REUTERS
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Ukraine to raise the retirement age, reduce the number of civil servants and state employees, cancel simplified taxation, and launch the land market in 2017, according to Epravda, referring to the latest version of the draft memorandum on cooperation between Ukraine and the IMF.
The draft memorandum provides for 12 structural 'beacons,' including seven new ones, EPravda reports.
First, the Cabinet of Ministers shall decide on subsidy monetization before the end of January 2017.
Second, a new deadline, the end of March 2017, is set for the pension reform. The current draft memorandum provided for the adoption of the law on pension reform before the end of December, 2016. However, that did not happen. So the IMF has tightened the requirements.
It provides for a gradual increase in the retirement age: for men – by four months each year, starting in July 2017; for women – by six months after 2021, as long as both groups reach the retirement age of 63 years in 2027.
Read alsoRozenko: No commitment from Ukraine to raise retirement ageIt is also envisaged to increase in the length of a pension service term to 25 years from January 2017 with the introduction of a minimum insurance period of 16 years. At the moment, the required employment record is 15 years, with its gradual increase by a year, until it reaches 35 years in 2036.
Third, a new deadline, the end of March 2017, is set for land reform. The government pledged to submit the law on the land market to the parliament by the end of September, 2016, but failed. Now the requirements have become more stringent, as the law should be adopted before the end of March.
Read alsoIMF Executive Board to consider loan tranche for Ukraine in coming weeksFourth, it is necessary to select an international company with a good business reputation to audit PrivatBank, with a deadline set for late January 2017. Auditors should identify whether there had been any breaches in the preparation of financial statements over the six months preceding the nationalization.
Fifth, it is necessary to choose an international auditor to assess the Privatbank shareholders' compliance with the restructuring conditions, with the deadline set for the end of June 2017. The company must assess whether the restructuring conditions allow for the compensation for losses on loans granted to related parties.
Sixth, it is necessary to create a unified register of recipients of social payments until the end of June 2017, for continuation, among other things, of social benefits verification. The idea is not new. However, there has been no progress beyond a discussion stage except a few initiatives.
Seventh is the creation of legislative field for anti-corruption courts. The deadline is the end of June 2017.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the IMF in September 2016 approved granting Ukraine the third tranche of $1 billion.
Earlier, the National Bank expected the next IMF tranche of $1.3 billion to be allocated before the end of 2016.