive balance reached $392.190 million.
The trade figures confirm that Iraq remains a profitable sales market for Ukrainian companies. At the same time, the almost one-sided trade structure indicates a low level of mutual investment and industrial cooperation.
Iraq’s new agreements with the United States may become an opportunity to change this model. Even limited participation of Ukrainian enterprises in energy projects with a total declared value of up to $200 billion can significantly increase exports of high value-added products.
With the proper organization of trilateral cooperation, Iraq can gradually turn from a predominantly commodity market into a long-term industrial, energy, and infrastructure partner of Ukraine.
Ukraine and Spain plan to accelerate the implementation of joint investment and trade projects in the fields of infrastructure, energy, transportation, industry, agricultural processing, defense technologies, and digitalization through the newly established Ukrainian-Spanish Business Council.
The first joint meeting of the Ukrainian and Spanish members of the council took place in Kyiv as part of the Ukrainian-Spanish Business Forum. More than 100 companies from both countries participated in the events, including 47 representatives of Spanish businesses.
Kyiv also hosted the fifth meeting of the Ukrainian-Spanish Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic and Industrial Cooperation. The commission was co-chaired by Oleksiy Sobolev, Acting Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine, and Carlos Cuervo, First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy, Trade, and Entrepreneurship of Spain.
The parties discussed the transition from general dialogue to the development of specific projects, the involvement of Spanish companies in Ukraine’s reconstruction, the localization of production, and technology transfer.
“Ukraine is open to partnerships right now. An investor who comes today will have the opportunity to join the reconstruction effort and become part of Ukraine’s future European market,” said Hennadiy Chizhikov, President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In the transportation sector, the parties discussed the development of air, rail, and road transport, the creation of multimodal routes, and the application of Spanish expertise in high-speed rail construction.
In the energy sector, the main areas identified are solar and wind power generation, energy storage systems, energy efficiency, and the development of decentralized power generation. In industry and the defense and technology sectors, the parties intend to transition from conventional product supply to joint production, localization, and the creation of joint ventures.
In the agro-industrial sector, discussions focused on investments in food processing, storage, and logistics, as well as the production of finished goods for export to countries in the Mediterranean, North Africa, and Latin America. Specific areas of cooperation identified include water resource management, healthcare, tourism, science, and innovation.
The Spanish business delegation included, among others, representatives from the infrastructure company ACCIONA, the aerospace corporation Airbus, the technology and defense companies Indra, Grupo Oesía, Escribano, and Integrasys, the satellite operator Hispasat, and the railway company RENFE.
The Ukrainian side was represented by about 20 companies and associations operating in transportation, logistics, aviation, agriculture, the food industry, energy, mechanical engineering, construction, digital technologies, and professional services.
The Ukrainian-Spanish Business Council is intended to serve as a permanent mechanism for direct interaction between companies, chambers of commerce and industry, and the governments of the two countries. Its work will include identifying partners, compiling a portfolio of investment projects, establishing sector-specific working groups, and monitoring the implementation of agreements.
The Ukrainian side of the council is headed by Mykhailo Bno-Ayriyan, a representative of MHP. Its members include MHP, Metinvest, Nova Poshta, SkyUp Airlines, Epicentr Agro, DSV Logistics, Zammler Ukraine, WhiteBIT, Farmak, and other Ukrainian companies and industry organizations.
The next practical step in this cooperation will be a business mission by Ukrainian companies to Valencia on September 28–29, 2026.
The visit will take place as part of the EUROCHAMBRES 2026 Congress, during which a Ukrainian-Spanish business forum and one-on-one meetings between Ukrainian companies and potential Spanish partners are also planned.
According to 2025 figures, trade between Ukraine and Spain totaled nearly $2.8 billion, of which approximately $1.73 billion was accounted for by Ukrainian exports. Spain remains one of the largest European buyers of Ukrainian agri-food products.
According to calculations by the Experts Club information and analytical center, published on July 16, Ukraine exported $1.09 billion worth of goods to Spain in January–June 2026. Imports of Spanish products totaled about $512 million, and total bilateral trade amounted to approximately $1.60 billion.
Ukraine’s trade surplus with Spain reached $578.1 million, the largest among all 50 of the country’s leading trading partners.
Thus, Spain is a particularly advantageous major trading partner for Ukraine: Ukrainian exports to this market are more than double the value of imports of Spanish goods.
The removal of Ukrainian officials’ electronic declarations from the state registry does not mean that previously published information has completely disappeared from the public domain, notes Opendatabot.
Many documents were publicly available for several years before the mechanism for hiding them was introduced in late 2023. During that time, the data may have been saved by journalists, civil society organizations, analytical services, and online archives.
However, the publicly available portion of the declarations no longer contains residential addresses, tax identification numbers, or a number of other direct personal identifiers.
The mechanism to restrict access was introduced to protect military personnel, law enforcement officers, and other officials amid a full-scale war. A government agency may appeal to the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAZK) if it believes that the publication of a document poses a threat to the declarant or their family.
As of July 2026, more than 445,000 declarations for the years 2015–2026 have been removed from public access.
Source: https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/hidden-declarations-2026
Most of the declarations by Ukrainian officials that were removed from the public registry pertain to the period before the start of the full-scale war, according to Opendatabot.
The largest number of hidden documents was submitted for 2016—94,968 thousand, or more than one in five of the removed declarations. Another 72,068 thousand documents relate to 2020.
At the same time, the share of hidden declarations for 2016 accounts for about 9% of the total number submitted during that period, and for 2020—about 8%.
By comparison: among the documents submitted during the full-scale war, about 2% of the declarations were removed from public access.
This difference is partly explained by the fact that significantly more documents were submitted between 2016 and 2020. Additionally, once access restrictions are approved, all declarations belonging to a specific individual—including those published long before the mechanism was introduced—may be removed from the registry.
In total, as of July 2026, access to 445,536 thousand declarations filed by 99,087 thousand individuals has been restricted.
Source: https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/hidden-declarations-2026
As of July 2026, 445,536 electronic asset declarations submitted by 99,087 public officials for the years 2015–2026 have been removed from public access in Ukraine, according to Opendatabot, citing open data from the National Agency for Corruption Prevention.
On average, there are about 4.5 hidden declarations per declarant. If an official is granted the right to restrict access, all documents submitted by that official may be removed from the registry at once, regardless of the reporting period.
The mechanism for restricting access was introduced after the resumption of electronic filing in late 2023. It is designed to protect military personnel, law enforcement officers, and other individuals for whom the disclosure of information could pose a threat to them or their family members.
The declarant cannot independently remove the declaration from the registry. A government agency, military unit, or other authorized organization must submit a corresponding request to the NACP.
Source: https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/hidden-declarations-2026
