REUTERS
The mission plans to resume meetings in January 2021.
The International Monetary Fund's mission will start the first review of the latest Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine on December 21-23, 2020.
That's according to Gosta Ljungman, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative in Ukraine.
"Given the COVID-pandemic, the mission will hold remote meetings with the Ukrainian authorities to discuss economic developments, and policies and reforms to underpin the completion of the review," the IMF press service has quoted Ljungman as saying.
The mission plans to resume meetings in January 2021, after the New Year holidays, the statement adds.
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On June 9, 2020, the IMF's Executive Board adopted an 18-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Ukraine with funding equivalent to SDR 3.6 billion (about US$5 billion) aimed at helping Ukraine overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On June 12, Ukraine received the first tranche of the IMF loan under the SBA worth $2.1 billion. The Ministry of Finance planned to receive the second tranche under the same arrangement before year-end.
On November 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke over the phone with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, saying Ukraine had fulfilled all the "structural benchmarks" for the IMF to review the existing Stand-By Arrangement.
In late November, the finance ministry reported on the successful completion of talks with the IMF on the main parameters of the Budget 2021 draft, which was one of the major prerequisites for starting the review of the Stand-By Arrangement.