The Ukrainian authorities are not considering the default option and are counting on agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase potential funding and additional assistance in the fight against the coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic, spokeswoman for the President of Ukraine Yulia Mendel has said.

"For Ukraine, cooperation with the IMF is now extremely important. We are very pleased that we managed to agree on increasing potential funding. Indeed, in addition to the assistance program that we discussed earlier, the IMF is considering support for Ukraine in the fight against the spread of COVID-19," she told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

"Ukraine will recover for a very long time and hard due to default. The authorities will not risk the lives of Ukrainians, therefore they are not considering the option of default," Mendel said.

She said that President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that the parliament members will be responsible to the Ukrainians, that at an extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada they will pass the necessary legislative initiatives to support business, socially vulnerable population, as well as extremely important reforms in the banking and agricultural sectors that will not only help the country maintain economic stability, but also ensure the provision of financial support from the IMF.