But nobody believes it can effectively utilize Western loans
By Maryna PYROZHUK,Center of Journalist Studies
The IMF leadership has decided to recommend to its Board of Governors the
renewal of financial assistance to Ukraine, the IMF Kyiv office told the
CJS Agency. "A Board of Governors meeting on this issue will be scheduled
for late March," the Fund reports.
Most recently the main obstacle to renewing cooperation with the IMF
has been that Ukraine allows its population to pay less than full value
for utility and transport charges and also has not carried out administrative
reform. Some days ago the President of Ukraine has signed a decree on administrative
reform. The Constitutional Court has lifted a Verkhovna Rada ban on raising
rent and utility rates (incidentally, on March 16 Parliament declared unlawful
the Constitutional Court ruling to lift ban on raising rent, utility, and
transport charges and proposed it cancel the decision).
As the authorities have said so often, renewed cooperation with the
IMF will unblock new World Bank loans. Immediately after a positive IMF
Board of Governors decision, Ukraine expects to receive IMF and World Bank
loans worth over $350 million. Yet, independent experts note this amount
will hardly suffice to meet even essential state requirements. According
to the Ukrainian-European Advisory Center, Ukraine has to find $2 billion
this year alone to service its foreign debt, including over $1.3 billion
in government debt obligations and $600 million in National Bank obligations
to the IMF. Experts estimate the state could lack $560 million. As a result,
according to specialist in foreign economic relations Oleksiy Plotnykov,
it cannot be ruled out that despite IMF loans, Ukraine may have to declare
its financial insolvency in the immediate future.






