More elderly people are begging on the streets. Some pensioners survive by buying cigarettes, bread or beer and then selling them on the street after shops close. Top officials, meanwhile, don't seem to know what to do. More than half of Ukrainian businesses are reporting losses, and most companies survive by evading or simply not paying taxes and energy bills. Although Ukraine has a developed industry, rich coal and iron ore reserves and good seaports, its economy contracted by 1.5 percent in 1998 and is expected to shrink 1 percent this year, which is about the rate of decrease it's averaged over the past decade.
Foreign debt seems to be the most immediate problem.
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