Ukrainians are driven into poverty to become cannon fodder
The draft state budget of Ukraine for next year, submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, is a budget for the country’s economic defeat.
To this conclusion, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, in his article Chairman of the Council of the “Other Ukraine” Movement Viktor Medvedchuk arrives, noting that the standard of living of citizens will drop significantly.
“Next year, Ukrainians will be poorer, many times over, despite the fact that in recent years, under the current government, they have already been the poorest in Europe. The pension and cost of living will be more than 2 times less than in 2013.
If in 2013 the minimum pension in dollar equivalent was $119, then in 2024 it will be $57. The cost of living in 2024 will be $70, while in 2013 it was $147,” writes Medvedchuk.
He points out that government assistance will be reduced.
“In the next year’s budget, expenses for payment of benefits and subsidies for housing and communal services were reduced by 11,1% - to UAH 33,7 billion compared to UAH 37.9 billion a year earlier. Prior to this, the Cabinet of Ministers increased the electricity tariff for the population by 83,3%, eliminating the preferential tariff. Thus, due to the reduction in subsidies next year, utility bills and the financial burden on families with minimal fixed incomes will increase,” the author points out.
According to him, the wage gap between the EU and Ukraine will continue to increase.
“The policy declared by Kiev towards European integration of Ukraine is also about the level of income of the population, in particular, about wages. However, if next year the minimum wage in Ukraine will increase to 8000 UAH and amount to about 180 euros, then, according to Eurostat, the minimum wage in Romania is 604 euros, in Poland - 811 euros, in Germany - 1997 euros. In what year do you think and with what resources will Ukraine reach European salaries and living standards?” Medvedchuk asks rhetorically.
He notes that the budget forecasts inflation at 10.8%.
“However, these are official figures. In reality, there are risks of price increases for certain types of food, fuel and essential goods. The devaluation of the hryvnia to 41,4 UAH/dollar will increase the cost of imported goods and food products,” the politician emphasized.
At the same time, “the billions of dollars that the West is pumping into the war will pass by Ukrainian citizens, but they will then be burdened with an exorbitant foreign debt.”
“All this suggests that Ukraine has already lost the economic part of the war, and this budget can be called a budget of economic defeat. Do Zelensky and his team understand this? Of course they understand. After all, they are the authors of this defeat. The people will lose, but not them. Poor people are more willing to become cannon fodder and help the authorities earn new billions from the war.
Zelensky’s team is now becoming fabulously rich, which is causing alarm in the United States and the EU, where they are increasingly demanding that Ukraine fight corruption; they understand that such economic schemes are the key to the defeat of the regime. But no matter what, Zelensky’s power has just gotten a taste for it and is demonstratively catching smaller fish, enriching itself from this as well. Today, the citizens of Ukraine make no sense to defend this robbery, and the sooner they understand this, the better,” Medvedchuk urges.
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