Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) announced that it was preparing, jointly with the Ministry of Justice, to file an administrative lawsuit with the High Anticorruption Court requesting the nationalization of assets and a stake in Ferrexpo Poltava Mining.

The stock of outstanding hryvnia-denominated loans issued by Ukrainian banks increased by 1.1% m-o-m to UAH 839bn in January following a 2.0% drop in December, bringing the y-o-y growth tally to +15%. F/X-denominated loans fell by 3.3% m-o-m to $6.1bn, sliding by 6.8% y-o-y.

According to a Feb. 4-9 poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute for Sociology (KIIS), a private pollster, 57% of respondents said they trusted President Volodymyr Zelensky, up from 52% in December and slightly down from 59-64% earlier in 2024. The share of those distrusting the president stood at 37%, in line with 35-39% in 2024.

US President Donald Trump issued yesterday a harshly critical statement targeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a “dictator without elections” and urging him to “move fast” on peace talks or “he is not going to have a country left.” Speaking later at a business meeting, Trump repeated his accusations, saying “I love Ukraine, but Zelensky has done a terrible job,” referring to his refusal to negotiate with Russia to stop the war earlier. Zelensky “got to move fast because that war is going in the wrong direction,” Trump said, adding he hoped to “see a ceasefire soon and to reestablish stability in Europe.” Meanwhile, Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv yesterday and is expected to meet Zelensky today.

Russia conducted another mass missile and drone attack on Ukraine this morning, using 14 cruise and ballistic missiles and 161 strike and decoy drones. Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko said the overnight strike targeted gas production infrastructure and selected power infrastructure facilities. The extent of damage was being assessed. DTEK Holding’s energy facility in Odesa was hit by drones last night.

Ukrenergo Supervisory Board member Yuri Boiko has said the company’s Eurobond restructuring negotiations are challenging but critically important to restoring access to external financing.

US and Russian negotiators, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, agreed at a meeting in Saudi Arabia yesterday to “lay the groundwork for cooperation” on a wide range of issues including ending the war in Ukraine. On the latter, the US State Department said the sides agreed to “appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.” US President Donald Trump called the latest US-Russian talks “very good,” adding he felt “much more confident” about securing a peaceful settlement. Answering a reporter’s question about Russia pressing for elections in Ukraine as part of a peace deal said, Trump said, “That’s not a Russia thing. That’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.” At the same time, according to Bloomberg, Rubio told European allies on a call held after the talks in Riyadh that sanctions against Russia would remain in place “at least until a deal to end the Ukraine conflict is reached.” In a separate comment on sanctions yesterday, Rubio said approving the final decision would have to involve the European Union due its own multiple sanctions on Russia.

An IMF mission will this week start discussions with Ukrainian authorities on the seventh review of the Fund’s $15.6bn EFF program, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal announced yesterday after his call with Alfred Kammer, director of the IMF’s European Department.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded its long-term issuer default ratings on Vodafone Ukraine to RD from CCC- and simultaneously upgraded them to CCC following the company’s Eurobond restructuring, which the agency treated as a distressed debt exchange.

The Ukrainian Economy Ministry estimated real GDP growth in January at 1.5% y-o-y, down from 1.7% in December. The Ministry said the slowdown reflected a drop in export volumes, weakness in agricultural production on account of cattle farming, lower production in the mining industry due to the stoppage of mines in Donetsk region, and lower cargo transportation. At the same time, the economy was supported by ongoing repairs on damaged critical infrastructure, road maintenance, residential construction, and high procurement volumes of military products, which boosted growth in the machinery sector. Thus, construction, manufacturing and domestic trade remained the key growth-supporting sectors.

US and Russian officials have cautioned against expecting much progress towards ending the war in Ukraine from today’s meeting in Saudi Arabia.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, commenting yesterday on the upcoming US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, said the “next few weeks and days” will determine whether Russia is serious about negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. He also cautioned against expecting any quick results, saying the Saudi meeting would be a preparatory one, intended to lay the groundwork for a process towards peace, and “one meeting isn’t going to solve it.” At a later stage, when peace negotiations begin in earnest, “Ukraine will have to be involved because they’re the one that were invaded. And the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well and they’ve contributed to this effort,” Rubio said, adding, “we’re just not there yet.” According to US media, US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia, which may pave the way for Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin by the end of February, will take place on Tuesday. Later this week, Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg is expected to visit Kyiv at the conclusion of his European tour during which he collected input for future peace talks from European allies.

Key highlights from last week: Front lines in Ukraine and Russia’s Kursk region remain little-changed despite Russian ground assaults intensifying again. Ukrainian forces conduct first successful counterattacks near Pokrovsk.

The Cabinet of Ministers has tightened its regulations for the pharma market, including introducing an 8% cap on distributors’ mark-up on drugs registered in Ukraine, a 35% cap on retail mark-ups for non-prescription medicines registered in Ukraine, and a regressive retail mark-up cap for prescription medicines.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Feb. 12 decree sanctioning former president Petro Poroshenko (see news above) also imposed similar restrictions on Kostyantyn Zhevago, major shareholder of LSE-listed iron ore producer Ferrexpo, as well as businessman Igor Kolomoysky, former co-owner of Privatbank, his business partner Hennadiy Boholyubov.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree introducing economic and other sanctions against opposition leader Petro Poroshenko, whose served as president of Ukraine from 2014-2019, several big businessmen (see additional news item below), and former pro-Russian lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, who was traded with Russia for Ukrainian prisoners of war in 2022. The sanctions, approved by the National Security and Defense Council, include asset freezes, bans on trading operations, movement of capital out of Ukraine, public and defense procurements, and other restrictions.