In cooperation with colleagues from the Opposition Bloc Party, we have filed a draft decree at the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine with a request to the Government to disclose the content of the agreements reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to unofficial reports appearing in the Ukrainian mass media, state-owned assets have been sold at knockdown prices (including profitable businesses), tariffs have been raised, pensions frozen and, most importantly, agricultural land has been offered for sale to foreign investors.

During the Great Patriotic War, our black soil, chernozem, was removed by the truckload from Ukraine. Now you do not even have to transport it as the current government is plugging holes in the state budget by auctioning our biggest asset: our land.

This is an extract from the explanatory note to the draft decree:

It is necessary to acknowledge that Ukraine is now on the brink of a social catastrophe. Scheduled cuts in social expenditure, the devaluation of the hryvnia and the rising cost of energy are all contributing to a rapid fall in living standards.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government has repeatedly claimed its readiness to meet any of the IMF’s requirements. However, there are still no official documents to assess the actual risks of such a cooperation.

For the purpose of informing the general public about the documents signed between the Ukrainian Government and the IMF, we suggest submitting a relevant request to the Cabinet of Ministers at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The purpose of addressing the Cabinet of Ministers is to implement the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine’ in terms of the controlled status and accountability of the Ukrainian government to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The draft decree requests that the Cabinet of Ministers immediately provide a report on the conditions for obtaining the loan funds from the IMF (agreed in September 2016) and publish the complete text of relevant documents (obligations) in the Official Bulletin of Ukraine, the Uriadovyi Kurier newspaper, the official website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.