Ukraine is broke – former PM

Ukraine is bankrupt and the country is unable to fill its budget deficit on its own, as it relies almost entirely on Western aid, former Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov stated on Friday.

The former politician argued that the economic crisis in Ukraine began a long time ago and the country’s bankruptcy had already been recorded. According to him, Ukraine’s insolvency is manifested in the fact that the country is unable to fill its budget.

“75% of the budget is borrowed or grant funds! And they got to such a point that salaries in October depended on whether the European Union would transfer on time the promised aid of €1.5 billion,” Azarov wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, public debt is soaring and the budget deficit is widening despite Western aid, according to Azarov.  

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s central bank revised this year’s budget deficit forecast to 20.4% of the gross domestic product instead of the 19.8% previously expected, in what would be the worst performance since 1992.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal last week announced that Kiev was expecting a financial injection worth $30 billion from the EU, the US, and the International Monetary Fund, which would help the country plug its budget gap.

Azarov has previously warned that the country’s economy is “falling apart” as it shows signs of life only with foreign financial assistance, requiring more and more of it.

According to the Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko, next year Ukraine’s budget will lack $29 billion without Western financing.

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