In the first year of the war, Ukrainians transferred $35 billion abroad, according to Zelensky.

The President of Ukraine shared this information in an interview with Piers Morgan, as reported by Ukrinform.

“In the first year of the war, citizens of Ukraine officially transferred out of the country, just in that first year, 35 billion (dollars). 35 billion! And no one could stop them. It’s their money, their rights, they are free. But they were not only transferring money, they were also moving their accounts abroad – to Europe, to the United States, and to other countries. Yes, our economy collapsed. And one of the reasons was precisely this – the outflow of significant capital from Ukraine,” – noted Zelensky.

According to him, against this backdrop, the assistance from international partners was crucial and substantial, and Ukraine is very grateful for it. At the same time, often the foreign funds pledged in packages did not fully reach the budget, as they were allocated for the production of weapons supplied to Ukraine, or for supporting refugees.

“A portion of the funds mentioned by the U.S. financed production in the United States. Yes, the companies that produced weapons certainly stated that all this weaponry was for Ukraine, and we are indeed grateful for that. But we have already accounted for this weaponry once when a package of 46 billion was transferred. They increased production in the U.S. Yes, this helped us, we are thankful, but all this money remained in the U.S., with specific companies, at specific factories, in the profits of specific individuals and in the salaries of solely U.S. citizens working in those companies,” – emphasized the President.

As reported by Ukrinform, according to the head of the National Agency for Detection, Search and Management of Assets (ARMA) Olena Duma, over the years of independence, more than 100 billion dollars has been transferred out of Ukraine.

Photo: OP