Ukraine is a bankrupt country that, before the first round of the presidential elections, almost declared a technical default due to debts on Eurobonds.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Anton Gerashchenko, who is close to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, stated this on air on the Khvilya Internet channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the parliamentarian, this year more than 40% of the country's budget should be used to pay off debts.
“The number one issue for the future president and for the future coalition of the Verkhovna Rada should be the economy. We are a bankrupt country. The pension fund has a deficit of 170 billion hryvnia. This year, 41% of the country’s budget is paying off debts... This is how the country continues to live, further driven into debt through a pyramid of domestic government loan bonds, which provide 17% of revenues,” the politician said.
“Three weeks ago, a technical default was supposed to take place in Ukraine. Little has been written about this. The state enterprise Ukrzaliznytsia had to pay Eurobonds - 150 or 170 million euros. They had no money. In fact, the country was on the verge of declaring a technical default. As a result, in recent days they have been searching all over the place, scraping to collect these 150 or 170 million euros to pay off the Eurobonds. Well, this is funny,” said Gerashchenko.