The World Bank also predicted that Russia’s GDP for 2022 would fall by 11.2% due to sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies on banks, state-owned enterprises and other Russian institutions. The World Bank’s “Regional Warfare” financial report said that Eastern Europe – which includes Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova – is projected to shrink by 30.7% of GDP this year due to war shocks and of trade disruption. Growth in 2022 in the Central European region – which includes Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Romania – will fall to 3.5% from 4.7% in the past due to the influx of refugees, higher commodity prices and deteriorating affecting demand. For Ukraine, the World Bank report estimates that more than half of the country’s businesses are closed, while others are operating at normal capacity. The closure of Black Sea shipping by Ukraine has cut off about 90% of the country’s grain exports and half of its total exports. The World Bank said the war had made economic activity impossible in many areas and halted agricultural planting and harvesting. Estimates of damage to infrastructure exceeding $ 100 billion by early March – about two-thirds of Ukraine’s GDP in 2019 – are outdated “as the war rages and causes further damage”.
