Ukraine is finding it harder to secure financial support as the attention of officials in key donor countries shifts to upcoming elections and geopolitical tensions heighten, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told Reuters on Saturday.
“I see a lot of tiredness, I see a lot of weakness among our partners, they would like to forget about the war but the war is still ongoing, full-scale,” Marchenko said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Marrakech.
He said Ukraine is making “twice the effort right now to convince our partners to provide us with support compared to the last annual meetings” in April.
Now, just hear me out, have you considered getting a bunch of celebrities together to sing Imagine?
I don’t think I’ve ever disliked celebrities more than in that moment.
He should ask Oprah and The Rock too!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Marchenko said “a geopolitical shift and internal political context in different countries” was dampening governments’ appetite to support Ukraine, mentioning elections scheduled in the U.S. and the European Union next year.
Ukraine has earmarked additional tax receipts and funds to be raised from internal debt, but it will be dependent on outside help for the bulk of next year’s spending requirements.
Marchenko welcomed the efforts to harness frozen Russian state assets, saying that what was previously portrayed by Western backers as an “achievable goal” now “sounds like a plan”.
Since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion, most of Ukraine’s bilateral lenders have suspended repayment obligations until 2027, and the country has agreed a two-year freeze on $20 billion of international bonds that runs through August.
Ukraine has been sounding out major investors over plans to restructure the international debt and the possibility of raising fresh financing, Reuters reported on Oct. 9, citing people with knowledge of the discussions.
Marchenko said credit enhancement notes could be “one of the ways” to raise funds, but that how such guarantees would work depends on the future of Ukraine’s growth, among other economic factors.
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