Ukraine’s international reserves, according to preliminary data, increased by $1 billion 722.7 million, or 4.4%, in December after four months of decline to reach $40 billion 507.9 million, the second highest level in history after July 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said on Friday.
“They grew by 4.4% compared to November due to foreign exchange earnings from international partners, which exceeded the NBU’s net sale of foreign currency and the country’s debt payments in foreign currency,” the central bank explained the rapid growth of reserves.
It is specified that in general, in 2023, Ukraine’s international reserves increased by 42%, or $12.01 billion.
Net international reserves increased by $1 billion 167.5 million, or 4.3%, in December, and in general, over the past year, their growth was 54.9%, or $10.05 billion.
The National Bank noted that in December it sold $3 billion 559.1 million in the foreign exchange market and bought back $6.1 million in reserves, so its net sales amounted to $3.553 billion, up 1.4 times compared to November and slightly higher than in October ($3.34 billion).
“The growth of the NBU’s interventions in foreign currency sales last month was primarily due to the seasonal factor, in particular, due to increased budget spending at the end of the year,” the regulator said in a release.
At the same time, the government’s foreign currency accounts at the NBU received $5 billion 546.4 million last month, while $708.2 million was paid as part of the servicing and repayment of the public debt in foreign currency.
In addition, the value of financial instruments increased by $426.7 million as a result of revaluation in December.
“The current amount of international reserves provides financing for 5.4 months of future imports,” the National Bank said.
As reported, Ukraine’s international reserves decreased for the third consecutive month in November – by 0.5%, to $38 billion 785.2 million.
Germany has handed over a new military aid package to Ukraine, which includes a new Skynex anti-aircraft artillery system and ammunition, the German government’s press service reports.
In addition, ammunition for the Patriot and IRIS-T SLM systems, as well as for Leorard 2A6 tanks, was transferred.
The aid package also includes 10 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 2 TRML-4D radars, 9,080 rounds of 155 mm ammunition, 2 WISENT demining tanks, 1 Biber bridge-building tank, 3,350 combat helmets, and 30 drone detection systems, 10 GO1 ground surveillance radars, 10 Zetros trucks, 3 8×8 HX81 tractors and a semi-trailer, 34 other vehicles, 305 MK 556 assault rifles, 0.75 million rounds of ammunition and 1152 winter camouflage nets.
In the future, it is also planned to transfer 4 IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft missile systems, 1 more Skynex air defense system with ammunition, 20 drone detection systems, 26,850 combat helmets, 41 Mercedes trucks, 4,695 MK 556 assault rifles, 0.45 million rounds of ammunition for firearms and 8,000 anti-tank mines.
In 2023, registrations of new commercial vehicles (trucks and special vehicles) in Ukraine amounted to 11.3 thousand units, which is 65% more than in 2022, Ukravtoprom reported on its Telegram channel.
At the same time, in December, this market grew by 26% compared to December 2022 – up to 1160 cars, which is also 12% more than in November last year.
Renault remained the leader of the December market with a significant margin – 259 units. Volkswagen rose to second place with 117 cars registered, and MAN took third place (111 units).
Ford was fourth in the ranking of the best-selling commercial vehicles in December (78 registrations), and FIAT rounded out the top five with 71 units.
As reported, according to the information and analytical group AUTO-Consulting, in the segment of heavy trucks (GVW over 3.5 tons), sales in 2023 increased by 56.5% compared to 2022 – up to 4,853 thousand units, and Scania became the leader with sales of 710 vehicles – twice as many as in 2022.
In 2022, according to Ukravtoprom, the market for new commercial vehicles decreased by 2.3 times compared to 2021, to 6.9 thousand units, and the top five leaders of the year were Renault, Mercedes-Benz, Citroen, Fiat, and MAN.
Slovakia will donate humanitarian aid to Ukraine totaling €203,492, which will include power generators and heaters, the Slovak Ministry of the Interior reports.
“Based on Ukraine’s request for humanitarian aid, as well as the European Commission’s call for member states to show solidarity with the civilian population affected by the military conflict, the Slovak Republic will provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine totaling €203,492,” the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement published on its website.
The cargo of humanitarian aid will weigh 21 tons and will include power generators, heaters, clothing and first aid kits from the stocks of the Headquarters of the Ecumenical Pastoral Service in the Armed Forces of Slovakia and the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, as well as food, bottled water and clothing from the stocks of the Slovak Ministry of Internal Affairs.
