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For first time since February, Ukraine’s labor shortage shows a slight decrease

Nowadays, the top obstacle to doing business in Ukraine is labor shortages. Nevertheless, a July survey demonstrates a 5 percentage points decrease of the share of companies citing this problem compared with June. The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) conducted it among 472 industrial enterprises.
For the first time since February 2026, the share of companies reporting a labor shortage decreased to 66%, compared with 71% in June. Mainly microbusinesses drove the decline: 34% of respondents in that segment cited staffing as their main obstacle, compared with 49% in June.
By contrast, midsize businesses showed a slightly worsened picture: 74% of respondents cited labor shortages as their top problem in July, down from 73% in June.
The reason of such results may be a break in the negative labor-market trend, or adaptation of businesses to difficult wartime conditions. They had to make more flexible schedules, train workers without relevant qualifications, and take similar measures.

Geographically, more than 80% of surveyed businesses facing a labor shortage were situated in Chernivtsi, Lviv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Zhytomyr oblasts.

According to Oksana Kuziakiv, executive director of the IER, 73% of businesses answered positively when asked directly about feeling a labor shortage.

She specified that the problem is felt most by midsize (85%) and large (88%) enterprises. Chemical manufacturing (84%), construction-materials production (79%), and metallurgy and metalworking (78%) are the most concerned among industries. The situation is the best in microbusinesses (34%) and the printing industry (55%).

As 79.4% of businesses said, labor conscription significantly affects staffing levels. Second most acute problem is restrictions on draft deferrals for workers, according to 57.8% of respondents. The third obstacle is workers leaving the country (52.3%).

Also, the second-biggest overall obstacle to doing business is rising prices for raw materials, supplies and goods remained. The share of companies citing it rose to 57% from 50% in June. The IER said that it is the highest level in three years, since August 2023.

The third major difficulty is safety. 44% of business representatives named it their main problem, compared with 41% in June. It means that, for six months in a row, safety concerns have ranked among the main three difficulties.

Traditionally, workplace safety is a more acute problem for large enterprises (54%). Meanwhile, only 28% of microbusinesses consider it as their main obstacle.

Overall, approximately 70% of Ukrainian businesses reported labor shortages in June 2026.

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AI E-Government expanses into jobs and benefits in Kazakhstan

A deeper overhaul of Kazakhstan e-government system is to come. Artificial intelligence is expected to identify services citizens need, to match unemployed people with vacancies. It will also assist officials in identifying potential recipients of social assistance.
Minister of AI and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev and Minister of Labor and Social Protection Askarbek Yertayev outlined the plans at a government meeting on August 11. 50 of the most frequently used public services currently work with eGov GPT, which the government was testing earlier this year. Madiyev said that these account for around 30% of citizens’ requests. By the end of the year, that share would increase to 70%. According to Madiyev, applicants used the assistant over 150,000 times during its first four months. As an official government description of the system says, it can identify the appropriate public service from a user’s request and help complete it online.
Users should describe their situation to eGov GPT (“I need to register my address” or “My child is starting school this year”). Then, the assistant identifies the relevant procedure, helps prepare the application, and guides it through the government system.
E-government system started to appear in Kazakhstan in the 2000s. It led the country to the 24th place among 193 states in the latest UN E-Government Survey. Countries’ online public services, the infrastructure and human capacity to use them are assessed by the index.
Earlier, digitizing a service meant that a citizen could fill in the required form online instead of travelling to a Public Service Centre. Now the work will become even more simple.
Madiyev reports a 30% downfall of the number of requests handled directly by Public Service Centre staff. So, the plan of authorities’ is a gradual transformation of the centres into what they call AI offices. It will be possible for visitors to submit a request through eGov GPT, apply for an identity card, passport, or driving licence through a terminal. They will also be able to collect the finished document from a parcel locker, including at weekends.
Also, government-held information on an unemployed person’s occupation, qualifications, and skills will be compared with employers’ requirements by a new Digital Employment Service. When it finds a match, it will send an offer to the citizen through eGov, the state employment portal Enbek.kz, or an SMS from the 1414 service number. Also, recommendation of training or retraining, or relocation in another region if a suitable vacancy is available will be possible.
The Pavlodar region in north-eastern Kazakhstan was the first to experience a trial in July. Yertayev reports that 962 potential jobseekers subsequently found work.
They expect to introduce algorithms into social assistance from October to identify potential recipients of state payments in advance, with the help of government databases.

