Every hour of business downtime due to the missile threat costs Ukraine’s economy an estimated $45 million. This was stated by Minister of Economy Oleksandr Kravchenko in an interview with The Guardian, as reported by Dengi.ua.

How Much Do Air Raid Alerts Cost, and How Does the Two-Tier System Work?

Production shutdowns caused by the need for employees to take shelter inflict significant financial damage on businesses, as sirens can sound for up to ten hours on some days. To minimize economic losses, the government has launched an updated two-tier alert system.

According to the minister, the procedures during an air raid alert are divided by threat level:

  • “red” level - indicates an imminent threat of a missile strike and requires citizens and staff to seek refuge in bomb shelters;
  • “нellow” level - declared when drones are detected and allows many commercial companies to continue their operations;
  • more than half of businesses - over 50% - continue to operate while a “yellow” alert is in effect.

At the same time, remaining at the workplace during a “yellow” alert carries a serious risk: on Monday, a jet-powered drone struck the building of the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv while employees were inside, resulting in the deaths of two people.

What Damage Have Businesses Suffered from Russian Attacks?

The aggressor’s military strikes this year have caused direct damage to Ukraine’s key economic assets totaling approximately $10 billion. The Russian military is deliberately targeting industrial facilities, warehouses, data centers, and logistics hubs.

Key factors putting pressure on businesses and infrastructure:

  • the enemy’s use of high-speed jet-powered drones against civilian and industrial facilities;
  • the blockade of Black Sea seaports, through which the majority of domestic products were previously exported;
  • consideration of a government initiative to allow private companies to independently procure air defense systems to protect their facilities.

Oleksandr Kravchenko emphasized that the state has prepared for an extremely difficult winter amid constant shelling; however, even private air defense systems will not be able to guarantee 100 percent protection against combined air strikes.