REUTERS
First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv says the Ukrainian industry has managed to cope with the aftermath of the blockade of trade with the occupied areas in Donbas due to more active investment by Ukrainian companies, an increase in households' financial capabilities and growing exports to the EU, according to the ministry's press service.
"The crisis related to the blockade [of trade] with Donbas has actually been diffused. In September, the decline in industrial production was registered only in two industrial groups: consumer goods of short-term use – 'minus' 0.5% due to the high comparison base, and еру energy sector – 'minus' 8.7% due to problems with logistics in Donbas. We expect that investment, exports and consumer demand will ensure the growth of production by the end of the year. Among the risk factors are a possible shortage of coke for metallurgy and an increase in production costs," Kubiv said.
The minister also stressed that the output of investment goods grew by 3.4%, that of consumer durables rose by 3.7%, and goods of intermediate consumption increased by 3.4%. In particular, the processing industry and the chemical industry grew the most due to increased exports of organic compounds and the growth of domestic demand. The light industry and metallurgy also demonstrated significant growth.
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The decision followed an existing blockade by Ukrainian activists and Members of Parliament that had prevented coal shipments from reaching Ukrainian-based power plants and steel enterprises since late January.
The coal blockade became a pretext for Russian-backed separatists to seize businesses located in the occupied territory but registered as Ukrainian taxpayers.
Later, Poroshenko listed conditions under which Ukraine would be able to unblock traffic with occupied Donbas, among them are the return of the seized assets, a ceasefire in the east of Ukraine and the withdrawal of heavy weapons.
The Ukrainian government estimated that Ukraine could lose 1% of its GDP because of the trade blockade.
The State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported a 0.3% decline in industrial production in September 2017 from September 2016.