The gross domestic product of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2022 fell by 16% compared to the same period last year, the country’s Ministry of Economy estimates.
“Our forecast for GDP decline in the first quarter is 16%, and the annual decline could reach 40%,” First Deputy Minister Denis Kudin is quoted in a press release from the department.
He noted that those industries where remote work is impossible, in particular, aviation, maritime transportation, and the service sector, where businesses work directly with consumers, have suffered the most.
At the same time, Kudin pointed out that over the past 10 days, the economy as a whole has begun to recover, business in safe regions is returning to work, and farmers have begun sowing.
The ministry noted that in the process of economic recovery, special attention will be paid to supporting industries that directly provide for the livelihoods of citizens and strengthen the defense capability of the state. “We are talking about agriculture, food production, retail, utilities and energy services, industries working on mobilization orders,” the press release says.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Ukraine in March of this year exported 5.97 million tons of goods worth $2.7 billion, which is more than half the quantity and value indicators for February. Imports fell three times – to 1.6 million tons for $1.8 billion.
Ores, corn, ferroalloys and oil remained the main export items. The export of metals (including flat-rolled products – decreased by almost 10 times, to 47,000 tons) and agricultural products was especially affected, the ministry noted.
“For some metallurgy positions, exports were not made at all. This is primarily due to the physical destruction of metallurgical facilities and the stoppage of production,” the ministry commented.
In March, Ukraine exported 1.1 million tons of corn, 309 thousand tons of wheat, 118 thousand tons of sunflower oil, 40 thousand tons of soybeans. This is four times less than in February.
Currently, the most important imports are gas, oil, oil products and coal.
Given the closure of transit through the territory of Belarus and the Russian Federation, as well as an increase in the number of freight transport by road, a number of restrictions are being removed or adjusted from April 4, 2022, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine announced on its Facebook page on Monday.
According to the report, in particular, the period of validity of the electronic application for permits has been extended from seven to 10 days.
In addition, the following changes have been adopted for carriers: Poland – increased to five permits of all types per vehicle from April to May; Czech Republic – increased to two permits of all types but one vehicle up to 10 tons (for a month); Serbia – the restriction on travel across the country for vehicles up to 10 tons has been lifted; Romania – temporary registration of permits of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan for vehicles of the ecological standard Euro-3 and higher.
The Ministry of Infrastructure notes that from the very beginning of the war, it has been conducting systemic negotiations with partner countries on the abolition of the permit system for the period of martial law.
“As of April 4, we managed to agree on the cancellation of bilateral and transit permits for transportation through the territory of six countries of the European Union, in particular from Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, as well as through the territory of Georgia and Turkey. Slovakia also provided transportation without permits,” the report says.
In addition, as noted, a mechanism has been established for permit-free passage of all humanitarian cargo with Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Lithuania.
Spending on the payment of salaries in the public sector has been reduced by 10%, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said.
“We have already reduced the total cost of wages in the public sector, except for the budgetary sector, meaning civil servants, not teachers and not doctors, by 10%. We have reduced costs by 10% in the Cabinet of Ministers, the President’s Office, the Verkhovna Rada,” Shmyhal said in an interview on the air of the national telethon on Friday morning.
The prime minister noted that the authorities intend, if necessary, to continue the trend to reduce the cost of wages in the public sector.
He also added that expenditures directly on the functioning of the government, parliament and the President’s Office have also decreased.
“Everything that can be abandoned, we do away with, and we redirect everything to the needs of the army and the Armed Forces,” Shmyhal said.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers has canceled the payment of labor intensity bonuses for the prime minister, ministers, their deputies and heads of regional and Kyiv state administrations until 2024.
So far, none of the allies has provided their vision of security guarantees for Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said.
“I did not raise the issue of security guarantees at the meeting, because we know exactly the list of allies that we see as potential security guarantors with whom we are negotiating on a bilateral basis. But in my bilateral meetings here, we raise and discuss this issue with them. They receive a better understanding of what we want. But we are still discussing. None of them have given us their vision of security guarantees at the moment,” Kuleba said at a press conference after attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
On Thursday, April 7, Ukrposhta made the first delivery from the Belgian Post Group (Belgian Post, bpost), 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid, which bpost collected from the population in its 657 branches.
According to the press service of the national postal operator, the reloading was carried out on the border with Romania thanks to the help and assistance of the Romanian Post.
According to Ukrposhta, in particular, 20 tonnes of food and hygiene products, as well as 20 tonnes of essential medical supplies were delivered from Belgium. They are already moving to Kyiv region, as well as to the east and south of Ukraine.
It is noted that food and hygiene products will be donated to the needs of defenders and organizations that take care of children and the elderly, and will also be distributed to IDPs.
Medicines were purchased by a charitable foundation in Belgium according to the needs of specific hospitals, they are sent to them by targeted delivery.
“Thanks to the fact that from the beginning of the war, Ukrposhta turned to the member countries of the Universal Postal Union for support, today we have it from many post offices of the world, which is expressed in real actions. Another 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid is hundreds of meals for people from the most difficult regions, these are medical supplies for the treatment of military and civilians who were injured due to rocket attacks by Russia,” the press service of the company quotes Ukrposhta CEO Igor Smelyansky.
At the same time, the head of Ukrposhta separately thanked the Belgian Post for understanding not only the plight of Ukrainians, in which they found themselves due to the Russian attack, but also the difficult logistical conditions. In addition to organizing the collection and delivery of aid, bpost also organized its sorting into categories, which will significantly speed up the work, reducing processing time and saving precious minutes, and immediately send aid to the most affected regions of Ukraine, Smelyansky noted.
Ukraine has connected power unit No. 1 of the Khmelnytsky NPP to the power grid, as a result of which eight of the 15 existing power units are operating in the power system, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported, citing the Ukrainian nuclear regulator.
“Ukraine said one of the two units at the Khmelnytsky Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) had been reconnected to the grid after regulator maintenance,” according to the IAEA daily report on Ukraine on its website late on Wednesday.
As a result, eight of Ukraine’s 15 reactors are currently operating, including two at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia NPP, three at the Rivne NPP, two at the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP, and now one at the Khmelnytsky NPP.
“The seven other reactors are shut down for regular maintenance or held in reserve,” the agency said.
As reported, Ukraine stopped power unit No. 1 of the Khmelnytsky NPP on April 2, it remained in operation after power unit No. 2 was put into repair from February 18 for scheduled preventive repairs lasting approximately 92 days.
Before that, according to the IAEA, power unit No. 2 of the Rivne NPP was put out for repair.
