Portugal and Malta Estimated as Least Affected Countries by the War in Ukraine
Sanctions imposed on Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine have caused a lot of the Member States to be affected in several fields such as supply, rising energy and fuel costs, in addition to inflation, AtoZSerwisPlus.mt reports.
While Portugal and Malta remain the least affected, the Baltic countries and those in Central and Eastern Europe are greatly impacted economically by the war, especially due to the gas supply from Russia.
Cyprus, on the other hand, has been highly affected by the war in Ukraine as it served as a popular holiday destination for Russians, and since the invasion, it has seen tourism go down while its financial sector has been hit due to a high level of financial assets held by Russians that were linked to the island.
But not even Cyprus, whose tourism generates 14 per cent of the country’s economy, hasn’t been as affected as Poland, which comes out as the most vulnerable country due to economic shocks that the Russian market and the reliance on Russian energy to supply gas for electricity. Despite that, Poland has hosted the largest number of Ukrainian nationals – over six million of those.
However, Portugal has been the least affected mainly due to the fact that the Portuguese economy was mostly linked to the EU (5.8 per cent) so far this year, as the EU Commission’s forecasts reveal. In addition, Portugal is considered the country with the lowest inflation rate at the moment, with the rate standing at 4.4 per cent.
“In the light of Portugal’s low direct exposure to the region affected, risks are mostly indirect, with inflation affecting raw materials, fuel security, and uncertainty over world demand,” says the European Commission.
On the other hand, Malta has been operating a “golden visa scheme”, which allows non-residents and non-nationals to obtain nationality in return for pre-determined payments without having to necessarily link the applicant and Malta.
After several condemning cases by the European authorities, especially denouncing the scheme for exchanging European values for money, on March 2, Malta announced the program was suspended from nationals of Russia and Belarus until further notice.
Malta, just like Portugal, is mostly visited by British nationals, followed by Italians, Germans and Frenchmen.
