No obstacles for Ukraine to get IMF tranche by year-end – deputy finance minister

Deputy Finance Minister for European Integration Yuriy Draganchuk says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has no complaints about the implementation by Ukraine of the agreements on structural benchmarks within the Stand-By Arrangement, and there are no obstacles for Ukraine to receive the tranche by the end of the year.

The official made the comment in an interview with the Ukrainian Novoye Vremya weekly, as reported by the ministry's press service on October 22.

Read alsoUkraine's Cabinet creates ad hoc group to coordinate talks with IMFEarlier, there were certain concerns about the resignation of Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Yakiv Smolii. But now "everything is fine," Draganchuk said.

"We have a new head of the National Bank, and we see the [banking] system is stable, everything is fine, and there has been no change in the banking sector over the reshuffle. That is, the new management of the NBU adheres to a certain course, the independent National Bank works as it did before," the press service quoted Draganchuk as saying.

The deputy minister noted the Fund has questions about the Constitutional Court's ruling with regard to the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

"The ruling provides for changes to the law on NABU, which need to be introduced and adopted. Of course, the IMF is monitoring this process," he said.

According to Draganchuk, there are no obstacles for Ukraine to receive the disbursement as early as this year, and the working process is underway.

Ukraine-IMF cooperation

• The IMF's Executive Board on June 9, 2020, approved an 18-month Stand-By Arrangement 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 disbursement of the IMF loan worth US$2.1 billion under the new 18-month cooperation program between Ukraine and the Fund.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had fulfilled all the conditions for receiving the second tranche under the new program.