Business news from Ukraine

MAIN STATISTICS OF UKRAINE IN MAY 2020

The fall in real gross domestic product of Ukraine (GDP) in the second quarter of this year will accelerate to 11.3% from 0.5% in the first quarter, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) predicts in an updated inflation report.
Analysts of J.P. Morgan forecast recession at 5.1% of GDP in Ukraine in 2020 with inflation of 3.7% with a small deficit of current account of the balance of payments at 0.2% of GDP, according to the review dated May 5.
The drop in gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine in Q1, 2020 amounted to 1.2%, the Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Ministry of Ukraine has said. Earlier, it forecasted GDP contraction at 0.9%.
Capital Times investment company with offices in Ukraine and Belarus has worsened expectations for the dynamics of both real and nominal GDP of Ukraine in 2020, in particular, according to its estimates, the country’s real GDP will fall by 7%.
Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) will decrease by 5.2% in 2020, with a further return to growth by 3.6% in 2021, analysts from Oxford Economics predict.
There are no grounds for changing the forecast for the decline in Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 by 4.8%, there are discrepancies with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) regarding the forecast for the hryvnia exchange rate and inflation, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Ihor Petrashko has said.
Ukraine’s GDP decline increased from 4.5% in March to 12% in April, and the GDP fall in Q2 2020 could be 10%, according to a study of the ICU Group.
Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) will decrease by 7.2% in 2020, of which the effect of quarantine will be about 3.0 percentage points (p.p.), and next year GDP growth will reach 4.3%, such an updated macro forecast was issued by Dragon Capital investment company.
BofA Global Research analysts again worsened the forecast for the pace of real GDP in Ukraine: in 2020, they now expect it to fall by 6.8% compared to 5.6% earlier, and in 2021 – by 6.5% instead of the previous estimate of 7.4%.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed a gratitude to the parliamentarians for a decision meant to speed up consideration of law on settlement of the bank activities and will give an opportunity to continue cooperation with the IMF.
The Business Activity Outlook Index (BAOI) calculated by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) fell by 15.9 percentage points in April, to 29.9 points, which is lower than the neutral BAOI reading of about 50 and which signals about prevalence of pessimistic expectations of business.
The Finance Ministry of Ukraine on May repaid the second issue of the U.S. guaranteed loan participation notes. The total payment amount exceeded $1 billion, the ministry said on its website on Friday.
Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) will decrease by 7.2% in 2020, of which the effect of quarantine will be about 3.0 percentage points (p.p.), and next year GDP growth will reach 4.3%, such an updated macro forecast was issued by Dragon Capital investment company.
Ukraine’s economy was well-prepared for the current crisis thanks to important reforms that had been implemented in the country in recent years, EBRD Regional Lead Economist for Eastern Europe and Caucasus Dimitar Bogov, who is also a former governor of the central bank of Macedonia, has said.

