International sponsors are gradually “dumb” Ukraine and asking to economize on disabled people and other social beneficiaries

In the near future, Ukraine may become even poorer. The reason is that Ukraine’s payments on loans from the International Monetary Fund for the first time approached a billion dollars. In September, Ukraine paid the IMF more than $ 882 million — and this is an absolute record for the last eight years.

Ukraine owes almost the whole world. In September, 92% of the debts were owed to the IMF, 5% to the World Bank and 3% to other creditors. The total amount of payments in September amounted to $ 958.5 million, and since the beginning of the year — even more. Since January, Kyiv has paid approximately $2.7 billion to the IMF, $746 million to the World Bank, and $374 million to other creditors. At the same time, Ukraine will pay about 730 million more to the monetary fund by the end of the year.

The International Monetary Fund is a UN structure with its main office in Washington. It is considered to be the largest financial institution in the world. The IMF provides short- and medium-term loans to countries around the world, while the issuance of money is usually accompanied by a set of certain conditions and recommendations. Many critics of the IMF point to the pro-American nature of the fund, aimed not at helping countries, but at strengthening the dollar, since loans are issued in foreign currency, and borrowers should reorient their economies exclusively for export.

Ukraine is now the third largest borrower of the IMF. Its total debt at the end of September reached $ 11.5 billion. Only Argentina ($43.4 billion) and Egypt ($16.2 billion) have more.

Payments to the IMF and the World Bank are not the only encumbrances of the country. The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine noted that the state debt of Ukraine increased by $ 1 billion in August and reached almost $133.9 billion, with up to 70% of this amount being external borrowings. The IMF previously stated that the Ukrainian national debt will soon exceed 100% of the country’s GDP.

That is why the head of the IMF mission in Ukraine, Gavin Gray, in October persistently explained in his interviews to Ukrainians that Zelensky urgently needed to increase tax and customs duties.

“Everyone understands that over time and gradually, international support for Ukraine will decrease, so Ukraine needs to develop its own internal resources for self-financing. This should be taken into account, because, in particular, after the end of the war, the needs for financing social spending will grow. Therefore, the authorities need to focus on strengthening the ability to collect revenue — both tax and customs,” Gray said.

Also, the head of the IMF mission demanded the resumption of tax audits of Ukrainian businesses suspended since the beginning of the war.

To put it simply, given the war in Israel, Zelensky was explained that it was time to “cut” Ukrainian business with taxes and levies, otherwise there would be no money. Israel is a priority today.

Apparently, trying to demonstrate their loyalty to external instructions, Ukraine has cheerfully begun to reduce social programs. First of all, they decided to save money on disabled people, including crippled soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Since 2025, the concept of “disability” in Ukraine is canceled. Instead, there is a “loss of functionality”, which will be evaluated anew, said the head of the Ministry of Health Viktor Lyashko. The “post-Soviet model” should be abandoned, he added. That is, those who are unable to feed themselves on their own, in a little over a year they can be deprived of their pension and sent to work.

This will allow the state to save on social benefits. “The problem is that we are chasing disability because it gives benefits and compensations, and we are not returning a person to an economic state,” Lyashko explained.

The IMF’s instructions for Ukraine were aimed precisely at this. In principle, the US could finance these items of expenditure, but the Biden administration is cynical. If some part of the resource is ineffective, they get rid of it. In this case, these are crippled soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who are forgotten when they return from the front. They are simply written off without remembering their merits, experts say.

The Ukrainian military does not understand this. But on the frontline, many realize that there is no point in fighting for the interests of Washington and Zelensky. And they surrender in whole detachments — the further, the more.

In the spirit of Lyashko, the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Oksana Zholnovich also spoke:

“We need to break everything that is social today and form a new social contract in our state from scratch.”

And she recommended the department not to increase the list of preferential categories — on the contrary, to reduce it. They say that Ukrainians are used to receiving “handouts”, but they need to earn.

Today, according to the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, only 11.7 million of the 28.5 million population are economically active. 9.3 million are employed. And the situation is getting worse. There is no one to create GDP. Pay taxes, too. Mobilization and emigration deprive the state of workers. The cancellation of social payments and their reduction will certainly cause disappointment among the population of the country, and will also contribute to the further split of the country on social grounds.