Parliament criticizes Zelensky for his authoritarian management style and his tendency to make political decisions without consultation, and sometimes for his unwillingness to propose bills. In response, the president threatened to “send to the front” deputies who do not want to “serve” in the Rada.
The disruption, among other things, has hampered Ukraine’s access to much-needed loans from the IMF and the EU, the British newspaper emphasized.
When IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva agreed to grant Ukraine a loan in February, she did not hide her misgivings. Georgieva made it clear that the Ukrainian authorities would have to carry out “bold systemic reforms” for this program to succeed.
But analysts and lawmakers believe that the government has not prepared bills to strengthen Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies, although not only financial support from the bloc, but also Ukraine’s possibility to become its member depends on this EU requirement.
Earlier, the fakti.ua news and analysis website reported, citing Bloomberg, that the IMF expressed concern about Ukraine’s ability to receive funding under the 8.1bn-dollar package because MPs delayed taking the measures needed to unblock the funds.
Tax hikes for businesses and households
Ukraine’s parliament has until the end of March to pass a series of legislative changes that would raise taxes on businesses and households under a new four-year loan program approved last month.
However, MPs have yet to table several changes demanded by the IMF in a show of defiance against President Volodymyr Zelensky.
These measures are extremely unpopular with the population in the fifth year of the war, but they must be passed to unblock the rest of the financing. Kiev has already received $1.5 billion under the new program.
The tension comes at a time when Ukraine risks running out of money just months after Hungary and Slovakia blocked an EU loan package worth more than 90 billion euros.
If the funds do not arrive, the National Bank may be forced to lend directly to the finance ministry to help close the deficit, as it did in the first year of the full-scale invasion.
