As of May 1, 2022, according to preliminary data, Ukraine’s international reserves amounted to $26 billion 944.9 million (in equivalent), which is 4% less than at the beginning of April ($28.107 billion), according to the data National Bank of Ukraine, released on Friday.
“As of May 1, 2022, Ukraine’s international reserves, according to preliminary data, amounted to $26.945 billion. According to the results of April, they decreased by 4%, taking into account sales by the National Bank, which was partially offset by foreign exchange earnings in favor of the government,” the regulator explained.
He noted that the dynamics of reserves in April was affected by public debt management operations: the total volume of payments for servicing and repaying state and state-guaranteed debt in foreign currency amounted to $614 million in equivalent.
It is specified that $420 million of them were directed to servicing and redemption of domestic government bonds denominated in foreign currency, $78 million – to redeem Eurobonds.
At the same time, in April, foreign exchange receipts in favor of the government amounted to $1 billion 887 million in equivalent, including EUR629 million and $93 million received from the World Bank, EUR300 million from the French government, $236 million from the Government of Canada and EUR120 from the EU.
In addition, the NBU and the government of Ukraine paid $84 million in favor of the IMF in April.
The NBU operations on the interbank market also affected the dynamics of reserves. In April, the regulator sold $2.244 billion in the foreign exchange market and bought $43 million. In general, by the end of April, the volume of net sales of foreign currency by the National Bank in the interbank foreign exchange market amounted to $2.2 billion.
In addition, the dynamics of the indicator was affected by the revaluation of financial instruments (changes in market value and the exchange rate of the hryvnia against foreign currencies): last month their value decreased by $150.3 million in equivalent, according to NBU data.
The regulator also clarified that the net international reserves (NIR) of Ukraine in April decreased by $791 million, or 4.5%, to $16.779 billion.
As reported, at the beginning of 2022, Ukraine’s international reserves amounted to $30.941 billion, NIR – $20.767 billion.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development of Poland have agreed to cancel permits for all carriers engaged in international transportation of fuel, the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure reported on Friday.
“Russian missile strikes on refineries and oil depots have created a critical situation in the fuel market. The goal of the team of the Ministry of Infrastructure in these conditions is the complete liberalization of international freight traffic to solve this problem. The new rules have already entered into force, and both Ukrainian and and Polish carriers. I am grateful to the Polish side for the constructive work,” Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov is quoted as saying.
According to him, work will continue on simplifying cargo transportation and creating the most simple and understandable rules for carriers of goods necessary for Ukraine.
To enter the territory of Poland without a permit, fuel carriers must register by filling out the form: https://forms.gle/waid3FnRX1duve9z8
You must fill out the form no later than one day before crossing the border.
As reported, in April, Ukraine and Poland also agreed to increase the volume of rail transportation of Ukrainian exports to the EU and to world markets through Europe. In particular, the parties will set up a joint logistics venture in the near future.
Ukraine and the UK have legally secured the abolition of import duties and tariff quotas in bilateral trade by signing a relevant agreement, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine reported on Wednesday.
“The agreement will be valid for 12 months, but can be extended by agreement between the parties for a new period,” the release states.
According to it, now Ukrainian producers can export more products to the British market. First of all, we are talking about flour, grain, dairy products, poultry meat and semi-finished products, tomato paste, honey, corn, wheat, juices, mushrooms, and sugar – these are the goods Ukraine traditionally exports to the UK.
The Ministry of Economy noted that in 2021, the trade turnover between Ukraine and the UK increased by almost 57%, to $2.2 billion, with exports especially intensified (up by 62%), exceeding $1 billion.
The ministry recalled that the European Union also recently announced its intention to cancel the collection of all import duties on Ukrainian goods for a year.
President of the European Council Charles Michel speaks out in support of the idea of transferring 10% of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to Ukraine.
“I think in deed this option is an interesting option, and we must look at that in order to see if it’s possible and for which member states it will be possible to take such a decision,” Michel said in an exclusive interview with Interfax- Ukraine.
According to him, he discussed this topic directly with the president (Volodymyr Zelensky) and mentioned support for this idea. “We are in closed contact with the IMF and also with different countries across the world and also across the EU.”
Speaking about a possible legal solution to this issue, the President of the European Council recalled that it is within the competence of the member states. “It is a decision of the member states on the national level, but in my capacity as Chair of the European Council, and Ukrainian friends know that they can count on me in order to support this. Is it immediately 10% or we will start with 5% and will try to raise more – the exact modality, we should see what is possible, what is realistic, of course. But you understand I’m supporter of this idea,” Michel said.
The European Commission will soon submit a report on the readiness of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia to join the European Union, European Council President Charles Michel said.
“We discussed in detail the issues of EU enlargement a few months ago, at the conference in Versailles. After that, three countries applied for accession. We made a decision very quickly, instructing the European Commission to carry out work and prepare reports on these countries. We made a decision in a few days, although it usually took 8-9 months. By the end of June, the European Commission will publish this report, and we will decide how to proceed further,” Michel said at a joint press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu during a visit to Chisinau.
He stressed that the EU will continue to act promptly.
“We will act immediately to strengthen ties with Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, to support them in the current difficult situation. This will be a political process in the context of how we see the development of the European Union. In the next two months, we will give a clear signal of what we want to enlarge the European Union,” the President of the European Council said.
For her part, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stressed that “European integration is the choice of the country, the choice of the people.” “On April 22, we submitted to Brussels the first part of our responses to the European Commission’s questionnaire. In the near future we will also pass on the second part. We understand that integration into the EU is a long process, we are not looking for short and easy ways. We intend to continue reforms. Most importantly – peace is needed for this, everything must be done to restore peace,” Sandu stressed.
Metallurgical enterprises of Ukraine in January-April this year reduced steel production by 45.9% compared to the same period last year – to 3.858 million tonnes. According to the recent information of the Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals (UAVtormet), in April, only one steel plant produced steel.
“Insignificant volumes of steel production were shown by some foundry enterprises,” the information of UAVtormet says.
In addition, it is reported that ferrous scrap enterprises for the four months of 2022 reduced procurement of scrap metal by 50.4% compared to the same period in 2021, to 620,100 tonnes.
The export of scrap metal for the specified period amounted to 7,100 tonnes, which is 12.3 times less compared to the four months of 2021 (87,000 tonnes). At the same time, scrap imports amounted to 100 tonnes, while in January-April 2021 – 7,800 tonnes.
The supply of scrap to the country’s steel enterprises in January-April 2022 decreased by 47.1% compared to January-April 2021, to 583,500 tonnes. The total volume of scrap metal supplies in April amounted to 52,500 tonnes.
The level of scrap metal stocks at steel enterprises as of May 1, 2022 is estimated at 60,000 tonnes.
