Ukraine says salaries, pensions could be delayed without Western aid

Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said this in an interview with the Financial Times, Ukrinform reports.

"The support from partners is extremely important. We need it urgently," she said.

According to Svyrydenko, in the absence of Western aid, the priority in Ukraine will be defense and debt service, which means "a great risk of underfunding certain social sectors."

She said that Kyiv might have to delay paying salaries to 500,000 civil servants and 1.4 million teachers and pensions to 10 million retirees if the foreign aid does not come.

At the same time, she expressed hope that the EU would approve financial support for Ukraine in February and provide funds by the end of March. At the same time, she added that this would not be enough.

Svyrydenko noted that the EU's proposed EUR 50 billion financing mechanism includes EUR 8 billion of risk sharing guarantees, using which Kyiv intends to attract EUR 30 billion of private investment into the economy.

"It's not just preserving macroeconomic stability itself, but creating the prerequisites for the recovery of the economy and the return of Ukrainians," she said.

Svyrydenko also said that a sustainable recovery was necessary to encourage Ukrainian refugees to return home and for further economic growth.

According to the report, Ukraine is already receiving economic benefits from the breakthrough of the Russian blockade of the Black Sea, when ships again began to enter Ukrainian ports along the sea corridor.

Svyrydenko also appealed to the new government in Warsaw to stop the blockade of Ukrainian border crossings by Polish truck drivers.

According to the Ukrainian Finance Ministry, Ukraine's need for international financing in 2024 was reduced from $41 billion to $37.3 billion.