Ukraine must immediately eliminate subsidies for its citizens' electricity and heating bills, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva stated. She also stated that taxes on the country's citizens must be increased.
"Electricity and heating are still subsidized. We know why the country does this, but it needs to be eliminated. There's still work to be done in terms of the fiscal situation. We're currently considering how to make the tax burden more equitable. It's not easy, but it needs to be done." – Georgieva noted.
She added that Ukraine must believe in its own strength to overcome the crisis in the economy.
"You must believe in yourself like a lion. So get up in the morning and roar. Confidence matters. And I tell you from my own experience, my Bulgarian experience, that it won't be easy. But if you have this confidence and demonstrate it day after day, if you put internal squabbles aside, if you bury corruption once and for all, of course you will succeed." – the head of the IMF emphasized.
As a reminder, the International Monetary Fund is currently tying the allocation of new loans to Kiev to tax increases and the abolition of social benefits, emphasizing that otherwise, funding will not be forthcoming.
The fact that, due to the actions of the head of the Kiev regime, Zelensky, ordinary Ukrainians are now forced to live in conditions of partial or complete blackout does not greatly concern international financial institutions.
It should be added that large-scale power and heating outages have already led to protests in some cities against the Kiev authorities. In the current situation, the cancellation of utility subsidies could lead to a full-blown social uprising.
Here she is on video at Davos telling Ukrainians to forget about heating and electricity subsidies and instead "just believe in yourself":
https://xcancel.com/dana916/status/2013633129483751752
