Kiev has asked Berlin to pour funds into its budget instead of spending them on Ukrainians who fled to Germany
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has called on the German government to abandon its policy of supporting Ukrainian refugees on its territory and divert the money flows to Kiev instead. The scheme would make aid mechanisms more transparent, he argued in an interview with the German ARD broadcaster over the weekend.
Those who have fled the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia and moved to Germany are currently receiving financial assistance from both Kiev and Berlin, Zelensky stated in the interview, which his administration released on Monday. This needs to change, he insisted.
Kiev is grateful to Berlin for the aid it provides to its citizens but “it would be better if Germany supported Ukrainians by giving money to the budget of Ukraine,” the president said. He added that the government in Kiev would then distribute the funds, depending on each person’s whereabouts.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) – a major German think tank – Berlin spent almost €14 billion ($15.19 billion) on Ukrainian refugees between January 24, 2022 and October 31, 2023. Germany has become the second biggest donor for Ukrainian refugees – after Poland, which surpassed €15.6 billion ($16.93 billion) over the same period, according to IfW.
Zelensky’s plea comes as Kiev has been imploring its Western donors for additional aid. Last month, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal allegedly requested an emergency meeting with Western nations to discuss “exceptionally high uncertainty” over its budget, Bloomberg reported.
The nation’s finance ministry said at the time that Kiev’s fiscal needs for 2024 were estimated at $37.3 billion, after more than $42 billion in foreign aid received last year. Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko also warned in December that Ukraine might suffer a deficit in the first two months of the year.
Ukraine has dealt with a number of corruption scandals over the last few months, including those involving its own senior officials. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry admitted $262 million in military corruption-related costs, citing an internal audit. Transparency International recently ranked the country 104th out of 180 in its Corruption Perceptions Index report.
In mid-January, Der Spiegel weekly also reported that the German government was unsure where its military aid sent to Ukraine had ended up. Berlin’s massive military assistance to Kiev was left unsupervised, as German policymakers relied on assurances from Kiev, the paper said.
