You're reading: Hr 16 million from Ukrainian budget spent on Crimean referendum

The cost of conducting the Crimean referendum amounted to Hr 16 million, which was taken from Ukrainian budget, Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) Oleksandr Chernenko has said.

“The referendum was financed from the Crimean budget, which is, in fact, the Ukrainian budget; its cost was UAH 16 million and if you ask me – this price is too high for shooting such a propagandistic video for Russian TV about how Crimea wants to be part of Russia,” Chernenko said during the press conference on March 18.

In addition, he’s sure that this amount is artificially high, as the preparation took only 10 days, ballots were printed on “ordinary paper” and “committees’ work was paid for with illegal cash brought from Russia.”

The chairman of the CVU once again noted that the Crimean referendum was illegal, as the Constitutional court declared it as such and prohibited its conducting; and not one state apart from the Russian Federation has recognized the referendum.

The expert is also sure that high voters turnout for the referendum was falsified, although he has trouble assessing how much.

“The amount of those [voters at the elections] who came is more interesting question in terms of science than in terms of law, as it might indicate the actual mood in Crimea. And the mood is clearly very complicated, and this must be admitted,” Chernenko said.

The official exchange rate as of March 18 is UAH 9.7568/$1.