KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s economy could shrink by 50% this year if Russia keeps attacking the national power grid and other critical infrastructure, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Russia has launched a series of missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities since October, causing power outages across the country.
“The contraction of the Ukrainian economy is projected at the level of 35-40%,” Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted Shmyhal as saying. “If Russia’s terrorist activities against our infrastructure continue, we may lose another 10% to these figures – that is, up to 50 percent of our GDP.”.
Shmyhal also said the government estimated that damage from the war could reach $700 billion by the end of the year. All sectors of the economy were suffering, he said.
Some 70 countries and institutions worldwide on Tuesday pledged more than 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) in immediate aid to help Ukraine get through a harsh winter.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
