Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth by the same period last year slowed to 8% in July from 15% in June, primarily due to a high statistical base as the rate of GDP decline slowed significantly in the third quarter of last year, according to the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER).
“Economic activity is not yet close to pre-war levels: we estimate that GDP has fallen by 25% compared to July 2021,” the IEI said in its monthly economic monitor.
The institute estimated the increase in real gross value added (GVA) in July in the processing industry at more than 20% due to the recovery of all industries from a low base, while the extractive industry saw a small increase.
According to the IEI experts, agriculture grew by almost 5% in July, primarily due to the lower statistical base of July 2022. The grain harvest was close to last year’s due to higher yields.
“The growth rate of real GVA in transportation slowed to 9% y/y, while GVA in trade continued to grow rapidly, by about 27% y/y,” the report said.
As reported, the State Statistics Committee has not yet published its assessment of the dynamics of GDP of Ukraine in the second quarter, while at the end of the first quarter it reported a 10.5% decline in the economy.
Earlier, the IEI estimated Ukraine’s GDP growth in the second quarter of this year at about 20-21%: almost 22% in April, 20.9% in May and 15.3% in June.
According to the National Bank, Ukraine’s GDP grew by 18.3% in the second quarter. The NBU forecasts that the economic recovery will slow to 4.6% in the third quarter of 2023 and 1.8% in the fourth quarter, which would translate into year-on-year growth of 2.9%.
Restrictions have been imposed on the movement of trucks in Kyiv and at the entrance to the city, the Kyiv Patrol Police press service reported on Telegram on Sunday morning.
“The temporary traffic restriction applies to heavy vehicles with a total weight of more than 24 tons and an axle load of more than 7 tons and applies to both entry to Kyiv and movement around the city,” the statement said.
The police emphasized that the duration of the restriction may vary according to the temperature regime and urged to follow the latest information on their Telegram channel.
“We remind you that the main purpose of these measures is to preserve the road surface, which is being destroyed by heavy traffic of heavy vehicles in hot weather,” the special service said.
On the night of Monday, August 21, there will be no precipitation in Ukraine, during the day in the northern, most central and Kharkiv regions there will be short-term rains, thunderstorms, in the rest of the territory no precipitation, the Ukrainian Weather Center reports.
The wind on Monday is northwest, 5-10 m/s. Temperature at night 16-21°, during the day 27-32°; in the southern part at night 20-25°, during the day 33-37°.
In Kyiv, on August 21, no precipitation at night, in some places short-term rain and thunderstorms during the day. Northwest wind, 5-10 m / s. Temperature at night 18-20°, during the day 28-30°.
According to the Borys Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory, in Kyiv, for the entire period of meteorological observations on August 21, the highest daytime temperature was +36.2° in 1946, the lowest nighttime temperature was +7.3° in 1908.
On Tuesday, August 22, it will be mostly without precipitation in Ukraine, with short-term rains and thunderstorms in the northeastern regions. Northwest wind, 5-10 m / s. Temperature at night 14-19°; during the day 24-29°, in Transcarpathia, in the central and eastern regions 27-32°; in the southern part of the country at night 18-23°, during the day 30-35°.
No precipitation in Kyiv on August 22. Northwest wind, 5-10 m / s. Temperature at night 17-19°, during the day 26-28°.
Moldova has been offering assistance with the transit of Ukrainian grain since the beginning of the war, and now it is trying to find a solution that will suit Moldovan farmers and help Kiev, Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said.
Speaking about the situation with Ukrainian grain, Sandu called it a “complicated topic.”
“We are trying to find a solution. There are discussions with Ukraine, Romania and the European Commission to see how we can harmonize the interests of Moldovan farmers, but also ensure this transit of grain from Ukraine. We have an obligation to help Ukraine, which today provides for our peace,” she told RFI.
According to her information, Moldova will try to find the best solution for both sides. One of them is rapid investment in transportation and port infrastructure to increase capacity for this period.
“We want to increase our exports, we want to develop our infrastructure, and we can do it, in particular with the resources of the European Union,” she explained.
Sandu spoke about the problem of farmers in Moldova who, even before the war in Ukraine, did not have enough capacity to export.
“We have to state that the railroad and port infrastructure in Moldova is underdeveloped. Now, when these large volumes are coming from Ukraine, the situation has become more complicated,” Sandu said.
As reported, Moldova intends to modernize the railway infrastructure and railway bed in order to increase exports of Ukrainian agricultural goods, for which it cooperates with Romania, Ukraine and donor organizations.
The Hungarian railroad on Saturday canceled trains #6284 from Debrecen to Mukachevo, #33 from Mukachevo to Budapest and #6285 from Zahony to Chop of “large passenger traffic and long border control,” Ukrzaliznytsia reported.
“The Hungarian railroad has just informed that today trains #6284 from Debrecen to Mukachevo, #33 from Mukachevo to Budapest and #6285 from Zahony to Chop will not run due to “large passenger traffic and long border control”. This is not the first such incident of this month,” Ukrzaliznytsia said in a Telegram message.
“We are unfortunate for the passengers waiting for these flights in Mukachevo, Chop and on the territory of Hungary; and although this route is served exactly by the Hungarian MAV START, we on the part of Ukrzaliznytsia apologize,” Ukrzaliznytsia notes.
“Having gone through the spring of 2022, we are not used to flight cancellations due to a large number of passengers and we value the reputation of the railroad as a whole as a predictable and most reliable transportation, so we will use all official channels with a demand to our Hungarian colleagues to establish uninterrupted traffic for our passengers,” Ukrzaliznytsia emphasized.
Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) has launched ticket sales for the new international train 119/120 Kyiv – Chełm, with the first flight on September 3.
“Departure from Kyiv is at 06:28, from Rivne at 11:27, from Kovel at 13:31, and arrival in Chełm at 17:27. No border crossing at night and an easy transfer to the Polish intercity IC21100 to Warsaw (18:12-21:02),” UZ said in a telegram on Saturday.
“Return departure from Chełm is at 10:23 (transfer from the IC12100 Warsaw Skhidnya train 06:05 – Chełm 08:42), arrival in Kyiv at 22:45,” UZ informed.
The first flight is on September 3, tickets are available in the Ukrzaliznytsia app.
