U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink had a “valuable discussion” with Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov on negotiations with UN and Turkey on establishing grain transport corridors through the Black Sea.
“Ukraine is ready to export grain to countries in need; the United States continues engaging with partners to provide safe passage for grain,” she said on Twitter on Saturday following the discussion.
In addition, Brink met with Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko. “So proud to call the beautiful city of Kyiv our home… With victory, we can’t wait to realize Kyiv’s future as a great European capital,” the U.S. Ambassador said.
The French company Matiere will hand over 36 lightweight bridges to Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
“Together with the French government and the federation of French industrialists MEDEF, we have agreed to transfer to Ukraine 36 easily assembled bridges from 23 to 46 meters long from the Matiere campaign. These structures can quickly replace the destroyed Ukrainian bridges, and subsequently replace them on a permanent basis,” Kuleba said on online briefing on Wednesday.
According to him, the French company Matiere has many years of experience in the rapid deployment of bridge crossings for road and rail transport, especially in countries where the war has destroyed infrastructure.
“Already on July 25, the company’s engineers will arrive in Ukraine and conduct a joint assessment mission with the engineers of Ukravtodor. Potentially, the company is considering the possibility of deploying the production of these bridge crossings in Ukraine,” Kuleba said.
The money supply in Ukraine (aggregate M3) increased by 1.4% in June, or by UAH 30.5 billion, to UAH 2 trillion 151.6 billion after a decrease by 0.1% in May and growth by 2.4% and 2.6% respectively in April and March, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported.
According to his data, deposits over the past month increased by 2.4%, or by UAH 35.1 billion – up to UAH 1 trillion 520.2 billion, while in May their volume increased by only 0.3% after an increase of 3. 2-3.6% in April-March.
Unlike previous months, this happened both due to hryvnia deposits, which increased by 1.8%, or by UAH 18.9 billion – up to UAH 1 trillion 39.8 billion, and due to foreign currency deposits, which increased by 3.5% , or by UAH 16.2 billion – up to UAH 480.4 billion.
In May, hryvnia deposits decreased by 0.2%, while foreign currency deposits increased by 1.4%, while in April and March, hryvnia deposits grew rapidly – by 4.7% and 7.5%, respectively.
The NBU indicates that the monetary base (reserve funds) in June decreased by 1.3%, or by UAH 9.6 billion, to UAH 729.4 billion, after a slight increase of 0.4% in May.
At the same time, cash in circulation outside banks (M0) over the past month decreased by 0.8% (in May – by 0.9%), or by UAH 5 billion – to UAH 629.4 billion.
Reserve money of banks, which grew by 8.8% in May, decreased by 4.4% in June to UAH 100 billion.
Over the past month, banks increased investments in certificates of deposit from UAH 163.4 billion to UAH 189.4 billion, slightly reducing funds on correspondent accounts – from UAH 57.3 billion to UAH 56 billion and cash at the box office – from UAH 47.3 billion to UAH 44 billion
The volume of loans after an increase in May by 0.8% in June decreased by 1.3%, or by UAH 13.7 billion, to UAH 1 trillion 26.9 million. At the same time, as a month earlier, both hryvnia loans decreased by 1%, or by UAH 7.5 billion, to UAH 777.4 billion, and foreign currency loans, by 2.4%, or by UAH 6.2 billion. up to UAH 249.5 billion
In general, over the first half of this year, the money supply in Ukraine increased by 3.9%, the base – by 10.1%, cash outside banks – by 8.3%.
Deposits in hryvnia for January-June increased by 2.5%, in foreign currency – by 1.3%. Hryvnia loans increased by 5.4%, while foreign currency loans fell by 14.4%.
As reported, the money supply in Ukraine in 2021 increased by 12%, the base – by 11.2%, cash outside banks – by 12.5%.
The deposit portfolio of banks last year grew by 11.9% due to a jump in hryvnia by 21.4%, while in foreign currency it decreased by 4.1%. The loan portfolio of banks in 2021 increased by 9% due to an increase in hryvnia loans by 23.7%, while foreign currency loans decreased by 16.2%.
The growth of consumer prices in Ukraine in June 2022 accelerated to 3.1% from 2.7% in May, returning to the level of April, the State Statistics Service (Gosstat) reported on Friday.
In June last year, inflation was 0.2%, so in annual terms, in June this year, it rose to 21.5% from 18% in May, 16.4% in April, 13.7% in March, 10.7% – in February and 10% – in January, the agency said.