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As of 1Q2026, Georgia expands business sector turnover

In the first quarter of 2026 Georgia’s business sector turnover grew up by 10.7% compared to the same period of 2025. Totally, it reached 62 billion lari ($23.3 billion).
According to the data obtained by Trend from the country’s National Statistics Office, that production value increased by 12.4% year-on-year to 23.3 billion lari ($8.8 billion).
Trade, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, construction, information and communications technologies (ICT), tourism, financial services, and agriculture are main drivers of Georgia’s business sector. Bank of Georgia, TBC Bank, Georgian Railway, Georgian State Electrosystem, large energy, real estate and logistics companies are major corporate players.
Georgia’s liberal tax regime and investment legislation made it one of the most business-friendly economies in the region. The so-called Estonian model exempts retained and reinvested corporate profits from profit tax since 2017. Meanwhile, the standard corporate profit tax applies only to distributed earnings.
Four Free Industrial Zones in Poti, Kutaisi and Tbilisi offer extensive tax incentives for export-oriented businesses. Other governmental measure that supports entrepreneurship is the Enterprise Georgia program promoting investment, exports and SME development.

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550,000 entities appeared in Kazakhstan’s SME sector in H1 2026

Qazinform News Agency reports that Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov chaired a meeting on business development with the Finance and National Economy ministries and the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs.
Particularly, business activity, sectoral and regional indicators, the current situation in entrepreneurship, preliminary results of tax reform were the main topics of the meeting. The participants also discussed measures to ensure fair regulation of business entities.
As Finance Minister Madi Takiyev reported, corporate income tax revenues to the national budget increased by 15.7% in the first half of the year. The financial sector and manufacturing demonstrated a particular growth.
According to the Finance Ministry, the number of small and medium-sized businesses increased by around 550,000 in the first half of the year. It was a result of the legalization of self-employed workers. However, self-employed individuals make only social payments and don’t pay taxes. Nevertheless, a significant reduction in artificial business fragmentation led to closure of Around 260,000 small and medium-sized enterprises with no employees.
Also, several issues concerning the business community and presented proposals on behalf of entrepreneurs were raised by Atameken Chairman Kanat Sharlapayev. Moreover, First Vice Minister of National Economy Azamat Amrin visited the meeting.
As a result of the discussion, Prime Minister Bektenov gave instructions for continued cooperation. Other aims were improvement of government-business coordination and achievement of sustainable economic growth. Amrin gave the Finance and National Economy ministries and the Atameken Chamber the task to conduct monthly comprehensive analyses of the entrepreneurial sector across different industries and regions.

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Talks Between the President of Turkmenistan and the Prime Minister of Georgia were focused on Transport, Energy, and Business

