‘European Solidarity’ leader panned the budget projections for 2022 calling out the government over the budgetary commitments it is failing to deliver on.

 

‘I stress – this year we must defend people, pay annual bonuses, protect decentralization [reform funding] robbed by you, and pay off debts to the military, step up on subsidies, and all this has to be done now,’ said Petro Poroshenko after the finance minister unveiled the budget proposals for 2022 in the Verkhovna Rada.

The opposition leader argued Ukraine has failed to offset Covid pandemic impact on the domestic economy. As economies of Poland and Estonia are back on track with 11% and 14% economic growth quarterly figures,  Ukrainian economy has grown only by 5%.

Poroshenko said economy growth will be impossible without direct foreign investments, which assumes that Ukrainian government should provide for rule of law, trust, human rights, freedom of press and stop persecution of opposition.

 

‘With Zelensky in the office, Ukraine demonstrates regress in all these issues. If you look at this budget, you remember that Getmantsev lobbied private lotteries and Arakhamiya lobbied gambling businesses, they promised 7 billion hryvnas in returns. What revenues are they projecting now for lotteries and gambling? 700 million. This is a lie, because the money is pocketed and going to ‘Servant of the People’ MPs in pay envelopes,’ said Poroshenko.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian finance minister Serhiy Marchenko delivered the budget for 2022 to the Verkhovna Rada.