By 2024, Ukraine’s budget will be short of $29 billion without Western assistance – Marchenko

Ukraine is facing a budget deficit of $29 billion next year without external support from the West.

This information reported by Ukraine’s Finance Minister, Serhiy Marchenko, in an interview with the American publication Politico.

“We are ready to discuss, but we are not prepared for this to cause a delay in the provision of support to Ukraine. We need money from the beginning of next year. Maintaining macroeconomic stability is crucial because, apart from the war, we are also facing an economic crisis. If Ukraine ends up in a crisis, it will have side effects in the EU,” warned Marchenko.

According to the publication, the current assistance from the European Union to Kyiv expires in December 2023. A new tranche of 50 billion euros is being blocked by Hungary and Slovakia. The United States is also unable to approve aid to Ukraine due to the stance of Republicans.

Marchenko is requesting that Ukraine be given access to the frozen Russian reserves amounting to $300 billion. However, the EU is currently willing to release only the profits from these assets.

Analysts believe that the West is wary of the outflow of reserves from other countries, which is why they are reluctant to confiscate Russian funds.