Russian butter prices soar, rise in supermarket dairy thefts reported
Two men were recently arrested in Moscow after allegedly trying to steal 25 packets of butter.
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Kyiv won't stop supporting wartime pool of TV channels before martial law ends
The Ukrainian government doesn't plan to stop supporting the telethon, Ukraine's state-run pool of TV channels created during wartime, before the end of the martial law, Interfax Ukraine reported on Oct. 31, citing Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi.
Ukraine’s 2025 budget clears first reading, allocates $53 billion for defense
“The priority of next year's budget will also be security and defense. All taxes paid by people and businesses will go toward strengthening our defenders and military capabilities,” Prime Minister Denys Smyhal said on his Telegram channel.
National Bank of Ukraine leaves interest rates unchanged at 13%
The decision was in line with analysts’ predictions, and comes as Ukraine braces for next week’s U.S. presidential election, Bloomberg reported.
Ukraine Business Roundup — Ukraine debates who serves and who doesn’t
The following is the Oct. 30, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. Companies in Ukraine that were expecting to be able to “reserve” their employees to shield them from military
Ukraine state-owned enterprises weekly — Issue 152
Editor’s Note: This is issue 152 of Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly, covering events from Oct. 13-24, 2024. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission. Corporate governance of SOEs Updated IMF Memorandum. On Oct. 18, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published an updated Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies
Global entrepreneur organization Endeavor launches first Ukraine office to boost growth amid war
The New York-based global entrepreneur network Endeavor has opened its first office in Ukraine, signaling confidence in the country’s business potential.
Russian court fines Google $2.5 trillion trillion trillion
Written in full $2.5 decillion is $2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Sanctioned LNG ships gather off Russian coast as buyers withdraw, Bloomberg reports
Tankers bearing sanctioned Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) have clustered off Russia's eastern coast following suspension of operations at the Arctic LNG 2 plant, indicating that Moscow is unable to find buyers for its product amid sanctions.
Ukraine presents roadmap for partially opening airspace during war
Deputy Communities and Territories Development Minister Serhii Derkach introduced a step-by-step plan for a partial reopening of Ukraine's airspace at a conference in Warsaw.
Russian bank offers preferential mortgages in occupied parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk oblasts
The Russian banking giant offers interest rates as low as 2%, according to Interfax, and plans to expand its offer to Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as soon as "housing constructions" start there.
Kremlin denies Russia-Ukraine talks on halting energy strikes
The denial comes a day after the Financial Times reported that Ukraine and Russia are resuming discussions about halting the strikes on each other's energy infrastructure after the talks abruptly ended in August following Ukraine's Kursk incursion.
MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak: Developments in Ukraine’s parliament on economic reforms, international obligations — Issue 79
Editor’s note: This is issue 78 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly “Ukrainian Economy in Brief” newsletter, covering events from Oct. 21- Oct. 27, 2024. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. The Kyiv Independent is republishing with
Ex-Google CEO urges US to buy drones instead of 'useless' tanks, cites Ukraine experience
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia, Eric Schmidt said that Russia's war in Ukraine showed how a "$5,000 drone can destroy a $5 million tank."
Fire breaks out at Slovak factory producing artillery shells for Ukraine
The fire broke out at 1:30 p.m. local time in a hydraulic press used for the three-dimensional molding of steel shell casings.
German Rheinmetall plant in Ukraine is 'legitimate' target for Russia, Kremlin says
The military plant of the German concern Rheinmetall, which opened in late October in Ukraine, is a "legitimate" target for Russian attacks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 29.
EU to increase capacity to export electricity to Ukraine to 2.1 gigawatts ahead of winter
The new limit will take effect on Dec. 1, 2024, and operators will be able to review it monthly starting in March 2025.
North Korea's current arms sales to Russia estimated at up to $5.5 billion, Friedrich Naumann Foundation suggests
Because North Korea and Russia do not publish official statistics on the country's bilateral trade, there is uncertainty. But even the minimum estimate of shipments is over $1.7 billion, the study reads.
Anti-money laundering watchdog refuses to blacklist Russia as Moscow cozies up to Iran, North Korea
After days of discussions, the world’s leading anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), opted last week not to blacklist Russia despite efforts from Kyiv to sway members to do so over the Kremlin’s increasingly closer ties with blacklisted North Korea and Iran. The FATF, which
Finnish court orders seizing Russian assets at request of Ukraine's Naftogaz company
According to a ruling in 2023 by the Permanent Arbitration Court based in The Hague, Russia is obliged to pay $5 billion to Naftogaz Group as compensation for assets illegally seized during the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014.
Adnan Kivan, owner of Kyiv Post, dies at 61
Businessman Adnan Kivan, owner of the Kadorr Group and the English-language Ukrainian news outlet Kyiv Post, passed away on Oct. 28, the Kadorr Group announced.
Government says 'strategically important' employees will be able to extend military exemption status
Meanwhile, an audit of the exemption process is ongoing until Nov. 15 to assess which businesses qualify for critical enterprise status, reflecting the government's effort to balance the country's defense needs with economic stability.
Media: US-sanctioned Gazprombank may buy Auchan chains in Russia
Gazprombank, one of Russia's largest banks that is also under heavy U.S. sanctions, is reportedly poised to acquire the Russian operations of the Auchan retail chain, according to sources cited by Le Monde on Oct. 25.
'We can't have a bad outcome,' JP Morgan Chase CEO says on Ukraine, Russia's nuclear threats
"The nuclear proliferation, of course, is the biggest risk mankind faces... I think we should be very careful about what we are trying to accomplish in the next couple of years," JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said.
Sanctions delay to Russian zinc mine results in supply miscalculations, Reuters reports
Western sanctions on Russia's Ozernoye zinc mine have left the company struggling to replace key equipment needed to boost production, several sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
US urges G7 to consider sanctions on Russian palladium, titanium, Bloomberg says
Officials from U.S. President Joe Biden's administration raised the possibility of these sanctions during a G7 deputy finance ministers meeting on Oct. 22 in Washington, D.C.
Auchan in final negotiations with local buyer to exit Russian market, media reports
Auchan, one of the few French chains still operating in Russia, is in final negotiations to sell its Russian subsidiary to a local buyer, French media La Lettre reported on Oct. 24.
Russia's wartime economy delivers growth, but will the bubble burst?
A draft budget submitted to the Russian parliament last month has outlined the Kremlin's plans to keep spending high in its wartime economy, with ambitions to maintain the steady levels of growth the country has seen since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Surging government spending on war
Ukraine receives $1.1 billion from IMF
"The funds will be used to cover important non-military budget spending," PM Denys Shmyhal said.
Ukraine Business Roundup — Losing Pokrovsk
The following is the Oct. 22, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. As Russia makes its slow and steady advances in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Oblast, its troops are closing
US to continue to 'tighten the screws' on Russian LNG exports, senior official says
"You can be assured that the Biden administration is going to continue to tighten the screws against Russia’s LNG exports," Jeffrey Pyatt, assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources, said.
'Not waiting until the war is over' – Foreign investment keeps growing in Ukraine
Ukraine is still far from an investor's paradise, but increasingly valuable business deals are being signed in the war-torn country this year. In the first nine months of 2024, there were 36 Ukrainian mergers and acquisitions (M&As) with a total estimated value of $643 million, according to a new
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