The growth of Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2018 slightly accelerated, to 3.2% from 3.1% in the first quarter, the National Bank of Ukraine said.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has worsened expectations as of the growth of the Ukrainian economy in 2019 and predicts a slowdown to 2.5%.
Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a list of another 288 investment programs and projects for regional development to the tune of over UAH 1.8 billion, which will be financed by the State Fund for Regional Development in 2018.
The amount of money transfers from abroad to Ukraine in the first quarter of 2018 increased by 34.2% compared to the first quarter of 2017, to $2.614 billion, or 10.2% of gross domestic product (GDP.
The total amount of wage arrears in Ukraine in May 2018 increased by 3.5%, and as of June 1, 2018 amounted to UAH 2.561 billion. Real wages in Ukraine in May 2018 compared to April increased by 2.9%, compared to 2018 May 2017 by 14.1%.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-May 2018 increased by 1.4 times compared with January-May 2017 and amounted to $2.055 billion.
Consumer prices in Ukraine in June 2018 remained zero for the second consecutive month, their growth since the beginning of the year was 4.4%, the State.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has left unchanged the forecast for inflation at the end of 2018 at 8.9%.
Revenue of Ukraine’s national budget in the first half of 2018 amounted to UAH 463.18 billion, lagging behind the planned figures by 3.1% (against 0.6% below the target in the first five months and 1.8% in the first four months).
The assets of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) as of July 1, 2018, amounted to UAH 942.724 billion, which was 8.2% less than at the beginning of the year.
Money supply in Ukraine increased by 1% in June 2018, to UAH 1.210 trillion, according to a preliminary statistics report by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) released on its website.
Ukraine’s international reserves in June 2018 shrank by 1.1%, to $17.978 billion.
Industrial production in Ukraine in June 2018 increased by 2.2% compared to June 2017, while in May this figure was 2.5%, in April 3%.
Ukraine’s retail trade in January-June 2018 increased by 6.2% in comparable prices compared to January-June 2017.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has approved VS Bank (Lviv) merger with TAScombank (Kyiv) under a simplified procedure, VS Bank reported on its website.
“On July 11, 2018, VS Bank received the NBU’s permission for reorganization via the merger of VS Bank with TAScombank under the simplified procedure,” reads the report.
The merger will be conducted in line with the reorganization plan approved at the general meeting of shareholders of each bank and a merger agreement. TAScombank will become the legal successor of VS Bank’s rights and obligations.
TAS Group was founded in 1998. It has assets in the financial and industrial sectors, agriculture, real estate, pharmaceuticals, and venture projects. The financial sector of the group includes TAScombank, Universal Bank, VS Bank, two insurance companies and several other organizations. The founder and the main shareholder of the group is Sergiy Tigipko.
According to the NBU, as of January 1, 2018 the major owner of TAScombank was Sergiy Tigipko, who owned 99.86851% of securities.
Sberbank sold VS Bank as part of the implementation of its strategy to leave the Ukrainian banking market.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) from April 27, 2018 introduced UAH 1 and UAH 2 coins, the central bank has said on its website.
The NBU said that these coins will be in circulation jointly with the old UAH 1 coin and UAH 1 and UAH 2 banknotes.
“Ukrainian will be able to pay using the new coins synchronously with the UAH 1 and UAH 2 banknotes for the unlimited period of time. The NBU will not remove UAH 1 and UAH 2 banknotes from circulation, and eventually the coins would fully replace the damaged and worn down banknotes,” Director of the money circulation department at the NBU Viktor Zaivenko said.
As reported, the NBU intends to stop printing UAH 1, UAH 2, UAH 5, UAH 10 banknotes and replace them with coins.
The NBU said that that UAH 1 and UAH 2 coins will be put into circulation on April 27, 2018, UAH 5 and 10 UAH coins will be introduced under a separate decision of the NBU.
The first issue of UAH 1 and 2 coins will be 5 million pieces of each denomination. They will be put into the market along with the withdrawal of the worn-out banknotes of the corresponding denominations.
The growth of real GDP of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2018 in annual terms (quarter-over-quarter) was 2.3%, according to the assessments of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The growth was thanks to the further increase in population income and retaining the favorable situation on foreign markets.
“An additional factor was the reduction in the comparison base of last year under the influence of the trade blockade of uncontrolled areas last year, the full effect from which is expected from the second quarter,” the central bank said in its inflation report released on Friday night.
At the same time, the NBU points out that the worsening of weather conditions at the end of February and in March somewhat inhibited the revival of economic activity, particularly in transport and construction.
According to the central bank, domestic demand remained the main factor of economic growth. Private consumption supported further increases in salaries and social standards, including an increase in pensions at the end of last year and a minimum wage from the beginning of 2018, as well as improving consumer expectations of households.
“The acceleration in the growth of production of machine-building products, in particular automobile and railway, was the indicator of the further growth,” the NBU said.
The central bank said that in January-February 2018, exports continued to grow, mainly thanks to the increase in the supply of some food products, wood and products made from it, as well as ferrous metals. At the same time, consumer imports were growing at a rapid pace, contributing to the change in GDP.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) expects the country’s Finance Ministry will place $2.5 billion in eurobonds in 2018, $1.5 billion in eurobonds in 2019. “In 2018 and 2019, we expect that eurobonds worth $4 billion will be placed: $2.5 billion this year and $1.5 billion next year,” Deputy NBU Governor Dmytro Solohub said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
