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heating season. According to Chernyshov, more than 300 energy facilities and about 450 km of gas pipelines have been damaged as a result of Russia's massive attacks on infrastructure. In addition, Ukraine has been forced to use additional volumes of coal and gas to generate electricity. Because of this, the head of Naftogaz called on the US to provide assistance with this issue. Ms. McKee assured Ukrainian officials that USAID is working on Naftogaz's request for relevant needs.
9.1.2 Automotive sector news
Despite the war, Ukraine has increased its passenger car production.
EVROCAR, the only manufacturer of passenger cars in Ukraine, has managed to increase its production, according to Ukravtoprom. In October 2022, the plant produced 241 cars, 2.6 times more than a year earlier. The enterprise in the Zakarpattia region produces several Skoda models using a large-unit assembly method to produce the Superb sedan and the Kodiaq and Karoq crossovers. As of the beginning of November, this remains the only car plant that has resumed production since the beginning of the war. In the first 10 months of 2022, Ukrainian car factories produced 1,756 cars. However, this is 37% less than in the same period of 2021.
9.1.3 Transport sector news
● Ships
Ukraine wants to expand the grain corridor to the ports of Mykolaiv and Olvia. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed to Ukraine’s partners to expand the grain export initiative to the Mykolaiv and Olvia ports in the Mykolaiv region. “Our export grain initiative should be extended indefinitely, regardless of when the war ends. We can increase exports by another million tons per month. For this purpose, I propose to expand the export grain initiative to our other ports, Mykolaiv and Olvia," said the President of Ukraine. Zelenskyy also called on the G20 summit participants to join the Ukrainian initiative, Grain from Ukraine, which has been launched to aid poor and starving countries around the world. According to the president, the first Nord Vind vessel is ready to depart for Ethiopia. The head of the Ukrainian state specified that 27,000 tons of wheat are already on board, enough to feed almost 100,000 people for a year.
9.1.4 Construction & Real estate sector news
The Ukrainian commercial real estate market has recovered by 70%. The retail real estate sentiment index (RWBI), after a sharp drop in February and March 2022 to 16.7, recovered in September to 28.3, the Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers reported. It is noted that the pre-war indicator in September last year was 38.7. So, the commercial real estate market has already recovered by about 70%. As of November 1, 241 shopping centers with a leased area of 4.4 million sq. meters have resumed work in Ukraine out of 326 shopping centers. This is 76% of all retail spaces, including those in the temporarily occupied territory. However, 10% of retail spaces (590,000 sq. meters) are not working, a large part of which are damaged. Due to war, 27
55 UKRAINE Country Report December 2022 www.intellinews.com