War to slash Ukraine’s GDP output by over 45%, World Bank forecasts
Ears of wheat are seen in a field near the village of Hrebeni in Kyiv region, Ukraine July 17, 2020.
Valentyn Ogirenko | Reuters
Ukraine’s economic output will likely contract by a staggering 45.1% this year as Russia’s invasion has shuttered businesses, slashed exports and destroyed productive capacity, the World Bank said on Sunday in a new assessment of the war’s economic impacts.
The World Bank also forecast Russia’s 2022 GDP output to fall 11.2% due to punishing financial sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies on Russia’s banks, state-owned enterprises and other institutions.
The World Bank’s Eastern Europe region, comprising Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, is forecast to show a GDP contraction of 30.7% this year, due to shocks from the war and disruption of trade.
For Ukraine, the World Bank report estimates that over half of the country’s businesses are closed, while others still open are operating at well under normal capacity. The closure of Black Sea shipping from Ukraine has cut off some 90% of the country’s grain exports and half of its total exports.
— Reuters
Death toll from the attack on the Kramatorsk railway station climbs to 57
Families have been seen queuing for days outside the train station in Kramatorsk.
Fadel Senna | Afp | Getty Images
A Ukrainian official said the number of deaths from the attack on the Kramatorsk railway station in eastern Ukraine rose to 57 people and…
