At the June conference of the PFL, it was decided how team exchanges will take place in the second and third-ranked divisions of domestic football at the end of their competitions.

Thus, according to the results of the battle in the championship group of the first league, two top teams will be promoted. Those that finish in third and fourth places will play knockout matches with 14th and 13th place teams from the UPL.

The three bottom teams in the relegation group will be relegated, while clubs finishing sixth and seventh will play transitional matches against opponents who occupy second and third positions in the second league. Only the strongest team in the second league will receive a direct promotion to the first league.

Since the start of the new season in the first and second leagues is scheduled for July 25 and August 5, respectively, most PFL teams have already returned from vacation.

According to experts, the main contenders for direct promotions to the UPL will be "Metalist 1925" and "Bukovina". The Kharkiv team has already played a friendly match against second league "Skala 1911", which ended in a draw - 1:1. The ranks of the Slavian have been reinforced by defender Vasyl Khravets from "Polesye" and half-back Serhiy Steyn from "Epizentru".

And in "Bukovina", serious personnel changes are happening again. Local football veterans, forward Vasyl Palagniuk and half-back Igor Chaykovsky have left the team, while contracts were signed with 13 (!) newcomers at once. Among them - well-known to fans defender Andriy Busyk from "Metalist", half-backs Bohdan Boychuk from "Chornomorets", Vitaliy Kolcov from "Ingulets" and Ivan Tyshchenko from "LNZ". In their first friendly match, the team of Valeriy Krivenkov took the upper hand over "Podillya" - 3:1.

And in Ternopil's "Niva", a new head coach was quickly found after Oleksandr Stakhiv's contract expired. The new manager is Yevhen Kalynichenko, who previously worked in various positions at "Kolos" and "Zory". One of his assistants will be Igor Shukhovtsev, responsible for goalkeeper preparation, while the sports director will again be Serhiy Zadorozhnii.

As for second league teams, we note the return to the coaching bench of Ivan Fedik, who led "Ruh" in 2020 and 2021, then worked as a football director at this club. This week he became head coach of "Ruh-2", his assistants are Yaroslav Martyniuk and Valentyn Sliusar. His predecessor Volodymyr Bezubyak will now be responsible for the work of the club's academy.