Ukrainian economy exhibited some resilience to effects of war in 2023 - UN report

That's according to the "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024," a report produced by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The report was released on Thursday by Shantanu Mukherjee, DESA's Director of the Economic Analysis and Policy Division, and Hamid Rashid, DESA's Chief of Global Economic Monitoring.

According to the report, last year Ukraine's economy exhibited "some resilience to the effects of the ongoing war, particularly with respect to electricity supply."

"There is a slight improvement this year, but this is an improvement on paper, because the economy has already shrunk, and it's very painful," Mukherjee said in response to a question from Ukrinform.

At the same time, he added that a small improvement does not mean the recovery of the economy compared to the pre-war period.

The report notes that private consumption picked up, and capital expenditures for reconstruction increased. Agricultural output is lower than it was prior to the war, and the shipment of grain from Black Sea ports remains problematic following the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The alternative export routes are fraught with logistical difficulties because of the damage done to Danube River ports.

Temporary restrictions imposed by the European Union during the summer on grain imports from Ukraine into five of the region's countries, followed by individual sets of restrictions imposed by Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, have also affected shipment by rail and road, the report said.