Russian aggression costs Donbas at least US$50 billion / Photo from UNIAN
This is about 10% of the GDP produced by Ukraine in five years.
The economies of Donetsk and Luhansk regions lost over US$50 billion in 2014-2018 over aggression by Russia and the subsequent loss of territories, people, assets, migration, and disrupted value chains.
"According to Centre for Economic Strategy (CES), the underproduced added value amounted to over US$50 billion (UAH 1.2 trillion respectively) in 2014-2018, of which US$13.5 billion in 2018 alone," the CES said in its study.
This is about 10% of the GDP produced by Ukraine over these five years.
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"They do not take into account the loss of assets that were destroyed or remain in the territory not controlled by Ukraine, as well as the impact of the economic crisis caused by the Russian Federation's military aggression, which led to a fall in the economies of all regions," the study said.
According to the estimates, the real losses are much higher, and a figure of UAH 1.2 trillion in the five years can only be considered the lowest value.
It is also noted if the annual change in the gross regional product (GRP) of Donetsk and Luhansk regions were on average the same as in other regions of Ukraine, the GRP of these two regions in 2018 would have amounted to UAH 595 billion, and not UAH 227 billion, i.e. the losses would have amounted to about UAH 367 billion, or US$13.5 billion.
The calculations were made as part of the project "Support for the Strategy of Transformation of the Economy of Donbas," which is funded by the British Embassy in the framework of the Good Governance Fund.