Ukraine lost third of its economy due to war, - Shmyhal
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal estimates that the Ukrainian economy will fall by more than 30% in 2022 and expects growth of 0.3% this year.
Shmygal said this to the German magazine Spiegel, Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrinform.
"According to preliminary estimates, the fall for 2022 is more than 30%. A third of our economy has disappeared... Inflation is slightly higher than 26%," the head of government said. He recalled that many enterprises were physically destroyed, for example "Azovstal", which was one of the leading metal producers in the country.
At the same time, the Prime Minister called it important that despite such a drop, the Ukrainian economy paid 10% more taxes than in 2021. The government official explained this by the fact that entrepreneurs feel responsible and want to support the army and the country.
"All the taxes we collected went to the army. The other half of the budget is financed thanks to the help of our partners, in particular Germany," Shmyhal noted. He thanked the Federal Republic of Germany for the assistance it provides to our country. In particular, for a grant in the amount of 1 billion euros and for hundreds of millions of euros in loans, for the costs of restoring the Ukrainian energy sector and other areas.
Evaluating the prospects for 2023, the head of government called the GDP growth figure 0.3%. This forecast is based on the worst possible conditions: that the war will continue for a year and that missile attacks on energy infrastructure will continue. The budget deficit is planned at the level of almost 38 billion dollars. Shmyhal informed that Ukraine receives 18 billion euros in financial aid from the EU, another 10 billion dollars comes from the USA. Now Kyiv is working with the International Monetary Fund on a new structural aid program, which is designed for at least four years and involves 16-20 billion dollars.
Speaking about how much the actual post-war reconstruction will cost, Shmyhal called the amount from 600 billion to 750 billion euros. At the same time, he emphasized that reconstruction should not fall on the shoulders of taxpayers in Europe or the USA, the aggressor should pay. Damages should be compensated at the expense of Russian assets frozen abroad, which today amount to 350-500 billion dollars. In Ukraine, the assets of two Russian banks in the amount of 423 million euros were confiscated.
