Business news from Ukraine

In June this year, industrial production in Ukraine decreased by 0.3% compared to June last year and by 6.2% compared to May this year, according to the State Statistics Service (Ukrstat).
As a result, industrial production growth in the first half of 2024 slowed to 8.1% from 9.9% in the first five months of the previous year compared to the same period last year.
It is noted that the decline in production in June is due to a drop in the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning – by 11.2%, while the manufacturing industry recorded an increase of 0.6%, and the mining and quarrying industry – by 1.4%.
It was specified that the increase in production in June 2024 compared to June 2023 was recorded in metallurgy – by 34%, in mining and quarrying – by 1.4% due to growth in metal ore mining – by 30.1%, in coke and petroleum products production – by 3.2%.
In general, in the first half of 2024, industrial production in Ukraine increased by 11% in the manufacturing industry, by 9.3% in the mining and quarrying industry, and by 1.5% in the supply of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning.
The statistics agency notes that the volume of industrial products sold in January-June this year reached UAH 1707.9 billion, of which UAH 351.7 billion was exported.
The State Statistics Service reminded that in May of this year, there was a 3.6% increase compared to May last year, 11.6% in April, and 5% in March.
According to the State Statistics Service, industrial production in Ukraine grew by 6.8% in 2023, while in 2022 the decline was 36.7%.

Following the blockade of the port in Santander and protests in Brussels, the Spanish farmers’ union Unión de Uniones announced that it will hold protests with tractors across the country in winter if the government does not resolve the issue of grain imports from Ukraine, the association said.
Tension in the Spanish community is growing due to the lack of expected action by the government. The farmers’ indignation was caused by the statements of the Spanish Minister of Agriculture Luis Planas, who noted the high quality of Ukrainian grain and “reasonable prices” for it, and also stated that Spain needs to import this grain. He also suggested that the increase in livestock costs was the result of overestimated expectations of domestic grain producers.
In response to these statements, the Union de Uniones said it would take tractors to the streets in winter if the government and EU authorities do not change their position on imports from Ukraine.
According to trade union activists, the government should have long ago appealed to the European Commission to apply security mechanisms, in particular, to impose customs duties on wheat and corn imported by Spain from Ukraine.
“We can no longer sell grain below cost and buy more and more expensive feed,” said Luis Cortes, the union’s national coordinator, adding that farmers cannot continue to pay for all the political deals that are taking place in Europe.
The organization also demanded the introduction of reliable control over the quality of imported grain.
As reported, the Union of Farmers and Livestock Breeders of Spain, Unión de Uniones, held a protest in the port of Santander on Wednesday to demand that the issue of increasing grain imports from Ukraine be resolved. According to the Union, imports of Ukrainian grain in 2023 amounted to almost 8.4 million tons, and in the first half of 2024 it approached 6.5 million tons. This became a critical factor for local farmers and led to a 45% decrease in prices for national grain since May 2022.

Cash currency imports to Ukraine in January-September 2024 amounted to $9.89 billion, which is 80.9% more than in the same period last year and 4.5% more than the total amount of currency imported in 2023, according to statistics from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
According to the statistics, this is the highest figure since 2014, when cash currency imports amounted to $12.43 billion for the year.
In particular, in August, banks imported $1.09 billion in the equivalent to Ukraine, which is less than $1.31 billion in July, $1.33 billion in June, and $1.18 billion in May.
According to the statistics, the US dollar and euro accounted for 77.5% and 22.5% of all imported cash currency in August, respectively.
At the same time, dollar deliveries decreased from $960.8 million in July to $840.8 million in August, while euro imports fell for the second month in a row: from $348.7 million in July to $243.9 million in August.
As reported, since the beginning of 2024, the dollar has risen in price by 8.3%, or UAH 3.16, to UAH 41.1664/$ at the official exchange rate, and by 12.6%, or UAH 4.60, since the National Bank switched to managed flexibility on October 3, 2023.
Meanwhile, since the beginning of this year, the cash dollar has risen in price by about UAH 2.72 when buying to UAH 41.47/$, and by about UAH 2.1 when selling to UAH 41.52/$.

In January-June, cargo transportation in Ukraine increased by 18.6% year-on-year to 178.8 million tons, according to the State Statistics Service.

According to the agency, cargo turnover in January-June increased by 19% to 94347.1 million tons per kilometer.

At the same time, the number of passengers transported in the first half of the year increased by 13.5% to 1.07 billion people.

Passenger turnover increased by 17.2% to 20887 million passenger-kilometers.

The data exclude the territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and part of the territories where military operations are (were) conducted.