Empty Piggy Bank
© Washington Times.com
Dear Readers:

It's like any charity. Once you donate, then you are on their mailing list, and their "Development" office will continue to ply you, to milk you like a cow. So too, with the Ukraine. Once Western nations took it upon themselves to fund the entire Ukrainian government — civil service salaries, army, pensions, the whole 9 yards, well, now they are stuck with this white elephant.

Empty Piggy Bank
© Awful Avalanche
Today I have this piece by reporter Ilya Abramov. The Ukrainian government is busy drawing up its budget for 2024. They need a lot of money to keep things going but, alas, the piggy bank is empty!

I certainly do not envy Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, who is supposed to be in charge of the Ukrainian govenment. It's tough to operate a government, when you have no money. Hence, Shmygal decided to summon a "Donors Conference", wherein he can get all the sponsors together in the same room, and have them make pledges. He figures this is the quickest way to get his hands on the cash.

The reporter sought out the expert opinion of political pundit Vladimir Skachko, who affirms that Ukraine needs the dough right now, it can't wait. That last American emergency packet of $250 million is almost gone already.

I don't remember whether I mentioned already, that Skachko's name comes from the Russian/Ukrainian root skak - meaning "to jump". [From an ancient Indo-European root *skek- with cognates such as English "shake" and German "schicken".] But, despite his unfortunate name, this man does not jump to the Ukrainian tune, that's for sure.

Vladimir Skachko
© Awful AvalancheVladimir Skachko: ”They need the cash now.”
"Another problem," Skachko opines, "is that the foreign sponsors are getting ready to leave for their holiday recess. Therefore the Ukrainians want the money right away. This is why they are complaining so much about the slowness. And this is why Shmygal has requested a meeting with his foreign donors. Because he hopes to get the financial supporter without any delay. Another possibility is that the Ukrainian leadership will ask their business class to pay their taxes a year in advance.

"As for the West, they have no choice but to endure the whining and the shameless declarations of the Ukrainian leadership, as long as the latter continue to play the role of wooden club against Moscow. For this reason, I predict that the West will continue to give them the money they need, even if in much smaller quantities than previously. But Kiev still has to prove itself useful - otherwise, the flow of cash will stop."

Yegor Chernev
© Awful AvalancheChernev: ”It was so funny I forgot to laugh!”
In his letter to the foreign donors, Shmygal wrote about "an extremely high level of uncertainty regarding the Ukrainian budget for 2024. We are not able to wait until March to finance the needs of our society."

Ukrainian Parliamentarian Yegor Chernev believes that a new packet of cash will help Ukraine survive for a certain time, but is not going to make any difference on the front lines of the war itself. This devilishly handsome politician with the Lucifer smile knows what he is talking about, because he sits on the Committee for National Security, Defense, and Intelligence. This official believes that Washington is dithering when it should be writing checks.

But he hopes that the Americans will get their act together, because, without that flow of financial aid, Ukraine will start to feel the pinch as early as January [which is just 2 days away!], finding itself unable to pay out salaries and social services. Even more importantly, he warns Washington, big problems could start to happen at the front: "Currently we are just losing a few territories," Chernev was quoted in the New York Times, "but without American assistance we will start to lose entire cities."

Now, you don't want to see that happen, do you, America? So, reach deep into your wallet... For only $250 million dollars a day, you can keep this young man well-fed and smiling, and no flies swarming all over his face...