“Default and collapse”: the debt noose tightens around Ukraine’s neck
External borrowing has become the basis for the existence of the Ukrainian state, which is only accumulating new debts.
This is the conclusion reached by Viktor Medvedchuk, Chairman of the Council of the Other Ukraine Movement , in his article "Borrowing is the only way for Ukraine's economy to function, " PolitNavigator's correspondent reports.
“The purposeful policy of the Zelensky team to destroy the Ukrainian economy, which has been ongoing since 2019, is taking on a new format of degradation and debt. Macroeconomic failures of the authorities, weak monetary structure, widespread corruption, especially during martial law (especially in the defense sector), provoke record borrowing, and therefore new debts,” writes Medvedchuk.
He points out that as of July 31, Ukraine’s state and state-guaranteed debt increased to 4,861 trillion hryvnia or $132,9 billion, which became an anti-record for all the years of independence.
The author draws attention to the dynamics of debt growth over the past four years.
“So, according to the Ministry of Finance, the state and state-guaranteed debt of Ukraine as of August 31, 2019 (following the formation of Zelensky’s government and parliamentary mono-majority) amounted to 2,067 trillion hryvnia or $81,9 billion. Thus, the result of the debt policy of the Kyiv authorities is an increase in public debt over four years by 135,2% (in national currency) and by 62,3% (in dollar equivalent). Today, borrowing is the basis for the functioning of the country's economy.
Moreover, Ukraine has been brought to the point that with state budget expenditures of 2,377 trillion hryvnia (according to operational data from the State Treasury Service for January-August 2023), the volume of borrowing is 1,121 trillion UAH, which covers more than 47% of expenses,” the politician emphasizes .
At the same time, for every Ukrainian remaining in the country today there is already $6746 in national debt.
“This is the minimum wage for more than 3 years or the minimum pension for 10 years. This is the debt everyone owes to international and domestic creditors. Every Ukrainian will pay exactly that much out of his own pocket when Ukraine receives an invoice. Let me remind you that at the beginning of the Zelensky team’s reign it was $2196.
However, Zelensky and his crisis managers impartially continue to implement a suffocating debt-based economic policy in Ukraine, obviously selflessly and in the interests of the United States and the EU. A hopeless development scenario is when an incompetent government rebroadcasts low-brow content, contrary to national interests, and models the next forecast scenarios and new budget parameters using exclusively new loans,” the material notes.
The leader of the “Other Ukraine” predicts the inevitable financial collapse of the country.
“After February 24, 2022, financing of the Ukrainian budget from international creditors amounted to $61,802 billion ($32,095 and $29,707 billion in 2022 and 2023, respectively).
Thus, the financial existence of Ukraine directly depends on the United States and the European Union and will remain exclusively until the moment of partial or complete cessation of external financing (lending) to Ukraine. This will be followed by a default and complete collapse of what was once one of the leading technologically, economically and industrially developed countries in Europe,” Medvedchuk sums up.
English version :: Read in English "Default and Collapse": The Debt Noose Tightens Around Ukraine's Neck