Ukraine still in talks with IMF despite government's resignation, says Akimova
Ukraine is continuing its talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission despite the resignation of the Cabinet of Ministers, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Iryna Akimova has told journalists.
According to her, the talks are being held according to the scheduled and they do not depend on which particular ministers are involved in them.
"At the talks with the IMF Ukraine is represented by the NBU governor, the finance minister, and sometimes the Economic Development and Trade Ministry joins them. Working contacts are regularly supported. Some of the government members have changed over the last two years, but this did not in any way influence the essence of the talks. The essence of the talks is connected with the evaluation of the fiscal situation in Ukraine by the IMF and how close future macro economic assessments are, and this does not depend on who the minister is," she said.
As reported, the current stand-by arrangement between Ukraine and the IMF expires at the end of 2012.
A mission of the IMF will start negotiations on a new Stand-By Arrangement with the Ukrainian authorities on December 7-17.
In late July 2010, the IMF decided to renew its loan partnership with Ukraine through a new Stand-By Arrangement worth SDR 10 billion (over $15 billion). According to the NBU, the country succeeded in getting two tranches for a total of $3.4 billion.
The new program was frozen at the stage of the second review in the spring of 2011. For over a year, Ukraine has been trying to persuade the IMF to drop its objections to the government's subsidizing natural gas tariffs for households until the completion of its gas talks with Russia.