Section
Business & Recovery
Industries and companies, and the work and challenges of recovery and reconstruction.
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The Exclusion-Zone Storage Facility That Ended Sending Spent Nuclear Fuel to Russia
Until 2021, spent fuel from three of Ukraine's nuclear power plants was shipped to Russia. It is now received by a centralized storage facility in the Chornobyl exclusion zone, which was granted an operating license in May 2026. This article covers the 2012 law, the construction history spanning the occupation, the containers from the U.S. company Holtec, and the differences from the Chornobyl NPP's ISF-2.
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Two-Thirds of Ukraine’s Vineyards Are in Odesa Oblast: Wine Regions and Geographical Indications
Ukraine's vineyards covered 27,000 hectares in 2024, with about two-thirds in Odesa Oblast. This article looks, through statistics, legislation, and the intellectual-property office's register, at the Shabo settlement founded by Swiss settlers in the 19th century, the new wine law that took effect in January 2026, and the six wine geographical indications registered since 2023.
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The Quay Belongs to the State, Cargo Handling to the Companies: Ukraine’s Ports and Concessions
In Ukraine, a port's quays and waters belong to the state, managed by the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, established in 2013. In 2020, the first concessions were signed for the ports of Kherson and Olvia, but they were halted by the full-scale invasion. In December 2025, a tender opened for the port of Chornomorsk. This article looks at the legal framework and the state of these projects as of September 2026.
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A ₴187 Million Budget: The Animated Film Mavka and the Studio Behind It
The animated film Mavka. The Forest Song, based on Lesia Ukrainka's play, was selected in a 2016 state competition and released in Ukraine in March 2023. This article traces the timeline from conception to release, the budget and state funding, what exactly the State Film Agency's claim of “the highest box office since independence” is being compared against, its release abroad, and the projects that followed, drawing on the production company's and the state's own announcements.
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The Game Studio That Changed “Chernobyl” to “Chornobyl”: GSC and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
GSC Game World, the studio behind the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, was founded in Kyiv in 1995. The second installment was delayed repeatedly, had its title's spelling changed, and moved part of its development base to Prague before its release on November 20, 2024. This article lays out the stages of release, the figures the studio has announced, and changes in ownership, using company statements and press reports.
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The Kyiv Welding Institute Born in 1934, and the All-Welded Paton Bridge
The Paton Bridge, which spans the Dnipro in Kyiv, is an all-welded bridge about 1.5 km long that opened on November 5, 1953. The bridge is named after the bridge engineer Yevhen Paton, who founded a welding research institute in 1934. This article traces the institute's history, the origins of the phrase "the world's first," the businesses that grew out of its research, and the state of a bridge now more than 70 years old.
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15,000 Branches, 34,000 Lockers: The Private Delivery Company Nova Poshta
Nova Poshta, which carries parcels around Ukraine, is a private company registered in Poltava in 2001. By its own figures, it delivered 522 million items in 2025 and, at the start of 2026, had 15,817 branches and 34,186 parcel lockers. Using company announcements and legislation current as of September 2026, this article looks at how it differs from the state-owned Ukrposhta, its expansion into Europe, and its place under the 2022 postal law.
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Free Passage Through the Locks: The 2020 Inland Waterway Law and Freight on the Dnipro
Adopted in December 2020 and taking effect on January 1, 2022, the Law on Inland Water Transport opened Ukraine's rivers to foreign-flagged vessels and made passage through the locks free of charge. Figures for freight on the river differ by roughly fourfold between the State Statistics Service and the Ministry of Infrastructure. Using the text of the law and government announcements current as of September 2026, this article traces the law's content and its stages of implementation, and the decline in shipping and the halted locks since the full-scale invasion.
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Where “Half the World’s Chip-Grade Neon” Came From: Two Companies in Odesa and Mariupol
In March 2022, two Ukrainian companies stopped producing neon for semiconductors, and it was reported that "about half" of the world's supply would be lost. That figure was a news agency's own calculation from company and industry-research numbers, a pre-invasion estimate for refined neon. This article looks, using sources current as of September 2026, at how neon is a byproduct of steelmaking, and at what became of the company that moved from Mariupol to Odesa oblast.
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Ukraine’s Wartime Industries — The Weight of Agriculture, Manufacturing, Services, and Energy
This article shows the weight of Ukraine's industries in the order of agriculture, manufacturing, services, and energy. The sector-by-sector breakdown is only available through 2024. The scope covered by the statistics has changed partway through, some indicators have stopped being published, and others have switched to estimates. Drawing on data published by the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine, we attach the scope, point in time, and basis to each figure.