Kallas in Kyiv: EU Aid Will Soften Ukraine Gas Price Hike
EU Commissioner Siim Kallas said EU aid to Ukraine will go towards solving problems with gas price increases, and reforming and increasing the efficiency of the state.
In a telephone interview to ETV on Tuesday, Kallas said the first 100 million euros has now been transferred to Ukraine, with another 1.5 billion due.
He said the aid should help to increase state efficiency in collecting taxes and increasing the rule of law, adding that more money is flowing out of the state than in. The Ukrainian currency has lost value and the private sector is not functioning as well as it could.
“The state budget deficit is currently 7 percent. We can find countries in Europe, which only recently also had 7 percent state deficits. There is hope there (in Ukraine). The government is full of resolve,” Kallas said, adding that the total aid package to the nation is 17 billion euros.
He said Arseniy Yatsenyuk's current government bears similarities to Mart Laar's first term, with many young people from different fields coming together for the good of the nation.
A presidential election will be held in Ukraine on Sunday.