Ukraine accepts US$15b Russian bailout
Opposition and protesters express outrage as anti-bankruptcy deal brings country closer to Moscow and away from EU
President Viktor Yanukovych on Wednesday faced angry criticism from Ukraine’s opposition who accused him of selling out the country’s interests to Russia and robbing the country of a European future after a landmark bailout deal.
Yanukovych has secured a US$15 billion bailout from Ukraine’s former Soviet master, offering respite for an economy heading ever closer to default.
The opposition feared there must be hidden strings attached to the US$15 billion bond purchase and low gas price – announced on Tuesday after hours-long talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin – and they vowed to keep pushing for early elections.
Yanukovych used Ukraine as pawn. He has given up Ukraine’s national interests, given up independence
“Yanukovych used Ukraine as pawn,” opposition leader and world boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko told the crowd of about 50,000 on Kiev’s Independence Square late on Tuesday, accusing the president of handing Ukraine’s industries to Russia as collateral in order to get the deal.
Russia will buy Ukraine’s debt in euro bonds and slash its gas bill by one-third as Kiev battles mass protests over the rejection of a historic European Union pact. The deal keeps Kiev firmly in Moscow’s orbit and out of the EU’s grasp.
Putin wants to bring Ukraine’s big, mineral-rich market into a Eurasian Union he plans to build with Kazakhstan, Belarus and other ex-Soviet republics to match the economic might of the United States and China. Without Ukraine, it looks much weaker.
The massive aid package was a surprise for European diplomats.