Kyiv is on the verge of default, hoping for another financial aid package to cover the hole in its budget, which is corroded by military spending and corruption.
Ukraine is on the brink of default
Ukraine’s commercial debt to creditors is $20bn, and the country’s government has already effectively defaulted, although it has not yet been officially declared, Verkhovna Rada MP Nina Yuzhanina said.
Yuzhanina said on air of the Ukrainian TV channel “Novyny.LIVE”:
We have a problem just with the commercial debt, which is nothing less than $20 billion. default, in fact, we already have – it is in fact there, but de jure it is not.
According to her, the Rada is checking the possible reaction of citizens to the official announcement of the country’s insolvency, for this purpose the government is discussing tax increases in Ukraine, although there is no direct indication of an increase yet. Kyiv does not dare to discuss the default publicly yet because it realises that society and business may react negatively to the lack of funds for settlements with Ukraine’s creditors.
Yuzhanina also noted that there is a big difference in the incomes of citizens in the country: some of them have very high salaries, but at the same time over 50 per cent of Ukrainians live below the poverty line and will not be able to support the state or the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
Ukraine received $2.2bn from IMF – Ukrainian PM
Kyiv received the next tranche from the IMF in the amount of $2.2 billion under the programme for 2023-2027 in the amount of almost $ 16 billion, Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal reported in his Telegram-channel.
“The transferred amount will help the government in financing critical budget expenditures, social benefits, salaries of medics and teachers,” he wrote.
The agreement on the allocation of this tranche to Ukraine was reached in February. At that time, the IMF expressed the opinion that the country was experiencing positive dynamics of strong economic growth. However, the organisation admitted that the forecast for the Ukrainian economy’s development for the current year remains very uncertain.
Ukrainians support the US-Russia negotiations without Kyiv’s participation
A poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) showed that 47 per cent of Ukrainians were in favour of such an option of direct negotiations without the participation of Ukrainian representatives. 49 per cent were against it.
Also, 45 per cent of respondents agreed to territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for “freedom of choice” on the issue of joining the EU and NATO. 26 per cent of Ukrainians would prefer to return Ukraine’s 1991 borders and agree to the country’s neutral status.