It is noted that the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the regional enterprise Donetskteplocomunenergo, and the city council of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, will receive the aid.
The Polish government has received a letter from the European Commission demanding to lift the indefinite embargo on duty-free imports of certain agricultural goods to Poland, Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Sekerski said at a press conference after meeting with representatives of the All-Polish Association of Farmers’ Unions and Agricultural Organizations on Thursday.
“There is a growing danger of a return to the grain crisis of a year ago. The European Commission is demanding that Poland lift the embargo on agricultural products from Ukraine, and farmers are concerned that Ukrainian grain will be only a transit in the new year,” cenyrolnicze.pl quoted him as saying.
The Polish publication noted that after the new year, farmers’ fears about the inflow of agri-food products from Ukraine will not disappear. Gustaw Endrejek, President of the Lublin Chamber of Agriculture, received signals that Poland resumed imports of four types of grain from Ukraine on January 1.
“We don’t know what will happen at the border, as there is contradictory information about the transportation of grain to Poland as duty-free imports,” the newspaper quoted Gustaw Endrejek as saying.
At a press conference, Minister Sekerski assured the public that the resolution on the unilateral closure of the Polish-Ukrainian border is in effect despite Brussels’ demand to resume imports.
“This embargo is indefinite. We believe we already have evidence of this, because we have received a letter from the European Commission demanding the embargo be lifted,” Sekerski explained.
As reported, on Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland on Twitter quoted Minister Sekerski as saying that he supported the strikers’ demands, which, however, should be adapted to the current legislation in Poland, including EU legislation. He noted that legal authorization of all the demands would take time. In any case, the Polish-Ukrainian border will not be opened and the embargo on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products will be indefinite.
On January 4, farmers from the organization “Podkarpackie Deceived Village” resumed protests and blockades of the Medyka-Shehynia border crossing, which were suspended on December 24, 2023. The leader of the organization, Roman Kondruv, told Polish media that the organization had not received written confirmation that its demands would be met, so the protest would continue.
The farmers started their protest on November 23 last year, and stopped it a month later. On the eve of Christmas, Polish Minister of Agriculture Czeslaw Sekerski came to Medyka and assured that the farmers’ demands would be met.
Polish farmers insist on receiving written assurances from the Polish government that their demands will be met. These include the abolition of the agricultural tax increase, easier access to soft loans to support the liquidity of their farms, a 1,000 zloty per hectare corn subsidy, and regulation of the conditions for importing food from Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized the importance of ending the blockade, especially in the face of escalating bombing and increasingly intense Russian actions. He believes that the arguments will be better heard when Poland is not the country blocking the borders.
Sales of new trucks with a gross vehicle weight of more than 3.5 tons in 2023 increased by 56.5% compared to 2022 – up to 4853 units, which was the best sales figure in the last 10 years, according to the information and analytical group AUTO-Consulting.
At the same time, according to experts, sales exceeded even the pre-war figure of 2021, when 4794 cars were sold.
“The market structure has also changed. In 2023, the Ukrainian market was dominated by European brands, which were chosen by carriers. But in the last months of the year, other manufacturers began to gain strength, due to a decrease in the purchase of tractors and an increase in the purchase of equipment for utilities and energy,” the group’s website says.
Therefore, in December, AUTO-Consulting recorded a significant increase in sales of Ford, JAC, Dayun, Isuzu and others, but in the end, European manufacturers retained their leadership at the end of the year.
Scania became the leader with sales of 710 vehicles, which is twice as many as in 2022 and an increase in market share to 14.6% from 11.25%. At the same time, in December, the brand took the eighth place in the ranking with sales of 26 vehicles compared to 52 in December 2022.
MAN, which has been in the lead in recent months, took second place, with dealers selling 6,651 trucks (up 42%). It is followed by Mercedes-Benz – 499 vehicles (+20.2%), Volvo – 473 units (+34%), IVECO – 443 (2.2 times more), Ford – 384 units (+107%), Renault – 319 units (three times more), DAF – 274 units (+3.3%).
At the end of 2022, the top five leaders were MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Scania, and Belarusian MAZ.
AUTO-Consulting notes that in the municipal vehicles segment, where most purchases are made through tenders and cost plays a major role, the leaders in 2023 are quite different.
“So the confrontation between European and Asian manufacturers will continue,” the experts summarize.
