The amount of direct losses incurred by Ukraine’s infrastructure from full-scale Russian military aggression has already reached $119 billion, work is underway to compensate for them at the expense of the seized gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Denys Kudin has said.
“When the president’s office yesterday or the day before yesterday announced over $100 billion, this figure is somewhat clarified. It is $119 billion. Unfortunately, it will grow with every next day of the war,” he said on Ukrainian TV channels.
According to Kudin, one of the ways to compensate for losses and restore infrastructure is to work through cooperation with Western governments. “Western governments have already seized the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Russia in the amount of $415 billion. In fact, this amount is almost enough to cover these direct one-time losses,” the first deputy minister said.
According to him, the Ministry of Economy expects that in the near future, together with partner governments of other countries, a legal mechanism will be found, how this money can go to Ukraine for further recovery.
The first deputy minister said that the Ministry of Economy from the first day began to count the losses that the state suffered due to Russian aggression. According to him, in addition to the direct approach to determining the damage (how much it will cost to restore bridges, roads, infrastructure facilities, hospitals, kindergartens, schools destroyed by Russia), there is a second approach – the amount of GDP losses.
“We see that in cities and towns where active hostilities are taking place, economic activity has decreased by 75%. In the rest of Ukraine, only every second business operates. This is a loss of 50% of economic activity,” Kudin said.
He added that most of the metallurgical plants, most of which are located in the east of the country, have ceased their activities. “The blocking of sea routes by the Russians, of course, does not make it possible to fully export corn, wheat, sunflower oil – traditional agricultural export products,” the first deputy head of the Ministry of Economy said.
According to him, among other ways for Russia to compensate for these losses is the judicial, claims work of the government of Ukraine against the Russian Federation in international courts. “We are talking about the International Criminal Court, and about the ECHR, and about commercial arbitrations around the world. In each of these courts, Ukraine files lawsuits against the Russian Federation,” Kudin said.
He said that the collection of evidence from Ukrainians about the destruction has begun in electronic form, since it is important to document every fact of destruction jointly by all the people so that this becomes the material basis for claims.
The first deputy head of the Ministry of Economy also named a third way to receive compensation for damage from the aggressor – “the way of reparations after the signing of a peace treaty and the actual surrender of the enemy.” “They [reparations] can be in two forms – in cash and in kind. In the form of reparations, they could receive energy resources and other types of material values that Ukraine needs,” Kudin said.
As reported, Ukraine’s GDP in 2021 for the first time amounted to about $200 billion.
The U.S. Senate has approved a federal government funding bill for fiscal year 2022, which includes military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, as well as the allocation of funds for the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The current funding period for government activities ends on March 11.
A $1.5 trillion financial package provides for $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine, with about half of this amount going to humanitarian aid and supporting the country’s economy, and the rest to the defense needs of Ukraine and U.S. allies on the “eastern NATO flank.”
The bill also determines the amount of U.S. spending on defense and other items of expenditure in fiscal year 2022.
Thus, it provides for the allocation of $730 billion to finance non-defense projects, which is $46 billion more than in fiscal 2021 and is the highest figure in four years. Defense spending is $782 billion, up $42 billion from a year earlier.
It is proposed to allocate $15.6 billion to fight the coronavirus pandemic both in the United States and in other countries of the world. Among the measures is preparation for the possible emergence of new strains of coronavirus and another jump in the number of infections.
The European Union has transferred the first EUR300 million to Ukraine from a EUR1.2 billion macro-financial assistance package, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter on Friday.
“Putin’s war exerts brutal military and economic pressure on the brave people of Ukraine. Europe stands firmly by their side. Today we disbursed EUR300 million in emergency Macro-Financial Assistance to Ukraine. This is the first payment of a EUR1.2 billion package. So more will come,” she said.
As reported, the decision to provide macro-financial assistance was made by the European Parliament and the European Council on February 24, 2022 and agreed by the European Commission on March 1.
The assistance is divided into two equal tranches: the first is provided without any conditions, and the second after Kyiv fulfills a number of agreements with the EU.
Ukrposhta resumed delivery from the largest marketplaces and online stores: OLX, prom.ua, Rozetka, eva.ua, as well as online clothing stores, in particular, children’s clothing, consumer goods, children’s toys, goods for the home, etc., the company’s press service said on Friday.
“Now many Ukrainians are faced with the fact that it has become a problem to buy ordinary things in a store: due to logistical restrictions, when the store simply cannot deliver products on time, or due to a sharply growing demand due to internal migration, some groups of goods have temporary shortage. Ordering goods on the marketplace can partially solve the problem. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that Ukrposhta has resumed the delivery of online orders. Gradually, we will resume delivery from all sites that we worked with before the war, because we understand how important it is for our customers. In addition, the resumption of delivery from marketplaces will allow Ukrainian entrepreneurs to return to work, earn money and strengthen the economy,” Ukrposhta Deputy Director General for Business Development Olena Stepina was quoted as saying.
It is said that as of March 11, some 4,783 branches of Ukrposhta are operating. In addition, mobile departments leave for routes where it is safe.
Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet says there will be no entrance exams to universities, and enrollment will take place through a special electronic system.
“There will be no exams at universities, in order to avoid manifestations of corruption. A mechanism similar to external independent assessment will be created, but without the participation of a child. Everything will be transparent, since the computer does not take part in any corruption schemes,” Shkarlet said on Ukrainian TV channels.
Shkarlet said that entry into universities will be carried out according to some kind of electronic system.
He also said that a bill has already been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, which cancels the final certification in the external independent assessment for graduate students for 2022.
The Minister is confident that the Parliament will adopt this bill in the near future.
Capacity utilization of Ukraine’s transit corridor on Friday remains at the same high level, in line with the long-term contract volumes of 40 billion cubic meters per year or 109 million cubic meters per day.
European buyers have increased nominations for Gazprom’s gas after prices soared due to the imposition of sanctions on Russia. Gas prices at the TTF hub were $1,383 per thousand cubic meters on Friday morning.
“Gazprom is supplying Russian gas for transit via Ukraine as scheduled in accordance with the requests of European consumers – 109.5 mcm on March 11,” the company’s official spokesperson Sergey Kupriyanov told reporters.
As confirmed by data from the Ukrainian GTS Operator, the nomination for March 11 is 109.4 mcm, while that for March 10 was also 109.4 mcm.
