KIEV, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine is planning to close some of its consulates and embassies across the world in order to cut budget spending, Deputy Head of Ukraine's Presidential Administration Valeriy Chaly wrote Sunday on Facebook.
“We have another problem – how to restore the rotation of diplomats in context of budget cuts. It is sad, but we are forced to cut ‘alive’ our general consulates and embassies which will soon be optimized into the structure of foreign diplomatic bodies,” Chaly wrote
Ukraine is on the verge of a default, with the country’s authorities trying to rescue its economy with international loans.
Ukraine is expected to receive a total of $27 billion from international donors including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the United States and the European Union. More than half of the amount — $14 billion — is expected this year.
Despite the ongoing political crisis and military conflict in Ukraine and its worsening economic prospects, the IMF refused to consider reassessing its loan.
With the funds, Ukraine is expected to continue with austerity measures that were announced in February by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to secure a loan from the IMF in a bid to stave off mounting debt.
For the IMF loan, Ukraine agreed to a severe austerity program that included shedding 24,000 government jobs, raising taxes, selling off state assets and withdrawing subsidies on natural gas.
