Ukraine's Winter Of Discontent Gives Way To Spring Of Austerity
After a long winter of protests, Ukrainian activists overthrew their president in February. Now, Ukrainians are staring at the bill they have to pay.
The International Monetary Fund is demanding that Ukraine's new government implement austerity measures in exchange for loans. Russia is threatening to raise Ukraine's heating gas prices by 80 percent. Taken together, this could further squeeze ordinary Ukrainians, who are already getting by with almost nothing.
On a balmy Sunday afternoon, dozens of old men huddle around tables in a Kiev park, playing round after round of chess.
This is what they do every day. Dead of winter, middle of the work week, it doesn't matter. Chess is a simple pleasure that costs nothing. And these guys have no cash to spare.
One of the men, Yevgeni Yemilianov, says he was Kiev's chess master 30 years ago. Now he makes a living teaching the game to kids. He and his friends are picnicking with brown bread and cured pork fat, raw onions, radishes and, of course, shots of Ukrainian vodka, called horilka. Yemilianov believes that once people hit the bottom, there's no place left to fall.
"Let me tell you. These people who receive $100 a month in pensions? It's not just a little. It's very little. So you can't take anything more from them," he says.
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