The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a two-year Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) worth $17.01 billion for Ukraine, the IMF's press service said on May 1.

As was earlier reported, Kyiv hopes to get the first $3 billion tranche of the new SBA between May 5 and May 8, 2014, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said on April 30.

"We're waiting about $3 billion [in the first tranche]: $1 billion will [go] to the National Bank of Ukraine, $2 billion will cover the budget deficit. We expect this from May 5 to May 8," he said.