Posted by By Invitation | Russia and Ukraine
Ukraine’s prime minister says reconstruction planning must start now
Denys Shmyhal calls for a recovery fund for Ukraine
Apr 27th 2022
BEFORE RUSSIA’S invasion, Ukraine’s economy had been expected to experience an upswing this year. In 2021 the country’s GDP amounted to $200bn, the highest in its history, in spite of Russia’s occupation of Crimea and parts of the east of the country. Citizens’ incomes had also been growing. In short, Ukraine was changing and rapidly becoming a prosperous and democratic European country.
On February 24th Vladimir Putin and his Russian army decided to wipe out those gains, along with so much else. Our country’s transformation and its leaning towards the West were wrecking the imperial ambitions of the Kremlin. During the first six weeks of the war, the total damage to Ukraine’s economy exceeded $500bn. According to government estimates, In 2022 alone GDP may drop by 30-50%. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been killed, while millions have been forced to flee to western Ukraine or abroad.
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