Ukrainian GDP fell by more than 5% in the third quarter, – Bloomberg
New York - Kyiv, October 30 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) - Ukraine's economy shrank by 5,1 percent in the third quarter compared to a year earlier. This is one of the most significant drops in the entire history of the Ukrainian economy.
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Months of fighting in the Donbass, the wresting of parts of the former Ukraine to pro-Russian rebels, where a quarter of the country's industrial output is located, has led to a sharp decline in GDP. As a result, the Ukrainian economy is expected to decline by at least 10 percent in 2014. Industrial production fell 12,1 percent from a year earlier in July, 21,4 percent in August and nearly 17 percent in September. Central Bank reserves are at their lowest in 9 years. The International Monetary Fund claims that the $17 billion in loans it promised will not be enough to prevent Ukraine from defaulting.
An IMF mission will visit Ukraine to assess the loan increase as soon as a new government is formed, which, according to Finance Minister Alexander Shlapak, will not be earlier than early 2015.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated last month that pro-Russian militants are deliberately destroying factories, roads, and other infrastructure in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Bloomberg reported . Yatsenyuk added that, therefore, any economic growth in Ukraine is not expected before 2016.
English version :: Read in English Ukrainian GDP fell by more than 5% in the third quarter, Bloomberg reports.