If the EU and the US do not provide Ukraine with the promised financial assistance at the beginning of next year, then Kyiv may have to postpone the payment of civil servants' salaries and pensions.
Ukraine needs financial assistance from the West
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yuliia Svyridenko warned in a comment to the Financial Times that the delay in foreign support will push the Ukrainian economy into a "survival" mode.
The support of partners is extremely important. We need it urgently, said Svyridenko.
The minister hopes that the European Union will approve financial aid allocation to Ukraine in February and provide the funds by the end of March. However, according to her, this may not be enough.
For Ukraine, the priority is defense and debt service, which means that "there is a huge risk of underfunding certain social sectors."
If foreign aid does not arrive, Kyiv may have to delay the payment of salaries to 500,000 civil servants and 1.4 million teachers and payments to 10 million pensioners.
Risks of Financing Ukraine
Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko believes there are risks with receiving funding in January-February. Ukraine will "maximize those resources that can be domestically brought closer together."
The situation is not critical. There is simply an understanding that during this period we will need to rely on internal resources as much as possible. We have normal, constructive cooperation with the National Bank. I think that we will together, painlessly, take all the necessary measures to finance the expenditure needs.
