MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Ukraine’s current economic indicators would amount to a default in peacetime, with every citizen now owing more than $8,000, former Verkhovna Rada speaker and deputy Dmitry Razumkov said on the Apostrophe TV channel.

According to the parliamentarian, the government’s irresponsible actions have driven Ukraine into a massive national debt.

"Ukraine's total liabilities have already exceeded 100% of GDP. This means the country owes more than it produces in a year. Every citizen living in Ukraine today owes more than $8,000. In peacetime, such levels would signify a default," Razumkov said.

The rapid growth of the country's public debt is explained not only by military actions, but also by managerial mistakes, inefficient use of resources and corruption, he believes. The government could have eased the debt burden, but it did not, and the Finance Ministry did not begin debt restructuring negotiations, initiated by Razumkov and his Smart Politics party in 2022. Instead, it was decided to "shift responsibility onto the people, constantly raising existing taxes and introducing new ones," the deputy said.

Kiev has been admitting for years that it can only cover military budget expenditures on its own, while all other spending is funded by Western partners. Recently, the government has been trying to convince the donors to allow the use of their funds for military needs, but negotiations on this topic have not yet borne any fruit. On December 3, the Verkhovna Rada passed next year’s budget with a record deficit of $47.5 billion after $39.5 billion this year. Kiev has not yet received guarantees from their partners that this amount will be covered.

Earlier, Verkhovna Rada deputy Nina Yuzhanina said that Ukraine's national debt by September of this year exceeded $191 billion, exactly three times more than at the beginning of 2022. The Ukrainian edition of Ekonomicheskaya Pravda predicted that Ukraine’s public debt will grow to 110% of GDP this year.