The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) conducted the eighth issue of the Monthly Enterprises Survey “Ukrainian business in wartime” for December 2022. The project aims to collect rapidly information on the current economic state at the enterprise level.
As the results of the survey demonstrate, companies continue to feel the impact of the russian missiles terror, but adapt to such conditions.
In particular, blackouts of electricity, water and heat are once again the main concern of businesses for the second consecutive month. For this reason, most entrepreneurs (86%) had to temporarily pause production processes in November. On average, companies lost 21% of their total work hours in November as a result of power outages.
At the same time, in the second half of December 2022, almost three-quarters of businesses (74%) reported that they had installed independent power supplies.
However, individual respondents note that working on a generator makes the enterprise unprofitable or that conventional technology cannot supply enough power for large-scale production (only enough for the office, not the workshops).
Other barriers in December included 79% of companies citing higher commodity and commodity prices, and 47% citing occupational risks.
The survey results also showed an improvement in short-term production prospects and a decrease in uncertainty in the six- and three-month time frames. The share of companies planning to expand production almost doubled in December, from 16.9% to 32.1%. And the proportion of respondents who could not foresee the development of the company’s financial and economic situation during the six months dropped from 43.8% to 42.1%.
The share of new orders in December nearly doubled from 9.3% to 16.8%. At the same time, the proportion of respondents reporting a reduction in new orders in December grew less significantly, from 23.3% to 26.8%.
Furthermore, 16% of businesses reported having orders for less than one month, 42% for one to two months, 22% for three to five months, 12% for six to eleven months, 9% for one year or more.
The share of respondents whose exports decreased from 23.7 per cent in November to 28.0% in December. Meanwhile, the share of companies that increased their exports rose from 4.0% to 13.7%.
In December 2022, assessments of government policy supporting businesses overall remained at the November level. In most cases, the policy was deemed neutral: 49% of respondents
