Each hour of air-raid warnings costs Ukraine US$45m in business losses – The Guardian

Air-raid warnings cost Ukraine US$45 million for every hour businesses are forced to halt operations, according to The Guardian, citing estimates by Oleksandr Kravchenko, Ukraine's Minister for Economy and Environment.

Source: The Guardian

Quote from Kravchenko: "What we had not fully anticipated was how quickly Russia would develop these jet-powered drones and use them to target everything."

Details: These attacks force a significant portion of the economy to stop as workers are sent to bomb shelters, with sirens sounding for up to 10 hours a day.

According to Kravchenko, more than half of businesses continue operating during "yellow" alerts – warnings used for drone threats.

However, a yellow alert provides no guarantee of safety. This danger became evident on 28 September when a Russian jet-powered drone struck the building of the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv during a yellow alert, killing two people who were still working inside.

Kravchenko noted that Russian attacks this year alone have caused roughly US$10 billion in damages to fixed assets. Targets have included steel plants, warehouses, logistics infrastructure and, recently, data centres.

Russia is also effectively blockading Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which handled the bulk of the country's exports prior to the blockade.

According to Kravchenko, Kyiv is currently seeking additional support from the EU, Japan, Canada and the UK, including potential early disbursements of loans scheduled for next year.

Background: Kryvyi Rih is set to make cuts to its municipal budget and suspend a number of development projects due to a sharp drop in tax revenues from local industrial businesses.

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