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Dominic Culverwell

Business Reporter

Dominic is the business reporter for the Kyiv Independent, reporting on Ukrainian companies, investment, energy, corruption, and reforms. Based in Kyiv, Dominic joined the Kyiv Independent team in 2023, having previously worked as a freelancer. He has written articles for a number of publications, including the Financial Times, bne IntelliNews, Radio Free Europe/Liberty, Euronews and New Eastern Europe. Previously, Dominic worked with StopFake as a disinformation expert, debunking Russian fake news in Europe.

d.culverwell@kyivindependent.com
For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Business

Kyiv probe into oligarch Zhevago adds pressure as Ferrexpo nears London listing suspension

by Dominic Culverwell
A Kyiv court has authorized a pretrial investigation into wanted oligarch Kostyantyn Zhevago, just days before his mining company is set to be suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange. Zhevago, who owns the London-listed iron ore producer Ferrexpo, is suspected of running an embezzlement scheme involving $113 million through his now-defunct bank, Finance & Credit Bank, between 2007 and 2015. The Pechersk Court greenlit the investigation request from Ukraine's Prosecutor General’s Of
Business

EU carbon rules could deal heavy blow to Ukraine’s struggling steel sector, report warns

by Dominic Culverwell
Ukraine could lose $1.4 billion by 2027 under the EU’s carbon border policy, which could slash its iron and steel exports to the bloc by half, according to a new report by the German Economic Team (GET), a Berlin-based consultancy, and the Institute for Economic Research (IER), a Ukrainian think tank. The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, known as CBAM, has been highly divisive in Ukraine. While Brussels said last year it would have only a minimal effect on the economy, reducing gross do
War

Loss of specialists at occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant 'not a major issue,' IAEA chief says

by Dominic Culverwell
United Nations nuclear chief Rafael Grossi said that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is adequately staffed for nuclear safety measures, despite a lack of licensed nuclear specialists at the site. Grossi arrived in Ukraine earlier this week for his 14th visit to the country during the full-scale war where he signed an agreement with Kyiv to help restore and develop Ukraine’s nuclear energy sector, which makes up over 60% of Ukraine’s energy generation. Since 2022, the UN’s
Business

Reporter’s notebook: Inside Ukraine’s nuclear plants at war

by Dominic Culverwell
Walking around a nuclear power plant in north-western Ukraine, it feels like there are as many soldiers as there are plant workers. The guns are an unnerving sight, but not unexpected — the border with Belarus is just 65 kilometers away. At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, employees at the Rivne nuclear power plant prepared for occupation, as Russian troops entering from Belarus swiftly captured the Chornobyl plant. Then, days later, the Russians did something even more egregious — th
Business

Climate policy becomes new front in Ukraine-EU economic tensions

by Dominic Culverwell, Kateryna Denisova, Luca Léry Moffat
The latest source of friction between Ukraine and the EU is climate rules and unhappy steel producers, as the country’s membership goals collide with its wartime realities. Ukrainian officials are in Brussels this week to discuss the EU's carbon border policy that Kyiv argues is hitting its war-battered steel industry and economy. At the center of those discussions is the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — known as CBAM — which is designed to prevent "carbon leakage" — or pushing pollut
Brave1 Components event in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 3, 2025.
Business

Consolidation and capital: The new era of Ukrainian defense tech

by Dominic Culverwell
A party at a swanky downtown Kyiv restaurant feels a world away from the front lines of Russia's war against Ukraine. Yet its guests — defense analysts, consultants, and arms producers — are nonetheless shaping how the war is fought. The event's host was Skadi Law, a new firm focusing exclusively on Ukraine's fast-growing defense tech sector. Its arrival is not an isolated story, but part of a broader trend: an expanding network of venture capital funds, accelerators, consultancies, and media c

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