Economy

International aid: how will Ukraine pay? Expert opinion

Due to military actions, as before, the probability of default hangs over Ukraine.

Recently, the international agency S&P raised Ukraine's credit rating in foreign currency to CCC+/C from SD/SD. In turn, the international rating agency Fitch Ratings raised the long-term credit rating of Ukraine in foreign currency from the level of "RD" (limited default) to "CC" (probable default).

As financial analysts note, the rating increase was due to Ukraine's successful restructuring of its foreign debts. However, because of the war, the country's ability to service its debt remains vulnerable and depends on favorable economic conditions.

Meanwhile, in the near future, Ukraine should receive another significant donor aid, which will satisfy the state's needs in budgetary financing and can stabilize international reserves, which have been significantly reduced since the beginning of the war.

However, the average citizen, seeing that today large sums of money from all over the world regularly flow into the country, asks the question: does Ukraine receive this aid free of charge — or will its repayment later be a heavy burden for several generations of Ukrainians to come? In order to clarify the situation, ElitExpert asked for comments from the professor, ex-deputy minister of economy Mykhailo Pozhivanov, who currently manages the Odesa city organization of VO "Batkivshchyna".

"Aid to Ukraine is provided in different ways. Some are gratuitous donations, some are loans, somewhere we raise money under the guarantees of third countries (Great Britain, the United States of America, etc.) - that is, not ours, but their governments take responsibility for paying off our debt," the expert noted.

According to him, the possibility of default hangs over the country now due to military operations, as before.

"Should we be afraid of default in Ukraine? Some economists say that there is no need to be afraid of default - they say, on the contrary, that Ukraine will write off all its debts. That is true, but one must understand that then no one will come to our country with investments for the next 30-40 years.

If we are talking about an instant solution, then indeed, today you can get angry at everything, declare default and solve the debt problem for a short period of time. But if we believe and know that Ukraine exists, Ukraine will be and it must develop, must become one of the most powerful countries in Europe, then, of course, we must fully fulfill all our obligations.

I repeat, otherwise no investments and investors will ever even look in our direction. We in Ukraine should not hope that we will be forgiven 20 or 30 billion euros like Poland or 180 billion like Greece," said Mykhailo Pozhivanov.

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