The Council of Europe Development Bank will provide Ukraine with an additional EUR100 million loan for the HOME project, which will help the government solve the housing problems of the most vulnerable groups who have lost their homes due to the war, and another EUR50 million loan to finance soft housing loans through the State Fund for Youth Housing (Derzhmolodzhytlo).
According to the bank’s website, this decision was made by its Administrative Board on May 31.
It is noted that the initial loan of the HOME project, which was approved in 2024 and also amounted to EUR 100 million, allowed the restoration of the housing rights of 3 thousand families whose homes were destroyed.
As for the loan to the State Agency for Youth and Housing, this initiative aims to overcome critical socio-economic vulnerability by prioritizing internally displaced persons (IDPs) who do not have alternative housing solutions, the CEB said. According to him, the loan will allow approximately 1.1 thousand families to purchase housing.
In a telegram on Saturday, Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Community and Territorial Development, added that the project “HOME: Compensation for Destroyed Housing” is part of the ‘eRecovery’ program. According to him, more than 250 thousand real estate objects are currently registered in the State Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property.
“Thanks to additional funding from HOME, more than 3,000 families who have already received housing certificates for destroyed housing will be able to get new homes. This component of eRestoration allows certificate holders to purchase new homes to replace those destroyed by Russian aggression. Participants in hostilities, defenders, people with disabilities and large families have a priority right to compensation under the program,” Kuleba emphasized.
According to him, thanks to the project of preferential lending for IDPs, 1.46 thousand Ukrainian families will be provided with their own housing on the most affordable terms by 2025.
Unemployment in the eurozone stood at 6.3% in December last year, up from an all-time low of 6.2% a month earlier, the European Union’s statistics office said.
Analysts also expected 6.3%, according to Trading Economics. The November level was revised from 6.3%. For comparison, in December 2023, unemployment was 6.5%.
In December, the number of unemployed in the region increased by 96 thousand compared to the previous month to a three-month high of 10.83 million.
Among young people (population under 25), the share of unemployed fell to 14.8% from 14.9%.
The lowest unemployment rate among the largest eurozone countries was recorded in Germany (3.4%, the same as a month earlier), and the highest in Spain (10.6% vs. 10.7% in November). In France, unemployment rose by 0.1 percentage points to 7.8% in December, and in Italy it increased by 0.3 percentage points to 6.2%.
Overall, the unemployment rate in the European Union was 5.9% last month, up from 5.8% in November. In December 2023, it was 6%.
The Patrol Police Department on January 31 announced a tender for the purchase of services of compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles, reported in the system of electronic public procurement Prozorro.
The expected cost of the purchase of insurance services is UAH 12.124 million. The deadline for submission of proposals is February 8.
As reported, earlier the winner of a similar tender was IC “Guardian”.
According to Swedbank, the Latvian economy will show growth of 2.2% in 2025, and in 2026 the pace will accelerate to 2.8%. After a 0.2% decline in GDP in 2024, signs of recovery appeared by the end of the year, which creates positive expectations for the next period.
The main drivers of growth will be an increase in exports, growth in household consumption, and increased public investment.
The labor market in Latvia remains stable: the unemployment rate continues to decline, and wages are growing, although the rate of increase is slowing. Inflation in 2025 is projected at 2.6%, which is moderate.
One of the key challenges for the economy remains the implementation of projects funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). All planned projects are due to be completed by mid-2026, and their successful implementation could be a catalyst for further economic growth.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has instructed the country’s Economy Ministry to prepare all possible measures in response to the US imposition of import duties on Mexican goods, calling the White House’s accusations against the Mexican government regarding its ties to criminal organizations slanderous.
“I am instructing the Minister of Economy to implement Plan B, which we are working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures to protect Mexico’s interests,” Sheinbaum wrote on social media platform X.
She also accused the United States of ineffectively combating the spread of fentanyl and supplying weapons to criminal groups in Mexico.
Sheinbaum suggested that Trump create a working group with the participation of the best experts in the field of public health and security, solving the problems “not through the introduction of tariffs, but through negotiations and dialogue.”
As reported, Trump is set to sign an executive order next week imposing 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada and 10% on goods imported from China. At the same time, duties on energy from Canada will be 10% and will affect the entire Canadian energy sector, including oil, gas, and electricity.
In the south and south-east of Ukraine on Monday, February 3, moderate wet snow and rain, in some places sticking wet snow, in the rest of the territory in some places light snow, reported Ukrhydrometcenter.
The roads are icy in places. The wind is predominantly north-western, 5-10 m/s.
The temperature at night 0-5° frost, in the Carpathians 4-9° frost, in the southern part, during the day in Ukraine from 2° frost to 3° warm, in the Crimea 2-7° warm.
In Kiev on Monday in places a light snow. The wind is north-westerly, 5-10 m/s. The temperature at night 1-3° frost, in the daytime about 0°.
According to the Central Geophysical Observatory named after Boris Sreznevsky. Borys Sreznevsky, in Kiev on February 3, the highest temperature during the day was 12.3 in 2002, the lowest at night -26.8 in 2012.
On Tuesday, February 4, in Ukraine in places a light snow, at night in the south-eastern part of moderate snow.
On the roads in some places icy. The wind is north-western, 5-10 m/s.
The temperature at night 3-8° frost, during the day from 4° frost to 1° warm, in Transcarpathia 0-5° warm; in the Carpathians at night 9-14° frost, during the day 1-6° frost.
In Kiev on Tuesday there will be light snow in some places. The wind is north-westerly, 5-10 m/s. The temperature at night 3-5° frost, during the day 0-2° frost.
