The European Parliament of the current convocation will hold its last plenary session this week. The new parliament will be elected in the European elections in the EU member states to be held from June 6 to 9.
During a press conference held on Monday in Strasbourg before the session, the head of the EP press service, Jame Duch, said that 600 journalists would cover the last session of the parliament, and 90 bills would be put to a vote. Among them is a bill to extend Ukraine’s liberal trade regime, which also provides protective measures for EU farmers. The vote will take place on Tuesday. In total, from 2019 to 2024, this ninth parliament passed 3,599 pieces of legislation.
The press service of the European Parliament told Interfax-Ukraine that in the last two years of the institution’s work alone, from September 2021 to April 2024, 40 resolutions related to Ukraine were adopted.
In front of the EP building, among the flags of the European Union member states, which are installed in two parallel rows, the flag of Ukraine, which has been raised since the day of Russia’s invasion, continues to fly. The Ukrainian flag is first, next to the EU flag, symbolizing support. “The Parliament has played a key role in the EU’s response to Russia’s war of aggression, including several rounds of macro-financial assistance, acting to support increased munitions production and the Ukraine Facility,” Duch said.
Earlier, Experts Club and Maksim Urakin presented an analytical material on the most important elections in the world in 2024, more detailed video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/73DB0GbJy4M
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France, India and Greece are openly arming Armenia, and Baku will take serious measures if the situation poses a threat to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said.
“We cannot just sit and wait. We have clearly communicated our position to the Armenian government and the parties that are trying to take care of Armenia today. If we see a serious threat to ourselves, we will have to take serious measures,” Aliyev said on Tuesday at a meeting in Baku with participants of the international forum “COP29 and Green Vision for Azerbaijan” organized at the ADA University.
The President noted: “France, India and Greece are openly arming Armenia and are trying to prove something to Azerbaijan in this way.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank created a video analysis of the post-war situation in the Caucasus – https://youtu.be/reyUMjFBFhU?si=qpqLleFVqZJ30GuV
In response to the growing need for comprehensive support for wounded who have been seriously injured in the war zone, a modern rehabilitation hub is being built in Kyiv. This project was implemented thanks to the cooperation of the Center for Saving Lives, the Association of Osteo-Integrative Prosthetics and the Aesculab Laboratories network.
“Our center was created to provide our military with the best possible assistance in recovering from severe injuries. We provide not only physical rehabilitation with the help of modern equipment, but also psychological support,” said Vyacheslav Zaporozhets, director of the Center for Saving Lives charitable foundation.
According to him, the project is unique in that it uses not only the most advanced technologies for physical rehabilitation, but also creates conditions for social adaptation and moral recovery of the military.
“We want every wounded soldier who has undergone amputation to be able to return to a full life,” emphasized Mr. Zaporozhets.
In his turn, co-founder of the Aesculab laboratory, Serhiy Dyadyushko, also noted the importance of the work for the veterans’ recovery.
“The network of laboratories “Esculab” is not only about business. We are honored to be a part of this project. Our participation is not limited to financing; we are also actively involved in the process of education and training of specialists, which allows us to maintain a high level of services provided at the center,” he emphasized.
The center will be equipped to the highest standards, including anti-gravity walkways and group exercise spaces that allow patients to feel comfortable and safe during their rehabilitation.
The rehabilitation center is being built on a 500-square-meter area and includes a modern walking laboratory, a wrestling room, a cardio zone, a strength training zone, a dental office, two physiotherapy rooms, a meditation and sleep room, an occupational therapy kitchen, a mini shooting range, locker rooms and showers, etc. The center can accommodate 30 patients at a time.
The project is part of a larger initiative aimed at creating a network of similar centers across the country to ensure access to high-quality rehabilitation services for all victims.
“Eskulab is a network of medical laboratories of international quality of diagnostic tests based in Lviv and has one of the largest networks of branches in Ukraine. The network includes more than 100 sampling points in the cities and towns of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zakarpattia, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Rivne, Volyn regions and Kyiv. “Eskulab provides patients with the opportunity to take tests at their place of residence and receive highly accurate results. In February 2020, Eskulab Medical Laboratory underwent a voluntary assessment of its measurement capabilities in accordance with the requirements of DSTU ISO 10012:2005 “Measurement management systems. Requirements for measurement processes and measuring equipment” to confirm technical competence and received a Certificate of Conformity of the measurement management system. Today, Eskulab performs more than 820 types of laboratory tests.
You can learn more about the initiative to build a rehabilitation hub in the video on the Experts Club YouTube channel here:
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Experts Club hosted a training aimed at psychological rehabilitation of people affected by the consequences of war. This training was part of a larger project organized by the Experts Club in cooperation with the NGO Club of Experts and the ADONIS network of centers. The initiative aims to support and restore the mental health of people who are under stress or have been victims of psychologically traumatic events.
According to Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club, the rehabilitation course will consist of 8 trainings in three stages. The first stage focuses on the diagnosis of stress and post-traumatic conditions using internationally recognized methods, such as the Impact of Traumatic Events Scale (IES-R), the Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ) and others. The next step is art therapy, where participants have the opportunity to work with qualified psychologists, and the final stage is to evaluate the results and develop further recommendations.
“Our goal is to show that recovery is possible, and every affected person can find support and a path to recovery,” – emphasized Maksym Urakin.
Inna Prysyazhna, training leader and psychologist-consultant of the ADONIS medical centers network, emphasized that art therapy uses primarily creative methods, such as painting, sculpture, composing poetry, fairy tales, etc.
