Cooperation with IMF to help receive new tranches from EU, World Bank – finance ministry

Ukrainian Finance Minister Sehiy Marchenko has said Ukraine will get assistance from the European Union and the World Bank if it continues to cooperate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The second tranche of EU macro-financial assistance (EUR 600 million) is linked to our continued cooperation with the IMF. Since last year, we have also been expecting two US$350 million DPL tranches from the World Bank. The other day I talked to the World Bank chief representative in Ukraine. We discussed the terms of allocations," he told UNIAN in an interview.

Read alsoUkraine's international reserves stand at US$28.8 bln in January – NBUAccording to Marchenko, as for the first tranche, it is a staff level agreement with the IMF, while for the second tranche, it's the adoption of a package of agriculture-related laws, which, in principle, is realistic.

"The Verkhovna Rada will meet for a plenary session in a week. Therefore, there is a chance these bills will be considered so that we could get the two tranches worth US$700 million from the World Bank," the minister said.

Background

Ukraine and the European Commission on July 23, 2020, signed a Memorandum and a Loan Agreement during a working visit to Brussels of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, and Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Kyrylo Shevchenko.

On December 9, the European Union provided Ukraine with EUR 600 million in macro-financial assistance.