IMF-agreed draft budget for 2016 to be adopted before year end: Yatsenyuk

"I would also like to speak on the budget. Yesterday the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and personally the Minister of Finance made a presentation in the parliament of Ukraine of the draft state budget for 2016. In accordance with the Budget Code, if the Parliament does not reject the draft budget and does not return it to the government, it means that we have entered a stage of formation of the state budget for 2016,” the prime minister said.

“This means that the Parliament has taken the draft budget for consideration; and yesterday we had a long discussion both on the draft budget and the draft Tax Code,” said Yatsenyuk. “I very much hope that the working group set up in parliament will work out a unified and agreed budget law for 2016, as well as the unified draft amendments to the tax legislation. I hope that by Thursday [December 24] we will have found an understanding, as the budget process over the past ten years has been going by a standard procedure: the opposition always criticized it, while the coalition had to find strength to adopt the document," said Yatsenyuk.

Read alsoIMF warns Rada: adopting unagreed budget would mean halt to fundingThe prime minister expressed confidence that the budget process will go on without undue politicization.

Read alsoUkraine leaders pledge unity, overhauls for IMF loans"Ukraine has to start the new year with a budget that meets the criteria as defined in cooperation with the IMF, for Ukraine to remain in the IMF program. I am stressing that it’s a key condition and requirement. Our work with the IMF is not just getting an additional financial cushion . Our work with the IMF is the main criterion for Ukraine’s commitment to those reform markers, which are perceived by foreign investors and our Western partners," said Yatsenyuk.