The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission for the second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program is expected in November, and by then it would be desirable to have confirmation of all sources of the $52.6 billion in external financing needed to cover the state budget deficit in 2027, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.
"For the second review of the program, the IMF needs assurances that the budget will be financed a year ahead," the Finance Ministry chief told journalists.
He recalled that about $32.6 billion of this amount still requires additional confirmation.
According to Marchenko, Kyiv expects the European Union to fulfill its commitment to cover two-thirds of Ukraine's external financing needs next year as well, which would increase confirmed financing by about $17.5 billion.
As for the remaining approximately $15 billion, the minister said there are a number of sources to cover it, including bilateral financing and guarantees, as well as programs with international financial institutions.
He also said work is underway on the possibility of increasing financing through frozen Russian assets, for example, by transferring them from Belgian jurisdiction to EU jurisdiction and placing them in higher-yielding instruments, although no ready-made solutions are currently available.
Marchenko stressed the critical importance of Ukraine fulfilling its commitments both to secure agreement on new financing and to receive financing already approved.
He emphasized that the domestic agenda in EU countries, as well as the results of elections in partner countries that have already taken place or are expected, have a serious impact on the course of negotiations.
The minister said the government is determined to fulfill all its commitments and hopes the Verkhovna Rada will support it in this.
As reported, in February 2026, the IMF Executive Board approved a new four-year EFF program for Ukraine worth $8.1 billion for 2026-2029. In July, the Fund completed the first review of the program and disbursed the second tranche of about $690 million, bringing total financing received under the new program to $2.2 billion.
At the same time, some structural benchmarks under the program were not met on schedule. Following the first review, the updated EFF program was supplemented with eight structural benchmarks, seven of them fiscal.
An IMF mission made a week-long visit to Kyiv in late August-early September for meetings with Ukrainian authorities and other stakeholders to discuss the state of cooperation. The results of the visit were not officially announced.
Following the second review, Ukraine could receive SDR 0.50 billion (about $0.7 billion), and following the third review, currently scheduled for the end of the year, SDR 0.70 billion (about $0.95 billion).
