The net inflow to Ukraine during the week of April 8-14 decreased from a record 97 thousand people a week earlier to 56 thousand, which is also very high and can be explained by the Easter holidays.
According to the State Border Service on Facebook, the flow to leave Ukraine during that week slightly increased – from 241 thousand to 246 thousand people, while the flow to enter decreased from 338 thousand to 302 thousand people.
The number of cars crossing the western Ukrainian border, according to the department, in the 15th week of the year decreased from 132 thousand to 123 thousand, and the number of vehicles with humanitarian cargoes, from 522 to 459.
The biggest net inflow to Ukraine – more than 10 thousand people per day – was fixed on Friday and at week-ends.
Polish State Border Service also recorded a decrease in the net inflow to Ukraine for the last seven days – 49.4 thousand people compared to 87.7 thousand a week earlier.
According to the Polish Ministry, the weekly flow from Ukraine to Poland increased from 155.3 thousand people to 157.3 thousand, whereas the return flow from Poland to Ukraine decreased from 243 thousand people to 206.7 thousand.
All in all, from the beginning of the war to April 14, 2023, 11,107 million people arrived in Poland from Ukraine, whereas 9,375 million people went in the opposite direction.
As it was reported, since May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine was replaced by an inflow, which lasted until September 23 and amounted to 409 thousand people.
However, during the last week of September, the net outflow was 28 thousand people at once, and one of the possible reasons was a reaction to mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, and then the probable reason for the continued net outflow was the massive shelling of energy infrastructure. It temporarily stopped in the second half of December and early January for the period of holidays, but from the second week of January it resumed again and cumulatively reached 223 thousand people by the anniversary of the full-scale war since late September.
However, since that moment 186 thousand more people entered Ukraine than left.
As Deputy Economy Minister Sergei Sobolev noted in early March, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home gives a 0.5% increase in GDP.
According to UNHCR data as of April 11, a total of 20.42 million people left Ukraine since the war began (not including the flow of people into the country), of which 10.75 million left for Poland, 2.85 million for Russia (data as of October 3), 2.49 million for Hungary, 2.21 million for Romania, 1.30 million for Slovakia, 0.80 million for Moldova and 0.02 million for Belarus.
At the same time, according to the UN, from February 28, 2022 to April 11, 2023, 11.89 million people arrived in Ukraine (excluding the data of Hungary, Russia and Belarus).
The number of Ukrainians registered in Europe with temporary protection status or similar reached 5.038 million on April 11, increasing by 11 thousand during the week.
A $2 billion IFC program designed to ramp up support for Ukraine’s private sector and boost economic resilience amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is receiving new financial support from the Netherlands and Switzerland, IFC has said.
“The Netherlands will be providing $43 million to support Ukraine’s agricultural sector and ensure emergency liquidity for private companies in critical agri-related industries. Switzerland will provide $11 million to support Ukraine’s small-scale farmers,” IFC said in the press release.
IFC said that Ukraine’s private sector generated up to 70% of gross domestic product before Russia’s invasion and provided crucial jobs, goods, and services. In spite of one in five micro and smaller business closing (as of mid-April 2022), the sector continues maintaining strategic exports and providing taxes.
The private sector will also have a crucial role to play in the country’s reconstruction efforts, estimated at $411 billion as of February 2023 – far more than government and donors can muster alone, the corporation said.
“A strong private sector is essential to help Ukraine’s economy recover and support reconstruction efforts. We welcome the contributions made by the Netherlands and Switzerland and their strong support for Ukraine. Ukraine’s economy remains on life support, and we will continue working with other development partners to provide the guarantees and grants the private sector needs,” IFC’s Managing Director Makhtar Diop said in the press release.
IFC recalled that IFC’s $2 billion Economic Resilience Action (ERA) response package includes finance from IFC’s own account working alongside guarantees and concessional finance (or grants) from donor governments. It complements efforts IFC has made with its own capital to support the private sector in Ukraine without donor support. As of April 2023, IFC’s outstanding portfolio was nearly $300 million to private companies and financial institutions in Ukraine.
IFC expects to be able to leverage these donor funds from the Netherlands and Switzerland between 3-4 times, meaning these contributions can potentially support over $200 million of financing.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, following the results of the Spring Meetings in Washington (the United States), announced that Ukraine would receive additional support of more than $5 billion from France, Germany, and the UK.
“Following the results of negotiations with the finance ministers of the G7 countries at the Spring Meetings, we received assurances of additional support of more than $5 billion for Ukraine. In particular, we agreed on additional support packages with France, Germany, and the UK,” Shmyhal told reporters at a briefing in Washington.
According to him, Switzerland will also provide Ukraine with CHF 1.8 billion over the next six years. And Denmark, in turn, creates a special fund and plans to fill it with EUR 1 billion.
