the technology park has reported. The State-owned Bank, Gospodarstwa Krajowego, will loan €81.5 million for the €136 million first phase of development. With a first phase expected to be completed by of end 2023, the general contractor will be Unibep, one of Poland’s largest construction companies. Spreading over a 10-hectare site which is located 4 km south of Rynok Square, the Park will feature research laboratories and offices for 10,000 IT workers and students. Companies that have already reserved space include: GlobalLogic, N-iX, Intellias, SoftServe and Perfectial.

The number of M&A deals was 69, down 15% in comparison to 2019, according to a report issued yesterday by KPMG. Although deals are off to a slow start this year, the report predicts: “Momentum will really start to build up in the second half of the year, with a brighter outlook beyond this.” The four main sectors are: IT, agriculture, real estate, and infrastructure.

 up from its forecast of 3% made six months ago. World GDP is to increase by 6% this year, “reflecting additional fiscal support in a few large economies and the anticipated vaccine-powered recovery in the second half of the year,” the IMF wrote in its April World Economic Outlook Review. Last week, the World Bank raised its growth forecast for Ukraine this year to 3.8%. A Bloomberg survey of 13 economists has predicted a rate of growth of 4.4%. Ukraine’s Economy Ministry has forecast a 4.6% rate of growth.

According to figures compiled by Alfa-Bank Ukraine, the GDP drops for 2020 were: Poland – 2.8%; US – 3.5%; Ukraine – 4.1%; Germany – 5%; Czech – 5.6%; EU – 6.4%; France – 8.3%; Italy – 8.8%; and Spain – 11%.

exceeding the Central Bank’s forecast of 7.6%, said a monthly Reuters poll of Ukrainian analysts. Analysts said consumer prices rose due to inflation imported from world commodity markets, notably wheat, corn, sunflower oil and crude oil. Oleksiy Blinov, Alfa-Bank Ukraine’s Head of Research, said: “These changes in external prices are directly and indirectly transmitted to consumer inflation in Ukraine.” The IMF has predicted that Ukraine’s consumer price index will end this year at 7.9%.

They are: Rinat Akhmetov — $7.6 billion; Viktor Pinchuk — $2.5 billion; Konstantin Zhevago — $2.3 billion; Igor Kolomoisky — $1.8 billion; Gennadiy Bogolyubov — $1.7 billion; Petro Poroshenko — $1.7 billion; and Vadym Novinsky — $1.4 billion.

Bohdan Danylyshyn, Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine wrote on Facebook. He said: “The key reasons for the low interest of foreign investors in the Ukrainian economy are the weak and underdeveloped domestic market, the ongoing military conflict with the Russian Federation, as well as the low level of legal protection of investments.”

 to smooth out foreign exchange fluctuations. As the hryvnia strengthened last week, the bank sold $50 million, reported the National Bank of Ukraine website. Since the start of the year, the hryvnia has appreciated by 2%, achieving the current rate of 27.8 hryvnia/dollar.

compared to the same January-March period last year. Exports were up by 12% to $13.75 billion. Imports were up by 12% to $15.1 billion. Overall trade totaled $28.8 billion. “The Ukrainian economy is recovering,” Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka wrote on Facebook.  “Good news – export is growing.”

to $255 million in 2020, from $3.4 billion in 2019, Kachka said when speaking at the Ukraine’s International Trade Council. He said: “The most important indicators are the phenomenal growth of exports of Ukrainian products to Vietnam and China – by 93% and 98%, respectively.” Last year, 14.5% of Ukraine’s exports went to China, compared to 5.5% for Russia, reports the State Statistics Service.