MACRO MONTHLY SUMMARY, MAIN STATISTICS OF UKRAINE IN NOV-DEC, 2019

Ukraine’s real GDP in 2019 would accelerate to 3.7% from 3.3% last year thanks to high demand of households linked to record-hit high consumer confidence since 2008, growth of wages and boom in consumer lending, the ICU investment group has said.
The contribution of net exports to real GDP growth for the first time since the end of 2015 has become positive, despite the hryvnia revaluation trend, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) commented on changes in real GDP in the third quarter of 2019.
The growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in Ukraine in July-September 2019 was 4.1% year-over-year, whereas the pace of growth in the second quarter was higher (4.6%) and that in the first quarter was lower (2.5%).
Real wages in Ukraine on November 2019 increased by 10.8% compared with November 2018, while compared with October 2019 they decreased by 0.5%, the State Statistics Service has said.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-October 2019 increased by 5.75% compared to the same period in 2018 (also $8.003 billion in deficit), to $8.463 billion, the State Statistics Service reported .
The share of electricity imported to Ukraine in July-November 2019 amounted to 2.2 million MWh, or 3.5% of the total electricity supplied to the power grid (62.143 million MWh), according to a posting on the website of the transmission system operator Ukrenergo on December 28.
Consumer prices in Ukraine in November 2019 increased by 0.1% compared to 0.7% in the previous month and 1.4% in November 2018, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine has reported.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is introducing a report on concentration of risks in bank groups and on substantial intragroup transactions, which are to be submitted by authorized persons of the bank groups to the regulator starting from statements for the fourth quarter of 2020, the central bank reported on its website.
Overfulfillment of the national budget in 2020 will create preconditions for lowering personal income tax, Finance Minister Oksana Markarova has said.
Four out of 10 members of the NBU Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) have advocated cutting the key policy rate by a more radical 2 percentage points (pp), to 13.5% instead of the 1.5 pp cut, according to the results of a meeting of the NBU MPC held on December 11.
The total state (direct) and state-guaranteed debt of Ukraine in November 2019 increased 1.2%, or by $0.99 billion, to $82.82 billion, according to data on Finance Ministry’s website.
The surplus of Ukraine’s balance of payment in November 2019 was $601 million, which is 50% less than in November 2018 ($1.32 billion), according to tentative data from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
Industrial production in Ukraine in November 2019 decreased by 7.5% compared to November 2018 after a decrease of 5% in October and 1.1% in September, the State Statistics Service has reported.
Industrial prices in Ukraine in November 2019 decreased by 3%, after falling by 1.2% in October and 1.5% in September, the State Statistics Service has reported.
NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy from January 1, 2020 will offer a service of selling natural gas with 25% advance payment, Head of Naftogaz integrated gas business unit Andriy Favorov has said.
Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), which replaced Ukrtransgaz as the operator of the Ukrainian gas transmission system on January 1, 2020, has reported continuation of Russian gas transit under the new agreement reached between Russia’s Gazprom and NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy in furtherance of the previous ten-year contract.
The transport enterprises of Ukraine in January-November 2019 increased cargo transportation by 8.5% compared to the same period in 2018, to 619.8 million tonnes, according to the State Statistics Service. Ukraine’s transport enterprises in January-November 2019 carried 3.9 billion people, which was 5.6% less than in the same period in 2018, the State Statistics Service has reported.
The volume of construction work in Ukraine in November 2019 increased by 18.9% compared to November 2018, while in October 2019 compared to October 2018 this figure rose by 14.9%.
Retail trade in comparable prices (both by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs) in Ukraine in January-November 2019 grew by 10.4% year-over-year, the country’s State Statistics Service said on Friday.
Consumer confidence of Ukrainians in November 2019 continued worsening and decreased by 4.2 points compared with October, reaching 91.7 (the values of indices can vary from 0 to 200), while a year ago the figure was 59.8, according to a study of Info Sapiens posted on its website.
Ukraine since the beginning of the 2019/2020 marketing year (MY, July-June) and as of December 23, 2019 hadexported 29.35 million tonnes of grain and leguminous plants, which is 35% more than on the same date of the previous MY.

