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Edition of Thursday, 29 October 2026English edition
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The Geopolitician

Country risk, from the local press

Ukraine · Country watch

NBU Rate Hike, Extended Power Cuts, Export Delays

Ukraine's central bank raises rates amid recession fears; power cuts extend; export delays at Moldova-Romania border.

· · 5 articles read

The picture Deteriorating How this is judged →

Business conditions in Ukraine are deteriorating as the NBU raises interest rates due to recession fears, power cuts extend, and export routes face delays. These factors increase costs and operational challenges for businesses.

Flare-up watch: Calm (−0.1) · How this is judged → · All Ukraine briefings →

In this briefing Ukrenergo · National Bank of Ukraine · Moldova-Romania border

Disruption

  • Energy
  • Public sector

Extended power cuts announced by Ukrenergo

a view of a city street
Taine Noble / Unsplash

Ukrenergo announced extended hourly power outages, now affecting 2.5 shifts, as reported by Komsomolskaya pravda. These measures are part of ongoing efforts to manage the electricity grid amid infrastructure strains from Russian strikes.

Impact Businesses and public services face operational challenges as extended power cuts disrupt daily activities and planning.

Sources: Komsomolskaya pravda ↗

Markets

  • Finance

NBU raises key rate to 16.5% amid recession fears

National Bank of Ukraine new
National Bank of Ukraine new — Julia Berezovska, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) raised its key interest rate to 16.5% as it revised its 2026 GDP forecast from 1.8% growth to a 0.4% contraction, citing increased inflation expectations of 12.5% by year-end. The central bank attributed these changes to ongoing Russian strikes affecting production and logistics, a port blockade, and rising fuel prices, according to KyivPost. The NBU plans to maintain this rate until the second quarter of 2027.

Impact Lenders and borrowers face higher costs as the NBU's rate hike aims to curb inflation amid economic contraction.

Sources: KyivPost ↗

Trade

  • Logistics
  • Agriculture

Export delays at Moldova-Romania border due to Ukraine

Truck queues have significantly increased at the Moldova-Romania border due to a rise in Ukrainian exports, seasonal grain shipments, and rerouted trade paths caused by the ongoing conflict, Censor.net reports. The congestion highlights the growing demand for alternative trade routes to the European Union as traditional paths remain disrupted.

Impact Exporters and logistics firms face delays and increased costs as border congestion affects the flow of Ukrainian goods to the EU.

Sources: Censor.net ↗

Nothing significant reported today in Regulation · Internal tension · Safety & health · Companies · Politics.

Also today in the local press

Sources in this briefing

Sources: each headline links to the original article on the publisher's site.

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