Ukraine Teeters as Citizens Blame Banks and Government

Posted by Justin Bresolin

Ukraine’s economy is coming apart at the seams as critical factories dismiss thousands of workers, cities go without heat or water due to unpaid bills and its currency weakens to the point of possible government default. The violent protests so common to other former soviet states are imminent in their coming to Ukraine, and many malcontented citizens express anger and resentment toward a government they see as having failed its people.

The danger of Ukraine’s financial collapse is significant not only to itself, but to other European countries as well. With its large population and industrial strength, Ukraine’s collapse may destroy investor confidence in Eastern Europe, and might also prompt Russia, a country with traditional cultural ties to parts of Ukraine, to impose itself upon the country’s affairs. This is particularly apparent in the recent dispute over payments for gas transport to western European countries, prompting Russia to shut off gas flow not just to Ukraine, but to many nations west of it as well. This event has demonstrated how critical Ukraine is to European economic stability, and why its prosperity is of such great concern.

With a presidential election due possibly as soon as January of next year, heavy anti-government protest amongst the citizenry, pricing disputes over Russian resources, and a projected economic shrink of 6%, Ukraine’s political future looks highly uncertain, and the influence its suffering has had on other European nations clearly demonstrates the chain reaction borne of economic reliance that the global crisis so epitomizes. Ukraine’s fate in no small way determines the fate of much of East Europe’s global economic reputation, and the ease of recovery for the continent as a whole.