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The commander of NATO forces in Europe, American General Christopher Cavoli, said that Russia has suffered significant losses in Ukraine but still has “dangerous fighting forces” that are almost unscathed by the war. The general mentioned long-range aviation, strategic missile forces, defense units, and submarines. Most of Russia’s tactical aviation has not yet been involved in the war. “Despite the significant losses on the ground, the rest of Russia’s military structure has a huge potential – both conventional and nuclear

The NATO states’ potential responses are limited but may include at least two options. “It’s about strengthening support for Ukraine and building a partnership in the Indo-Pacific region,” according to Bloomberg interlocutors. South Korea will present to NATO officials a portion of its intelligence data regarding the transfer of North Korean troops to Russia at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council on October 28. The Russian Federation plans to send North Korean troops to the front after approximately one

The leaders of the G7 countries have reached a consensus on providing about $50B in loans to Ukraine, secured by revenues from frozen Russian sovereign assets. In a communique published by world financial leaders in Washington at the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, the G7 countries confirmed that their goal is to start disbursing funds by the end of the year. Deputy head of the Parliamentary Committee on Information Policy Iryna Konstankevich said that the first

The German chancellor does not see a possibility for inviting Ukraine to NATO right now – in his opinion, a country in a state of war “unequivocally cannot become a member” of the Alliance. “We made a decision and outlined the perspective. I believe there is no need for a new decision apart from the existing one,” said Olaf Scholz. He added that discussions regarding “security guarantees in the post-war situation” are ongoing. On the one hand, he sees his

The IMF’s latest forecast for Ukraine’s economic growth in 2024-2025 was significantly lowered, primarily due to Russia’s destruction of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure and uncertainty about the war’s further development, said Alfred Kammer, head of the IMF’s European Department. “If you look at our forecasts for 2025, we have lowered them, which indicates the expectation that the war between Russia and Ukraine will continue. We assumed it would stop earlier, but it did not happen,” Kammer added. And this, according

The purchase of foreign currency by the Ukrainian population has increased by 250% compared to the previous year. In the last 12 months, the population bought foreign currency worth $10.6B, including $8.2B since the beginning of 2024. This is 33% of the volume of international aid that has been sent to Ukraine, the former chairman of the NBU Council, Bohdan Danylyshyn, points out. During the 15 banking days in October to date, consumers bought $977M of foreign currency; during the

Bilateral trade between Ukraine and Portugal increased by $29.2M (+15.1%) for eight months of 2024 compared to last year. Positive dynamics have been observed since 2023, when turnover reached $293.7M (+49.4% over 2022). At the same time, the export of Ukrainian goods to Portugal increased by 64.6% to $223.5M, the Ministry of Economy noted. Moreover, the Portuguese business community plans to expand its presence in Ukraine in seven key sectors: defense, engineering, light industry, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy sources, and

As a result of Russian shelling in October, Ukraine’s port infrastructure sustained $30-40M in damages, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy Taras Vysotskyi said. As well, the agricultural sector’s losses since the beginning of the war are estimated at $82B, with the grain production sector’s losses at $500-600M. Since the beginning of the year Ukraine’s seaports have achieved a cargo turnover of 80 million tons. Almost 62% of the cargo flow comprised grain cargoes, 49.5 million tons. Therefore, seaports have already

The Rheinmetall defense concern’s first plant is already operating in Ukraine, and the second is close behind it. The company plans to build several more enterprises, Rheinmetall director Armin Papperger said. “We have many good plans. The first factory is already working. The Ukrainian defense industry is our partner. Now we have a production plant and a service plant. By the end of the year, we will already have the first ultra-modern Lynx infantry fighting vehicle in Ukraine. Now, we

In 2024, Ukraine’s potato production declined by 18%, which amounts to four million tons less, Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy Taras Vysotskyi said. This became one of the factors in the increase in the price of potatoes. However, there is no reason for potatoes to cost ₴50 per kilogram today. Ukrainian potato prices are currently almost 200% higher than last year, although they traditionally do not rise during September’s active harvesting. Last week, potatoes were sold at ₴20-30 per kilogram

