Ukraine may be a country at war, but it hasn’t stopped Ukrainians going to restaurants and cafes. In fact, countrywide, attendance in cafes and restaurants is up by 10% since Russia launched its full-scale invasion and war on Feb. 24 last year, the Restorator Reve restaurateurs’ group on Telegram said on Feb. 24, publishing the results of … Read more
The Black Sea grain deal, which allows Ukrainian agricultural produce to be exported to Africa and Asia despite Russia’s naval presence, expires on March 20, 2023, although the Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry hopes it will be extended, the ministry said in a press release on Feb. 21. “When the current grain agreement expires on March 20, … Read more
Over January 2023, Ukraine’s trade turnover amounted to $7.9 billion, which is 35% less than in January 2022, the press service of the State Customs Service reported on Feb. 22. During January of this year, $4.8 billion worth of goods were imported to Ukraine, and $3.1 billion were exported. At the same time, taxable imports … Read more
The International Monetary Fund mission and the Ukrainian government have agreed to review the exiting monitoring program with the involvement of the fund’s Board of Directors, IMF press service reported on Feb. 17. The IMF mission, led by Gavin Gray in Warsaw, assessed how Ukraine fulfills its obligations under the monitoring program. “The IMF staff … Read more
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) forecasts a rise in Ukraine’s GDP only by 1% in 2023, down from the 8% forecast last September, the agency reported on Feb. 16. According to the EBRD, the region of eastern Europe and the Caucasus is facing enormous uncertainty in the short term because of the ongoing war … Read more
The Russian Federation is blocking the operation of the humanitarian grain corridor through the Black Sea, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba and Reconstruction and Development Minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a joint statement published on Feb. 15. Kuleba and Kubrakov highlighted that Russian representatives in the inspection groups and the coordination center in Istanbul have … Read more
The World Bank will provide $50 million in funding to repair Ukrainian transport infrastructure destroyed by Russian attacks, the organization said in a message on its website on Feb. 10. “The World Bank announced today a new $50 million project to repair and restore Ukraine’s transport network to support immediate humanitarian relief and recovery, and … Read more
Consumer price growth in Ukraine accelerated to 0.8% in January 2023, against 0.7% in December and November 2022, but overall the pace of price rises in the country has slowed in recent months, the State Statistics Service reported on Facebook on Feb. 9. The most recent data is significantly below October’s indicator of 2.5% and … Read more
By Jan. 1, 2023, the share of non-performing loans in Ukrainian banks has increased to 38%, largely due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on Feb. 8. In specific figures, the volume of non-performing loans increased by UAH 87 billion ($2.4 billion) over the last year, to UAH … Read more
Ukraine’s international reserves amounted to $29.9 billion as of Feb. 1, 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on Feb. 7. According to the NBU, the central bank’s foreign currency reserves grew by 5% in January, mainly due to inflows to the government’s accounts and spending on servicing and repaying public debt. Meanwhile, forex inflows to … Read more