Negotiations between President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze took place on 17 July 2026 in Tbilisi.
The sides conducted the meeting in both a tete-a-tete format and with expanded delegations. Ashgabat and Tbilisi signed a substantial package of bilateral documents laying the foundation for long-term partnership following the visit. As Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze emphasized during the one-on-one meeting, Georgia attaches great importance to deepening a productive dialogue with Turkmenistan.
From his side, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov mentioned the close cooperation established between the two countries in political-diplomatic, trade-economic, and cultural-humanitarian spheres. Also, Berdimuhamedov thanked the Georgian side for its consistent support of Turkmenistan’s policy of permanent neutrality and its international initiatives at the United Nations.
As the both sides confirmed during the negotiations, they are ready to further deepen relations in the political, trade-economic, cultural, and humanitarian spheres. They paid particular attention to cooperation in the transport and energy sectors. Consequently, Turkmenistan and Georgia recognized the exceptional importance of connectivity and the development of the Middle Corridor. The both countries said they were ready to contribute to the further development of trans-Caspian transport routes. Also, the continuity of the strategic course whose solid foundation was laid in 2015 during the visit of the National Leader of the Turkmen people was stressed during the expanded-format negotiations with government delegations.
They identified the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation as the key mechanism for enhancing business partnership, coordinating the growth of bilateral trade. A top strategic priority on the joint agenda was transport and logistics. As the President of Turkmenistan confirmed, he was ready to assist Georgia in accessing the markets of Central Asia, South Asia, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Both sides paid particular attention to the implementation of transit corridors, including the multimodal Lapis Lazuli route (Afghanistan–Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Türkiye). The integration into the TRACECA corridor system was also mentioned.
Moreover, The President also got interested in expanding cooperation in the energy sector. He was ready to discuss on future collaboration in this area substantively.
Scientific and educational ties, tourism, and intercultural relations were covered by the humanitarian dimension of the talks. The Turkmen side proposed considering sister-city ties between the major port cities of Turkmenbashi and Batumi. This will continue the practice of twinning relations between the cities, following the example of Arkadag and Telavi.
Also, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov invited Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to visit Turkmenistan at a convenient time at the conclusion of the official meeting. Kobakhidze accepted the invitation with gratitude.
Finally, the both sides highly assessed the outcomes of the state visit after the official ceremony.

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Record business registrations in Kazakhstan are driven by foreign ownership

Highest number of newly registered legal entities in nearly three years was recorded in Kazakhstan. As the Data Hub Telegram channel reports, around 4,500 new companies were registered in June alone by the justice authorities. It is the highest monthly figure since November 2022.
The number of newly registered entities increased by 31%, compared with May 2026. Meanwhile, calculations based on data from Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics show that the year-on-year increase attained 44%.
Much of the growth was created by companies with foreign ownership. Compared with June last year, their number demonstrated a 49% increase month-on-month. Comparatively, only 16, or 0.4% all legal entities registered in June, were wholly state-owned.
Around 2,500 legal entities, or 55.7% of newly registered companies, were privately owned. Meanwhile, around 1,960 entities, or 44%, had foreign ownership.
Almaty demonstrated the most notable business activity, with around 2,400 new legal entities registered. It is more than half of all registrations nationwide in June. They established around 1,700 of those entities with foreign capital.
Then followed Astana (777 new entities registered during the month, around 17% of the total).
The majority of all newly registered legal entities were classified as small businesses. 4,400 belonged to small enterprises category.

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Higher duty-free limit is necessary, according to Free Business association.

According to the Association of Free Businesses, the current limit no longer reflects economic realities. So, the Ministry of Finance has called on to increase the duty-free threshold for postal items from GEL 300 to GEL 900. The association introduced the existing threshold in 2009, but changes in the country’s economy (currency depreciation, inflation and […]

