Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Council Bohdan Danylyshyn declares the withdrawal of more than $25 billion from Ukraine in favor of external creditors in three and a half years.

"In the last three and a half years only, the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine in favor of external creditors has exceeded $25 billion," he wrote on Facebook on Monday, October 26.

Danylyshyn said that during the corresponding period, dividends were withdrawn from Ukraine in favor of non-residents in the amount of $8.5 billion and interest on direct investments of $1.6 billion, while the inflow of foreign direct investment without reinvested income amounted to $5.1 billion.

He indicated that according to the analysis of these financial flows, about 4/5 of dividends were withdrawn to low-tax jurisdictions, including Cyprus and the Netherlands.

He added that the payment by the residents of Ukraine of interest on loans to non-residents since 2017 amounted to $8.6 billion.

"Approximately two-thirds of non-guaranteed long-term loans to Ukrainian companies were provided by the residents of Cyprus, the Netherlands and the British Virgin Islands, which indicates the connection between the parties to these transactions and the focus of these operations on destroying the tax base and the withdrawal of profits abroad," Danylyshyn said.