In a new video on its YouTube channel, Kyiv-based think tank Experts Club has presented an analysis of economic trends in the first quarter of 2024 in Ukraine and globally based on official data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the NBU, the UN, the World Bank, and expert forecasts.
Macroeconomic indicators of Ukraine
According to the Center’s founder, Maksym Urakin, in the first quarter of 2024, Ukraine’s GDP grew by 4.1% to 5.3% compared to the same period last year.
“The main growth factors were an increase in agricultural exports and production activity in certain industries. However, the negative balance of foreign trade in goods in the first quarter amounted to almost $6 billion, which is 10% more than last year. This is due to an increase in energy imports after the strikes on the Ukrainian energy sector in March,” Urakin said.
According to the founder of the Experts Club, Ukraine’s national debt has reached a new historical high of $151 billion, which is almost 6 trillion hryvnia in hryvnia equivalent. Inflation in Ukraine in the first quarter was 1% year-on-year, which is in line with the NBU’s target range.
Global economy
Maksym Urakin noted that analysts forecast that the global economy will grow by 2% in 2024, which is lower than expected at the end of last year. The main reasons for the slowdown are high interest rates in developed countries and global geopolitical uncertainty.
“The US economy grew by 1.6% in the first quarter of 2024, which is lower than the growth rate observed in previous quarters, but still at an acceptable level for the development of the country’s economy. China’s economy grew by 5% due to a partial recovery from the crisis and government injections into the technology cluster,” the expert summarized.
He also reminded that the European Commission expects the eurozone economy to grow by only 0.8% in 2024, even less than 1%.
“High inflation and weak domestic demand remain the main problems of the EU countries. However, the British economy showed a modest growth of 0.6%, which indicates a weak recovery after the pandemic and Brexit,” Urakin said.
The economic situation in the world remains tense and depends on many factors, including geopolitical risks and changes in the global economic and political landscape. Experts Club will continue to monitor the situation and provide up-to-date and balanced news.
You can learn more about the macroeconomics of Ukraine and the world in the video by following the link:
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Shri Ravi Shankar has been appointed as the new Ambassador of India to Ukraine on May 30, 2024. This was reported the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India.
Shri Ravi Shankar, who is currently working as an additional secretary in the Ministry, has previously held positions in the Indian government. He is expected to take up his duties in the near future.
India recognized Ukraine’s independence on December 26, 1991. On January 17, 1992, diplomatic relations between Ukraine and India were established.
Source: mea.gov.in
The funeral service for Oleksandr Martynenko, the founder and head of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, will take place on May 31 at 11:00 a.m. at Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv.
A bus transfer will be organized from Mykhailivska Square at 10:30 a.m. for those wishing to pay their last respects.
As a reminder, Oleksandr Martynenko passed away on Tuesday, May 28, at the age of 63.
Born in 1960, Oleksandr Martynenko graduated from the Economics Department of Kharkiv State University and founded and headed the Interfax-Ukraine news agency in 1992. He was also Deputy Head (1991) and Consultant (2001) of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, Press Secretary of the President of Ukraine (1998-2001), Secretary of the Presidential Council on Information Policy (2001-2002), and member of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting (2002-2003).
He is a holder of the Order of Merit III degree (2022), the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, V degree (2020). Since 2010, he has been an Honored Journalist of Ukraine.
“Interfax-Ukraine is an independent Ukrainian news agency that has been operating in the Ukrainian political and economic information market since 1992. It produces more than 40 news products in four languages. The agency’s editorial office is located in Kyiv. “Interfax-Ukraine is not part of any foreign media holdings. The founder and owner of Interfax-Ukraine was Oleksandr Martynenko. As reported at the end of 2023, Interfax-Ukraine news agency became the official representative of the international company Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) in the Ukrainian market. The agency has been a member and official service provider of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine since 2005.
Forum “Grain. Pigs. Meat” will be held on June 12 and will bring together many experts.
The new pig industry of Ukraine means 20 million pigs (a 4-fold increase) and an additional 6 billion euros of added value annually!
Ukraine’s economic achievements are now more important than ever!
