Fozzy Group Acquires The Village
According to Scroll.media’s sources, Fozzy Group has acquired the Kyiv-based publication The Village. The information has been confirmed by several market participants, as well as a team closely associated with The Village.
The details of the deal have not been disclosed. Neither the Fozzy Group team nor The Village team responds to questions from the editorial office.
Based on Scroll.media’s calculations and the current market landscape, the acquisition could be valued between $100,000 and $200,000.
The Village Ukraine was launched in 2017 by Andrii Bashtovyi, Mykola Balaban, and Mark Livin, following a long break during which the outlet had not been operating in the country.
After the start of the full-scale war, Bashtovyi and former editor-in-chief Yaroslav Druziuk joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
This is not Fozzy Group’s first venture into online media; the company is already developing the culinary project Шуба (Shuba) and another lifestyle outlet, БЖ (BZH), a deal that closed in 2022.
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After the release of this piece, Fozzy Group issued an official statement:
In October 2025, the media outlet The Village Ukraine became part of Fozzy Group. The company says the goal of this step is to expand communication opportunities with the Ukrainian audience and offer brands a new level of integrated solutions.
Today, the company’s media ecosystem includes the national lifestyle publication BZH, the gastronomic portal Shuba.life, and the communities Sommelier in Green Pants, DrinkSetter, and BeerMaster. Fozzy Group is building a retail media ecosystem that unites its own media with digital assets, in-store digital formats, and digital out-of-home tools. This approach, the company states, enables it to better understand audience behavior and interests — from trendsetters and food lovers to promotional hunters — and to create more effective brand communications.
«For partners and advertisers, the integration of The Village Ukraine opens up more opportunities: a wider selection of formats, access to new audiences, and work with content that builds trust and loyalty among readers. At the same time, growing our own media allows Fozzy to better understand its audience. We see which topics and formats resonate most with readers, track trends, and monitor how the interests of a modern person — a potential Fozzy Group Guest — evolve. This helps build more accurate and effective communications,» says Olena Shabashkevych, CEO of Fozzy Media Group.
«The main advantage is that retail media is the closest point to the Zero Moment of Truth — the moment when a person encounters information about a product before going to a store or starting an online search. We have accurate and relevant data on Guests’ interests and a network of interactive advertising media that help build marketing campaigns aimed at both brand promotion and direct sales growth,» adds Dmytro Panasiuk, Head of the Advertising Technologies Department at Fozzy Group.
Fozzy Media Group now covers 41% of Ukraine’s lifestyle audience — the combined reach of BZH and The Village Ukraine. This makes the company the largest player in the segment: nearly every second user interacts with content from the Fozzy ecosystem.
The editorial team of The Village Ukraine will retain full independence. Fozzy Group states that it will not interfere with editorial policy or content formats.
Fozzy Group Acquires The Village
According to Scroll.media’s sources, Fozzy Group has acquired the Kyiv-based publication The Village. The information has been confirmed by several market participants, as well as a team closely associated with The Village.
The details of the deal have not been disclosed. Neither the Fozzy Group team nor The Village team responds to questions from the editorial office.
Based on Scroll.media’s calculations and the current market landscape, the acquisition could be valued between $100,000 and $200,000.
The Village Ukraine was launched in 2017 by Andrii Bashtovyi, Mykola Balaban, and Mark Livin, following a long break during which the outlet had not been operating in the country.
After the start of the full-scale war, Bashtovyi and former editor-in-chief Yaroslav Druziuk joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
This is not Fozzy Group’s first venture into online media; the company is already developing the culinary project Шуба (Shuba) and another lifestyle outlet, БЖ (BZH), a deal that closed in 2022.
***
After the release of this piece, Fozzy Group issued an official statement:
In October 2025, the media outlet The Village Ukraine became part of Fozzy Group. The company says the goal of this step is to expand communication opportunities with the Ukrainian audience and offer brands a new level of integrated solutions.
Today, the company’s media ecosystem includes the national lifestyle publication BZH, the gastronomic portal Shuba.life, and the communities Sommelier in Green Pants, DrinkSetter, and BeerMaster. Fozzy Group is building a retail media ecosystem that unites its own media with digital assets, in-store digital formats, and digital out-of-home tools. This approach, the company states, enables it to better understand audience behavior and interests — from trendsetters and food lovers to promotional hunters — and to create more effective brand communications.
«For partners and advertisers, the integration of The Village Ukraine opens up more opportunities: a wider selection of formats, access to new audiences, and work with content that builds trust and loyalty among readers. At the same time, growing our own media allows Fozzy to better understand its audience. We see which topics and formats resonate most with readers, track trends, and monitor how the interests of a modern person — a potential Fozzy Group Guest — evolve. This helps build more accurate and effective communications,» says Olena Shabashkevych, CEO of Fozzy Media Group.
«The main advantage is that retail media is the closest point to the Zero Moment of Truth — the moment when a person encounters information about a product before going to a store or starting an online search. We have accurate and relevant data on Guests’ interests and a network of interactive advertising media that help build marketing campaigns aimed at both brand promotion and direct sales growth,» adds Dmytro Panasiuk, Head of the Advertising Technologies Department at Fozzy Group.
Fozzy Media Group now covers 41% of Ukraine’s lifestyle audience — the combined reach of BZH and The Village Ukraine. This makes the company the largest player in the segment: nearly every second user interacts with content from the Fozzy ecosystem.
The editorial team of The Village Ukraine will retain full independence. Fozzy Group states that it will not interfere with editorial policy or content formats.
