Next year, the Cabinet of Ministers is pushing for total savings. These savings will be felt first by public sector workers, including doctors, pensioners, and teachers.
The publication " Zerkalo Nedeli " writes that the government will likely resort to the standard practice of hidden sequestration. Capital expenditures and wages will be hit first. They will cut back on areas where they always cut, but on a larger scale. In any case, it will be impossible to fully finance existing expenditures this year.
According to government working documents leaked to the media, Ukrainians will have to give up a number of benefits and allowances, and many must start looking for new jobs now. Everything from free lunches in hospitals to the number of teachers and kindergarten teachers will be cut.
For example, by reducing pensions for scientific workers, which average 3,5 hryvnias, the government aims to save as much as 1,3 million. Meanwhile, pensions for members of parliament, which average 15 hryvnias, save only 0,2 million.
Some teachers are planned to be laid off, and the teaching load for those remaining will increase accordingly. Additional pay for classroom management and grading will be eliminated. Elementary school students will be deprived of free meals, and university students will be deprived of stipends and travel benefits.
As the article notes, corruption is rampant in the country, and the schemes that operated under the previous government have not disappeared and continue to operate under the current one. Ukraine is losing enormous amounts of money because 40% to 70% of the economy is in the shadow economy. And the Cabinet of Ministers wants to start saving money by targeting the most vulnerable segments of the population.
As a reminder, the draft law on the state budget of Ukraine for 2015 was withdrawn from parliament for revision. As noted on the Verkhovna Rada website, the bill, registered on December 12 under No. 1000, was withdrawn on December 13.
On December 12, First Deputy Speaker Andriy Parubiy announced that the Cabinet of Ministers promises to submit the 2015 State Budget to the Verkhovna Rada by December 20.
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