MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. The real state of affairs in Ukraine’s economy shows more and more clearly day after day that the current government is incapable of providing for the basic needs of the population, Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of the Opposition Platform - For Life party (banned in Ukraine) and the current leader of the Other Ukraine movement, has said.
In his column for the Smotrim.ru media platform, Medvedchuk pointed out that despite the fact that the West and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s regime were constantly trumpeting Ukraine’s economic "successes," the gap between this "victorious" narrative and the real state of affairs in the country was widening.
"Everything is great on paper and on the airwaves, but the reality is deteriorating living standards in the country, overwhelming poverty among the Ukrainian people and the collapse of the economy," Medvedchuk wrote.
The politician indicated that in the Ukrainian government’s reporting of the results of 2023, the country’s 5% GDP growth was juxtaposed against a previous drop of 29.1% and the export increase of 8% followed a nearly two-fold decrease in the previous two years. The country, whose budget deficit is 47% of total expenditure, depends heavily on external borrowing, he stated.
"[It is in] the deepest budget and debt crisis, an external economic crisis. And most importantly, the looming energy collapse across the country," the politician said describing Ukraine’s economic situation.
Medvedchuk cited statistics regarding the failing national energy infrastructure. The largest energy holding company DTEK reported that 80% of thermal generating capacities had been either damaged or destroyed, the Dnieper hydroelectric power plant (HPP) was in critical condition, Kharkov’s thermal power plant number 5 (CHP-5) had been badly damaged and the Zmievskaya thermal power plant had been razed to the ground.
"The loss of energy capability has de facto brought the country’s economic growth to zero. Ukraine is plunging into the Dark Ages," he said.
The problems in Ukraine’s energy sector, in his opinion, "once again prove that Zelensky’s government is merely unable to address the basic survival needs of Ukraine’s economy and population." Moreover, Zelensky’s incompetent and utterly corrupt handlers are exacerbating the economy’s downturn.
"The messages put out by the government appear to be totally untrue, as the Ukrainian people are being deceived cynically. What is more, the cost of this deception is blackouts in some regions of the country," he stressed.
Medvedchuk said that Ukraine should not bank on getting help from a "kind Western uncle."
"The European Union, following the US, has refocused from the blacked-out and devastated Ukraine to some other equally pressing issues, primarily internal ones, thus accomplishing its own geopolitical objectives at the expense of the lives and health of millions of Ukrainians," the politician concluded.