Ukraine Spirals Into The Abyss: Pensioner Suicides and Talk of Default | Observer
Natalie Jaresko has the face of a sad magician whose voodoo spells stopped working long time ago’. The Ukraine”s Minister for Finance, Ms. Jaresko nowadays is a common figure on Ukrainian TV. Before becoming the Minister for Finance of Ukraine, this dual Ukrainian-American citizen worked for the US State Department. In the 1990s, she was the first Chief of the Economic Section of the US Embassy in Ukraine, then made her millions as the CEO of a number of investment companies working in Ukraine.
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In the meantime, the monthly minimum wage in Ukraine, which is $48, needs an additional $4 to cover the most basic food basket, leaving aside transport expenses, clothes and the rest. In May 2010, the food basket was 55% of the monthly minimum wage, in May 2015, it was 108 percent.
According to Ukrainian State Statistics Office, within last 12 months sunflower oil has risen 200%, fruits 197%, eggs 181%, bread 175%, pasta 171%, fish 171%. But this is not what worries Ukrainian folks – first and foremost they think about their new utility bills. Price for the natural gas has risen 553% since last summer, for electricity 133%, for water 176%.
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Just two years ago, under the previous “corrupt regime,” the average salary in Ukraine was $500 a month, average social security check—$200 a month when the prices for goods were less than half what they are today. The sarcastic new Governor of Odessa region, Mikheil Saakashvili, remarked that Ukrainians would have to toil hard for the next 20 years if they want to get back the living standards they enjoyed under the “corrupt regime.”
Complete story at - http://observer.com/2015/07/ukraine-spirals-into-the-abyss-pensioner-suicides-and-open-talk-of-default/
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