Europe should be prepared for a possible increase in tariffs on imports of goods to the United States, as promised by President Donald Trump, said European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde. The fact that Trump has not yet signed a decree to impose additional duties on all imports was “a very sensible approach, as total tariffs will not necessarily lead to the expected results,” Lagarde said in an interview with CNBC in Davos.
In her opinion, the new US tariffs will be more “selective and focused”.
“We in Europe need to prepare and wait in advance to see what will happen in order to respond to it,” Lagarde added.
At the same time, the ECB President noted that the regulator is “not too concerned” about external risks to inflation.
In response to a journalist’s question about the possible consequences of a new wave of inflation in the United States, Lagarde said that “accelerating inflation in the United States will be a problem for the United States, and that is where the main effects will be felt first.”
The ECB has cut rates by a total of 100 basis points in 2024, with the key deposit rate now at 3%. Economists expect four rate cuts of 25 bps each in 2025. Earlier, the Experts Club think tank, Brian Mefford and Maxim Urakin, released a video analysis on what changes are expected in US domestic and foreign policy under Trump, the video is available on the Experts Club YouTube channel – https://youtu.be/W2elNY1xczM?si=MM-QjSqGce4Tlq6T
The number of international tourist arrivals recorded globally in 2024 was 1.4 billion, 99% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels, the United Nations Tourism (UN Tourism) said.
“Last year was a year of recovery for international tourism after the worst crisis in the industry’s history. Most destinations welcomed more international travelers in 2024 than before the pandemic, and their spending continued to grow strongly. In total, 1.4 billion tourists traveled internationally, an 11% increase from 2023, marking a 99% recovery to pre-pandemic levels,” the report said.
According to the organization, the growth is attributed to strong travel demand following the pandemic and the continued recovery of tourism in Asia-Pacific countries. The Middle East, Europe and Africa performed best in the recovery of tourist flows.
“The Middle East is the region with the largest growth in international tourism after the pandemic. It recorded 95 million tourist arrivals in 2024, up 32% from 2019. Africa welcomed 7% more tourists in 2024 than in 2019 (74 million), Europe by 1%. The European continent, which received 747 million foreign tourists or almost half of the total international flow, remains the world’s most attractive region for tourism,” the report said.
According to UN Tourism, all European countries surpassed 2019 levels with the exception of Central and Eastern European states.
“The Americas welcomed 213 million tourists, just 3% less than in 2019. The Caribbean and Central America have already exceeded pre-pandemic levels. The Asia-Pacific region continues to recover international tourist flows. It welcomed 316 million tourists in 2024, 87% of 2019 levels. Compared to 2023, arrivals are up 33%,” the organization said.
In 2024, Ukrainians purchased 41.7 thousand used cars from the United States, 46% more than a year earlier, Ukravtorom reports on its telegram channel.
“This is 19% of all used passenger cars registered for the first time last year,” the association said.
As reported, in total, 222.1 thousand used cars imported from abroad were registered in Ukraine in 2024 for the first time, which is 4% more than in 2023.
According to the association, the average age of used cars that joined the Ukrainian fleet is 5.8 years. The largest share (45%) is accounted for by cars with gasoline engines, followed by electric cars (36%), hybrid cars (7%), cars with LPG (6.5%) and diesel cars (5.5%).
The most popular used cars from the United States last year were Tesla Model 3 – 4521 units; Tesla Model Y – 3984 units; Ford Escape – 2747 units; JEEP Cherokee – 2492 units and Volkswagen Passat – 2344 units.
At the same time, according to the association, in 2024, the demand for used cars from China decreased by 20% to more than 3.3 thousand, and their share in the segment of used imported cars amounted to 1.5%.
The most popular cars were Volkswagen ID.4 – 635 units; Nissan Ariya – 259 units; Honda M-NV – 175 units; Zeekr 001 – 175 units; Honda eNS1 – 156 units.
At the same time, Ukravtoprom states that the demand for new passenger cars from China increased by 37% to 11 thousand units, and their share in total registrations of new cars amounted to 16%.
The top five leaders are Volkswagen ID.4 – 1625 units; Honda M-NV – 1279 units; BYD Song Plus – 1062 units; Nissan Ariya – 766 units; and Zeekr 001 – 703 units.
In total, in 2024, Ukrainians purchased about 14.4 thousand cars imported from China, which is 18% more than a year earlier.
As reported with reference to the State Customs Service, in 2024, the import of passenger cars (new and used) to Ukraine in monetary terms increased by 8% compared to 2023 – up to $4.385 billion, and most of them were imported from the United States (18.65%), Germany (15.56%) and Japan (11.3%).
In December 2024, TAS Insurance Group (Kyiv) collected UAH 514.14 million in insurance premiums, which is 62.9% more than in the same period in 2023.
