Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the third quarter of 2023, according to preliminary data from the State Statistics Service (Ukrstat). According to the statistics agency, seasonally adjusted real GDP increased by 0.2% in the period under review compared to the previous quarter.
As reported, in late October, the National Bank of Ukraine raised its economic growth forecast for 2024 from 3.7% to 4%, and for 2025 from 4.1% to 4.3%. At the same time, the NBU downgraded its inflation forecast for 2024 from 8.5% to 9.7%, and for 2025 from 6.6% to 6.9%.
The Ministry of Economy expects Ukraine’s GDP to grow by 3.9% in 2024, with inflation at 9.5%. According to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine’s GDP grew by 5.3% in 2023 after a 28.8% decline in 2022.
In the first quarter of 2024, real GDP grew by 6.5%, and in the second quarter – by 3.7%.
Telegram’s revenue in 2024 amounted to more than $1 billion, the messenger’s founder Pavel Durov said.
“2024 was a very successful year for Telegram. For the first time in 3 years of its monetization, Telegram has become profitable,” Durov wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to him, the company’s cash reserves at the end of 2024 amounted to more than $500 million, excluding crypto assets.
The number of Telegram Premium subscribers tripled in 2024, exceeding 12 million, and advertising revenues “increased several times.”
Durov also said that over the past four years, Telegram has placed debt obligations worth about $2 billion, a significant portion of which was repaid in the fall of 2024.
Last week, the National Bank of Ukraine’s (NBU) interventions in the interbank market jumped to a record high for this year and last year – $1 billion 417.4 million, the second highest figure since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine after $1 billion 424.1 million in May 2022, according to the regulator’s statistics.
According to the statistics, the central bank increased sales of foreign currency by 31.8% compared to the previous week, to $1 billion 417.6 million. At the same time, purchases remained at a meager level, but doubled over the week to $0.2 million.
In total, since the beginning of 2024, the volume of foreign currency sold by the regulator amounted to $32 billion 942.6 million, while the volume of foreign currency purchased amounted to $126 million. Over the same period in 2023, the NBU sold $27 billion 937.1 million worth of foreign currency and bought back $218.9 million.
According to the data published by the central bank during this time, the negative balance between the volume of foreign currency purchases by the population and the volume of its sales narrowed from $50.92 million to $48.52 million.
The official hryvnia exchange rate dropped by 27 kopecks to 41.8761 UAH/$1 over the week, while the cash exchange rate weakened by 32 kopecks when buying to 42.25 UAH/$1 and by 37 kopecks when selling to 42.33 UAH/$1.
Over the past month, the official hryvnia exchange rate fell by 0.9%, or 37 kopecks.
In general, since the beginning of 2024, the dollar has risen in price by 10.2%, or UAH 3.87, at the official exchange rate, and since the National Bank switched to managed flexibility on October 3, 2023, by 14.5%, or UAH 5.30.
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.
State-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) is launching a round-the-clock currency exchange service through specialized ATMs called ATM-Recycler, with a limit of up to $1,000 or euros per transaction, with no commission for the service, according to a press release from the state bank on Monday.
It is noted that transactions are carried out at PrivatBank’s cash exchange rate for foreign currency. The balance of the transaction less than UAH 100 is credited to the client’s card or mobile account.
According to the bank’s press service, Privat’s ATM network currently consists of 65,000 devices, including 1.29 thousand ATM-Recycler machines that allow changing foreign currency.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of November 1, 2024, PrivatBank ranked 1st in terms of total assets (UAH 767.64 billion) among 62 banks operating in the country. The financial institution’s net profit for the first ten months of 2024 amounted to UAH 50.26 billion, while in the same period of 2023 it amounted to UAH 47.10 billion.
Donald Trump has said that the United States absolutely needs to establish control over Greenland. He already wanted to buy the island during his first presidential term. He wrote about it on the social network Truth Social.
“For the purpose of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America believes that possession and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he wrote.
The publication reminds that the United States has repeatedly tried to buy Greenland, the world’s largest island that is not a continent, since 1867. Greenland is considered part of the continent of North America, but has close geopolitical ties with Europe and receives funding from the European Union, as it is classified as an overseas territory connected to the bloc through Denmark.
Greenland’s natural resources include gold, silver, copper, and uranium, and the waters off the coast are believed to contain significant oil reserves.
Trump put forward the idea of the US buying Greenland in 2019 during his first presidential term. At the time, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rejected the proposal, calling it “absurd.” After that, Trump canceled his trip to Denmark.
According to Worldsteel, in November 2024, steel production increased compared to November 2023 in most of the top ten countries, except for Japan, the United States, Russia and South Korea.
The top ten steel producing countries in November are as follows: China (78.4 million tons, +2.5% by November 2023), India (12.384 million tons, +4.5%), Japan (6.888 million tons, -3.1%), the United States (6.378 million tons, -2.8%), the Russian Federation (5.450 million tons, -9.2%), South Korea (5.190 mln tons, -3.6%), Iran (3.074 mln tons, +0.1%), Turkey (3.011 mln tons, +0.7%), Germany (2.909 mln tons, +8.6%) and Brazil (2.774 mln tons, +1.9%).
Overall, in November this year, steel production increased by 0.8% year-on-year to 146.831 million tons.
For 11 months of 2024, the top ten steel producing countries are as follows: China (929.190 million tons, -2.7%), India (135.932 million tons, +5.9%), Japan (77.102 million tons, -3.6%), the United States (72.879 million tons, -2.2%), the Russian Federation (64.885 million tons, -7%), South Korea (58, 297 million tons, -4.9%), Germany (34.490 million tons, +5.3%), Turkey (33.915 million tons, +11.2%), Brazil (31.168 million tons, +5.6%) and Iran (28.030 million tons, +0.5%).
In total, 71 countries produced 1 billion 694.593 million tons of steel in January-November, down 1.4% from the same period in 2023.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 7.028 million tons of steel in 11 months of 2024, up 23.1% compared to January-November 2023. The country is ranked 20th in the first 11 months of 2014.
As reported, in 2023, China produced 1 billion 19.080 million tons at the level of the previous year), India (140.171 million tons, +11.8%), Japan (86.996 million tons, -2.5%), the United States (80.664 million tons, +0.2%), Russia (75.8 million tons, +5.6%), South Korea (66.676 million tons, +1.3%), Germany (35.438 million tons, -3.9%), Turkey (33.714 million tons, -4%), Brazil (31.869 million tons, -6.5%) and Iran (31.139 million tons, +1.8%).
At the end of 2022, the top ten steel producing countries looked like this: China (1.013 billion tons, -2.1%), India (124.720 million tons, +5.5%), Japan (89.235 million tons, -7.4%), the United States (80.715 million tons, -5.9%), the Russian Federation (71.5 million tons, -7.2%), South Korea (65, 865 million tons, -6.5%), Germany (36.849 million tons, -8.4%), Turkey (35.134 million tons, -12.9%), Brazil (33.972 million tons, -5.8%) and Iran (30.593 million tons, +8%).
In 2022, Ukraine ranked 23rd with the production of 6.263 million tons of steel (-70.7%).
