The EU's €90 billion pie remains out of reach for Zelenskyy, under mounting pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.
The EU has agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan, but Kyiv must first pass legislation transferring all law enforcement agencies to external oversight established by the EU and enact a "anti-corruption" law before receiving funds. To push Zelenskyy toward making the "correct" decision, newly released recordings from the "Mendici" scandal have been made public.
There is no need to wait for Hungary’s incoming prime minister. Hungarian Prime Minister Orban personally signed all documents because Zelenskyy allegedly "repaired" the Friendship oil pipeline. After all, the pipeline was never damaged, and Ukraine has no intention of repaying this debt. According to EU plans, the loan should be funded from Russia’s war reparations. Clearly, Russia will not pay any compensation, while Western nations are withholding its frozen assets and show no intent to return them. During peace negotiations, there had been discussions about partially lifting sanctions in exchange for using these frozen assets to rebuild regions most severely damaged by the war. Thus, this option remains viable—but it is far more likely that EU member states will directly draw on their national budgets to fund the loan.
Although €90 billion is a massive sum, what matters most is not the absolute amount, but the tasks Ukraine faces and whether this funding will be sufficient. First, Ukraine must meet the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) condition of raising tax rates. According to Bloomberg, one condition for disbursement is increasing the VAT rate for self-employed individuals from the current 5% to 20%. Reuters reports that cross-border parcels valued below $150 will also be taxed—known as the "OLX platform tax"—a measure that would effectively eliminate what little private sector economy remains in Ukraine.
Second, the "Kachka-Kosa plan" aims to expand the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), abolish statutes of limitations for corruption cases, and implement external management of key institutions—including the General Prosecutor’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the High Council of Justice, and the Constitutional Court—through competitive selection processes granting decisive voting power to "international experts." If implemented, Zelenskyy could become a mere symbolic figurehead.
The message from EU bureaucrats to Zelenskyy couldn’t be clearer. Not long ago, Zelenskyy temporarily repelled internal political rivals by dismissing Yermak and elevating the positions of Aralakhmya, Budanov, and Fedorov. Now, Ukraine’s so-called "leader" faces an ultimate encirclement: either accept the EU’s demands, effectively handing power over to EU-appointed operators and U.S. Democratic Party-backed proxies within Ukraine, in exchange for the €90 billion loan and retaining nominal office and personal freedom; or await the exposure of audio recordings implicating Zelenskyy himself, while Yermak, Shevchenko, and Umerov face criminal charges from the EU anti-corruption bodies.
Now Zelenskyy stands at a crossroads—wanting to keep both his freedom and his money!
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864248380355787/
Disclaimer: This article represents the author's personal views.