The economist and business consultant, Henri Hebrard, projected that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will bring very negative consequences for tourism, the economy, and the Dominican Republic’s budgetary stability.

He explained that tourism would be hit hard since, in 2021, the two countries together contributed 269,612 tourists to the country. In January of this year 2022, 49,215 arrived from Russia and 13,749 from Ukraine, for a total of 332,576 travelers from these destinations in 13 months.

He indicated that “if the economic sanctions of the United States and Europe against Russia are very extreme, this could affect Russian tourism to the Dominican Republic, which is the main destination from these countries.”

He declared that from Ukraine, 15,000 tourists arrive monthly, and it is the fifth most important country for the DR from Europe, above Italy and the United Kingdom, and only surpassed by Russia, Germany, France, and Spain.

“Ukraine is currently the fifth largest market for tourists to the Dominican Republic from Europe. Nowadays, around 15 thousand tourists are received, more than from Italy and England,” he stated.

Hebrard wonders what will happen to the Ukrainian tourists who are visiting the DR and what will be the mechanisms to proceed with their return?, according to N Digital.

Concerning oil, the economist said that the other problem for the Dominican economy derived from the Russia-Ukraine war lies in the rise in the price of a barrel, which shot up to around 100 dollars in international markets.

In addition, he added that the other important aspect of the Dominican economy is that Ukraine is one of the leading exporters of wheat, corn, and soybeans, high-consumption products that will inevitably increase the prices of bread, chicken, and other foods.

He stated that the only positive aspect from the point of view of the Dominican economy is that the price of gold has skyrocketed to almost two thousand dollars an ounce, although it would not compensate for the increase that would occur in cereals and oil.

“That is positive, but it will never be positive enough to offset the negative of grain and oil,” he said.