Petro Poroshenko / Photo from president.gov.ua
The IMF expected only a 75% increase in the tariffs.
The then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko boasted during a phone call with the then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in May 2016 that he had raised utility tariffs in the country by 100%, which was higher than required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukraine's key lender.
That is according to an audio recording dated May 13, 2016, released by Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach on May 19, 2020, where Derkach claims the voices of Joe Biden and Petro Poroshenko are heard. The officials are discussing a US$1 billion loan to Ukraine.
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"I think that within the last three weeks, we demonstrated real, real great progress in the reforms. We voted in the parliament 100% tariffs, despite the fact that the IMF expected only 75%," Poroshenko said.
"We are launching the real reform of the state-owned enterprises, we are launching the reform for the prices of the medicines, removing all the obstacles," Poroshenko added.
"I agree," Biden replied.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach on May 19 made public leaked audio recordings of phone conversations held by the then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and the then Secretary of State John Kerry with the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
According to Derkach, U.S. officials demanded that Poroshenko ensure the dismissal of the-then Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.