Ukraine Digest: Sept 15

• Sept. 15-16: Zelensky to visit Austria
• Sept. 17 at 9:30 a.m. Washington/4:30 p.m. Kyiv time: U.S.-Ukraine Business Council webinar: “Fighting corruption effectively.” Register here.
• Sept. 23 at 10 a.m./5 p.m. Kyiv time. The Atlantic Council is hosting “Bankova breakdown? Ukraine’s summer of economic shock.” Register here.
• Hryvnia/$: 28

• Ukraine’s foreign trade declines by $7 billion in January-August
• US to provide $89 million financial package to Ukraine’s energy, real estate sectors
• Former chief of staff Bohdan says he will never work with Zelensky again
• In Russian election, Navalny’s candidates win in several cities after his poisoning
• Explore Ukraine: Chernihiv, a city of churches, legends, gastro tours and craft beer

2012 draft state budget calls for spending of $48 billion

Based on today’s exchange rate, the Cabinet of Ministers on Sept. 14, 2020, adopted a draft 2021 budget that anticipates the size of the nation’s economy will be $160 billion. It forecasts revenues of $38 billion and expenditures of $48 billion.The 5 big categories of spending: Pensions & social assistance: $12 billion; security & defense: $10 billion; education: $7 billion; health care: $6.6 billion; and Great Construction program: $6.1 billion. The minimum monthly wage will reach $232, while the average monthly salary is expected to be $486. The budget requires parliament’s approval.

Business Update

Warsaw Business Journal: Ukraine promises to privatize Odesa Portside Plant
Defense and Peace Economics: The economic costs of Russia’s war in Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Sept. 14, 2020, approved the draft state budget for 2021.

Main points:

GDP – Hr 4.5 trillion ($160 billion)

GDP growth is expected at 4.6%;

Revenues: Hr 1.1 billion ($38.3 billion)

Expenditures: Hr 1,350 billion ($48.2 billion)

Average monthly salary: Hr 13,600 ($486)

Consumer inflation: 7.3%;

Public debt to GDP: 64.6%.

Security and defense: Hr 288 billion ($10.3 billion)

Education: Hr 208 billion ($7.4 billion)

Health care: Hr 183 billion ($6.6 billion)

Social assistance, including pensions: ($11.8 billion)

Great Construction Program: Hr 171 billion ($6.1 billion).

Minimum wage on Jan. 1, 2021: Hr 6,000 ($214 monthly)

Minimum wage on July 1, 2021: Hr 6,500 ($232 monthly)

Small and medium-sized business support programs: Hr 12 billion ($429 million)

Regions: Hr 13.9 billion ($497 million)

Culture: Hr 10.3 billion ($368 million)

Sports: Hr 7.4 billion ($264 million)

Coal industry: Hr 4.5 billion ($161 million)

Farmers: Hr 4.2 billion ($150 million)

Digitalization: Hr 2.9 billion ($104 million)

Purchase of 100 passenger cars for the railway: Hr 3.3 billion ($118 million)

Opinions

Kseniya Kirillova: Ukrainian reverberations of the Wagner arrests in Belarus
Dov S. Zakheim: Washington needs to take a tougher stance on Belarus
Halya Coynash: Russia seeks 146 years’ imprisonment for Tatar activists
Halya Coynash: From lawyer for pro-Russia party to running Maidan cases