Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border in the week of December 21-27 increased by another 12.5% compared to the previous week, to 657,000, primarily due to a sharp increase on the weekend before Christmas, when it reached 133-136,000 people per day.
According to the State Border Guard Service’s Facebook page, the number of outbound crossings increased from 294,000 to 325,000, while the number of inbound crossings increased from 290,000 to 332,000.
At the same time, the number of vehicles crossing the checkpoints decreased from 134 thousand to 117 thousand over the week, while the flow of vehicles with humanitarian cargo decreased from 633 to 471.
“We would like to draw the attention of citizens crossing the border at Krakovets, Uhryniv and Rava-Ruska checkpoints. There is a certain accumulation of vehicles leaving Ukraine,” the State Border Guard Service said on Sunday.
On the border with Poland, as of 18:00, there were queues at the checkpoints Krakovets (80 cars), Ustyluh (65), Uhryniv (30) and Rava-Ruska (10).
On the border with Hungary, the longest queue is at Tisa checkpoint – 15 cars, while Luzhanka has 10, Kosyno and Vylok – 5 cars each.
At the Maly Berezny checkpoint on the border with Slovakia, 25 cars have accumulated, while at the Uzhhorod checkpoint, 6 buses have accumulated.
The total number of people crossing the border in the fourth week of winter this year is higher than last year’s: 280 thousand people left Ukraine and 302 thousand entered during the same seven days, with a traffic of 110 thousand cars.
Last year, passenger traffic decreased by 3.6% during this week, while the following week it dropped by another 18.4%.
As reported, on May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the outbreak of war, was replaced by an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022 and amounted to 409 thousand people. However, since the end of September, possibly under the influence of news about mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, and then massive shelling of energy infrastructure, the number of people leaving has been exceeding the number of people entering. It temporarily stopped in the second half of December and early January during the holidays, but then resumed again and reached a total of 223 thousand people from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war.
During the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings to leave Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service, exceeded the number of crossings to enter by 25 thousand, while since the beginning of the third year, the number of crossings has increased by another 191 thousand.
As Deputy Economy Minister Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March last year, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP. In its macroeconomic forecast for this year, the Ministry of Economy has included 1.5 million people returning to Ukraine.
At the same time, the National Bank, in its October inflation report, again downgraded its forecast for the outflow from Ukraine this year from 0.4 million to 0.5 million. In absolute terms, the number of migrants staying abroad is expected to increase to 6.8 million this year.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe was estimated at 6.254 million as of December 16 this year, and 6.814 million in the world in general, which is 28 thousand more than as of November 18 this year.
In Ukraine, according to the latest UN data as of August this year, there were 3.669 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), which is 121 thousand more than in April this year.
According to regional authorities cited by the UN, more than 128,000 people have left Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine since August 1, including 24,000 who fled active hostilities, while approximately 330,000 remain in the region, including approximately 63,000 in active combat zones.
In Sumy region, the authorities estimate that 36,000 people, including 6,000 children, were evacuated between August 1 and October 3.
Germany has a complex and multi-level taxation system that covers both legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (IEs). Let us consider the main taxes applicable to these categories of taxpayers.
Taxes for legal entities
1. Corporate income tax (Körperschaftsteuer):
2. Trade tax (Gewerbesteuer):
3. Value added tax (Mehrwertsteuer, MwSt):
Taxes for individual entrepreneurs
1. Income tax (Einkommensteuer):
2. Trade tax (Gewerbesteuer):
3. Value added tax (MwSt):
Other taxes and fees
1. Solidarity tax (Solidaritätszuschlag):
2. Church tax (Kirchensteuer):
3. Property tax (Grundsteuer):
The German tax system is characterized by progressiveness and diversity of taxes, which requires careful planning and accounting when doing business. It is recommended to consult with professional tax advisors to ensure compliance with current legal requirements and optimize the tax burden.
This week, the National Bank of Ukraine’s (NBU) interventions on the interbank market rose to a record high since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – up to $1 billion 625.9 million, according to the regulator’s statistics.
According to the statistics, the central bank increased sales of foreign currency by 14.7% over the previous week without buying currency.
According to the data published by the central bank during this time, the negative balance between the volume of currency purchases by the population and the volume of its sales narrowed from $66.07 million to $61.54 million.
Since the beginning of December, the NBU’s interventions have already reached $4.90 billion, which is also a record high since at least the beginning of 2012. The previous record of $3.96 billion was set in June 2022.
In total, since the beginning of 2024, the amount of foreign currency sold by the regulator amounted to $34 billion 568.5 million, and $126 million was purchased. In 2023, the NBU sold $28 billion 829.7 million worth of foreign currency and bought back $219.9 million.
The official hryvnia exchange rate fell by 7 kopecks to 41.9403 UAH/$1 over the week, while the cash exchange rate strengthened by 16 kopecks both when buying to 42.10 UAH/$1 and selling to 42.15 UAH/$1.
In general, since the beginning of 2024, the dollar has risen in price by 10.4%, or UAH 3.93, at the official exchange rate, and since the National Bank switched to managed flexibility on October 3, 2023, by 14.7%, or UAH 5.37.
As reported, Ukraine’s international reserves in November 2024 increased by $3.344 billion, or 9.1%, and as of December 1, according to preliminary data from the central bank, amounted to $39.925 billion, while net international reserves (NIR) increased by $3.5 billion, or 15.6%, to $25 billion 939 million.
The U.S. population in 2024 grew by nearly 1%, the highest rate since 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
The number of residents of the country this year exceeded 340 million people.
The most significant growth traditionally showed the southern states – 1.8 million people (more than the rest of the regions combined). Including in Texas the population grew by about 563 thousand people, in Florida – by 467 thousand people.
The District of Columbia showed the most significant growth rate in percentage terms, at 2.2%.
The net inflow of immigrants to the country amounted to almost 2.8 million people. Such a high figure is partly due to a change in the methodology of calculation (now it includes persons admitted to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons).
At the same time, immigration fully provided population growth in 16 states, where in its absence there would have been a decline, the Associated Press quotes the words of Brookings Institution demographer William Frey.
In three states – Mississippi, Vermont and West Virginia – the population declined, albeit slightly.
The number of new births in the U.S. in 2024 exceeded the number of deaths by nearly 519,000.
On Monday, December 30, in Ukraine without significant precipitation. In the western and Vinnitsa regions at night and in the morning fog, reported Ukrhydrometcenter.
The wind is predominantly southwesterly, 7-12 m/s.
The temperature at night from 2° warm to 3° frost, during the day 0-5° warm; in the Carpathians at night 3-8° frost, during the day about 0°.
In Kiev on Monday without significant precipitation. The wind is predominantly southwesterly, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night 0-2° warm, during the day 2-4° warm.
According to the Central Geophysical Observatory named after Boris Sreznevsky. Borys Sreznevsky in Kiev on December 30, the highest daytime temperature was 10.5 in 2023, the lowest nighttime temperature was -26.3 in 1895.
Tuesday, December 31, in Ukraine without precipitation.
The wind is west, southwest, 7-12 m/s.
The temperature at night from 2° warm to 3° frost, during the day 0-5° warm, in the southern part 3-8° warm.
In Kiev on December 31 without precipitation. The wind is west, southwest, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night 0-2° warm; in the daytime 2-4° warm.
