The fall in the gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020 accelerated to 2% from 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020, the State Statistics Service said.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) plans to achieve an increase in the volume of net bank loans to business entities and individuals in relation to GDP at the level of 22% in 2024, which is 8.1 percentage points more than as of 2020 (13.9%).
The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine worsened expectations of real GDP growth in the updated macro forecast from 4.6% to 4.1% in 2021, from 4.3% to 3.8% in 2022, ex-Minister Ihor Petrashko said.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-March 2021 expanded by 1.4% compared to January-March 2020, to $1.315 billion from $1.296 billion.
Consumer prices in Ukraine at the end of April 2021 year-over-year slowed down from 8.5% to 8.4% at the end of March.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) plans to achieve an increase in the volume of net bank loans to business entities and individuals in relation to GDP at the level of 22% in 2024, which is 8.1 percentage points more than as of 2020 (13.9%).
The balances on the government’s foreign currency Single Treasury Account (STA) as of May 5, 2021 amounted to $1.6 billion, head of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Bohdan Danylyshyn said.
The total public debt of Ukraine in April 2021 increased by 1.29% in U.S. dollars to $91.33 billion and by 0.8% in hryvnias, to UAH 2.534 trillion, according to data on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
Prices in the Ukrainian industry in April 2021 grew by 1.2%, while in March – by 1.6%, in February – by 7.8%, in January – by 5.2%.
Industrial production in Ukraine in April 2021 increased by 13% compared to April 2020, while in March the growth was 2.1%, in February and January – a fall of 4.6% and 4%, respectively.
The retail trade turnover of Ukraine in April 2021 compared to the same month in 2020 in comparable prices increased 34.3%, while in March it grew by 13.1%.
From October 2021, the Irish airline Ryanair will launch flights from Kyiv to Turin (Italy) as part of the winter schedule.
As the company’s press service said on Wednesday evening, the flights will be operated twice a week.
At the same time, due to regular changes in restrictions in connection with the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, clients can postpone or change travel dates up to two times with zero commission until the end of December 2021, Sales and Marketing Manager for Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans at Ryanair Olga Pawlonka is quoted as saying in the press release.
There are currently no direct flights from Kyiv to Turin.
The volume of mortgage lending in April 2021 amounted to UAH 789.1 million, which is a third more than in March and 10 times more than in April 2020, when the issuance of new mortgage loans almost stopped, according to the results of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) survey of banks.
According to the NBU on Wednesday, 997 agreements were concluded in April, which is a third more than last month and 7.1 times more than in April last year.
The NBU noted that in general, over the four months, banks issued 2,808 mortgage loans totaling UAH 2.2 billion, which is 2 times more in terms of the number of agreements and almost 3 times more in monetary terms compared to the corresponding period last year.
According to the survey, 90% of mortgage agreements in April were drawn up with five banks, which indicates the concentration of the mortgage lending market.
The NBU said that in April, the volume of loan issuance for the purchase of primary real estate increased by 1.5 times, to UAH 43.2 million, and secondary real estate – by a third, to UAH 168.5 million.
According to the results, the secondary housing market continues to dominate significantly in terms of the number and volume of lending, in particular, the share of mortgage agreements for the purchase of housing in the secondary market in February amounted to about 87% in terms of all new loans.
It is indicated that the average amount of a loan for the purchase of housing continues to grow and in April it amounted to UAH 791,000, including the average amount of a new mortgage loan for the purchase of primary real estate in the reporting month amounted to UAH 925,000, and secondary real estate – UAH 771,000.
According to the central bank, in April the average effective rate of a mortgage loan in the secondary market fell to 13.5% compared to 14.0% in March, and in the primary market it remained at about 17.4%.
Ukraine in January-May of this year increased imports of aluminum ores and concentrate (bauxite) in kind by 12.3% compared to the same period last year, to 2.185 million tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service on Tuesday, during this period, imports of bauxite in monetary terms increased 16.8%, to $99.393 million.
At the same time, aluminum ores were mainly imported from Guinea (60.15% of supplies in monetary terms), as well as from Brazil (22.26%) and Ghana (16.31%).
Ukraine in January-May 2021 re-exported bauxite in the amount of 94 tonnes for the tune of $19,000 to Poland (84.21%) and Germany (15.79%).
Ukrainian enterprises in January-May this year increased exports of ferrous scrap by 8.9 times compared to the same period last year, to 146,345 tonnes, including 59,366 tonnes of scrap exported in May.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service on Wednesday, in monetary terms, exports of scrap metal increased by 12.5 times, to $52.333 million.
At the same time, in January-May this year, the country increased imports of scrap metal in quantity terms by 51.3%, to 10,351 tonnes. In monetary terms, imports of scrap increased by 2.4 times, to $18.007 million.
Scrap metal in January-May this year was mainly imported from Turkey (63.78% of deliveries in monetary terms), the Russian Federation (28.98%) and the U.S. (2.26%); and exported – to Turkey (96.26%), Germany (0.99%) and Lithuania (0.91%).
Ukrainian enterprises in January-May this year increased imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 80.3% compared to the same period last year, to $64.408 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine on Wednesday, exports of copper and copper products over the first five months of the year increased by 3.1 times, to $88.374 million.
In May, copper and copper products were imported for $14.212 million, and exported – for $20.323 million.
In addition, Ukraine in January-May 2021 increased imports of nickel and nickel products by 34.3% compared to the same period in 2020, to $42.286 million (in May – $9.536 million), and aluminum and aluminum products by 13.6%, to $167.566 million ($37.505 million). At the same time, it increased imports of lead and lead products by 2.9 times, to $4.830 million ($227,000), tin and tin products – by 58.1%, to $1.369 million ($224,000), and zinc and zinc products – by 98.8%, to $35.565 million ($7.426 million).
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in January-May 2021 increased by 52.7% compared to January-May 2020, to $61.494 million (in May – $11.943 million), lead and lead products by 57.9% – to $14.044 million ($1.684 million), and nickel and products – by 52.2%, to $1.966 million ($599,000).
Zinc exports in January-May 2021 amounted to $17,000 (there was no export in May), while in January-May 2020 they amounted to $21,000. Exports of tin and tin products in January-May 2020 amounted to $11,000 (in May – $3,000), while in January-May 2020 – $48,000.