Ukrainian bonds are reported to have risen almost 6% in October, becoming one of the best performing assets on the market, with their value approaching $.50-1. Warrants linked to Ukraine’s economic performance are trading above $.70-1, hitting their highest level since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, when their value fell below $.15. Funds are buying bonds, hoping Donald Trump’s presidency will speed the peace process. “This idea is widespread in the market,” says Dragon Capital. Trump and President Zelenskyy met

In addition to the fact that Germany and the US have reservations about extending an invitation to Ukraine, Belgium, Slovenia, and Spain are hiding behind these two countries, reluctant to respond to President Zelenskyy’s requests. Many NATO countries support Ukraine’s invitation in the abstract, but as soon as the matter gets closer to implementation, they begin to oppose the idea more publicly, Politico has noted. Two more countries – Hungary and Slovakia – do not support Ukraine’s NATO membership, owing

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin defended the US’ restrictions placed on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles and insisted that the war-torn nation “absolutely” can defeat Russia even without this capability. He added that Russia has already moved the planes it uses to attack Ukraine with guided aerial bombs beyond the range of the ATACMS system. “The Ukrainians can continue to strike at long range, and they will. Ukraine has a lot of capabilities that we have provided in terms of

IMF experts unveiled their proposals for reducing Ukraine’s national debt as part of their recommendations. The IMF’s Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs department, , noted that their recommendations include a two-fold increase in efforts to mobilize revenue to the state budget from domestic sources, completing the restructuring of commercial debt within the terms determined by the commitments, and accelerating the implementation of the National Revenue Strategy. She pointed out that the strategy is aimed at more effective revenue mobilization

As of October 1, the total amount held in individual deposits (including individual entrepreneurs) in Ukrainian banks amounted to ₴1.3257T. Over the month, it increased by ₴24.7B ($625M), according to the Individual Deposit Guarantee Fund. Since the beginning of the year, total growth in consumer deposits amounts to ₴90.9B, of which ₴54.1B is real growth, excluding the revaluation of the hryvnia equivalent of foreign currency deposits. At the beginning of October, Ukrainians held ₴854B (+₴18.3B for September) in hryvnias and

In the two years since the restoration of small-scale privatization, the State Property Fund has held 839 successful online auctions, which have provided ₴6.65B in direct revenue to Ukraine. As specified by the Ministry of Economy, taking into account the ₴1.2B in VAT paid and the new owners’s obligations to repay ₴1.73B in debt owed by privatized enterprises, the total economic effect of small-scale privatization reaches ₴9.58B. It is noteworthy that the starting bids for auctioned objects increased by an

One in six Ukrainian entrepreneurs started their current business after the start of the full-scale war. As well, 66% of them had no previous business experience, according to the Mastercard SME Index 2024 study. Among the main challenges noted by entrepreneurs are the need for business development financing and the lack of orders and sales markets. Also, 20% of enterprises indicate a lack of personnel as an operational impediment. However, Ukrainian businesses have proven flexible and look for ways to

According to EBA research, this summer’s power outages affected the operations of 87% of companies in Ukraine. Among the companies surveyed, 67% had to suspend work, 60% had increased production costs, and 48% had changed their work schedule. The situation in the energy industry led to a reduction in production or service provision in 36% of surveyed enterprises, 11% experienced disruption of contracts, and 3% a complete stoppage of work. At the same time, a minority of companies currently use

The Azerbaijani holding Neqsol, which privatized Ukraine’s largest titanium enterprise, United Mining and Chemical Company, for ₴3.9B, plans to look for new deposits, as the reserves operated by UMCC will be sufficient for the medium-term, said the head of Neqsol’s Ukrainian office, Volodymyr Lavrenchuk. He added that Neqsol seeks to invest in the mining industry for the long term, so the holding is counting on reformation in the subsoil use system. According to the privatization terms, the Azerbaijani investor is

Deputy Minister of Defense Ivan Gavryliuk said that Ukraine exceeded planned drone production, which former Minister of Industry Oleksandr Kamyshyn spoke about at the end of last year. Then, Kamyshyn stated that in 2024 Ukraine planned to produce one million FPV drones, more than 10,000 medium-range attack drones, and more than 1,000 UAVs with a range of 1,000 kilometers. Each of these targets were exceeded thanks to the favorable development conditions created for Ukraine’s defense industry, particularly the creation of