“All this is used to express inner feelings and fears. This not only improves mood, but also helps participants find inner harmony and self-confidence. Art therapy does not just treat, but provides tools for self-help and self-realization. It promotes the development of skills that allow you to better cope with everyday challenges,” the psychologist notes.
The project is funded by the Experts Club project’s own funds. In addition, the initiative actively interacts with the media and social networks to raise public awareness of PTSD and the importance of psychological rehabilitation.
“Experts Club is an analytical center with its own video studio and educational center. The art therapy project is implemented in partnership with the Institute of Psychology.
The number of registered unemployed people increased by 7.9% to 118.5 thousand in March, mainly due to the increase in the number of unemployed women for the fourth month in a row, including last month – by 7.6 thousand to 91.9 thousand.
According to the data of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), released on Friday, the number of unemployed also increased among people under 35 years old – by 2.3 thousand, up to 27.1 thousand.
It is specified that such a trend has lasted since January 2024.
As in the previous month, the largest number of unemployed citizens was recorded in the following regions: Zaporizhzhya (8.9 thousand), Kharkiv (8.6 thousand), Dnipropetrovsk (8.4 thousand), Sumy (7.3 thousand) and Poltava (6.4 thousand).
According to the central bank, the number of unemployed receiving benefits increased from 46.6 thousand to 51.2 thousand, while the number of vacancies also increased to 44.5 thousand from 41 thousand in February.
More details on macroeconomic indicators of Ukraine and the world, GDP of major countries and other economic topics were discussed in one of the video analysis of Experts club analytical center – https://youtu.be/w5fF_GYyrIc?si=Ymo-FlMFNGfLLdK-.
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has clarified the forecast of Ukraine’s GDP growth in 2024 under the World Economic Outlook (WEO): it expects it at the level of 3.2%, then during the third revision of the EFF Extended Fund Facility program in March estimated it in the range of 3-4%.
According to a publication on the Fund’s website on Tuesday, the economic growth forecast for 2025 was kept at 6.5%, up from 5.3% in 2023, according to the State Statistics Service.
The IMF also expects average annual inflation to slow to 6.4% this year from 12.9% last year and accelerate slightly to 7.6% in 2025.
Ukraine’s current account deficit forecast for this year and next year has been kept at the same level as in the third revision of the EFF program – 5.7% of GDP and 8.2% of GDP after 5.5% of GDP last year.
The Fund also reiterated expectations for unemployment to fall from 19.1% last year to 14.5% this year and 13.8% next year/
The IMF indicated that it forecast growth in the euro zone to accelerate to 0.8% this year and 1.5% next year after 0.4% last year, driven by the strong impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Stronger household consumption as the impact of the energy price shock fades and lower inflation supports real income growth is expected to support the recovery,” the Fund said, clarifying that the updated estimate is 0.1-0.2 percentage points (p.p.) worse than the previous estimate made in January.
Overall, the WEO said global economic growth, estimated at 3.2% in 2023, will continue at the same pace in 2024 and 2025. The forecast for 2024 is revised upward by 0.1pc from the January estimate.
“These growth rates are low by historical standards, driven by both short-term factors, such as continued high borrowing costs and the withdrawal of fiscal support, and the longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, weak productivity growth, and increased geoeconomic fragmentation,” the IMF said.
Overall global inflation is expected to decline from an annual average of 6.8% in 2023 to 5.9% in 2024 and 4.5% in 2025, with advanced economies returning to their inflation targets sooner than emerging market and developing countries.
The report also notes that the forecast for global economic growth in five years’ time (at 3.1%) is the lowest in decades. ” An alarming change is the widening gap between many low-income countries and the rest of the world. The growth forecast for these economies has been revised downward and the inflation forecast has been raised,” the Fund states.
Worse still, the report notes that compared to most other regions, estimates of long-term damage for low-income developing countries, including some large countries, are revised upward, indicating that the poorest countries are still unable to recover from the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis.
Its experts attribute the relatively weak medium-term outlook to lower GDP per capita growth, due in part to persistent structural frictions preventing the movement of capital and labor to productive firms. And worsening growth prospects in China and other large emerging market economies, given their growing share in the global economy, will have a negative impact on the development prospects of their trading partners.
According to the IMF, the risks to the global economic outlook are currently balanced. “On the downside, new price spikes triggered by geopolitical tensions, including from the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza and Israel, could, along with the resilience of core inflation while labor markets remain tight, lead to higher interest rate expectations and lower asset prices,” the WEO pointed out.
The fund added that geo-economic fragmentation could intensify, with higher barriers to the flow of goods, capital and people implying slower economic growth due to lower supply.
At the same time, it noted that artificial intelligence and stronger structural reforms than expected could boost productivity growth.
As the global economy approaches a soft landing, the priority for central banks in the short term is to ensure that inflation falls smoothly, avoiding both premature policy easing and excessive delay leading to lagging behind targets, the IMF also said.
“Multilateral cooperation is needed to limit the costs and risks associated with geoeconomic fragmentation and climate change, accelerate the transition to green energy, and facilitate debt restructuring,” the Fund concluded.
More details on macroeconomic indicators of Ukraine and the world, GDP of major countries and other economic topics were discussed in one of the video analysis of Experts club analytical center – https://youtu.be/w5fF_GYyrIc?si=Ymo-FlMFNGfLLdK-.
Subscribe to Experts club channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
EXPERTS CLUB, GDP GROWTH, IMF, MACROECONOMICS, UKRAINE, URAKIN
