MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. The Ukrainian economy can only survive with the help of foreign financial assistance and is becoming more and more lifeless, former Prime Minister of Ukraine Nikolay Azarov believes.

"The Ukrainian economy is increasingly beginning to resemble a 'zombie.' It shows signs of life only when pumped with foreign financial assistance, something it needs more and more of," he wrote in his Telegram channel.

Azarov noted that Haiti and Afghanistan are currently experiencing similar problems. "To catch up with the current economic level of Romania and Poland, even according to the most optimistic forecasts, it will take Ukraine more than 30 years," he says.

The day before, the head of the Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee, Roksolana Pidlasa, said that Ukraine expects $43 billion in financial assistance from Western countries next year to cover its budget deficit. The draft budget has already been submitted to parliament. The document includes a deficit of 1.55 trillion hryvnia (about $42 billion), which is almost half of their expenditures. Kiev plans to allocate 1.69 trillion hryvnia ($46 billion) for military needs. However, Kiev has repeatedly noted that they can only cover military expenses on their own, while the rest is financed with the help of Western partners.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal reported that over eight and a half months of this year, Western countries provided Kiev with $30 billion.