Ukrainians received gloomy economic news Dec. 30 when the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine announced that the country's real gross domestic product declined by 7.5 percent in 2014. Moreover, National Bank Gov. Valeriya Gontareva noted that despite earlier predictions of inflation of 13 to 14 percent in 2015, Ukraine could see inflation as high as 17 to 18 percent next year.
One survey ranked Ukraine in 189th place among 193 countries in terms of GDP growth rate. It said that 20 percent of the prewar GDP is under the control of the separatists who have been systematically destroying much of the production base in the regions that they occupy.
I think I read on Wikipedia the population is declining one percent per yesr. Largely through immigration.
I was talking to a clerk in an electronics/appliance store. He asked what an item cost in the US. I told him. Higher than Ukraine. I said about half of the cost of anything we buy in the US is direct and indirect tax. He said he thinks soon it will be the same here. Ukrainians appear to be very aware of and resigned to this wartime budget; even if they do not have a clue how they will live.
computers and TVs are much more expensive in Ukraine. Washing machines are cheaper but refrigerators are about equal to US
there are more low end cell phones and mid range smartphones available for sale, often cheaper than in US but the high end phones such as iphone 6 and galaxy s5 are often $200 more in Ukraine.
Automobiles are ridiculous in Ukraine because of excise and engine taxes and run anywhere from 25-50% more than the comparable car in US.
locally sourced products are usually cheaper but meat products like pork and chicken are equal to US prices and beef products are often difficult to find.
keep in mind, the average Ukrainian family makes 75% LESS than the typical US family. living is tough and going to get worse.
This is a new tactic by the terrorists in the past 3 months and it has increased lately. There have also been bombings in
Kharkiv and Kherson in past weeks. Another bomb failed to detonate last week in Dnipropetrovisk.
TomZ, Im working on permanent residency. I have the opposite problem as they(customs) keep trying to say
I need 6 months continuous residency to qualify but actually I only needed to prove I
have had a permanent residence(home) for 6 months before I could apply for perm. Done along time ago but I wanted to be registered
in region where I now live while there and not in Kiev.
Beemer, you will be gone by end of February? I will be last week of February and all of march to first week of April
“The nearly 25 years of tax dodging and misspent government budgets show every day in shortened lives, bad education, poor health care, dilapidated buildings, potholed streets and myriad other problems that Ukraine should not tolerate.”