MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. The cost of mobilizing a half million fresh recruits for the Ukrainian armed forces would likely exceed the amount cited earlier by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and could exceed $34 bln, Ukrainian financial expert Yevgeny Dubogryz said in an interview with Espreso TV.

According to the expert, Zelensky estimated earlier that it would take 500 bln hryvnias (over $13 bln) to mobilize 500,000 people, while Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Budget Committee Chairwoman Roksolana Pidlasa said that it would cost around 720 bln hryvnias (more than $19 bln). However, both these figures underestimate the real cost, Dubogryz insists.

"According to my calculations, the monetary allowance, gear and food alone for 400,000 newly mobilized people would require around 360 bln hryvnias (over $9 bln - TASS) per year. This excludes training, logistics, and projects to build or equip new [training or logistics] centers, as well as payment for instructors or the purchase of new weapons. This puts the real figure at [anywhere from] 1.2 trillion hryvnias to 1.3 trillion hryvnias [about $34 bln - TASS], or three to four times higher [than the government’s estimate]," the expert said.

Kiev may as well start printing money to tackle the problem, as a new mobilization is inevitable for Ukraine even if it lacks the money to carry it out, he argued. "If we don’t have the money, we’ll have to print it."

"We should tell our Western partners that our economy is not faring well, that we are facing problems and that we need their assistance," Dubogryz concluded.