AGENDA

Paint Forum UA (Ukrainian Paint & Coatings Forum)

Conference theme: “Market and Security”
October 22-23, 2026

2026 has turned out to be, perhaps, the most difficult year for the Ukrainian paint and coatings market since the start of the full-scale invasion. The war directly affects business. This year, not only production and infrastructure facilities are being hit, but also retail venues. Large DIY hypermarkets are now also in the line of fire, and not only in regions close to the combat zone but far from it as well. As a result, physical retail space is shrinking. The staffing issue is becoming ever more acute. Mobilization, migration, and the general shortage of people make it harder for companies to keep their teams, find specialists, and plan their work properly.

However, internal problems are not the whole story. This year, external factors are putting much more noticeable pressure on the market: logistics are changing, raw material markets are unstable, shortages occur periodically, and prices and supply geography are shifting. At the same time, businesses have to prepare for new environmental and regulatory requirements, including REACH UA, CLP UA, PPWR and other changes linked to gradual integration into European regulation.

In these conditions, Ukrainian manufacturers have to maintain business resilience in several areas at once: preserving production and teams, supplying their enterprises with raw materials, restructuring logistics, adapting to new requirements, and keeping sales channels, all without giving up their development plans.

It is precisely this reality, without any attempt to simplify it, that we will discuss at Paint Forum 2026.

Day 1: October 22, Thursday

10:00-12:00 Session: “ECONOMY, CONSTRUCTION AND REGULATION”

What we will talk about
How do you plan operations and development when familiar benchmarks are no longer reliable and demand is increasingly hard to forecast?

Presentation topics

Which economic indicators can be relied on today, and which forecasts can still be trusted?
Where is construction, renovation and reconstruction really happening today, and where does live demand for construction materials and paints and coatings remain?
Which government, international and donor programs are already giving the market real volumes, and which are still only expectations?
What is changing in the technical regulation of construction products, and what do manufacturers need to prepare for now?
What really changes in packaging requirements for paints and coatings after PPWR begins to apply on August 12, 2026?
How much could it cost businesses to adapt packaging and products to the new requirements?
Where should one look for real growth points in the construction and paint and coatings markets in 2027?

13:00-15:00 Session: “REACH UA AND CLP UA: IMPLEMENTATION STAGES AND PROBLEMS”

What we will talk about
The new requirements are already entering practice. The main question is how feasible they are and what compliance will cost businesses.

Presentation topics

How is the pre-registration stage going, and what problems have already emerged in practice?
How realistic is it to obtain from foreign suppliers all the data and documents businesses will need?
How much will REACH UA and CLP UA actually cost companies, covering registration, support, documentation, classification and labeling?
To what extent do the current mechanisms take into account the specifics of paint and coatings manufacturers, importers and suppliers of chemical raw materials?
What role does the REACH/CLP working group play today, and do business proposals really influence further decisions?

Questions for discussion

How can the new requirements be met without turning them into an excessive financial and administrative burden for companies?
To what extent do current deadlines and procedures match the real capabilities of businesses in wartime?
What would the market like to change or clarify before the next stages of implementation?

A separate part of the session will be an open dialogue among businesses, regulators, working group members, and everyone directly involved in implementing REACH UA and CLP UA. We will try to bring the key participants of the process into this discussion, so that the market can outline its problems, get answers, and present its arguments to those who influence further decisions.

15:30-17:30 Session: “RAW MATERIALS MARKET: VOLUMES, PRICES, FORECASTS”

What we will talk about
The price of raw materials today is no longer just the supplier’s price. It is availability, lead times, logistics, inventory and the risk of production stoppage.

Presentation topics

Which types of raw materials have become the most problematic in 2026 in terms of availability and price?
What is happening with key raw material groups for paints and coatings: TiO2, dispersions, resins, solvents, pigments, fillers and additives?
Which factors influence prices the most today?
How much have supply geography and structure changed?
What should we expect from raw material markets in 2027?

Questions for discussion

How risky is it today to depend on a single supplier or a single source of supply?
Can the stated delivery times be relied upon, and where do additional costs most often arise?
What is the smarter choice: increasing safety stock or preserving working capital?
Does the market have enough warehouse infrastructure, and how much does storage cost today?
How can procurement and logistics be built so that production does not stop and rising costs do not eat into product economics?

Day 2: October 23, Friday

09:30-11:00 Session: “THE PAINT AND COATINGS MARKET IN 2026: EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY”

What we will talk about
The market is changing not only in volumes. The geography of demand, the consumer, and the space in which products can be sold today are all changing.

Presentation topics

What did we expect the market to look like in 2026, and what did we actually get?
What is happening with the volumes of production, imports and consumption of paints and coatings?
How do population migration and the shrinking of the active market territory change the geography of demand?
Where does real demand persist today, and which paint and coating categories prove most resilient?

Questions for discussion

How do the loss and destruction of retail venues affect sales and product availability in the regions?
How has the consumer changed, and how has their approach to choosing products changed?
Are we really seeing a market recovery, or only its redistribution?
What should manufacturers take into account from the 2026 experience when planning for 2027?

11:30-13:00 Session: “MADE TO SELL: WHY MANUFACTURING DOES NOT MEAN SELLING”

What we will talk about
A good product still has to be brought to the buyer, on terms where sales bring in money rather than just volume.

Presentation topics

Which sales channels today truly deliver volume and profit, and which provide only presence?
What does it really cost a manufacturer to work with a large retail chain, taking into account inventory, logistics, promotions and other terms?
What has a stronger influence on product sales today: price, brand, packaging, service or channel management?
How is the role of DIY, distribution, specialized retail and online changing?
Private label: additional volume, or the risk of raising a competitor to your own brand?

Questions for discussion

How can you avoid losing margin in the chase for sales volume?
How many SKUs does the market really need?
Why might a good product fail to sell?
Where do manufacturers most often go wrong before launching a product?
How can sales be built so that a product is not merely present on the market but actually sells and brings in money?