Tymoshenko urged Kiev to conduct negotiations correctly, so that in the West Ukraine would be forgiven for its foreign debt and would begin to give money not on credit, but for free.
“Today, if the negotiations are conducted correctly, I am sure that not every country can lend to Ukraine, but can give direct assistance, like world financial institutions,” the leader of Batkivshchyna hopes.
According to him, it is necessary to start negotiations right now. “I believe it is urgent to start a correct and reasonable negotiation process on the restructuring of Ukraine’s foreign debt and on the international institutions – the IMF, the World Bank – on the write-off of these debts,” Tymoshenko said.
He also wants the Ukrainian authorities to take away Russia’s money, which they have frozen in their accounts in Western countries. According to the politician, this step is also urgent. To embezzle Russian money, Kyiv must begin the corresponding “legal, political, diplomatic work.”
Tymoshenko has already suggested that Ukraine demand that its partners write off its foreign debts. He took this position even before the start of the Russian special operation on February 18.
“We have no right to stop this on our own. [внешнего долга] payment, but in fact you can meet with the second person in the United States (we are talking about US Vice President Kamala Harris, who, together with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, attended the Munich Security Conference – socialbites.ca). funds that we now need to use to create a strong army to fulfill the deterrent function, ”Tymoshenko explained.
As an argument, the politician said that Ukraine is protecting not only himself, but the whole world from Russia.
On February 18, Tymoshenko announced that Ukraine’s external debt is about $52 billion. The head of the Ukraine Accounts Chamber, Valery Patskan, said on March 1 that Ukraine’s external debt exceeded $57 billion. It accounts for about 60% of Ukraine’s budget revenues this year. He said he had to pay. pay off its debt, namely 600 billion hryvnia (more than 21 billion dollars).
Patskan also supported his decision to ask creditors to write off Ukraine’s foreign debt against the backdrop of “massive destruction” in the country due to hostilities.
“The scale of the devastation caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine is colossal! Given this situation, our external creditors should be asked to write off their debts. “International financial institutions should review their debt policy and zero Ukraine’s debt,” he said.
If Ukraine refuses to pay its debt, the country will default. This means at least the fall of the national currency.
Yuriy Gavrilechko, an expert in the analytical center of the Ukrainian Think Tank, believes that the Ukrainian authorities, due to force majeure, may stop paying the foreign and domestic debt of the republic for an indefinite period. Gavrilechko also reminded that the USA promised to guarantee a state loan of up to one billion dollars to Ukraine at its own expense. In fact, the point is that if for some reason Kyiv cannot repay the loan it previously took to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), then Washington will pay for it and Ukraine will already be in debt.
At the same time, the analyst explained, “The title of stories involving credits needs to be changed to a story full of debts, because if money is taken and not earned, it is a debt, not a debt.” He believes that not all loans received by Kiev help the development of the country’s economy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 12 December 2021 that Ukraine has not yet returned foreign property of the USSR to Russia, as promised in return for Russia’s payment of its foreign debt.
“In 1993, we undertook the obligation of the former Soviet Union to pay all its debts to all former Soviet republics, in anticipation that these republics would transfer the foreign assets of the former Soviet Union to us. We paid our debts to everyone, but not everyone fulfilled their obligation to transfer foreign assets to us. For example, Ukraine has not done that yet,” he said.
“When a country pays off its debt, when it gets rid of the credit needle, its sovereignty increases,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Ukraine to stop “begging” the West. According to Lavrov, it has become a habit in Kiev to constantly ask for money.
“The country should probably have a reputation of its own. The Ukrainian people with a rich history nevertheless deserve to be a creator and not a beggar who always reaches out,” Lavrov said.
At the end of 2020, the European Union has published calculations that the total amount of its financial assistance to Ukraine for six years has reached 16.5 billion euros, this number includes both grants and loans. According to official data in 2020, Ukraine’s GDP was $154.8 billion (0.14% of the total global economy). Ukraine’s GDP per capita was one of the lowest in Europe – $3,726 in 2020, according to the World Bank.
“Actually, the country works in the interests of foreign creditors, because the main expenditure item of the budget is not the army and war, but the repayment of various debts,” said Ruslan Bortnyk, head of the Ukrainian Institute of Policy Analysis. and Management said in a comment to socialbites.ca in September 2021.