Core inflation over the past month also increased to 1.6% from 1.4% in May, which, however, is less than 3% in April and 3.8% in March. However, taking into account 0.4% in May 2021 in annual terms, it increased to 14.9% from 13.7% in May, 13% in April, 10.5% in March, 8.2% – at the end of February and 7.6% – at the end of January.
Since the beginning of this year, for its first half of the year, inflation in Ukraine amounted to 17.4%, and the base – 11.4%, said the State Statistics Service.
In the consumer market in June, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 3.2%. Eggs increased the most (by 17.2%). Prices for sugar, rice, cereal products, pork, vegetables, poultry meat increased by 10.9-4.2%. At the same time, prices for beef and fruits fell by 1.1%.
Prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products increased by 2.4%, including for alcoholic beverages – by 3.4%, tobacco products – by 1.4%.
Clothes and footwear fell in price by 1.4%, in particular, clothes – by 1.8%, shoes – by 0.9%.
Transportation prices rose by 11.2%, mainly due to a rise in the price of fuel and lubricating oils by 21.3%, as well as road and rail passenger transport by 7.4% and 4.5%, respectively.
In the field of communications, prices increased by 0.9%, which is associated with a rise in the cost of postal services and telephone equipment by 3.0%.
As reported, in 2021 inflation in Ukraine rose to 10% from 5% in 2020 and 4.1% in 2019, while core inflation rose to 7.9% against 4.5% a year earlier.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called for the export of Ukrainian goods and services to Europe, which will help mitigate the blow inflicted on the economy of the continent by Russian aggression.
“Russia launched a large-scale attack on Europe from Ukraine, because Russia understands the importance of Ukraine for the European project. Russia will inevitably lose, because Europe cannot be split, not divided into parts, as it was before,” he said, speaking on Friday on videoconferencing in the Slovenian Parliament.
“They say in Moscow that they are not enemies of Europe. But Russia has hit the Europeans with a gas crisis. They are trying to keep European gas storage facilities empty before winter. Russia has driven gas prices in Europe to historic highs, deliberately limiting supplies. This has led to catastrophic inflation “, he noted.
According to Zelensky, “Russia is preparing another strike – migration. When the Russian fleet blocked our ports, it was a conscious decision against everyone in the world who depends on food imports. And you see the consequences, but this is only the beginning.”
“Without our food, it will not be possible to stabilize the food market. If there is a famine in Africa and Asia, then you will see new migrants on the territory of the European Union. Millions of new migrants,” the president said.
Zelenskiy said that importing Ukrainian electricity would help mitigate the energy crisis in Europe. “We have a surplus of electricity, even now, when Russian marauders are taking solar power plants out of Ukrainian regions and by their actions have significantly limited our coal generation,” he said.
“We can increase exports 10 times or more, and this will allow us to replace a significant part of Russian gas imports with Ukrainian electricity. All of Ukraine’s European neighbors can get new energy stability and lower energy prices in Europe thanks to Ukrainian electricity,” Zelensky said.
He recalled Ukraine’s gas storage facilities, the most convenient for our region, which can strengthen the European gas market and make the EU more prepared for the winter seasons.
“Together with our partners in the EU, we are creating new food export routes,” Zelensky said. Enormous opportunities arise from the integration of our country into the EU digital market, the president added.
“In order to get through to you, they have to get through us. Therefore, everyone in Europe is interested in Ukraine winning,” Zelensky concluded.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that judicial reform remains one of the necessary ones for joining the EU.
“Judicial reform, a mechanism for selecting judges and holding them accountable,” he said, speaking at a Forbes-Ukraine conference on Friday.
Among the necessary reforms, he also named the reform of the SBU. “We must also continue to implement a plan to de-oligarchize Ukraine in order to eliminate the influence of the oligarchs on political decision-making,” he said. At the same time, he stressed the need for a significant strengthening of the antimonopoly legislation.
Yermak also announced the reform of key ministries and departments. “The state should become more compact and efficient,” he said.
The main principles for the authorities, according to him, remain “security standards, the rule of law, the value of human life.”
“Joining the EU will help us build a Ukraine that we can be proud of,” Yermak said, noting that “this (joining the EU-IF-U) should take place “as soon as possible.”
He also considers it necessary to develop practices for creating industrial parks and special regimes for IT companies.
Yermak urged businessmen to “be more active in making proposals and cooperating with the government and the President’s Office.” “The government, together with experts, should create a national plan for joining the EU. The plan should be as realistic as possible,” the head of the President’s Office said.
