Parliament passes the bank law, a necessary step for receiving a new IMF program. In total, 270 lawmakers voted for the so-called “anti-Kolomoisky” law, passing it in the second reading. Among other things, the law bans returning nationalized banks to their previous owners, including now state-owned PrivatBank to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Adopting this law was a requirement for the International Monetary Fund to provide Ukraine with a financial assistance.
Ukraine may get the first tranche from the IMF by June. The IMF may send Ukraine $1.75 billion – it first tranche under the new 18-month agreement – as early as at the end of May, said Serhiy Marchenko, Ukraine’s finance minister.
Naftogaz fires executive director Yuriy Vitrenko, who accuses the company’s CEO of corruption. Vitrenko will be leaving the state energy giant in two months after his position was abolished by the company’s management. The executive has worked at Naftogaz for 18 years and now leaves the firm with a scandal, blaming Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev and corruption for his dismissal. As the Kyiv Post reported, not everyone agrees that this explains why he was sacked.
International airlines plan to resume flights from Ukraine in May–June. Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air and German Lufthansa plan to resume flights from Ukraine in late May or early June, according to the websites of the airlines. In particular, Wizz Air has opened ticket bookings for flights from Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv starting May 23. It’s possible to book with Lufthansa – from Kyiv to Berlin, for example – starting in June. The infrastructure ministry has called the airlines’ decision to sell tickets for these routes premature. It has taken no steps to relaunch air travel yet.
The central bank may reduce the refinancing rate to stimulate the economy, National Bank Governor Yakiv Smoliy said. The NBU expects to reduce the rate to 7%. The current rate is 11%.
Economy and finance ministries will support the employment of the population. Both ministries will create an inter-agency working group for coordination of measures aimed at boosting the employment process in Ukraine. Economy Minister Ihor Petrashko will spearhead the working group. “This will allow us to monitor the situation weekly and respond to challenges for the economy,” Petrashko said.
The economy ministry plans to create over 300,000 jobs. In order to overcome unemployment, the ministry plans to create 154,000 jobs in the road construction sector and 150,000 jobs connected to repairing public amenities, Petrashko said. The ministry also plans to create 85,000 agriculture jobs and to “stimulate entrepreneurship” in order to decrease unemployment. Unemployment is expected to reach 9.4% this year compared to 8.2% in 2019.
The government has announced a program to support industry and exporters. “Along with the support program for small and medium-sized businesses, we are planning a support program for industrial and export-oriented industries. We will also raise the question of granting credit… to support the Ukrainian manufacturer,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Ukraine has a six-month reserve of food and doesn’t need to limit exports. “We have enough wheat, there is a six-month supply in Ukraine before the new harvest,” Shmyhal said. “We are working with farmers and agricultural companies, conducting weekly analysis on how to conduct policies in the export of food, including grain.” According to Shmyhal, despite the spring drought, the new grain crop in Ukraine will be almost at the level as last year. However, Ukraine had imposed a ban on the export of buckwheat, he said.
The money supply in Ukraine goes up 1.9% in April. The amount of money circulating in Ukraine increased by 1.9% in April, reaching Hr 1.546 trillion or $58 billion, according to the NBU. The central bank has also indicated that the cash money in circulation outside banks in April grew by 7.3%, to Hr 417 billion or $15.5 billion.
The government bans Ukrainians from traveling to Belarus with low-tech passports. Starting in September, Ukrainians cannot travel to neighboring Belarus with their domestic passports, as the government of Ukraine has partly suspended visa-free travel between the countries. The ban is being implemented because of security concerns – Ukrainian paper passports cannot offer the level of security that biometric passports do and are easier to counterfeit, the decree reads.