According to the insurer’s website, motor hull insurance premiums in December amounted to 14.6% of the total, or UAH 75.3 million, which is 6.9% more than in December last year; motor third party liability insurance premiums – 47.6%, or UAH 244.7 million (twice as much), and Green Card premiums – 23.6%, or UAH 121.5 million (+49.8%).
Under voluntary health insurance contracts, TAS Group collected UAH 12.33 million in premiums, which is 42.6% higher than the same period last year.
Under property insurance contracts, the company collected UAH 20.44 million in premiums, an increase of 25.7%.
Under other insurance contracts, the company collected UAH 40 million in payments (+56.2%).
As reported, in December 2024, TAS Insurance Group paid UAH 183.3 million under the concluded insurance contracts, which is 30.4% more than the amount of the company’s indemnities for the same month in 2023.
About a quarter of the total volume of payments, or 22.02%, accounted for hull insurance – UAH 40.4 million, MTPL – 34.3%, or UAH 62.9 million (+13.6% compared to December 2023), Green Card – 21.98%, or UAH 40.3 million (+13.5%).
The share of VHI in the group’s claims portfolio amounted to 18.1%, or UAH 33.2 million (+46.9%) in December.
Under other insurance contracts, the company paid UAH 6.62 million (+2.7 times).
TAS Insurance Group was registered in 1998. It is a universal company offering more than 80 types of insurance products in various types of voluntary and compulsory insurance. It has an extensive regional network: 28 regional directorates and branches and 450 sales offices throughout Ukraine.
The gambling business paid almost UAH 17 billion in taxes to the state budget in 2024, which is 63% or UAH 6.57 billion more than last year, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.
According to him, gambling income tax will generate the most revenue – approximately UAH 10.5 billion. The second largest source of personal income tax revenues is winnings, amounting to approximately UAH 4.8 billion.
In addition, a significant share of tax revenues comes from the military fee (approximately UAH 0.4 billion) and personal income tax (over UAH 1 billion). The rest is accounted for by the tax on lottery income and income tax, which amounted to less than UAH 0.2 billion.
As reported, on January 6, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Law No. 4116-IX on combating gambling addiction (ludomania) and improving state regulation of the organization and conduct of gambling and lotteries. The law provides for the elimination of gambling halls, a ban on gambling advertising (except for the following exceptions: on TV and radio at night, in media for people over 21, on platforms and search engines with a target audience over 21), improvement of payment rules, and a ban on calls and SMS to an unspecified number of people from gambling organizers.
Electricity imports in 2024 became the largest since 2014, reaching almost 4.5 million MWh, while exports fell to a historically low level during this time – almost 350 thousand MWh, Ukrainian energy and climate think tank DiXi Group reported with reference to the open data portal Energy Map.
“In 2024, Ukraine imported 4436.6 thousand MWh of electricity, which was the highest figure for the last 11 years (actual data before 2014 are not publicly available). At the same time, electricity exports reached a historic low of 348.5 thousand MWh,” says the review provided by DiXi Group to the Energoreforma project.
According to the center’s analysts, the main reason for the abnormal figures was Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
They note that from March 22 to December 25, 2024, the Russian Federation carried out 13 massive missile and drone attacks, firing 846 missiles of various types and 866 UAVs.
Of these, 230 missiles (27%) and 25 UAVs (3%) were not shot down by air defense forces or neutralized by radar systems, probably hitting their targets.
Imports peaked in June and July, when the shelling was compounded by the heat wave and the traditional scheduled maintenance of some power units to prepare them for the fall and winter.
“In June, imports reached 858.4 thousand MWh, which is 6% more than was purchased for the whole of 2023 (806.4 thousand MWh), and is the highest monthly figure since 2014 (according to available data),” the review says.
In 2024, Ukraine received 38.4% of imported electricity from Hungary (1705 thousand MWh). Ukraine imported 1036.5 thousand MWh from Slovakia (23.4% of the total), 819.6 thousand MWh from Romania (18.5%), 636.6 thousand MWh from Poland (14.3%) and 238.9 thousand MWh from Moldova (5.4%).
Electricity exports in 2024 amounted to 348.5 thousand MWh, which is 5% less than in 2023 and 90% less than in pre-war 2021.
During the year, exports were carried out to all available destinations. Most electricity was exported to Poland (88.4 thousand MWh, or 25.4%). Hungary received 76.6 thousand MWh (22%), Romania – 71.2 thousand MWh (20.4%), Moldova – 56.8 thousand MWh (16.3%) and Slovakia – 55.5 thousand MWh (15.9%).
The peak volume of exports was recorded before the start of massive shelling – in March, during which Ukraine exported 154.1 thousand MWh (44% of the annual volume). For 140 days, from May 12 to September 29, electricity exports from Ukraine were completely stopped. In total, exports were carried out for 151 days (41% of the year), while for 215 days (59%) there were zero exports. Imports, on the other hand, practically never stopped – its complete absence was recorded only on two days of the year.
