Ukraine
Ukraine on course to smash its 2019 grain harvest record, remain world’s biggest grain exporter
With the winter grain harvest still underway Ukraine’s farmers have already brought in more grain this season than in all of last year and are on course to smash the previous record.
Ukraine main anti-graft agency detains former central bank governor's deputy
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the country's main anti-graft agency, has detained former deputy governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Oleksandr Pysaruk among seven people who have been accused of embezzling UAH1.2bn ($49mn)
Ukraine president pledges to hold a referendum on farmland sales for foreigners
The Ukrainian authorities will allow farmland sale to foreign citizens and companies only if the Ukrainian people give consent to it at a referendum, the nation's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on November 11.
Ukraine’s consumer prices rose 0.7% m/m and slowed to 6.5% y/y in October, driven by food prices
Ukraine’s consumer prices rose 0.7% m/m in October owing to growing prices for food, clothing and footwear, and alcohol and tobacco, the State Statistics Service reported. Annual inflation slowed to 6.5% y/y in October from 7.5% y/y in September.
Russia's consumer credit driven retail running out of steam, while Ukraine has a boom ahead
The consumer debt profiles of Russia and Ukraine are very different. Russia’s household debt rose to 15.5% of GDP as of the end of 2018 and is just shy of its all time high of 15.6% set in 2014. Ukraine’s household debt has been falling steadily.
IMF ups the ante, demands government try and recover $15bn stolen from banks
During the bank sector reform more than $15bn was stolen by the owners, including $7.6bn stolen by oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky from Privatbank. The IMF has demanded the government tries to recover some of this before granting a new deal.
CEE monthly bond wrap: Bond issues in Eastern Europe pick up strongly in October, but activity subdued in Central Europe
Bond issuers from Eastern Europe were active in October with 18 bonds issued worth a total of $4.5bn of which two-thirds of the value and 14 out of the 18 were Russian bonds, according to data provided by CBonds.
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Ukraine foreign reserves flat m/m in October
Ukraine's international reserves decreased by 0.2% month-on-month to $21.4bn in October following a 2.6% m/m drop in September, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
EBRD: Pace of emerging Europe economic growth slows as global outlook weakens
The pace of growth in the EBRD’s emerging economies is slowing on the back of a weaker global economic outlook, and pressure from slower growth in the Eurozone and China, US/Chinese trade tensions and a contraction in world automobile production, acc
Ukraine's natural gas monopoly raises $500mn via new Eurobond placement
Ukraine's natural gas monopoly Naftogaz has raised $500mn via a seven-year Eurobond, the company said in a statement on November 5.
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Ukraine central bank forecasts nation's GDP growth in July-September at 3.5% y/y
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) estimates the nation's GDP growth at 3.5% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2019, according to the NBU's inflation report published last week.
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Ukraine’s current account deficit grew to $1.1bn September from $0.4bn in August
Ukraine’s current account (C/A) deficit grew to $1.1bn September from $0.4bn in August due to a deteriorated balance of primary income and increased trade deficit, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on October 31.
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Ukraine’s banking sector made good profits in September, but NPLs remain a problem
Ukraine’s banking sector had a profitable September, earning UAH4bn in the month to bring the cumulative earnings for 2019 to UAH48.4bn as of September.
This stadium is not a cemetery: rebuilding Donetsk against the odds
Donetsk used to be famous for two things: coal and football. Now it’s the capital of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, at the heart of Ukraine’s ongoing civil war. But after years of fighting its people just want to return to normal life.
Ukraine’s investment summit on the front line of a war
Ukraine’s new government held an investment summit in Mariupol on October 29, barely 20km from the frontline in the undeclared war with Russia. International investors and Ukraine’s donors flocked to the Black Sea port town.
Ukraine president pledges not to return nationalised PrivatBank to former owners
The team of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the new nation's government are not going to return the nation's banks that were nationalised or went bankrupt to the former owners, Zelenskiy said during a speech at the RE: THINK.
Ukraine's unemployment falls to 7.8% in 2Q19, its lowest level in five years
Ukraine's unemployment started to fall more noticeably in the second quarter of this year. The unemployment level fell from 9.2% in the first quarter to 7.8% in the second.
China overtakes Poland, Russia to become Ukraine's top trade partner in 8M19
More dramatic changes in Ukraine’s trade patterns as China overtakes Poland in August to become Ukraine’s biggest export and import partner.
Ukraine reports 9.8% y/y real wage growth in September
Real wages in Ukraine grew 9.8% year-on-year in September, accelerating from a 7.7% y/y growth in August, the nation's state statistics service Ukrstat reported on October 28.
KYIV BLOG: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is stuck between a rock and a hard place
The entire Zelenskiy administration gathered in the Black Sea port town of Mariupol on October 29 for a summit to sell international investors on their plans to transform the country. It was a hard sell.