At the Forum “Grain. Pigs. Meat” Forum on June 12, 2024, producers and processors will gather to formulate a common strategy for development and maintaining profitability.
The main issues of the forum:
– Ways to overcome the blocking of pork exports
– Eradication of ASF in Ukraine through ASF vaccine prevention
– Strategy for implementing the New Pig Production Program in Ukraine
– Investment opportunities in the pig business
– New equipment and innovations in meat processing
– New products and innovations in pig breeding
These and other useful issues for agrarian businessmen will be revealed at the forum “Grain. Pigs. Meat” forum on June 12, 2024
Interfax-Ukraine is the official media partner of the event.
Registration by the link: https://meatindustry.com.ua/
On May 23 in Kyiv, as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast, the Embassy organized a scientific and practical conference “Manas – Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”.
The diplomatic event was attended by the Minister of Culture of Ukraine R. Karandeev, 13 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, representatives of the diplomatic corps, political and public figures, Ukrainian scientists in the field of Turkology/philology, representatives of universities in Kiev, representatives of the Kyrgyz diaspora. Also from the Kyrgyz side via videoconference took part the president of the State Institution “National Academy ‘Manas’ T.Bakchiev, the translator of the book – chairman of the Ukrainian Society ‘Bereginya’ in Kyrgyzstan V.Narozia and artist Z.Ilipov.
The conference was held in Kyrgyz-Ukrainian-English and discussed the influence of Manas on world culture. The participants were shown a video “Manas”, and there was also a presentation of Sayakbai Karalaev’s book “Kyrgyz Folk Epic Yer-Toshtyuk”, recently published in Ukrainian, which was published with funds from Ukrainian sponsors. The new book was presented to each conference participant as a gift.
Speakers discussed the influence of Kyrgyz culture on world literature and noted the importance of such an event for deepening Kyrgyz-Ukrainian cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
The diplomatic event was held at a high level and received a positive response from the participants.
The new books will be donated to universities and libraries in Ukraine.
The Kyrgyz Republic recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 20, 1991. On September 19, 1992 diplomatic relations were established. In 1993 the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic was opened in Kiev, and in 2000 the Embassy of Ukraine in Kyrgyzstan.
In the first quarter of 2024, 86 thousand passenger cars were imported to Ukraine. Their total declared value amounted to $1.1 billion, and the state budget received UAH 11.1 billion for the import of these cars. For comparison, in the first quarter of 2023, 52 thousand cars were imported to Ukraine (67% less than in the first quarter of 2024) with a declared value of more than $705.8 million (61% less than in the first quarter of 2024) and UAH 7.4 billion was paid to the budget (49% less than in the first quarter of 2024).
Most of the cars were imported from Germany – 17.1 thousand cars, the United States – 14.5 thousand cars, and China – 9.1 thousand cars. The TOP-5 includes cars from Japan – 8.9 thousand cars and South Korea – 4.4 thousand cars. The top ten countries from which most cars were imported to Ukraine are closing: Slovakia – 4.2 thousand cars, France – 4.1 thousand cars, Mexico – 4 thousand cars, the United Kingdom – 3.7 thousand cars, and the Czech Republic – 3.7 thousand cars.
In terms of value, the largest imports of cars came from the United States – $211.2 million (UAH 2 billion was paid to the state budget), Germany – $168.7 million (more than UAH 2.1 billion was paid to the state budget), China – $138.2 million (the state budget received UAH 182.3 million).
The top 5 countries in terms of the declared value of imported cars are Japan – $133.6 million (the budget received almost UAH 1.8 billion) and Slovakia – $81.7 million (the state budget received UAH 788.4 million).
The top 10 countries in terms of the value of imported passenger cars are as follows: The United Kingdom – by $59.6 million (almost UAH 492 million was paid to the budget), Hungary – $53.2 million (the budget received over UAH 515.3 million), South Korea – $49.3 million (the budget received UAH 468.4 million), Poland – $40.2 million (over UAH 351.6 million was paid to the state budget) and Romania – $38.8 million (UAH 311.9 million was transferred to the budget of Ukraine).
