What is happening in Donetsk is by the classic book on how to wipe out an economy. The banking system has shut down. The banks simply have said it is too dangerous for their staff to work. The only way to get any money is using a bank card but that will soon run out. Ukraine’s biggest bank, Privatbank, says the situation in the eastern cities of Donetsk and Lugansk has reached a critical point that is too dangerous for staff to go to work. ATM and branch services have been shut down. Elderly who relied upon pensions from the state just do not know what will happen now.
This is a warning of what can happen in the middle of an economic crisis in the modern era. With everyone relying upon government handouts and the dwindling supply of actual real physical paper money (cash), we can easily end up in a situation of barter.
