In a new video on its YouTube channel, Kyiv-based think tank Experts Club has presented an analysis of economic trends in the first quarter of 2024 in Ukraine and globally based on official data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the NBU, the UN, the World Bank, and expert forecasts.
Macroeconomic indicators of Ukraine
According to the Center’s founder, Maksym Urakin, in the first quarter of 2024, Ukraine’s GDP grew by 4.1% to 5.3% compared to the same period last year.
“The main growth factors were an increase in agricultural exports and production activity in certain industries. However, the negative balance of foreign trade in goods in the first quarter amounted to almost $6 billion, which is 10% more than last year. This is due to an increase in energy imports after the strikes on the Ukrainian energy sector in March,” Urakin said.
According to the founder of the Experts Club, Ukraine’s national debt has reached a new historical high of $151 billion, which is almost 6 trillion hryvnia in hryvnia equivalent. Inflation in Ukraine in the first quarter was 1% year-on-year, which is in line with the NBU’s target range.
Global economy
Maksym Urakin noted that analysts forecast that the global economy will grow by 2% in 2024, which is lower than expected at the end of last year. The main reasons for the slowdown are high interest rates in developed countries and global geopolitical uncertainty.
“The US economy grew by 1.6% in the first quarter of 2024, which is lower than the growth rate observed in previous quarters, but still at an acceptable level for the development of the country’s economy. China’s economy grew by 5% due to a partial recovery from the crisis and government injections into the technology cluster,” the expert summarized.
He also reminded that the European Commission expects the eurozone economy to grow by only 0.8% in 2024, even less than 1%.
“High inflation and weak domestic demand remain the main problems of the EU countries. However, the British economy showed a modest growth of 0.6%, which indicates a weak recovery after the pandemic and Brexit,” Urakin said.
The economic situation in the world remains tense and depends on many factors, including geopolitical risks and changes in the global economic and political landscape. Experts Club will continue to monitor the situation and provide up-to-date and balanced news.
You can learn more about the macroeconomics of Ukraine and the world in the video by following the link:
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From May 30 to June 8, the Goldens auction house will hold 61 auctions – “Collectible Classical Art” – dedicated to works by Ukrainian classics of the 1890s and early twentieth century.
Such an artistic cross-section allows for a broad representation of Ukrainian art in its diversity of schools and trends. In particular, the auction selection includes works by artists of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Transcarpathian schools of painting, as well as by emigrant artists: Hryhoriy Kruk, Isaac Pailes, and Abram Manevich. The selection includes unique works of both artistic and collector’s interest.
Among the top lots of the auction are works by Serhiy Vasylkivsky, Volodymyr Orlovsky, Hryhoriy Svitlytsky, Abram Manevich, Mykola Hlushchenko, Serhiy Shyshko, Viktor Zaretsky, Mykhailo Bozhiy, Roman Selsky, Mihay Munkachi and the main representatives of the Transcarpathian School of Painting: Adalbert Erdelyi, Yosyp Bokshai, Andriy Kotska, Fedir Manailo, and Ferenc Seman.
The most expensive lot of the auction was Ivan Marchuk’s famous work “The Moon Rises Over the Dnipro” (1980), recently exhibited at the National Museum “Kyiv Art Gallery” as the artist’s most iconic lunar landscape.
The Kyiv school of art is represented in the selection by works by Serhiy Vasylkivsky, Valentyn Feldman, Volodymyr Orlovsky, as well as Oleksiy Shovkunenko, Serhiy Shyshko, Mykola Hlushchenko, and Viktor Zaretsky. Among the representatives of the Kharkiv school in the auction’s selection, it is worth noting the names of outstanding landscape painters: Mykola Burachek, Petro Levchenko, and Konstantin Pineev. Their impressionistic works incorporated the world’s leading trends and at the same time the color, techniques and worldview inherent in our national school.
Transcarpathia and the Lviv School of Art became separate centers of Ukrainian art of the twentieth century, with a sensitive perception of modern trends in world art and their reinterpretation on the creative Ukrainian soil. The auction selection includes works by iconic Transcarpathian artists Andriy Kotska, Yosyp Bokshai, Fedir Manailo, Adalbert Erdeli, Havrylo Hluk, Ferenc Seman, as well as iconic Lviv artists Roman Selskyi and Volodymyr Patyk.
