Ukraine heads for first economic decline since 2022 as Russian strikes take their toll
Ukraine’s National Bank said on Oct. 29 that the country’s economy will shrink by 0.4% this year, after revising its previous forecast of 1.8% growth.
Team
Dominic Culverwell
Business ReporterDominic is the business reporter for the Kyiv Independent, reporting on Ukrainian companies, investment, energy, corruption, and reforms. Based in Kyiv, Dominic joined the Kyiv Independent team in 2023, having previously worked as a freelancer. He has written articles for a number of publications, including the Financial Times, bne IntelliNews, Radio Free Europe/Liberty, Euronews and New Eastern Europe. Previously, Dominic worked with StopFake as a disinformation expert, debunking Russian fake news in Europe.
Articles
Kyiv's housing market feels the chill as residents escape ahead of winter
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Ukraine Business Roundup
Subscribe
As temperatures are falling in Kyiv, so are rent prices, with residents leaving the capital to escape Russian bombardment and the prospect of a winter without heating and electricity.
Over the last two months, the number of long-term rentals listed on Kyiv's market shot up by 66%, Alona Babko, head of public relations at LUN, a leading real estate portal in Ukraine, told the Kyiv Independent.
The sharp rise in vacanci
European Parliament Vice President ends hunger strike following Oleshky ceasefire announcement
European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno announced the hunger strike on Oct. 20, demanding an immediate humanitarian truce in the occupied town.
Germany in talks to buy Ukrainian jet-powered drones
The Bars jet powered drone has a range of 1,000 kilometers and can reach speeds of up to 700 kilometers per hour.
Ukraine sanctions Russian arms suppliers as Moscow ramps up attacks
Included in the first sanctions list are 51 Russian citizens and 44 businesses producing and supplying raw materials, equipment, and tools used in long-range weapons like Iskander, Kalibr, Kh-101, and Kinzhal missiles.
Russian attacks kill 4, injure 78 across Ukraine over past day, as drone strikes Kyiv residential building in the morning
Overnight, Russian forces launched 126 drones, 61 of which were jet-powered, while Ukraine's air defense managed to suppress 101 drones, including 50 jet-powered drones, the Air Force said.
Ukraine strikes factory in Russia's Tolyatti, airfield in Krasnodar Krai, General Staff says
Videos filmed by locals show smoke billowing over the city in the early morning, with reports claiming that the Tolyattikauchuk chemical plant was attacked and that evacuations took place at the AvtoVAZ car manufacturing factory.
Ukraine's Sine Engineering launches joint defense tech initiative with Finland
The initiative will focus on resilient communications, navigation, and onboard autonomy, as Sine Engineering specializes in producing satellite-independent navigation software, enabling drones to fly without relying on GPS.
Ukraine to compensate damaged cargo ships, as Russia rejects Black Sea proposal
Under a mechanism developed by Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry, Kyiv will compensate shipowners, operators, and charterers whose vessels fly under the Ukrainian or a foreign flag for up to 80% of the assessed damage if insurers don’t cover the risks.
'Extremely unpleasant experience' — Why Kyiv faces growing risk of sewage crisis this winter
As regular Russian strikes on energy facilities leave parts of Kyiv without running water, fears are mounting that further power outages could spark a serious humanitarian and public health crisis in a city whose water and sewage system depends entirely on electricity.
Kyiv’s water system is one of the city’s biggest power consumers, requiring huge amounts of electricity to draw water from the Dnipro river and pump around 700 million liters of clean water daily to households and businesses.
It
Russia turns to new tactics to destroy Ukraine’s energy grid this winter for good
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Ukraine Business Roundup
Subscribe
Volleys of explosions deafened Kyiv in the early hours of Oct. 14, as Russia targeted multiple energy facilities powering the embattled capital amid a new campaign to isolate and disconnect the city following a brutal summer of relentless strikes on businesses and critical infrastructure.
While Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy system have been ongoing throughout the year at a low level, Moscow has recently ramped u
Ukraine moves to speed up privatization of state-owned assets
If passed, the bill could help alleviate bottlenecks the State Property Fund has repeatedly faced when trying to sell state-owned assets and help shore up funds for the state budget.
Ukraine's steel industry is nearing collapse — and calling for help from abroad
Ukraine’s largest steel company, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, said on Sept. 25 that it cannot restart steel production amid a surge in Russian strikes on factories, as the embattled sector calls for more domestic and international support to prevent its total collapse.
Since the summer, Moscow has launched a widespread campaign of attacks on Ukraine’s economy to shut down key industrial centers. The metallurgy sector, which contributed 7% of Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year and em
Taiwan company plans to buy Ukraine’s second-largest cement business for 750 million euros
TCC Group Holdings, based in Taipei, plans to purchase a 100% stake in Ivano Frankivsk Cement and three other related companies through its Dutch subsidiary, the company announced in a press release on Sept. 23.
Ukraine’s defense tech partnerships surge, but many deals stall, new report finds
International joint ventures in Ukraine's defense tech sector are on the rise, with at least 180 partnerships in manufacturing, R&D, and maintenance confirmed by a new report from the Kyiv School of Economics Institute. But export restrictions and fragmented procedures are slowing some deals.
A third of those partnerships were signed in the past 12 months as Ukraine's defense tech sector has matured and consolidated. German companies lead the group with 36 partnerships, followed by Denmark with
