As a front page Kyiv Post story this week reveals, the use and abuse of Cyprus – as well as other offshore tax havens – has allowed the very greedy group of politicians and businessmen who have pillaged this country for its riches, to avoid paying taxes on their wealth and hide it abroad.
This is one of many reasons why state budget coffers are dry, and why the nation is again borrowing billions from the International Monetary Fund to fill the gap.
The IMF, as Ukraine’s main creditor, should avoid putting billions in aid into one Ukrainian pocket, until the nation’s billionaire elite stops taking it out of the other pocket. Millions of Ukraine’s hard-working and cash-strapped citizens should be loudest in this cause.
After all, it is they and their children, not the greedy elite that continues to hide its riches abroad and is ready to take off in their million-dollar yachts when things go bad, that will be paying back the IMF loan for years to come.
Related to this editorial is ‘High Price Of Havens’ story by Graham Stack.
