Politics & Economics

Ukraine and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have signed an agreement required to receive $3 billion under the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loans initiative. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform. "Ukraine and JICA have signed an agreement necessary to receive $3 billion under the ERA initiative. The funds will be repaid using proceeds generated from frozen Russian assets. These resources will be directed toward priority budget expenditures to boost the economy and strengthen Ukraine," he wrote. Read also: First tranche of defense support under "Danish model" to be used in Ukraine’s arms production…

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has maintained its key policy rate at 15.5%. NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy announced this at a briefing, as reported by an Ukrinform correspondent. "The Board of the National Bank has decided to keep the key policy rate at 15.5% to support foreign exchange market stability and manage inflation expectations, which will help bring inflation back to a steady decline trajectory," Pyshnyy stated. He added that if risks to the sustainable decline in inflation toward the 5% target increase, the NBU will keep its key policy rate unchanged longer than envisaged by the April macroeconomic forecast.…

The Council of the European Union has extended its trade liberalization measures for Ukrainian iron and steel products for another three years, in a move aimed at supporting Ukraine's economy amid ongoing Russian aggression. The Council said this in a statement published on its website, Ukrinform reports. "The Council has adopted today a regulation to extend the suspension of EU safeguard measures on iron and steel, in support of Ukraine's economy amid Russia's war of aggression. The aim is to ease the challenges faced by Ukraine's producers and exporters as a result of the war," the statement reads. However, the…

International rating agency S&P Global has downgraded Ukraine's GDP-linked bond issue from "CC" to "D" (default) due to a missed payment of $665 million to holders of GDP warrants, which was due on June 2. This is stated in a Reuters report, seen by Ukrinform. "The Ukraine government said on Friday it would not make the payment, based on 2023 economic performance, but would continue to seek a restructuring of the instrument," the report notes. The agency explains that Ukraine created this special instrument – ​​fixed-income bonds linked to economic growth – to facilitate debt restructuring in 2015. However, these…

Lithuanian statesman and politician, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, believes that if Ukraine had the opportunity to increase its weapons production tenfold, it could significantly change the course of the war, enabling the country to deter or push back Russian forces. The diplomat said this in an interview with Ukrinform. Commenting on potential scenarios for ending the war, Landsbergis noted that certain conditions still need to be met to have a successful scenario. “We are seeing now is that Ukraine, with its industrial output currently and with a limited support from the West, is able to…

The Verkhovna Rada has adopted amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine necessary for the implementation of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement, with the draft law passing almost unchanged in the second reading. MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced this on Telegram, as reported by Ukrinform. "The Rada has finally approved amendments to the Budget Code to implement the minerals agreement. By the second reading, almost nothing has changed in the text," Zhelezniak stated. The bill, No. 13256, was backed by 309 votes in the Ukrainian parliament. The MP explained that, under the agreement’s terms, Ukraine's contribution will comprise half of the funds…

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi, after a visit to Kyiv yesterday, said "the threat to nuclear safety remains very real and ever-present" in Ukraine. That’s according to his statement released Wednesday, Ukrinform reports. According to Grossi, the presence of IAEA representatives at nuclear facilities in Ukraine remains necessary to help avoid the threat of a severe nuclear accident. He added that during his visit on June 3, IAEA expert teams working at the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants had to proceed to shelters several times throughout the day due to "unusually frequent" air raid alerts.…

The UK is investing a record GBP 350m this year to increase the supply of drones to Ukraine from a target of 10,000 in 2024 to 100,000 in 2025. This was reported by the British Ministry of Defense, according to Ukrinform. As noted, the record investment in drones for Ukraine in the amount of GBP 350 million is part of the UK's GBP 4.5 billion military support this year. "As Ukraine’s Armed Forces have demonstrated the effectiveness of drone warfare in defending against Putin’s illegal invasion, the UK has been doubling down on investment in drones with British defence companies,…

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the World Bank are working on a loan agreement to support the Development Policy Operation (DPO), with a planned allocation of at least $1 billion. According to Ukrinform, citing the Ministry of Finance’s press service, a team of World Bank experts is working this week alongside representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Government of Ukraine to finalize key parameters of the new agreement. “The World Bank is one of Ukraine’s key strategic partners in advancing systemic reforms. We are continuing joint work on the new Development Policy Operation (DPO) agreement, which…

There is currently no significant risk of scheduled power outages in Ukraine, even during peak consumption on hot days. The press service of NPC Ukrenergo provided this information in a commentary for Ukrinform’s publication. "At present, there is no significant risk of implementing restrictive measures during the summer, even at peak consumption on the hottest days. The repair campaign at key generation facilities was strategically planned to ensure the power system can fully meet consumer demand," the company said. Read also: Slovakia to allocate EUR 84M for Ukrenergo infrastructure restoration Ukrenergo stated that the power system has not faced attacks…