What should one know about Ukraine-IMF cooperation

The Internaional Monetary Fund (IMF) is the Ukraine’s largest creditor. Moreover, the IMF not only lends money to Ukraine, but also guides our country in these troubled times. Hence, this organization exerts significant influence over our lives. For these reasons, a brief description of the Ukraine-IMF cooperation may be of interest to a wide readership.

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Lack of funding for education: true or myth?

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Ukrainian Budget Chronicles: The second quarter of 2014

Overall, budget execution during the 2nd quarter of 2014 was marked by a sharp increase in military spending and a dramatic decrease in tax revenue. As a result, the Ukraine's government revised the budget again as well as proposed a tax reform.

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How to fund law enforcement reform

Ukrainian expenditures on law enforcement agencies, when compared with those of developed states, constitute a significantly larger portion of the state budget. Nevertheless, officials from this sector continually demand additional funding for reform.

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Ukrainian Budget Chronicles: The first quarter of 2014

In the first quarter the National Bank of Ukraine had to assist in achieving allotted state budget revenues. In order to do so, it transferred its projected income as an upfront payment into the state budget. Budget revenues for the first quarter of 2014 stood at 112.2 billion UAH, which is 5% higher than at the same time last year. Overpayment of taxes and delay in VAT refunds, which were previously notable offenders the sphere of public finance, became increasingly overshadowed as significant actors in the budgetary process of Ukraine.

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Your “receipt” for the state budget of Ukraine, 2013: How to understand state budget

“In 2013, consolidated budget revenues reached 442.7 billion UAH, or 30.4% of GDP, while pension fund revenues alone were 166.9 billion UAH, or 11.5% of GDP.” When it comes to public funds and the government budget, this seems to be about all we get from those in charge of allocating our tax money. Thus, how is someone with a monthly income of around 2000 – 3000 UAH meant to go about understanding these gargantuan economic figures? After all, just one billion UAH would constitute 28,000 years of hard labor for the average Ukrainian employee!

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Public Control of State Finances: “Participatory budgeting” in Ukraine

Embezzlement has long been the norm in Ukraine. It seems that any effort to curb the country’s chronic corruption is simply met with a higher bribe, thus driving the country further into a seemingly unbreakable cycle. Indeed, even the traditional rotation of figureheads in the cabinet is virtually meaningless in terms of fighting the fundamental structure of corruption in the Ukrainian state – while people change, the structure remains. Hence, how can a nation fight against this chronic illness in such an environment?

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How much do cigarettes cost? The "cobra effect" of excise taxes

Policymakers in Ukraine seem to suffer from chronic short-sightedness. Momentary profit always triumphs over optimal long-term outcomes in their mind, and future generations will no doubt be stuck with the bill for legislators’ lack of judgment.

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Primary Care Reform: Much noise, little change

Since 2010 Ukraine has begun to implement a state healthcare reform initiative, in particular actively targeting the development of primary care facilities on a trial basis in the Vinnyts, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk regions, as well as the city of Kiev.

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How much does the government cost? Why exactly am I paying taxes?

The term “inter-budgetary relations” exists as a sort of “technical” term in the field of economic policymaking; hence, the general populace virtually never pays attention to such processes. In reality, however, a substantial number of issues that directly affect the quality of life of the average Ukrainian wholly depend on the smooth operation of this obscure mechanism.

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