Soros urges Europe to throw Ukraine $50 billion lifeline
Hedge fund billionaire George Soros says Europe must provide more financial help to Ukraine.
LONDON (CNNMoney)
In an essay published in the New York Review of Books on Thursday, Soros said the financial package is needed to help the Ukrainian government embark on radical economic reforms.
The billionaire investor and philanthropist said while he supports the continuation of sanctions against Russia, the focus must be shifted from punishing Russia to helping Ukraine.
"Europe needs to wake up and recognize that it is under attack from Russia," wrote Soros. "Assisting Ukraine should also be considered as a defense expenditure by the EU countries."
Related: Russian banks starved for cash as funding crisis worsens
The International Monetary Fund approved a $17 billion bailout for the distressed country in March. In the same month, the European Union offered Ukraine financial assistance worth about $15 billion in the form of loans, grants, investments and trade concessions.
But as economic conditions deteriorate and Ukraine battles pro-Russian separatists in its eastern regions, the Ukraine government has said it will need more support.
The IMF, which begins a new round of talks with Ukraine on its aid program this week, has estimated Ukraine will need another $15 billion to ease its financial troubles.
This is not the first time Soros has spoken out about the need to support Ukraine. In March he said the country needed financial help on the scale of the Marshall Plan, which channeled billions of dollars in aid to western Europe after World War II.
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Soros urges Europe to throw Ukraine $50 billion lifeline