Ukraine's goods trade deficit narrows sharply in 2014 as imports plunge

[World News]

Ukraine's trade deficit for goods narrowed sharply last year to $468.3 million, official data showed on Monday, but that was due to a drop in imports following a gas pricing row with Russia and a sharp depreciation of the hryvnia currency. Ukraine's economy has been hammered by a year of political upheaval and war, putting the former Soviet republic on the brink of bankruptcy. The conflict with pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine's industrial eastern regions has hit the country's main exports such as steel. Ukraine's total exports fell 13.5 percent last year, to $53.9 billion, while imports plunged 28.3 percent to $54.381 billion, the state statistics service said.

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