18 ‒ 22 May 2026
Dear friends of Ukraine,
The Ukrainian economy contracted by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter. That is not bad for a quarter that included the second-toughest month since the start of Russia’s war of aggression. Forecasts for the year as a whole range between one and two per cent growth. The biggest drag is the labour shortage. In a survey, a good two-thirds of industrial firms stated that staff shortages are holding them back.
Meanwhile, it is becoming clearer that the EU wants to see further reforms in return for its 90-billion-euro loan. Among other things, the shadow economy is in the firing line. We see it exactly the same way as the EU. The scale of the shadow economy is costing the state urgently needed tax revenue; among foreign companies (often overcompliant), dissatisfaction is growing over the fact that they are expected to help foot the bill for those operating in the shadow economy.
“You don’t have any cards”. It was just 15 months ago that the American president tried to rebuke the Ukrainian president with this line in the White House. Now the US is negotiating with Ukraine over a drone deal designed to give the Americans access to Ukrainian technology, as Bloomberg reports. There is still a little justice in the world after all.
Kind regards
P.S.: Please send feedback to nataliia.hryshchenko@ukraine.ahk.de and / or reiner.perau@ukraine.ahk.de.
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- US seeks technology transfer with Ukraine as part of drone deal
- First contracts under the drone agreement await approval
- EU signs MoU worth €8.35 billion as part of an EU loan programme
- Germany is the largest bilateral donor to the Ukrainian energy sector
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