Ukraine’s negative balance of foreign trade in goods in January-February 2023 increased 3.4 times compared to the same period in 2022 – to $3.713 billion from $1.083 billion, the State Statistics Service (Gosstat) reported on Friday.
According to her data, exports of goods from Ukraine during this period compared to January-February 2022 decreased by 42.8% – to $6.459 billion, imports – by 17.9%, to $10.172 billion.
The State Statistics Committee specified that seasonally adjusted exports rose 4.8% to $3.543 billion in February-2023 compared to January-2023, while imports rose 3.2% to $5.79 billion.
The seasonally adjusted foreign trade balance in February-2023 was negative at $2.248 billion, while in the previous month it was also negative at $2.23 billion.
The January-February 2023 import coverage ratio for exports was 0.64 (January-February 2022 – 0.91).
The State Statistics Committee specified that foreign trade operations were conducted with partners from 206 countries.
Farmers in Romania and Bulgaria staged protests on Friday against the European Union’s decision to exempt agricultural products from Ukraine, which has oversupplied local markets and contributed to lower prices, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Friday.
“Farmers in Romania and Bulgaria organized protests on Friday over the European Union’s stance on excessive supplies of Ukrainian agricultural products that have flooded local markets and weakened prices,” AP reports.
Protests were held in Bucharest and other cities in Romania. In Bulgaria, farmers blocked several border crossings.
“There are less than three months left before the new harvest and there is a danger that the products will not be able to be sold above the production price,” AP quoted Liliana Peron, executive director of the Romanian Farmers Association, as saying.
In recent weeks, Polish farmers have also been protesting against the EU’s duty-free supplies of Ukrainian grain to European markets, forcing the country’s Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk to resign.
Last year, the EU abolished customs tariffs for Ukraine to allow for freer grain supplies.
On Monday, the European Commission announced its desire to help the population of Ukraine by organizing the export of Ukrainian grain, but it is making sure that the EU market does not suffer too much from Kyiv’s support measures.
Switzerland is ready to provide long-term support and intends to allocate for Ukraine at least another $1.7 billion over the period until 2028, Swiss Info reports citing Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.
“Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis stressed that his country is ready to provide long-term support to Ukraine and that Bern intends to allocate at least another 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.7 billion) to Kiev over the period until 2028,” the website said Thursday.
It noted that “this support will be provided as part of the overall international cooperation strategy announced by the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA) on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.”
“With the 300 million francs already allocated by Bern for 2023 and 2024, Switzerland will provide a total of at least 1.8 billion francs in support to Ukraine over the next six years,” it said.
In addition, the foreign minister speaking at the meeting of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington stressed the importance of the Lugano Declaration, adopted on July 5, 2022 in Lugano.
The declaration provides seven principles for Ukraine’s recovery process: partnership, focus on reform, transparency, democratic participation, multi-stakeholder engagement, equity and sustainability.
Cassis notes that “this document contains important guiding principles of international support for Ukrainian reforms.”
Before the conference in Washington, D.C., the Swiss foreign minister held consultations with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal.
A Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday (Kiev time) launched into orbit with a group of 51 research mini-satellites as part of the Transporter 7 mission, the carrier company SpaceX said.
The satellite group includes satellites from NASA, U.S. companies and research centers, as well as a number of foreign countries.
The launch took place from the SLC-4E launch pad at U.S. Space Force Base Vandenberg in California on Friday at 23:48 U.S. Pacific Coast Time (Saturday at 09:48 Kiev time).
As part of the launch, the first reusable stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which is in its tenth use, is scheduled to make a controlled vertical landing at Vandenberg Base about eight minutes after liftoff.
The Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have agreed to work together to implement two school rehabilitation projects – ECHO4SCHOOLS-UA and “Rebuilding Schools in Ukraine,” the Press Service of the Ministry of Rehabilitation reported.
Within the framework of these projects, implemented with the assistance of First Lady Elena Zelenskaya, it is planned to repair and modernize more than 100 schools in 14 regions of Ukraine.
“Thanks to the partners from the UN Development Program and UNOPS for their cooperation and willingness to work promptly so that the start of the new school year for many Ukrainians was not disrupted. We only expect to deepen our cooperation. Restoring and equipping the educational infrastructure is one of the necessary conditions for the Ukrainians to return home,” the statement said.
“I would like to express special gratitude to the European Commission, which has allocated 100 million euros for the reconstruction and modernization of schools, including in the framework of the above projects,” the release quoted Deputy Prime Minister for the reconstruction of Ukraine – Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov.
The Deputy Prime Minister added that a special emphasis in both projects is placed on improving infrastructure security, in particular through the repair and necessary equipping of bomb shelters.
The project “ECHO4SCHOOLS-UA: Repair / modernization of schools in war-stricken regions” with a budget of about 14 million euros is implemented by UNDP and aims at carrying out current repairs of at least 50 schools in 10 regions of Ukraine. Now preparations are underway for tenders for the first repairs. In the future, there are plans to increase the number of schools being repaired to over a hundred.
The second project: “Reconstruction of schools in Ukraine” – is realized by UNOPS, its budget amounts to 20 million euros. It includes current repairs of schools in four regions: in Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv.
It has already been selected and agreed upon 54 schools in need of rehabilitation. Documentation for tender procedures is already being prepared for 8 facilities. Thanks to the implementation of the project more than 20 thousand children will be able to start the new school year in decent conditions.
On Saturday, April 15, at 14:00, NTN will broadcast live from Jerusalem the descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Every year, on the eve of Easter, millions of people around the world watch this event with bated breath. Thousands of believers gather in Jerusalem on this day. On Holy Saturday, NTN viewers, together with pilgrims from different countries, will witness the miracle that became a symbol of Christ’s Resurrection.
In addition, the live broadcast of the descent of the Holy Fire will be available on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of the Witness project.
We congratulate everyone on the upcoming Easter! May the Holy Feast enter every home, fill our hearts with joy and grace, and give us all peace!
