Amid ongoing battles, Moscow turns to maps and paperwork to assert control over Ukraine's occupied farmland.
The state of implementation of humanitarian demining measures was discussed at a meeting at the Mine Action Office of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU). According to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine has made significant progress in clearing Ukrainian land of explosive ordnance. At the same time, the Head of Government accentuated the challenges that need to be addressed.
This year, Ukraine’s agricultural sector is expected to see a roughly 10% decrease in the gross harvest of grains and industrial crops compared to last year.
This forecast was presented by the Director General of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation, Pavlo Koval, during a press conference at Ukrinform on the topic "Agricultural export of Ukraine: season results and forecasts for the 2025/26 marketing year."
On 20 May, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksii Kuleba signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Poland’s Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz.
The document marks a new stage in the strategic partnership between the two countries, focusing on regional development, decentralisation, management of EU funds, and joint efforts to enhance community safety.
IFC announced a $40 million investment in Astarta, a leading Ukrainian agricultural group, to support the construction of the country’s first soy protein concentrate plant. This investment is in line with up to $80 million financing package approved by IFC’s Board of Directors on April 1, 2025. The project is expected to boost employment, enhance agricultural productivity, and drive economic growth.
The financing package includes a $27 million loan for IFC’s own account, and a $13 million concessional loan from the government of the Netherlands. IFC’s financing is backed by guarantees from the European Commission’s Ukraine Investment Framework, and the government of the Netherlands in support of IFC’s Economic Resilience Action (ERA) Program for Ukraine.
Since the beginning of operation of the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, the ports of "Great Odesa" have processed 120 million tonnes of cargo, of which 76 million tonnes are agricultural products.
In 2025 alone, over 28 million tonnes have been transported, including more than 15 million tonnes of grain.
The pending agreement between the United States and Ukraine regarding minerals and natural resources will not include financial aid provided to Kyiv prior to the signing of the deal, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on April 27.
In 2024, the price per tonne of Ukrainian agricultural exports was USD 315. As of April 2025, it had increased to USD 443.
On March 24, at the conference “Economy of Experience: Active Longevity – Strategy for the Future,” organized by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine with the support of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the UK Government, business leaders, experts, and the public sector discussed how to turn experience into a competitive advantage and ensure active longevity by effectively engaging older workers in economic life.
According to Oksana Zholnovych, the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, the average age of Ukrainians has risen from 41 to 45 over the past three years. Therefore, it is now crucial to rethink the role of older people and create conditions where they can remain economically active, pass on knowledge, and continue to develop.
Astarta has answers to these questions. Viktor Ivanchyk, co-founder and CEO of “Astarta-Kyiv,” shared the company’s experience of engaging older workers:
The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has announced an increase in total funding of the call for proposals for Swiss companies in Ukraine from CHF 50 million to CHF 100 million.
The call for proposals is the start of the Swiss initiative to support Ukraine for 2025-2028 with a total budget of CHF 1.5 billion. This, in turn, is the first stage of a long-term 12-year support programme totalling CHF 5 billion.