KIEV, March 20 – The transport blockade of the Ukrainian government uncontrolled areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions would slow down growth of the Ukrainian economy in 2017 by around 1 percentage point, but the impact on the balance of payment would be larger, Dragon Capital Senior Economist Olena Belan said.

"The influence of the blockade on the balance of payment would be larger, as the loss of exports income in the metal sector would be seen, and more foreign currency would be required to import coal. According to our estimates, the additional trade deficit could be around 1.7% of GDP," she told Interfax-Ukraine.