The Ukrainian presidential secretariat has predicted Ukraine will face difficulties winning the disbursal of the next tranche of the International Monetary Fund's loan to Ukraine.
“My talks with the [IMF] mission chief allow me to conclude that
they are greatly disappointed at the way Ukraine is acting, as the
country is not only failing to comply with the obligations it had
undertaken, but is misinforming [the fund] about their implementation,”
the first deputy head of the presidential secretariat and the
president’s representative at the Cabinet of Ministers, Oleksandr
Shlapak, said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He gave the example of the proposed rise in gas prices for the
public, which, in line with a decision by the National Electricity
Regulatory Commission, was challenged in court as it was not agreed
with the trade unions.
Shlapak said that of the five laws that Ukraine pledged to adopt to
get the next tranches of the loan, only the one concerning the
recapitalization of banks had actually been passed.
He said that if Ukraine continues to ignore the commitments it has assumed, the IMF could stop cooperating with the country.
President Viktor Yuschenko said earlier that the continuation of
Ukraine’s cooperation with the IMF could be jeopardized, as the
Ukrainian government had not implemented five of the six conditions of
the Stand-By arrangement.
Ukraine has already received $10.5 billion under the Stand-By
arrangement with the IMF, and another $6 billion has yet to be
allocated, including the $3.8 billion that is to be transferred to
Ukraine by the end of this year.