New Serbian accounting law

The Ministry of Finance of Serbia has drafted a new Accounting Law to replace the one of 2019. Together with a new draft Audit Law, it is designed to bring the country closer to European Union reporting standards ahead of accession.
They expect most of the new rules to come into force from 2027 and the heaviest new obligations to push out to 2030.
In general, the law divides companies into micro, small, medium and large.
The first change concerns the revenue ceilings: the thresholds increase to nearly €900,000, €10 million and €50 million.
The second change is based on “net operating revenue” — only the sale of goods, products and services. It leaves out subsidies, changes in inventory and capitalized work. Some companies could think that it means dropping into a lower category and a lighter reporting burden for them.
Nevertheless, the mandatory-audit threshold stays at total revenue above €4.4 million, according to the draft Audit Law.
In reality, large entities, listed and public-interest entities, and parent companies that prepare consolidated accounts would apply full IFRS. Small and medium companies will have the option to move up to full IFRS, but would use IFRS for SMEs. A national rulebook built on general accounting principles will be mandatory for micro entities, with the option of IFRS for SMEs. The framework for most mid-sized firms will not change.
According to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, large and public-interest entities would have to disclose environmental, social and governance information on a “double materiality” basis. It means they must report how sustainability issues affect the business and how the business affects people and the planet. Also, large multinational groups will have to report income tax publicly country-by-country.
Nevertheless, these obligations will begin only in 2030. Only Serbian subsidiaries of EU groups already face the CSRD at group level.
Many Serbian companies entrust their accounting to an external agency. So, accounting-service providers would have to carry mandatory professional-liability insurance, with a minimum sum tied to their prior-year fee income. It will be necessary to undergo continuous verification that they still meet licensing conditions, at their own cost. Another task is to complete ongoing professional training at designated bodies. Finally, additional data about their clients must be filed.
These costs will show up in fees for the businesses.
Also, day-to-day administration will undergo a few changes. Firstly, not only the legal representative but also the people responsible for preparing financial statements would have to sign them. Secondly, the deadline for submitting and recording accounting documents would move from five to eight working days. Finally, they will spell out retention periods: 20 years for financial statements and annual reports, 10 for the journal and general ledger, five for auxiliary ledgers.

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Georgia Discusses Joint Business Projects with Uzbekistan

Regular meeting of the Uzbek-Georgian Business Council took place in Tbilisi on 1 July 2026. It prepared the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to Georgia.
Prospects for expanding trade and economic cooperation, developing industrial cooperation, and implementing new investment projects were in the spotlight of the discussion.
The Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, Odilkhon Rustamov, the President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Giorgi Pertaia, and representatives of leading business circles from both countries attended the meeting.
Positive dynamics in bilateral economic cooperation was noted by participants. The volume of mutual trade reached US$267.6 million by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, it stood at US$89 million in 2017. US$77.2 million of this total volume were accounted for Uzbek exports to Georgia. Meanwhile, imports from Georgia attained US$190.4 million.
Both parties agree that they will increase mutual trade turnover to US$1 billion due to effective utilization of the free trade regime and transport and logistics potential.
Also, the pharmaceutical sector, electrical engineering and chemical industries, construction materials production, agricultural processing, textiles, winemaking, as well as in the fields of transport and logistics have a great potential for implementing joint projects.
Mutual intention to intensify interaction between the business communities of Uzbekistan and Georgia, support joint investment projects, and consistently develop cooperation within the framework of the Uzbek-Georgian Business Council was reaffirmed following the meeting.

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Average salary in Novi Sad decreased in April compared to March

The data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia show that the average gross salary in Novi Sad for April this year was 191,525 dinars, including taxes and contributions. That means that residents of Novi Sad earned less than in March.
The amount of the net salary in the capital of Vojvodina in April reached 138,914 dinars, without taxes and contributions. 021.rs reports that it is 2,500 dinars less than in March.
However, the average salary across the whole of Serbia in April was 200 dinars more than in March (121,805 dinars).
Nevertheless, the median salary remains a much more reliable indicator of the purchasing power of Serbian citizens, despite the average salary for April this year exceeding €1,000.
As of April, the median salary in Serbia stood at 94,585 dinars. As statistics from the Republic Office show, it is significantly lower than average earnings.
Meanwhile, the average net salary in Serbia has increased from 109,000 dinars to 121,000 dinars over the past year. This is around 12,000 dinars more, but the inflation rate for that period stands at 3.3 per cent.
They expected Novi Sad to be the city with the highest earnings in Vojvodina. Despite these expectations, Pančevo with 122,000 dinars and Inđija with 116,000 dinars overtook Vršac in April. So, Novi Sad takes the fourth place with a salary of 115,000 dinars.
The highest average salary in the entire country was in Belgrade. In April it attained 150,000 dinars (3,000 less than in March).

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