Ukrainian Parliament Approves New Laws Required for IMF Bailout
With Russia effectively elbowed out of the way, for now, the international bankers are already moving in and dictating the terms for Ukraine’s ‘bailout’. Just as they did in Iraq and Greece. ● Once again history is repeating itself. Having undergone regime change in all but name and been ‘freed’ from its ties to Russia, Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday voted in favour of laws to comply with new austerity measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund. In return the Ukraine will get a $14-18 billion bailout package. Or, to be more precise a loan with strings attached. However, the Ukrainian parliament didn’t swallow the IMF measures without a struggle.
xymphora: 80 || "Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Wednesday the price the country would pay for Russian gas, which accounts for over half of Ukrainian gas imports, would soar by almost 80 percent from April 1 as the seizure of Crimea had rendered a cheaper gas deal obsolete." Also: "On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund threw a financial lifeline, agreeing to stump up $14-18 billion as part of a two-year bailout package in exchange for tough economic reforms." ● I don't know how they can call it a 'financial lifeline' with a straight face. It represents a number, some multiple of which will be extracted from Ukraine. The paltry American billion, so hard fought in Congress, is a loan guarantee, which means it will be used to pay off some financial institution which claims to be owed money by Ukraine. Real Ukrainians won't benefit from any of this, and in fact it just represents the beginning of massive economic plunder by the banksters. The 'tough economic reforms' means austerity, a war on poor and middle class Ukrainians (see Greece for a hint of the future). Of course, Ukrainian gold is now safely out of the hands of Ukrainians...
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