The State Statistics Service reported an increase of 2.5% in Ukraine’s real gross domestic product in 2017, whereas earlier the agency estimated its growth at 2.2%.
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a new macro-financial assistance (MFA) program for Ukraine worth up to EUR 1 billion to support economic stabilization and structural reforms.
Real wages in Ukraine in January 2018 increased by 12.3% compared to January 2017, while compared to December 2017 it fell by 13.4%..
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January 2018 grew by almost 3.3 times compared to January 2017 and amounted to $284.1 million (in January 2017 some $86.7 million).
Prices in the industry of Ukraine in February 2018 increased by 1.2%, while in January their growth was 4.4%, in December 2017 some 1.7%. The growth of consumer prices in Ukraine in February 2018 was 0.9% compared to 1.5% in January.
The revenues of the national budget of Ukraine in February 2018 amounted to UAH 50.7 billion, which is UAH 13.967 billion, or 21.6% less than the planned figures, while revenues for the first two months of 2018 reached UAH 105.887 billion, which is UAH 12.386 billion, or 10.5%, less than the target.
Money stock in Ukraine in February 2018 decreased by 0.5%, to UAH 1.17 trillion, the relevant preliminary data of monetary statistics have been posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has decided to toughen the monetary policy and increased the refinancing rate to 17% from March 2 from 16%.
The deficit of Ukraine’s balance of payment in January 2018 was $449 million, which is 2.2 times more than in January 2017 ($202 million), the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has published the preliminary data on its website
Ukraine’s gross foreign debt as of early 2018 was $116.578 billion, which is 2.59% more than at the beginning of 2017, according to the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
Industrial production in Ukraine in February 2018 grew by 1.9% compared to February 2017, while in January this figure was 3.6%.
Retail trade turnover in Ukraine, excluding the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and Sevastopol and part of the anti-terrorist operation zone, in January and February 2018 in comparable prices increased by 7.5% compared to January 2017.
Italy’s low cost Ernest Airlines from June 22, 2018 will start servicing the Kyiv-Bologna flight along with flights to Milan and Naples from the Sikorsky Kyiv international airport (Zhuliany). The press service of the airport reported that the argument in favor of Bologna is proximity to the sea. In addition, it is convenient to take a high-speed train from Bologna to Florence, Verona, Milan, Padova, Mantua, Vicenza and Rome.
The flights will be serviced on Saturdays and Sundays by Airbus A319 (141 seats) and A320 (180 seats). The fare starts from EUR 49.
“Ukraine is a very important market for our airline. We get a lot of requests from Italian passengers residing in Italy to increase the number of flights a week and open new destinations. For example, Bologna–Kyiv is one of the routes that is not yet available. It is important not only for immigrants living in this area, but also for all Ukrainians who want to spend their holidays on the Adriatic coast,” Ernest Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Ilza Xhelo said.
The State Aviation Service of Ukraine has agreed to increase the frequency of flights on the main routes to Germany. The press service of the agency said now the maximum total number of flights on the air lines Kyiv-Berlin, Kyiv-Frankfurt, Kyiv-Munich reaches 52 flights a week. The appropriate agreement was achieved by correspondence between the aviation authorities of the countries.
The frequency on regional routes remains unchanged – seven flights a week for each side. The number of destinations is limited. In addition, Ukraine has achieved agreement with Hungary to increase the frequency of passenger and freight traffic on the Kyiv-Budapest route from nine to 14 flights a week.
The share of bad loans in the banking system of Ukraine as of March 1, 2018 was 56.2%, which is 0.4 percentage points less than a month earlier, according to data posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The total volume of the loan portfolio for February decreased by 1.4%, to UAH 1.113 trillion. According to the National Bank, part of non-performing loans in state-owned banks decreased by 0.08 p.p. for the month, to 72.14%.
At the same time, the NBU specifies that, excluding PrivatBank, at which the share of problem loans decreased by 0.35 percentage points, to 86.67%, the share of non-performing loans at state-owned banks declined by 0.14%, to 58.84%.
The ratio of non-performing loans to the credit portfolio of foreign banking groups in February decreased by 0.77 percentage points, to 43.92%, banks with private capital by 1.04 percentage points, to 24.83%, insolvent banks increased by 1.61 percentage points, to 44.38%.
The share of distressed assets of the banking system, taking into account off-balance sheet liabilities, as of March 1, 2018 was 29.44%, which is 0.51 percentage points less than a month earlier.
At the same time, the total volume of such assets in February was down by 0.7%, to UAH 2.215 trillion.
