Ukraine de facto is bankrupt, the head of Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt believes. Mr. Bildt said this during his visit to the Ukrainian city of Odessa on Saturday, the Voice of Russia reports.

Local media sources also quote him as saying that Ukraine is suffering from deep-rooted corruption.

Carl Bildt qualifies the current situation in Ukraine’s economy as really bad but hopes that it will become better from the package of reforms that is financed by the IMF. He hopes that the new Ukrainian government will take measures that will save the country’s economy from being officially recognized as bankrupt.

The West is offering voluminous help to Ukraine, Mr. Bildt adds, but will exercise tough control to prevent this money from being pocketed by any individuals.

On March 27, Arseny Yatsenyuk, who has been appointed Ukraine’s Prime Minister by the country’s parliament, said that in 2014, the inflation rate in Ukraine will probably reach 12 to 14%. Besides, according to his estimations, the total volume of fiscal deficit has already exceeded 289 bln grivnas (which equals about $ 28 bln).

“Ukraine is on the edge of economic and financial bankruptcy,” Arseny Yatsenyuk says. “It lacks money. The total volume of the fiscal deficit equals 289 bln grivnas”.