Ukrainians took $35 billion abroad in the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion - Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that in the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainians took $35 billion abroad. This led to the fact that Ukraine's economy "collapsed."
He said this in an interview with Piers Morgan, Censor.NET reports.
"In the first year of the war, the citizens of Ukraine took out $35 billion from Ukraine only officially, only in the first year of the war. 35 billion! And no one could stop them. It was their money, their rights, they were free. But they were not only taking it out, they were also transferring their accounts abroad - to Europe, to the United States, to other countries. Yes, our economy collapsed. And one of the reasons was this - the withdrawal of large capital from Ukraine. During the 3 years of the war, the United States sent 5-6 billion dollars abroad to our refugees. And in the first year, Ukrainians sent 35.
I do not believe that this is support for the Ukrainian budget, but it is support for people, and we are grateful for that," Zelenskyy emphasized.
According to the Head of State, the assistance of international partners was important against this background. But often, foreign funds declared in the packages did not fully reach the budget because they were used to produce weapons supplied to Ukraine or to support refugees.
"Part of the money that the United States is talking about financed production in the United States. Yes, the companies that produced the weapons, of course, said that all these weapons are for Ukraine, and of course we are grateful for that. But we have already had these weapons counted once, when they handed over a 46 billion dollar package. They increased production in the United States. Yes, this helped us, we are grateful, but all this money remained in the United States, in specific companies, in specific factories, in the profits of specific people and in the salaries of exclusively US citizens working in these companies," Zelenskyy added.