In addition, Spain, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Iceland, and the Netherlands will provide additional support to Ukraine.
“All this will help win and ensure the resilience of our economy,” the Ukrainian prime minister said.
As reported, Shmyhal met with the finance ministers of the UK, Germany, and France on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings in Washington. At the meeting, the head of government raised issues of financial support for Ukraine and interaction within the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform.
Germany will provide more than EUR 3 billion in additional funding this year and more than EUR 5 billion in long-term defense support.
France also plans to provide EUR 2 billion as part of long-term financing.
“In August 2022, we entered the premises of the first building of our all-Ukrainian clinic for the first time. In October, renovation work began here and in April, after a record 5 months, we opened the doors of the first building of the Superhumans Center,” the statement reads.
“Superhumans is not just a clinic, not just a network of clinics, it’s a philosophy and rightly so. The rebuilding of a country begins with the rebuilding of each individual, military or civilian. Child or adult. And when we see the creation of such a center, we see the creation of a place of strength,” said First Lady Elena Zelenskaya, the center’s ambassador, at the opening.
“For me, it’s a personal obligation, my way of giving thanks to those we win. The military and civilians who paid for our country’s freedom with their own health will receive at Superhumans the most advanced technology, the best medical expertise from around the world, an individualized itinerary – everything they need to get back to active life,” said Superhumans co-founder Andrew Stavnitzer.
“We are honored to be part of this extraordinary effort to help world-class Ukrainians who have been terribly injured in this war – they are truly ‘Superhumans.’ Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is a war against civilians.
Many men, women, and children will lose life or limb, even long after the war is over, due to the sheer number of mines in large parts of Ukraine. This center is a step toward giving Ukrainians a chance to rebuild their lives and their country,” said Howard G. Buffett, chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
The Superhumans Center is a comprehensive medical facility that will prosthetically treat and rehabilitate patients, primarily those who have been injured as a result of Russian aggression.
The first phase of the center, a prosthetic workshop and part of the rehabilitation center, were opened April 14. According to Vladimir Golovatsky, deputy medical center, more than sixty medical specialists will work in the center. Annually about 3 thousand patients will be treated there.
Investment in the launch of the Superhumans rehabilitation medical center in Lviv is estimated at $54 million, Superhumans CEO Olga Rudneva said earlier.
The first stage of the project includes repairs of premises, purchase of equipment, a year of medical team salaries and purchase of materials for prosthetics.
The second and third phases include the launch of all the buildings of the hospital, the start of the educational center on the basis of Superhumans, and expansion to other regions of Ukraine, in particular, to Kharkiv.
The project has already been supported by the Howard Buffett Foundation, the Richard Branson Virgin Unite Foundation, Cargill, Payoneer, Freedom Finance, Loro Piano, Mastercard, SD Capital and others.
A memorandum of cooperation was signed between Superhumans and the Ministry of Health. Health Minister Viktor Lyashko noted that the joint goal is to provide Ukrainians who suffered war injuries with the world’s best expertise.
Ottobock, a German manufacturer of technologies for manufacturing various types of prostheses, orthoses and exoskeletons, is working with the Superhumans project to launch a laboratory for the production of prostheses. Ossur, a leading manufacturer of bionic and other prostheses from Iceland, is also advising the team on starting its own production of prostheses.
The project is being created at the initiative of Ukrainian businessman Andrei Stavnitser. Another of its founders is Philip Grushko.
Ukraine’s negative balance of foreign trade in goods in January-February 2023 increased 3.4 times compared to the same period in 2022 – to $3.713 billion from $1.083 billion, the State Statistics Service (Gosstat) reported on Friday.
According to her data, exports of goods from Ukraine during this period compared to January-February 2022 decreased by 42.8% – to $6.459 billion, imports – by 17.9%, to $10.172 billion.
The State Statistics Committee specified that seasonally adjusted exports rose 4.8% to $3.543 billion in February-2023 compared to January-2023, while imports rose 3.2% to $5.79 billion.
The seasonally adjusted foreign trade balance in February-2023 was negative at $2.248 billion, while in the previous month it was also negative at $2.23 billion.
The January-February 2023 import coverage ratio for exports was 0.64 (January-February 2022 – 0.91).
The State Statistics Committee specified that foreign trade operations were conducted with partners from 206 countries.
On Saturday, April 15, at 14:00, NTN will broadcast live from Jerusalem the descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Every year, on the eve of Easter, millions of people around the world watch this event with bated breath. Thousands of believers gather in Jerusalem on this day. On Holy Saturday, NTN viewers, together with pilgrims from different countries, will witness the miracle that became a symbol of Christ’s Resurrection.
In addition, the live broadcast of the descent of the Holy Fire will be available on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of the Witness project.
We congratulate everyone on the upcoming Easter! May the Holy Feast enter every home, fill our hearts with joy and grace, and give us all peace!
