Ukraine News Updates - October 16, 2025
Ukraine-EU Expand Duty-Free Agricultural Quotas
Ukraine and the European Union reached final agreement on October 15 to update the Association Agreement's trade component, expanding market access for Ukrainian agricultural producers. Significant quota increases include: honey up 483% to 35,000 tons, white sugar up 400% to 100,000 tons, skimmed milk powder up 208% to 15,400 tons, eggs up 200% to 18,000 tons, and poultry up 33% to 120,000 tons. New separate quotas were created for wheat, barley, and corn flour, previously counted within raw grain quotas. Ukraine will reciprocally increase quotas for EU products, including pork to 45,000 tons and poultry to 120,000 tons.
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Ukraine Signs Helicopter Production Memorandum
Ukraine's Ministry of Economy and Bell Textron Inc signed a memorandum of understanding at AUSA 2025 exhibition in Washington regarding industrial cooperation in aviation technology. The agreement establishes groundwork for production and service facilities in Ukraine to develop high-tech manufacturing. Bell expressed readiness to develop manufacturing capacity for helicopter assembly, maintenance, and repair. Plans include opening a Bell representative office, creating a final assembly and testing center, exploring joint ventures with Ukrainian partners, technology transfer, and training Ukrainian engineers in the US. The cooperation aims to launch licensed helicopter production and revive Ukraine's rotorcraft industry.
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Ukrainian Businesses Maintain Positive Economic Outlook
Ukraine's Business Expectations Index reached 102.5% in Q3 2025, down slightly from 103.1% in Q2. Businesses maintained positive expectations for production volumes, investment in equipment, and financial conditions despite moderate increases in inflation and exchange rate expectations. War and its consequences remain the dominant factor affecting production capacity expansion. Expected annual inflation increased to 11.4% from 10.9% previously, while exchange rate expectations rose to 44.11 UAH/USD from 43.84 UAH/USD. Companies anticipated faster growth in export sales volumes. The survey included 669 enterprises from 21 regions, excluding temporarily occupied territories.
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Ukraine-Netherlands Launch Joint Drone Production
Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal met with Netherlands Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans in Kyiv on October 10 to discuss implementing a memorandum of understanding signed in President Volodymyr Zelensky's presence. The agreement establishes joint production of deep-strike drones in the Netherlands with €110 million investment under the Build with Ukraine initiative. Discussions focused on Ukraine's defense priorities: increasing drone production for frontline and city defense, strengthening long-range capabilities, and intensifying sanctions pressure.
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Kyiv to Host European Defense Tech Hackathon
Kyiv will host the European Defense Tech Hackathon for the first time, scheduled for November 6-9, bringing together over 200 engineers, companies, funds, and military personnel. The event, previously held in more than a dozen European cities, will focus on developing counter-drone solutions. The 48-hour hackathon includes lectures, workshops, and project presentations, with tasks formulated by Ukrainian military, Ukrainian company Moodro, and partner Nordic Air Defense. Since launching in 2024, European Defense Tech Hub has united over 2,000 participants, 150+ teams, and solved more than 150 real defense challenges across cities including Munich, London, Paris, Lviv, Copenhagen, Warsaw, and Amsterdam.
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Four Ukrainian Startups in European Growth Ranking
Four companies with Ukrainian founders made the Sifted250 list of Europe's fastest-growing startups, announced at Sifted Summit 2025 in London. ATLANT 3D, a deep tech startup founded by Maksym Plakhotniuk developing atomic-level printing technology for clients like NASA and Sony, ranked 29th. Carmoola, a British-Ukrainian company revolutionizing UK car purchasing through mobile platforms, placed 58th. Spendbase, helping companies optimize SaaS expenses with support from Google for Startups, ranked 81st. Holywater, building AI-powered vertical entertainment content for over 55 million users, placed 165th. The ranking evaluates startups based on three-year revenue growth rates.