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 State Statistics Service said on Friday, that inflation fell to 0.7% in April from 1.7% in March, 1% in February and 1.3% in January.
In addition, the State Statistics Service in April 2021 recorded core inflation at 0.7%, which is also lower than the previous month (1.6%).
In general, for the first four months of 2021, inflation in Ukraine amounted to 4.8%, core inflation to 3.1%.
In the consumer market in April, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 1.2%. Sunflower oil rose in price most of all (by 10%). Prices for sugar, processed grain products, rice, bread, meat and meat products, pasta rose by 5.0% to 1.0%. At the same time, vegetables, fruits, eggs and milk fell in price by 1.3% to 0.5%.
Prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products increased by 0.9%, was mainly due to a 1.5% rise in prices for tobacco products.
The rise in prices (tariffs) for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels by 0.4% was mainly due to a 2.3% rise in prices for natural gas.
Transport prices increased by 0.6%, primarily due to the rise in the cost of travel in railway and road passenger transport by 2.6% and 1.4%, respectively, and fuel and oils by 0.8%.
The Ukrainian government expects inflation of 7.3% in 2021, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) some 8%. According to the NBU, the peak of the inflationary surge at about 9.6% will occur in the third quarter of 2021, and in autumn inflation will start to decline. Inflation will return to the target range of 5% ± 1 percentage points (p.p.) in the first half of 2022, where it will remain in the future, the National Bank said.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 07/05/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of May 7
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Ukraine has overcome the third wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has said.
“Finally, I can state that we have overcome the third wave of the pandemic. From tomorrow, there will not be a single region with a ‘red’ level of epidemic danger in Ukraine,” he said on his Facebook page.
Stepanov said that, as planned, on Friday there will be a meeting of the State Commission on Environmental Safety, Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response, which can cancel the “red” level of epidemic danger in Sumy region.
The minister said that the third wave of COVID-19 claimed more lives compared to the first two, and during this period the healthcare system worked with tension, there was not enough oxygen in medical institutions.
“The late March and the early April were the hardest. The capacities at Lviv Chemical Plant [supplying medical institutions with oxygen] were overloaded and at some point some of the production capacities stopped. However, we managed to restore them overnight. We did not leave a single person without oxygen. For example, one of the city hospitals in Kyiv, before the pandemic, needed 3 tonnes of oxygen per month, and during the third wave – 5.5 tonnes per day,” he said.
According to Stepanov, at the peak of the epidemic, there were 44,000 patients in hospitals on oxygen therapy; while a year earlier there were 3,500 beds with oxygen in Ukraine.
At the same time, the minister recalled the need for further compliance with anti-epidemic measures.
“No ‘barbecue’ costs life and health. Therefore, take care of yourself, because the virus is just waiting for you to take off the mask,” the minister said.
The net profit of First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB, Kyiv) in January-March 2021 amounted to UAH 1 billion, which is 23.3% more than in the same period in 2020 (UAH 810.9 million), the bank said on its website. According to the report, the bank’s net interest income in the first quarter increased by 20.7% compared to the same period a year earlier, to UAH 2.03 billion, and commission fees – by 5%, to UAH 439 million.
FUIB’s assets in the first three months of the year increased by 12.8%, to UAH 84.877 billion, in particular loans to customers – by 5.5%, to UAH 39.6 billion, and cash and cash equivalents – by 1.5 times, to UAH 21.26 billion.
The bank’s liabilities increased by 15%, to UAH 75.456 billion, in particular, customer funds – by 17%, to UAH 67.3 billion, and debt to other banks – by 35.7%, to UAH 1.84 billion.
The bank’s net worth decreased by 2.7% in three months, to UAH 9.42 billion. The charter capital remained at the level of UAH 4.78 billion.
FUIB was founded in 1991. Rinat Akhmetov is the owner of a significant stake in the bank (indirect participation is 99.9%).
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of March 1, 2021, in terms of total assets (UAH 85.516 billion) FUIB ranked seventh among 73 banks operating in the country.
PrJSC ASKA insurer (Zaporizhia) in 2020 collected net premiums in the amount of UAH 303.918 million, which is 14.5% less than a year earlier.
According to the company’s annual report, published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, gross premiums collected by the company in 2020 decreased by 1.7%, to UAH 937.283 million, those transferred to reinsurers increased by 2% – to UAH 624.156 million, payments – also by 2%, to UAH 176.334 million.
Administrative expenses of the company in 2020 decreased by 22.6% – to UAH 48.189 million, sales expenses – by 11.6%, to UAH 88.102 million.
As reported, the insurance company ended 2020 with an uncovered loss of UAH 158.952 million, which is 2.3% more than a year earlier and a net loss of UAH 14.097 million, which is 2.4 times less than a year earlier.
The company’s assets in 2020 increased by 4% – to UAH 722.841 million, net worth – by 24.5%, to UAH 207.614 million.
Total debtor indebtedness increased by 17.5% – to UAH 354.175 million, cash and their equivalent decreased by 4.7% – to UAH 83.299 million.
Long-term liabilities decreased by 13.2% – to UAH 291.195 million, current liabilities increased by 16.5% – to UAH 224.032 million. The charter capital of the insurer remained at the level of UAH 187.585 million.
ASKA was founded in June 1990. It is a universal insurance company that provides insurance coverage for 19 voluntary and 20 compulsory types of insurance.
ASKA is a member of SCM Group.
