Ukraine needs to maintain cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and comply with its commitments on reforms, notwithstanding the upcoming presidential elections, Olivier Descamps, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Business Group Director for South Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus, has said.
“The IMF is not an issue of money, it is an issue of confidence [of
investors in Ukraine]. If there are serious mistakes or
misunderstanding of what is happening between the government and the
international financial institutions, this will be a very sensitive
issue,” he said on Friday at the 6th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum organized by Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk.
One should not play Russian roulette ahead of the elections, one
should fulfill one’s promises, otherwise it will generate very negative
signals, Descamps said.
According to him, Ukraine hasn’t overcome the economic crisis yet.
As long as the environment is instable this will affect foreign
investors, Descamps said adding that this problem could be settled only
after the elections.
The EBRD director said that energy reform, which would raise the
efficiency of energy use in the country, should be among the
government’s top reform priorities.