,

MACRO MONTHLY SUMMARY, MAIN STATISTICS OF UKRAINE IN JULY-AUGUST, 2019

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ukraine as equity capital as of July 1, 2019, was $33.724 billion, which was 2.6%, or $0.84 billion more than in the beginning of the year, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said.
The growth of gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine in April-June 2019 was 4.6% compared to the same period in 2018, whereas the growth rate in the first quarter was lower, being fixed at 2.5%.
JP Morgan analysts have reviewed its GDP forecast for 2019 for Ukraine improving it from 3.6% to 4.3% along with the sharp growth of GDP to 4.6% in the second quarter compared with the expected growth of 3.8%, according to JP Morgan survey of emerging markets of Eastern Europe.
Capital investment in Ukraine in January-June 2019 grew by 12.3%, while in the first quarter of 2019 – by 17.8%, the State Statistics Service reported.
The Verkhovna Rada of the ninth convocation has appointed Oleksiy Honcharuk prime minister of Ukraine.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-June 2019 increased by 36.3% compared with January-June 2018, to $3.736 billion, the State Statistics Service has reported.
The surplus of Ukraine’s foreign trade in services in January-June 2019 increased by 13.3% compared with January-June 2018, to $2.937 billion ($2.593 billion in H1 2018), the State Statistics Service has reported.
The actual inflation rate in July 2019 exceeded the forecast published in the July 2019 Inflation Report, according to the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
The deficit of Ukraine’s national budget in January-July 2019 totaled UAH 2.86 billion, including UAH 10.6 billion of the deficit of the general fund, according to the State Treasury Service of Ukraine.
The largest taxpayers of Ukraine in July 2019 increased tax payments by almost UAH 7 billion compared with July 2018, to over UAH 27 billion, the Office of Large Taxpayers has said in a press release.
Ukraine’s forex reserves in July 2019 grew by $1.2 billion or 5.8%, to $21.84 billion thanks to net purchase of currency on the interbank currency market by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), according to preliminary data posted on the central bank’s website.
Money stock in Ukraine in July 2019 expanded by 1.8%, to UAH 1.313 trillion, the relevant data of monetary statistics have been posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
The total state (direct) and state-guaranteed debt of Ukraine in July 2019 increased by 2.55%, or by $2.05 billion, to $82.4 billion, according to data on Finance Ministry’s website.
Ukraine saw a $1.2 billion surplus of a consolidated balance of payments in June 2019 compared with a $750 million deficit in May, a $45 million deficit in April, a $652 million surplus in March 2019 and a $23 million surplus in June 2018.
Industrial production in Ukraine in July 2019 fell by 0.2% compared with July 2018 after a decline of 2.3% in June and growth by 1.6% in May, by 5.2% in April and 2.1% in March, the State Statistics Service reported.
Prices in industry of Ukraine in July 2019 grew by 3.6% after a decline of 2.7% in June, the State Statistics Service reported.
The transport companies of Ukraine in January-July 2019 carried 2.474 billion people, which is 6.1% less than in the same period of 2018, the State Statistics Service has reported.
The transport enterprises of Ukraine in January-July 2019 increased freight transportation by 8.5% compared to the same period of 2018, to 386.5 million tonnes, the State Statistics Service has reported.
The volume of construction work in Ukraine in July 2019 increased by 1.8% compared to July 2018, while in June 2019 from June 2018 this figure rose by 1.7%.
Retail trade turnover in Ukraine (legal entities and individual entrepreneurs) in January-July 2019 in comparable prices increased by 10.1% compared with January-July 2018, the State Statistics Service has said.

,

MACRO MONTHLY SUMMARY, MAIN STATISTICS OF UKRAINE IN APRIL-MAY, 2019

Volodymyr Zelensky took the office as Ukrainian president at a ceremony hosted by the Verkhovna Rada. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree on early termination of the powers of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and appointed early elections on July 21, 2019.
Capital investments in Ukraine in January-March 2019 increased by 17.8%, whereas in the first quarter of 2018 by 37.4%, the State Statistics Service has reported.
The World Bank has affirmed the forecast for growth of Ukraine’s GDP at 2.7% in 2019, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine Satu Kahkonen has said.
Growth of Ukraine’s real GDO in 2020 would accelerate to 3.3%, in 2021 – to 3.8%, in 2022 – to 4.1% with the gradual decline in inflation to 6%, 5.7% and 5.3% respectively, according to the forecast of social and economic development of Ukraine for 2020-2022 approved by the government.
The growth of Ukraine’s real GDP in the first quarter of 2019 slowed down to 2.2% compared to the same period last year, against 3.5% in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 3.3% in 2018 as a whole, according to preliminary data posted by the State Statistics Service.
The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has tentatively estimated the growth of Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in January-March 2019 compared to the same period of 2018 at 2.2%, while in the fourth quarter of 2018 GDP growth was 3.5%.
Growth of Ukraine’s real GDP in the first quarter of 2019 year-over-year slowed to 2.4% compared with 3.5% in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 3.3% in 2018, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has said in its inflation report posted.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-March 2019 grew by 13% compared with January-March 2018, to $1.456 billion, the State Statistics Service said.
The deficit of Ukraine’s balance of foreign trade in the first quarter of 2019 totaled $390.5 million, which is 75.4% more than in January-March 2018 (the deficit of $222.6 million), the State Statistics Service has reported.
The surplus of Ukraine’s foreign trade in services in January-March 2019 increased by 2% compared with January-March 2018, to $1.489 billion ($1.461 billion in Q1 2018), the State Statistics Service has reported.
The volume of services rendered by enterprises in Ukraine in January-March 2019 amounted to UAH 215.2 billion, which in comparable prices is 2.7% more than the level of the same period in 2018, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
Inflation in Ukraine in April 2019 was 1% compared to 0.9% in March, 0.5% in February and 1% in January, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine has reported.
The deficit of the national budget in January-April 2019 totaled UAH 1.718 billion, according to a posting on the website of the State Treasury Service of Ukraine.
The deficit of Ukraine’s national budget in January-April 2019 totaled UAH 0.9 billion compared with UAH 26.17 billion in January-March 2019 and the limit of UAH 90 billion for 2019, the Finance Ministry reported.
Money stock in Ukraine in April 2019 expanded by 0.8%, to UAH 1.263 trillion, the relevant data of monetary statistics have been posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
The aggregate state (direct) and state-guaranteed debt of Ukraine in April 2019 grew by 1.3%, or $1.03 billion, to $79.82 billion.
The international reserves of Ukraine in April 2019 decreased by 0.5%, to $20.525 billion (in equivalent) due to the significant amount of public debt repayments, according to preliminary data posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
Industrial production in Ukraine in April 2019 increased by 5.2% compared with April 2018, after a rise of 2.1% in March and a fall of 1.8% and 3.3% in February and January respectively, the State Statistics Service has reported.
Industrial prices in Ukraine in April 2019 decreased by 1.5%, after falling by 1% in March, growing by 1% in February and January, the State Statistics Service has said.
The volume of construction work performed in Ukraine in April 2019 increased by 29.4% compared with April 2018, while the indicator in March 2019 compared with March 2018 rose by 29.7%.
Retail trade turnover in Ukraine in comparable prices in January-April 2019 increased by 7.9% compared to January-April 2018, the State Statistics Service has reported.

