Ukraine Seeking $10 Billion in Aid Amid Talks With U.S., EU
Source: Bloomberg
By Daryna Krasnolutska Dec 15, 2014 9:39 AM ET
Ukraine is seeking at least $10 billion in aid to stave off a default as its economy shrinks under the strain of spending cuts and a separatist war, while foreign reserves languish at the lowest in more than a decade.
The former Soviet republic is talking to the U.S. and the European Union over financial assistance, Valeriy Chaly, deputy chief of President Petro Poroshenko’s administration, told reporters in Kiev. Ukraine needs an international donor conference to prevent default and “survive at this difficult time,” Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who’s visiting Brussels today, told lawmakers Dec. 11.
“Without additional resources, it’s almost impossible to cover financial gaps,” Chaly said. “Talks are about the amount Ukraine needs to conduct reforms and avert default, and the timing of such support. I can’t tell you the exact size but let’s say $10 billion. Otherwise, it will be very, very difficult to resolve the issue.”
The government is grappling with the deepest recession since 2009 and this year’s worst-performing currency, with the hryvnia plunging 48 percent against the dollar and a $17 billion international bailout proving insufficient. While a Dec. 9 truce in Ukraine’s easternmost regions has stemmed fatalities in a conflict that’s killed more than 4,600, talks over a lasting peace deal have been delayed.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-15/ukraine-seeking-10-billion-in-aid-amid-talks-with-u-s-europe.html
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cosmicone
(11,014 posts)Cookies won't be enough anymore 
Alhena
(3,030 posts)I'm not a supporter of sending arms to Ukraine, but we shouldn't let Putin succeed in completely collapsing the Ukrainian economy. IMO, our best strategy for Russia is to use economic weapons against him, including by giving money to countries he tries to pressure economically.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)while we deprive our schools, healthcare and infrastructure?
Count me out
uhnope
(6,419 posts)or Putin's success in taking over the Ukraine?
Alhena
(3,030 posts)the bully Putin from learning that he can invade and destroy the economies of neighbors with impunity. If it works in Ukraine he will likely turn to somewhere like Latvia next.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)It is okay for the US and EU to destroy the economy of Russia after CIA staged a PNAC coup.
It is okay for the US to destroy the economy of Iran even when Iran has not violated any treaty.
However, it is not okay for Russia to protect its borders from NATO aggression in violation of commitments?
(And yet, we squealed like stuck pigs when Russia placed missiles in our back yard i.e. Cuba) Hypocrisy lives!
Only "America the exceptional" has the right to do that. There's only enough room on the world stage for one bully, and that spot is already taken.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)The one doesn't deny the other, melodramatic pronouncements aside.
uhnope
(6,419 posts)
pampango
(24,692 posts)between the US and EU.
Russia offered Ukraine a $15 billion aid package in December 2103. The Russian economy is nowhere near the size of the US and EU combined so the $10 billion would not be nearly the burden that $15 billion would have been to Russia.
