Business news from Ukraine

A meeting of the Capital Region discussion club was held at the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency to discuss the vision of Ukraine’s victory and present the TOP-100 Most Influential People 2024 project.

During the meeting, the results of a sociological survey conducted by Active Group were presented, which showed that the idea of victory is transforming. The club members discussed the mood of Ukrainians and residents of Kyiv region, in particular in the context of the third year of full-scale war. Key issues included assessing the performance of local authorities, what people are willing to do to win, what victory means to them (return of borders, surrender of the enemy or ceasefire), and what hopes and fears people have for the so-called post-war day.

“Studies show that Ukrainians expect the war to continue for at least another six months. Amid talks of a truce after November 2024, the number of people willing to negotiate with Russia without conditions as soon as possible is falling, while at the same time, people’s desire to negotiate is growing, provided that the fighting stops completely. According to respondents, the Armed Forces are responsible for the success of the counteroffensive and defense, while international partners and allies and the President are responsible for the failure,” said Andriy Yeremenko, head of the sociological company Active Group.

Oleh Ivanenko, a member of the Kyiv regional council, said there are two ways to end the war quickly. The first, in his opinion, lies in the plane of Ukrainian politics, the second in American politics.

“The American option is the George Washington, the largest aircraft carrier, entering the Black Sea, and the war ends. The Ukrainian option is to declare a state of war. And then we will have no problems with demobilization, mobilization, because all MPs, officials, and the presidential administration are going to war,” he emphasized.

Oleksandr Magdych, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and head of the Bila Tserkva Volunteer Corps, added that to achieve peace and victory, a general mobilization of the economy and citizens is needed, as well as a law on demobilization and rotation for the military.

“The unity of our society, our work to defend our country, starting with volunteers, soldiers, the government, the opposition – everyone is working for the result. Everyone wants the war to end on Ukrainian terms as soon as possible. This is very important, and my communication with our citizens confirms this. We communicate in different regions, on the contact lines with soldiers and volunteers of the volunteer battalion,” said Volodymyr Kreidenko, MP, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Transport.

Serhiy Guliyev, a member of the Vyshneve City Council and entrepreneur, said that the Safe Region community on Viber and Telegram, which he runs, already has more than half a million members from 41 countries.

“When the full-scale invasion began, the Sergey Guliyev Foundation was created, which is now recognized as the most powerful. I am pleased that a large percentage of the efforts to win are made by volunteers. We have been working around the clock for three years now. We have raised and sent hundreds of millions of hryvnias and thousands of trucks with aid to the frontline,” added Guliyev.

The discussion club also presented the project “TOP 100 Most Influential People of 2024”. The rating includes representatives of government, business, culture, science, and the public.

The top ten are Ruslan Kravchenko, former head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration and head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine; Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Oleksiy Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Community and Territorial Development, former deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Yaroslav Dobriansky, acting head of the Kyiv Regional Council; Oleh Tatarov, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Anatoliy Shchadylo, head of the Main Department of the National Police in Kyiv Region; and Anatoliy Shchadylo, former deputy head of the National Police in Kyiv.

According to the authors of the rating, they do not focus only on positions. The main thing for them is the real impact of a person on the region, his or her contribution to the development of Kyiv region, initiatives and actions that change the life of the community.

The project “TOP-100 Most Influential People” has been implemented since 2017 by the creative team of the Moya Kyivshchyna News Agency and the editorial board of the independent newspaper Slovo i Dilo with the participation of experts from the Institute of Ukrainian Politics.

The rating is based on information and analytical research on the socio-political situation in the region. The publication is available both in print and online on the project’s website: https://top-100.kyiv.ua.

The Discussion Club is organized by the Moya Kyivshchyna News Agency, the Institute of Ukrainian Politics, and the sociological company Active Group. It brings together experts, politicians, MPs, academics, military and public figures.

US President Donald Trump has announced the introduction of large-scale duties on US imports. The tariffs are expected to affect trade volumes worth trillions of dollars.

Speaking in the Rose Garden near the White House, the US president announced “very, very good news”.
“In a few minutes, I will sign a historic executive order on reciprocal tariffs for countries around the world. Reciprocal. That means what they do to us, we’ll do to them. Very simple. It couldn’t be simpler,” Trump noted.
He criticized Thailand, India, Vietnam and other countries for unfair, in his opinion, tariff policies and tax regimes on American goods. And gave the example that the US charges only 2.4% duty on motorcycles, while India charges 70% and Vietnam 75%.

Also before signing the executive order, he went on to describe at length the “unfair tariffs” that other countries have imposed on U.S. goods. “Sometimes friends are worse than enemies,” Trump said, referring to the high tariffs that certain allied countries like Japan have imposed.

“This is one of the most important days in American history. This is our declaration of economic independence,” the US president emphasized.

“Against countries that treat us badly, we will calculate the sum of their tariffs, non-monetary barriers and other forms of fraud,” he said, explaining exactly how much ‘reciprocal tariffs’ the US will impose.

He also reiterated that the U.S. will impose 25 percent tariffs on all foreign-assembled cars at midnight April 2 to 3. And he also announced a universal or “minimum basic tariff” of 10 percent on imports.
The amount of duties by major U.S. trading partners

According to the executive order, the U.S. imposes additional duties in the amount of:

China – 34%
European Union – 20%
Vietnam – 46%
Taiwan – 32%
Japan – 24%
South Korea – 25%
Thailand – 36%
Switzerland – 31%
Indonesia – 32%
Malaysia – 24%
Cambodia – 49%
Great Britain – 10%
South Africa – 30%
Brazil – 10%
Bangladesh – 34%
Singapore – 10%
Israel – 17%
Philippines – 17%
Chile – 10%
Pakistan – 29%
Sri Lanka – 44%

The reciprocal tariffs will come into effect on April 9, 2025. And all countries will start paying the minimum base tariff on April 5.

And the base tariff of 10% will be added to the tariffs imposed against specific countries. This means, for example, that for Chinese goods the tariff will be 44% (34+10), for goods from the EU – 30% (20+10).

How the new duties were prepared

Previously, Trump and his inner circle named the European Union, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India as likely targets of future duties in an effort to “punish unfair trade practices.”

According to Bloomberg, $33 trillion worth of global trade is in the crosshairs, with countries from Brazil to China facing a 4 to 90 percent drop in exports to the United States. Presumably, average duties could rise by 15%, driving up inflation and increasing the risk of a U.S. recession.

The measures taken today are in addition to steps taken since Trump took office in January. His administration has imposed an additional 20% tax on all imports from China and 25% on many goods from Mexico and Canada. There is also a global 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports. An executive order was also signed imposing 25% duties on imports of automobiles and certain parts (effective April 3).

What the consequences could be

According to Bloomberg, under the maximum approach, average tariff rates in the U.S. would increase to 2%, which would reduce U.S. GDP by 4% and increase prices by nearly 2.5% over two to three years.
The impact on trading partners in any scenario would be severe. China, the EU, and India could top the list of countries that would be affected by the impact on exports to the US, although their economies could endure. Canada and Southeast Asian countries are likely to feel a larger overall impact.