,

MACRO MONTHLY SUMMARY – MAIN STATISTICS OF UKRAINE IN JUNE 2018

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.

, ,

MACRO MONTHLY SUMMARY – MAIN STATISTICS OF UKRAINE IN APRIL 2018

Ukraine’s GDP in January-March 2018 grew by 3.1% year-over-year, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported.
The deficit of Ukraine’s balance of foreign trade in Q1 2018 totaled $134.9 million, while in Q1 2017 the surplus was $126.1 million, the State Statistics Service reported.The Ukrainian government has approved a list of large enterprises for privatization in 2018. It includes 26 enterprises: five regional electricity supply companies, Centrenergo, Odesa Port-Side Plant, Turboatom, Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine, United Mining-Chemical Company and Sumykhimprom.
Capital investments in Ukraine in 2017 amounted to UAH 448.462 billion (excluding the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea, Sevastopol, and Donbas).
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade with goods in January-March 2018 grew 1.5-fold year-over-year, reaching $1.201 billion ($794.1 million in Q1 2017), the State Statistics Service reported.
The surplus of Ukraine’s foreign trade in services in January-March 2018 increased by 16% compared to 2016, to $1.461 billion (in January-March 2017 some $1.259 billion), the State Statistics Service has said.
The growth of consumer prices in Ukraine in April 2018 was 0.8% compared to 1.1% in March, 0.9% in February and 1.5% in January, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine has said.
Prices in the industry of Ukraine in April 2018 remained unchanged after growth by 0.3% in March, 1.2% in February and4.4% in January, the State Statistics Service has reported.
Revenue of Ukraine’s national budget in April 2018 totaled UAH 78.87 billion, which is UAH 1.67 billion or 2.2% more than the target, the State Treasury Service of Ukraine reported on its website.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) confirmed the forecast for 2018 inflation at 8.9% in April.
Ukraine’s international reserves grew by 1.3% in April 2018 and amounted to $18.421 billion as of May 1, 2018, according to tentative data published on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
Industrial production in Ukraine in April 2018 increased by 3% compared with April 2017, while the figure in March 2018 year-over-year was 1%, it was 1.9% in February 2018 and 3.6% in January 2018, the State Statistics Service said.
The volume of sold industrial products (goods, services) in January-March 2018 stood at UAH 621.436 billion, which is 16.7% more than in January-March 2017, in particular the volume sold abroad was worth UAH 166.784 billion, the State Statistics Service has reported.
The consumer confidence of Ukrainians improved in April 2018: the Consumer Confidence Index equals 61.3, which is 3.7 points higher than the indicator in March 2018, GfK Ukraine has said in its monthly study.
Ukraine’s retail trade turnover in January-April 2018 increased by 7% in comparable prices in comparison with January-April 2017, the State Statistics Service has said.

,