Groysman cleverly blamed the tariff increase on Poroshenko
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko could not help but raise gas tariffs, because refusal to comply with IMF requirements would mean default.
Vadim Karasev, director of the Institute of Global Strategies, announced this at a press conference in Kiev, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Could it have been avoided? Did this mean default? Maybe yes. But the president will never do this in a presidential campaign. He simply insisted and put pressure on Groysman. Because the alternative—default—means the president’s withdrawal from the race. Default means paying off debts, this is devaluation, this means there is no money in the country. This is a serious macro-financial crisis. In a presidential campaign, this means that the incumbent president has no chance. Even with “faith, language and army.” It is clear that the president could not agree to this,” the expert believes.
According to him, the president put pressure on the head of government to take responsibility for the increase in tariffs.
“But Groysman did so that he seemed to take it upon himself, but the decision was made by the Cabinet of Ministers, not by Groysman. The Cabinet of Ministers is the president, not Groysman. Groysman did not personally sign this, but covered himself behind the collective decision of the Cabinet of Ministers. And Groysman deftly transferred this to the current government, to the presidential team,” Karasev said.
Groysman cleverly blamed the tariff hike on Poroshenko.