The sculpture block is represented by a composition by Olga Rapai, works by Hryhorii Kruk and an exquisite sculpture by Yuliia Synkevych.
The exposition of the auction “Collectible Classical Art” is open to the public from May 30 to June 08 in the hall of the Goldens auction house, as well as online at www.gs-art.com. For registration and participation in the auction, please call: (044) 240 95 32 or register online to be able to place online bids yourself.
Schedule of the auction exhibition:
May 30 – June 08, 2024
12:00 – 19:00
Without days off
Entrance is free
Alternate closing of lots will start on June 08 at 19:00 online at www.gs-art.com.
Address: Kyiv, 4 Leonid Pervomaisky str.
GOLDENS auction house
+38 044 240 95 32
contact@gs-art.com
www.gs-art.com
Shri Ravi Shankar has been appointed as the new Ambassador of India to Ukraine on May 30, 2024. This was reported the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India.
Shri Ravi Shankar, who is currently working as an additional secretary in the Ministry, has previously held positions in the Indian government. He is expected to take up his duties in the near future.
India recognized Ukraine’s independence on December 26, 1991. On January 17, 1992, diplomatic relations between Ukraine and India were established.
Source: mea.gov.in
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided $2.5 million to the American Esper Corporation to expand production capacity for bionic upper limb prostheses in Ukraine as part of the Elysium project.
According to the EBRD press release, the total cost of the project is $6.25 million.
The project is co-financed by a European venture capital fund specializing in medical technology and an American venture capital fund specializing in investments in Ukraine and Moldova.
Esper Corporation is a manufacturer of bionic upper limb prostheses with research and production facilities located in Ukraine.
The main owners of Esper are Ukrainian entrepreneurs.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” will supply any volume of timber for fortifications without intermediaries, said CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“Customers do not need to turn to intermediaries – we will find the volumes and organize the delivery. No matter what point on the map of Ukraine we are talking about,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
According to him, the terms of transfer of wood for fortifications are determined by the Ministry of Defense, regional military administrations, military units, and may include tenders, direct contracts and other mechanisms.
“We are the largest state-owned company. If it is necessary, Forests of Ukraine is ready to significantly increase the volume of supplies,” said Bolokhovets, adding that the company has been fulfilling all defense orders without exception.
“Recently, Forests of Ukraine won the Ministry of Defense’s tender on Prozorro for the supply of almost 28 thousand cubic meters of wood at a price of UAH 3.75 thousand per cubic meter with delivery.
Also this year, the state-owned company provided the Defense Forces with almost 75 thousand cubic meters of wood free of charge and fulfilled all requests from military units received by the company.
Earlier, Bolokhovets said that since 2023, Forests of Ukraine has provided the Armed Forces with almost 200 thousand cubic meters of lumber and raw wood worth more than UAH 330 million.
The Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTSBU) will hold the first session of the online course “Fundamentals of the New Law on CMTPL Insurance” on May 31 at 10:00, according to the Bureau’s Facebook page.
The session will be conducted by Roman Romensky, Head of the MTSBU Legal Department, who will talk about the basic principles and procedure for concluding insurance contracts in accordance with the basics of the new law (Section I-II of the draft law).
It is specified that participants do not need to register, it is enough to follow the YouTube live link https://www.youtube.com/live/hIQEzWFqQqc.
In connection with the adoption on May 21, 2024 by the Verkhovna Rada of the draft law “On Compulsory Insurance of Civil Liability of Owners of Inland Motor Vehicles” will hold a familiarization course on the main provisions of the bill, according to the website of the Bureau.
The familiarization course will consist of four sessions (by sections of the draft law), which will be held on the official YouTube channel of the MTSBU on Fridays at 10:00, lasting 1 hour 30 minutes, of which 30 minutes will be allocated for answering questions.
The tentative plan of the lectures is as follows: Session 1: Basic fundamentals of the New Law on CMTPL insurance and the procedure for concluding insurance contracts (І-ІІІ section of the draft law), Session 2-3: Settlement of insurance claims and the procedure for making payments (III section of the draft law), Session 4: Updating the functional work of the MTSBU and the basic principles of insurance companies’ membership in the Bureau (IV section of the draft law).
