Bezsmertnyi: Ukraine distributed 34 billion hryvnia in welfare to the breakaway regions in 2015
In 2015 Ukraine distributed a total of 34 billion hryvnia ($1.2 billion) in the form of pensions and other welfare benefits to the inhabitants of the occupied parts of the Donbass region. The representative of Ukraine in the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, Roman Bezsmertnyi, reported this data on Radio Freedom.
According to Bezsmertnyi, the budget funds work on the Russian economy. "500 billion is the country's budget and 34 billion went nowhere, in the 'hole'. In the end, where is the money? They were in the form of anything, goods, weapons, manufactured goods, food... in Russia. Here is the answer, which we have funded all this time. With one hand it is firing and with another—we send resources there,” Bezsmertnyi said.
He believes, therefore, that Ukraine "must respond positively to the reintegration of these territories but change the tactics and strategy of this process.”
The fighting has been continuing in the Donbas since April, 2014. During this time, according to UN data, about 10,000 people were killed.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of supporting the pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region. Moscow rejects the accusations, claiming that there are “volunteers” in the Donbas region, but no regular Russian soldiers.