Ukraine, IMF start negotiations on EFF third tranche disbursement

The International Monetary Fund mission began negotiations with the Ukrainian authorities on the second revision of the Extended Fund Facility programme, IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine Vahram Stepanyan said in a statement.

"The IMF mission led by Gavin Gray begins discussions with the Ukrainian authorities today on measures in the context of the second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and consultations under Article IV of the IMF agreements in 2023," Mr Stepanyan was quoted as saying.

The talks are expected to result in the disbursement of the third tranche of the loan programme to Ukraine.

In October, the IMF mission chief said that the key elements for completing the second review would be Ukraine's adoption of laws on financial monitoring of politically exposed persons (PEPs) and the resumption of tax audits of businesses.

The former has already been adopted, while the latter is yet to be passed in parliament.

Ukraine received the second tranche of USD 890 million from the IMF at the end of June, and the first tranche of USD 2.7 billion immediately after the programme was approved in early April.

After the first review of the loan programme, which resulted in the disbursement of the second tranche, the IMF expanded the list of requirements for Ukraine.

Initially, the terms of the new loan programme contained 19 structural benchmarks that Ukraine was obliged to implement over the next 15 months. After the first review, their number increased to 23.