Ukraine's GDP grows by 3%

In the second quarter of 2012 compared to the same quarter of 2011, Ukraine's GDP grew by 3%, the State Statistics Service reports.

Compared to the first quarter of 2011 and taking into account seasonal factors, GDP growth in the second quarter of 2012 was 1.9%.

The State Statistics Service said earlier quoting a preliminary figure that Ukraine's real GDP grew by 2.5% in the first half of 2012. Nominal GDP was 631 billion UAH in the first year half of 2012.

As reported, the growth in Ukraine's GDP accelerated to 5.2% in 2011. The service said that in the fourth quarter of 2011, the pace of growth, compared to the same period in 2010, slowed to 4.6%, from 6.5% in the third quarter, while the figures in the second and first quarters were 3.9% and 5.4% respectively.

Ukraine's GDP in 2011 amounted to 69.3% of GDP in 1990, compared to 65.8% in 2010 and 63.3% in 2009. But it is still below the post-independence record of 74.2%, which the country set in the pre-crisis year of 2008.

The government in the national budget for 2012 foresaw the real GDP growth at 3.9%. Experts from international financial organizations and independent experts are more cautious in forecasting, assessing the possible growth of the Ukrainian economy this year at 1-3%.