The week in numbers

A 5.5% decline of the economy, with inflation at about 30% is forecast by the Finance Ministry for 2015, 27 new political parties have been registered in Ukraine since the beginning of this year, 209 Ukrainians are still in earthquake-hit Nepal, $16 billion is the total amount Ukraine is claiming from Gazprom in the Stockholm arbitration court.

0.00033427% -or UAH 5014.05 – of an expected UAH 1.5 billion in corrupt assets was returned to the budget of Ukraine in first three months of this year, according to Ukrainian media. These are the revenues from confiscated assets and funds derived from the sale of confiscated property that was obtained in corrupt manner.

2 states - Poland and Romania – support the idea of a visa-free regime for Ukraine and intend to voice this position during the Eastern Partnership summit to be held in Riga in late May, according to the Polish and Romanian diplomats.

A 5.5% decline of economy with inflation at about 30% is expected by Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance in 2015. The projections are worse than those announced in late 2014. In turn, the World Bank downgraded the forecast for the fall of Ukrainian economy in 2015 to 7.5%, but recovery is expected starting from 2016.

REUTERS

15 people were executed in North Korea this year, according to South Korean intelligence. Amid reports of death sentences imposed on ousted officials, the DPRK authorities have made no official comment.

27 new political parties were registered in Ukraine in 2015, a record high amount according to the Committee of Voters of Ukraine. Earlier, 5-7 new parties a year were registered, while this year 2 new political organizations are registered weekly.

130 regulatory restrictions on business are to be abolished by Ukraine’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade during its deregulation process, according to the ministry. The next stage of deregulation should be a “guillotine” - a full review of the entire regulatory framework.

REUTERS

209 Ukrainian citizens are still in Nepal, which was hit late last month by a devastating earthquake, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Officials have not been able to contact 48 of them. To ensure the evacuation of Ukrainians from Nepal, the government allocated nearly UAH 7 million. Due to technical issues, a Ukrainian military aircraft sent to carry out the evacuation was grounded in the Indian capital New Delhi and could not depart to Kathmandu until Tuesday.

300 people, at least, are held hostage by the militants in the Donbas, according to the center for facilitating the release of hostages with the Security Service of Ukraine. According to the center’s data, there are not only military troops but also 60 civilians among the prisoners.

320 hectares of forest caught on fire in the Chernobyl exclusion zone / kmu.gov.ua

320 hectares of forest caught on fire in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, according to the State Service for Emergency Situations. 15 separate fires were recorded, with three of them being extensive. 51 special fire vehicles and 305 people were involved in extinguishing the fire. According Emergency Service, the fire was completely extinguished on May 2.

Due to the detonation of ammunition on the Kuzminskiy range in Russia’s Rostov region 800 residents from nearby settlements have been evacuated, Russian media reported. Three soldiers were injured in the explosion.

2,758 residential buildings in Kyiv have been disconnected from hot water supplies by Kyivenergo, according to a company report. In particular, 1,224 homes were left without hot water due shutting down the gas supply to power boilers and heat electric power stations of Kyivenergo, and 1,534 residences due to the damage to the thermal networks, planned outages and hydraulic testing.

REUTERS

17,000 troops will additionally join the NATO Response Force in the territory of the NATO member states said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The main motive of increasing the number of response force from 13 000 to 30 000 troops is “Russia’s assertive behavior in the east.”

20,000 pensioners who, were paid not a full amount of their pension in April due to technical reasons, will receive compensation from the Pension Fund for its withholding 15% of their pension, as promised by fund officials. According to the fund, the pension cuts were due to inaccuracies in accounting data.

181,000 hectares of forest is still burning in Russia, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. A state of emergency was introduced in the five regions of Russia - the whole territory of Khakassia, Tyva, the Trans-Baikal Territory, the Amur region and 19 districts of the Republic of Buryatia due to 117 forest fires. A special fire-fighting protocol has been introduced in 24 regions of Russia.

EUR 180 million have been allocated in Ukraine by International Donors' Conference for the completion of construction of a new safe confinement – a protective structure, which will cover the ruined fourth unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant at the end of 2017, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - the manager of donor funds.

REUTERS

$415 million dollars in aid is needed for earthquake victims in Nepal, the UN estimated. These funds are necessary to provide nearly 500 000 people with shelter, 1.4 million people with food, and 4.2 million people with clean drinking water and toilets.

$2 billion in loan guarantees is planned to be provided by the United States to Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. By the end of May, Ukraine intends to issue $1 billion worth of Eurobonds under these guarantees.

UAH 4.2 billion is the surplus of the state budget of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2015, according to the National Bank of Ukraine. For the same period in 2014 the state budget saw a deficit of UAH 4.1 billion.

$16 billion is the total amount of Ukraine’s claims in the Stockholm arbitration court for damages and the amendments to the transit contract with Gazprom, that’s according to the Cabinet of Ministers.

Margarita Andreyeva

UNIAN in Google News