Squandered

The main goal of the visit of the Ukrainian government and National Bank (NBU) delegation to Washington was to take an active part in the annual joint meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), and the delegation fulfilled with this task (my emphasis —Author ). This is the opinion presidential aide Valery Lytvytsky expressed in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Actually this was only putting the record straight. Everything became quite clear. We thought Deputy Premier Serhiy Tyhypko, Minister of Finance Ihor Mitiukov, Minister of the Economy Valery Rohovy, and NBU governor Viktor Yushchenko had gone for some greenbacks on loan (peanuts: just $90 million, NBU sources said). But it turned out they had gone to take active part, and, according to the aide, they had done well. The only trouble is the IMF, for some reason, has suspended new loans until November. All this is very interesting, especially against the backdrop of the ominous silence of panic-stricken Ukrainian economic officials, just back from faraway America. Only two commented on the situation: the President and his aide. Leonid Kuchma told regional journalists that the IMF's refusal could be put down to the presidential elections (this must be a gentle hint: wealthy foreigners trust the reformer President very much and shrink from the specter of communism haunting Europe). And in general, Mr. Kuchma said, “The amount in question is not the subject of big economic politics for us” (indeed, Ukraine, determining its very “big economic politics” under its current sage leadership, is not used to borrowing small change). Then silence.

Let us thank at least Finance Minister Mitiukov who warned well at the beginning of the “active stage” that the IMF might delay the next installment “because of the export duty on sunflowers (in September the President signed a law on imposing a 23% duty on sunflower seeds —Ed. ) and low public utility rates.” At the same time, IMF representative in Ukraine David Oremond told Ukrayinski Novyny there were “some structural reform problems” left (?!). We certainly do not believe that. The poor foreigner failed to grasp all the intricacies of the Slavic soul. He simply said something about some problems with some structural reforms. But how does it look against the background of a President who says incessantly that something is constantly moving ahead, increasing the rate of output, and almost stunning us with its mind-boggling success? All this is going on somewhere next to us: you stay awake at night, rush outside, but where is it? Ukraine is not that big a country, and there are, in principle, not many such dumb foreigners in it, and they are not lining up for state-run television news. What I mean is that most people hear and see not foreigners but a certain not yet foreign citizen. But still, dear David, could you tell me where you found, of all things, those elusive structural reforms? If in government reports then it is clear, but if somewhere else then please tell me where. I have a passport, and if you help me with the visa, I would love to go wherever it takes to have a look. We even have a saying: it's better to see something once than to hear it a hundred times.

PS: Ukraine has already received $960-million loans as part of extended financing facility. Ukraine's foreign debt, as assessed by the Auditing Chamber, is UAH 58 billion ($12.3 billion). Next year Ukraine is to pay $3.3 billion on its foreign debt. Bank dealers again note a decline of the hryvnia, though they hope the rate will stabilize at 4.5-4.56 hryvnias per dollar.