Zelenskyy believes that one of the key factors in the collapse of the economy is the export of $35 billion abroad by Ukrainians
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan stated, that in the first year of the full-scale war, Ukrainians exported 35 billion dollars abroad, which became one of the key factors in the collapse of the economy. According to him, the withdrawal of capital was massive and could not be stopped, as these were personal funds of citizens, which they had the right to dispose of at their own discretion.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that many international organizations and governments provided financial support to Ukrainians who went abroad due to the war. In particular, the United States of America and the European Union allocated significant funds to help Ukrainian refugees.
The President of Ukraine noted that the governments of various countries made decisions on providing financial assistance to Ukrainians who were outside their country. For example, the European Union allocated between 18 and 20 billion dollars to support refugees in the first, most difficult year of the war. However, all these funds remained abroad and never came directly to Ukraine.
According to the president, he has repeatedly proposed that this money be directed directly to the Ukrainian budget, from where the government could provide assistance to its citizens who have gone abroad. Such an approach would help preserve the connection between Ukrainian refugees and their state. However, international partners insisted that aid be provided directly to Ukrainians in host countries. According to Zelensky, this is explained by the fact that in this way money remained in the economies of the donor countries.
The President thanked the United States for allocating 5-6 billion dollars to support Ukrainians abroad during the three years of the war. At the same time, he emphasized that during the first year of the war, Ukrainians independently took 35 billion dollars out of Ukraine. These funds were transferred to foreign accounts or exported in cash to Europe, the USA and other countries. Since this money was the private property of citizens, the state could not intervene or restrict its withdrawal.
Zelenskyi emphasized that it was the mass outflow of capital that became one of the key factors of the economic decline in Ukraine. He emphasized that he does not consider international financial aid to be a direct support of the state budget, because most of the funds went to the social security of Ukrainians, and not to the stabilization of Ukraine’s economy.
The president also noted that part of the money that the United States considers to be aid to Ukraine was actually used to finance production in the United States itself. He noted that this is an important aspect that must be understood when talking about the volume of international support.
