Disinfo: Ukraine is turned into an agrarian and raw materials appendix of Europe

Summary

The main problem of Ukraine is that it is being intensively turned into an agrarian and raw materials appendix of Europe. Therefore, there’s no reason to invest in the Ukrainian agricultural industry. It is uninteresting to invest in agricultural or raw materials production, there is no added value, there is no profit, there are no earnings.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Ukraine as a failed state. Consistent with pro-Kremlin narratives alleging that Ukraine is a degrading state that has failed to become part of Europe.

According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, top areas of economic activity in Ukraine for foreign investment are as follows: industry – 32.9%, wholesale and retail trade – 16.2%, financial and insurance activities – 12.9%, real estate transactions – 12.9%, professional, scientific, and technical activities – 6.5%.

As the Financial Times writes about investing in Ukraine, "in spite of the conflict in the south-eastern Donbas region, economic growth is slowly picking up, and investment — though still below the level the country needs — is starting to flow."

According to the US Department of State, "Ukraine has significant investment potential given its large consumer market, highly educated and cost-competitive workforce, and abundant natural resources. The Ukrainian government actively seeks foreign investment and established investment promotion agencies that have facilitated foreign investments. Ukraine’s Association Agreement with the EU gives Ukraine preferential market access and is accelerating Ukraine’s economic integration with the EU. Ukraine’s economy demonstrated a real GDP growth of 3.3% in 2018, and the IMF forecasts growth of 2.7% in 2019."

For 2019, for the first time investments in Ukrainian startups and IT companies have reached half a billion dollars a year mark. The total volume of venture investments into Ukrainian IT companies has reached $510M, which is one and a half times more than the maximum of 2018.

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publication/media

politnavigator.net (Archived)

Reported in: Issue 198
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 06/05/2020
Language/target audience: Russian
Country: Ukraine
Keywords: economy, Abandoned Ukraine, Economic difficulties, Europe

More than 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers in Donbas are infected with coronavirus

The command of the occupation forces has decided to rotate 59 brigades from Donbas prematurely. The reason for the departure of the unit is the increase in the number of infected militants. At the moment, positive results of rapid diagnostic tests for the coronavirus have been confirmed in more than 1,500 soldiers. This is 79% of the personnel of the compound.

May 06, 2020

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine combined with baseless claims about COVID-19.

According to the Command of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on 7 May only 38 Ukrainian military were infected by Covid-19. During the pandemic, 40 people have recovered and 2 fatal cases have happened. In addition, a further 268 members of the armed forces are in isolation (including self-isolation).

There is no reliable evidence of Russians fighting in Libya

At the moment there is not a single Russian soldier in the war zone in Libya. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not informed of reliable data on Russian citizens participating in clashes on Libyan territory.

The intent is to create a false idea that claims that Moscow interfered in the Libyan armed confrontation and publicly sided with one of its participants. Russia is doing its best to promote a ceasefire and a political settlement to the crisis in Libya. No intentions of supporting any of the conflicting parties have ever been proven.

May 06, 2020

Disproof

A recurring disinformation narrative about the Wagner group and Russian presence in Libya.

Bloomberg reported, that more than 100 Wagner contractors arrived in Libya in early September to assist General Khalifa Haftar’s offensive against the GNA in Tripoli that began in April. The group is a private army linked to the Kremlin that has been fighting on the front lines of the Libyan war.

Trump opposes destroying the Middle East so he cancelled US funding of Daesh

The Trump Administration is firmly opposed to the previous US policy of destroying the states of the Great Middle East, as it proved by cancelling all funding of Daesh and allowing Russia, Syria, and Iraq to destroy that terrorist group.

May 05, 2020

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about alleged US funding of jihadist terrorism. Not only has the US never funded Daesh, it is actually leading an international coalition to defeat it. The US has supported other moderate Syrian rebels opposed to Moscow-backed President Bashar Al Assad, though this support was cancelled by President Donald Trump in July 2017. This disinformation narrative thus serves the dual purpose of both portraying the US as sponsoring terrorism for its own interests as well as branding all Syrian rebel groups as members of “Daesh”.

The EUvsDisinfo database has a long set of disinformation cases on this subject, such as claims that the US created ISIS when Al Qaeda went outside the script, that US special forces were deployed with Al Qaeda in Idlib, that jihadists are US and European proxies in the Middle East, that US and UK will use terrorist organisations against China, that the US is moving ISIS to Afghanistan or that the US may have evacuated ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi instead of killing him.