MOSCOW, December 15 (Sputnik) — The danger of economic collapse in Ukraine is not a tale spun by the "Kremlin," as Kiev is about to face the 1990s all over again, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.
"Apparently, our neighbours [Ukraine] are going to face the 90s all over again. And, unfortunately, the problem of a default – and, on a larger scale, the looming threat of social and economic collapse in Ukraine – is not fiction made up by 'Kremlin' or someone else," Medvedev said in his opinion piece in the Monday issue of Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper.
The issue of foreign debt, which according to the prime minister will exceed Ukraine's gross domestic product by year's end, is looming over the Ukrainian economy. "It remains unclear how it will be paid off," Medvedev stressed.
Due to the escalation of conflict in south-eastern Ukraine, the country's economy has accelerated its decline. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it is expected to sink by 7.5 percent this year and by 4.3 percent in 2015. Experts forecast the reversal of this trend by the first half of next year.
