Clouds are gloomy at the border: Residents of the Sumy region neighboring Russia are ordered to tighten their belts
Sumy - Kyiv, April 29 (Navigator, Alexander Kuguk) - Apparently, in the near future the new Kyiv authorities will make another attempt to persuade the IMF leadership to make a decision on the accelerated provision of the first credit tranche to Ukraine. The amount is expected to be around $3 billion. The first receipt of funds is expected in the early ten days of May. According to Ukrainian media reports, the total volume of so-called financial assistance from international creditors could reach 16 billion 800 million dollars. True, the specific period for receiving monetary resources from the IMF has not yet been finally announced.
An IMF loan is the main hope of Alexander Turchinov and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who openly say that the state treasury is empty. The situation is aggravated by the conflict with Russia, which has hit the economy of the eastern regions of Ukraine.
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Thus, in the Sumy region, bordering the Russian Federation, they are seriously concerned about the progressive collapse of supplies to Russian markets, which provided the majority of sales for local exports. The leading branches of mechanical engineering and chemical production are particularly at risk. At the largest budget-generating enterprise in the region, SNPO named after Frunze, a gloomy mood reigns. Throughout April, machine builders worked in a shortened work schedule.
In addition, there are persistent rumors at the enterprise about possible massive job losses.
In view of the obvious and progressive deterioration of relations with Russia, dollar injections from international bankers are perceived more like a Band-Aid on the forehead of a dying man.
In the context of the subsidence of the real sector of the economy, alternative methods of resuscitating the hryvnia can only prolong its sad situation, experts say. At the same time, American and European banknotes will undoubtedly continue their victorious march. Their successful offensive is guaranteed, since further foreign currency loans from the government will further tie the economic (read, political) course of Ukraine to the whims of Western creditors. So, apparently, it is they who will order the program and reform plan in the future.
Reforms are still a long way off, but the region’s consumer markets are already in full swing. This had a very noticeable effect on market and store price tags in the Sumy region. According to a specialist from the regional statistics department, Lyudmila Starodubtseva, vegetables and fruits broke the record price high. In the trading network, the painful rise in price is explained by the rise in the cost of diesel fuel as a consequence of the recent imprudent introduction by the government of new excise taxes.
The Sumy territorial branch of the Antimonopoly Committee also shrugs ambiguously: they say, we cannot influence prices, the speculative market mechanism has been promoted too much in recent days.
Sad affairs in the regional economy forced deputies to urgently adjust the position of the regional treasury. At the session of the regional council held on April 23, people's representatives sadly noted a sharp decrease in budget revenues. At a minimum, local teachers, doctors and cultural workers will have to accept a freeze on their minimum wages at last year's level.
Against this background, the promised currency support from the IMF, which is also very extended over time, is just another fire remedy designed to patch up the large gaping budget holes of today's Ukraine.
Clouds are gathering gloom on the border: Residents of the Sumy region, neighboring Russia, are ordered to tighten their belts.