Bloomberg writes about the rapid impoverishment of the population of Ukraine
New York - Kyiv, November 21 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) - A Bloomberg correspondent visited Zhitomir, neighboring Kiev, and was horrified: Pensioners now cannot buy meat; they do not have enough money for basic medicine.
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Valentina, 72 years old, pensioner, and her husband receive a minimum pension. They don't have enough for food and medicine. “We have some potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers from our dacha,” she tells an American business publication. “We can’t even go to the pharmacy. We try to use herbs,” says the pensioner.
From Lvov, near the Polish border, to Kharkov, near the Russian border, Ukrainian citizens are grappling with the effects of a devalued hryvnia, 270 percent inflation and the deepest recession in five years, Bloomberg reports. The plight of Zhytomyr, a city of XNUMX, shows the consequences of the eight-month uprising in daily life.
“I can feel the devaluation of the hryvnia everywhere,” says Tamara Yakovets, 46, from the window of her small kiosk where she sells toothpaste and shampoo. “My clients are shocked. I have to raise my prices every week. People have stopped buying expensive things and now they are asking for the cheapest soap."
The emphasis is on the currency again, as in 1993, when Ukraine experienced hyperinflation. In addition to imports, expenses from renting an apartment to buying a car are often set in dollars, while wages are in hryvnia.
For Irina Ivanchuk, even a salary in hryvnia will be a relief. She lost her job this year, and she and her husband live only on his military salary and the help of relatives, Bloomberg writes.
“I look at the dollar all the time because for me it is the best indicator of poverty,” says the 29-year-old mother of a first-grader. “I buy less sweets and fruits due to astronomical costs. This is how we save money.”
Adding to the burden of hryvnia devaluation and inflation, the government is raising the price of natural gas for households to meet IMF requirements for a $17 billion loan.
Pensioner Valentina refused to give her last name. "Glory to Ukraine?" - says the pensioner. “Glory for what? For increasing gas prices? For the war? We simply tolerate this government.”
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