The Impact of Energy Crisis and the Military Conflict in Ukraine on the Economy in the Eurozone and in the Republic of North Macedonia

Abstract

The current economic crisis is specific in many respects. Its beginnings are related to the COVID-19 pandemic emergence and the measures taken to mitigate its consequences, both for people’s health and for companies’ survival. Acknowledging the first signs and considerations that the uncertainty could last, global monetary authorities, relatively uniformly, launched expansionary monetary policy measures to support the economies. From the end of 2021 and 2022, these measures became restrictive, given the increasingly persistent inflation. The paper focuses on explaining the causes and consequences of the economic and energy crisis, as well as on presenting the current situation and the prospects for further development of the economies in the Eurozone and in the Republic of North Macedonia. Notwithstanding the various structural specifics of individual economies, they are all affected by the crisis to a different extent; however, there are still certain common characteristics and movements of the basic macroeconomic parameters.