Unemployment has increased during the COVID-19 lockdown and there are now an estimated 3.5 jobseekers for each available job in Ukraine, according to the latest research into the job market carried about by VoxUkraine. One problem area that researchers point to was the closure of almost all public transport since March, which sent unemployment soaring, putting an estimated 500-700,000 more Ukrainians out of work, according to the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI).
As of May 26 the official number of unemployed in Ukraine is at 506,000, according to the State Employment Service. Over the past week, the number of officially registered unemployed people increased by 19,600 and as of May 26 it had passed half a million. This was reported by Interfax with reference to the data of the State Employment Service. The UCCI puts the real number of unemployed in Ukraine closer to 2.2 million and multiple experts say that the sheer number of Ukrainian workers who are employed in the so-called “grey economy” makes tracking unemployment hard.
Ukraine is to enter new stage of lifting its nationwide quarantine on June 1. Ukrainian oblasts that meet requirements set by the Ministry of Health will be allowed to restore passenger railway and bus travel between oblasts, open gyms and swimming pools and relaunch certain educational classes — like driving lessons — in groups of no more than 10 people.
Low-cost carrier Ryanair is planning to resume Ukraine routes in the summer, but only about half of its previous selection of flights. The airline plans to resume flights in the summer of 24 of its 47 Ukrainian routes, according to avianews.com. The outlet notes that 17 flights are postponed to the winter season 2020/2021, which will begin in late October. Six more of its Ukraine flights are currently withdrawn from sale entirely. Wizz, Swiss and Lufthansa have also stated their intention to resume Ukraine flights in June.
Lviv Airport is preparing to resume some flights and says it could open as soon as June 15. CEO of Lviv Danylo Halytskyi International Airport Tetiana Romanovska says the airport is preparing to resume services. “We can plan the relaunch of flights from Lviv Airport from June 15… There are basically three restrictions that we must coordinate with our regional administration and a certain commission,” she told Ukrainian TSN TV news service on May 26.
State railway Ukrzaliznytsia says it’s ready to resume passenger traffic, saying the reopening date of June 1 is unchanged, as far as railway bosses are concerned. JSC Ukrzaliznytsia is technically ready, it says, to resume passenger traffic now, however, the launch date for passenger traffic on railway transport isn’t set in stone. New “adaptive lockdown” rules may mean that public transport opens and closes depending on how the country’s epidemiological situation evolves.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii says railway services will be restored this week, which is ahead of the June 1 date previously announced by the Cabinet. All types of trains will relaunch their operation, UNIAN reported, but commuter trains will be the first, followed by long-distance, express and night trains. They will be primarily southbound, running to areas where the epidemiological situation is “not so complicated” and where “the sea is waiting” for tourists, the minister said.
More EIA testing will be conducted to determine who in Ukraine has been exposed to COVID-19, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has said, as he unveiled new elements of the country’s testing strategy during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Capital investment in the Ukrainian economy shrunk by 35.5% in the first quarter of 2020, reports UNIAN. The largest decline in investment was recorded in areas such as art, sports, entertainment and recreation.
