BofA Global Research analysts again worsened the forecast for the pace of real GDP in Ukraine: in 2020, they now expect it to fall by 6.8% compared to 5.6% earlier, and in 2021 – by 6.5% instead of the previous estimate of 7.4%. The reduction of Ukraine’s GDP in January-April 2020 will deepen to 5%, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine expects in a review of economic activity in April.
Ukraine’s economy will shrink by 3.5% in 2020 due to the coronavirus-related crisis, while the global economy will lose 5.2% overall, the World Bank announced this in the updated Global Economic Prospects.
Ukraine’s GDP will fall by 6.7% in 2020, but the country’s economy will recover by 5.7% in 2021, ICU Investment Group predicts.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reviewed downwards its forecast for Ukraine’s GDP decline in 2020 to 8.2% from 7.7% in its April World Economic Outlook.
The Cabinet of Ministers has said that a drop of Ukraine’s GDP in 2020 could be up to 8% compared to 2019, according to the updated government action plan.
The decline of Ukraine’s GDP in January-March 2020 was 1.3% year-over-year, while according to the preliminary assessment published in the middle of May, the indicator was 1.5%.
The fall in Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 may be deeper than expected in the April forecast of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), that is, below the 5% level, the regulator’s website reports.
Head of Dragon Capital Tomas Fiala predicts a decline in Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 by about 7% and its recovery in 2021 by about 4%.
The ICU Investment Group estimates Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) decline in May 2020 at 10.3% year-over-year and predicts a 10% year-over-year decline in the second quarter, Head of the macroeconomic research department of the group Serhiy Nikolaichuk has said.
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) new program for Ukraine betrays Ukraine’s national interests, Opposition Platform-For Life faction co-chairman Yuriy Boiko said.
The total losses for the Ukrainian economy from the introduction of quotas for the import of mineral fertilizers could be $100-238 million, according to a study by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).
The Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine expects that the Ukrainian economy would resume growth in October-December 2020, Minister Ihor Petrashko has said.
Real wages in Ukraine in May 2020 increased 1.4% compared with May 2019, while compared with April 2020 by 0.8%, the State Statistics Service has said. According to the authority, the average nominal wage of full time employees in May 2020 compared with April 2020 grew by 1.1%, year-over-year (compared with May 2019) it rose by 3%, amounting to UAH 10,542.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-April 2020 decreased by 3.15 times (66.7%) compared with January-April 2019, to $675 million from $2.124 billion, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to its data, export of goods from Ukraine for the reporting period compared to the same period in 2019 decreased by 1.7%, to $16.086 billion, imports by 9.3%, to $16.76 billion.
PJSC Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) in April-July exported to the EU propofol, a medication that is used for artificial lung ventilation of patients with coronavirus (COVID-19), worth more than $635,000,
The company told Interfax-Ukraine that due to the shortage of this medication in the EU and its active use for treatment of COVID-19 patients the supplies of the medication were carried out without its registration at the EU’s profile agency, which is a mandatory condition for sale of drugs in Europe.
“Such an exclusion is connected with the crisis, and at the same time it shows the level of confidence in Ukrainian manufacturers and quality of their products,” the company said.
ICU has invested in Augmented Pixels, a Ukrainian company that develops products in the fields of navigation, digital mapping and virtual/augmented reality, the press service of ICU said on Thursday. The amount of the investment is not disclosed.
“Augmented Pixels already has solid market experience and a promising product that solves important practical problems – this is exactly what we are looking for in companies,” Head of ICU Ventures, ICU’s venture wing, Roman Nikitov said.
According to the press release, the Augmented Pixels’ product enables autonomous navigation for robots in GPS-denied environments, as well as having features that allow to create 3D maps for navigating in unknown spaces through a smartphone or virtual/augmented reality devices (indoor navigation).
“During COVID-19 pandemic many companies fired excellent programmers. We decided to move forward more aggressively and develop new products, therefore we attracted additional funding. The whole process took less than a month – I am impressed by the professionalism and proactivity of the ICU team,” CEO of Augmented Pixels Vitaliy Honcharuk said.
According to ICU, each new success story of a Ukrainian company increases the credibility of the Ukrainian venture capital market and makes us more visible on the world map.
“This is one of our goals as a strategic investor in this region,” Nikitov said.
As reported, earlier ICU invested in the following well-known Ukrainian start-ups: Petcube, Apostera, 3DLook, Hideez and Respeecher.
First phase of the unified public electronic system in the field of construction and development has been launched in Ukraine as part of a pilot project that will last until November 30, 2020, the press service of the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development has said.
According to the report, the implementation of the project will allow receiving services in the field of urban planning activities through an account, enhancing openness and transparency, will allow receiving up-to-date information on the status of document consideration, and automating the process of checking the completeness of data in documents.
“The introduction of first phase of the unified public electronic system in the construction industry will reduce paperwork, neutralize the biased attitude of officials and reduce the likelihood of submitting forged documents,” the press service said, citing First Deputy Minister of Communities and Territories Development Vasyl Lozynsky.
The government will draw up a list of strategic industries and submit it to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for approval, Deputy Prime Minister for Strategic Industries Oleh Urusky has said.
“Surely, this should be formalized by a common document. It should be worked out by the government and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for approval,” Urusky said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, such a list will help determine the priorities of the government regarding support for industries, but the future Ministry of Strategic Industries will deal with all sectors without exception.
“On the other hand, the new ministry, which will be created, will become a ‘home’ for all sectors. The entire industry will be able to count on it,” Urusky said.
The construction of a cargo terminal at Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv region) is scheduled to begin this fall, the press service of the European Business Association (EBA) has said, following a meeting of Deputy Infrastructure Minister Oleh Yuschenko and airport representatives.
According to the EBA, with reference to the Ministry of Infrastructure, design work is currently underway to prepare for the construction of the cargo terminal, for which additional land plots have already been allocated. Provided that all preparatory work is completed on time, construction will begin in the fall and should be completed 16 months later.
“Thus, according to optimistic estimates, Boryspil airport will receive a new cargo terminal by the end of 2021,” the report says.
The association notes that the construction of the terminal will be carried out at the expense of attracted credit funds, which, according to representatives of Boryspil airport, have already been previously agreed upon. In turn, the Ministry of Infrastructure is negotiating, in particular, with Asian countries on attracting additional transit flows and is working on simplifying document flow.
“The business community approves such news, because logistics companies have long been awaiting the implementation of this project. The association’s logistics committee includes companies that transport goods, including by air, in international traffic and within Ukraine. Business representatives have a significant share in freight flow, which passes, in particular, through the cargo terminal of Boryspil airport,” the EBA said.
One of the main reasons that currently hinder the development of air cargo transportation in Ukraine, the association calls the worn-out infrastructure of the cargo terminal of Boryspil airport, since the structure of the terminal and its capacity have remained unchanged for many years. In this regard, problems regularly arise during the transportation of goods, especially in winter, when due to bad weather the airport cannot cope with the volume of load, the association explained.
