Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn has said he sees no tragedy in the postponement of a visit by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Ukraine.
"As for the IMF, the fund’s assets are not that important to Ukraine… they are not being spent, as you know they are kept on respective accounts," Lytvyn told reporters in Novohrad-Volynsky in Zhytomyr region on Friday, commenting on the postponement of the visit by the IMF to Ukraine.
"Evaluation is important to Ukraine, first of all from the IMF – evaluation of Ukraine’s movement towards necessary reforms and transformations that will allow the country to cooperate with other world financial organizations," the speaker said.
"This is more a psychological event than a political one, if I can say so," Lytvyn said.
"I don’t see any tragedy in the postponement or delay of the visit by the IMF to Ukraine," he said.
According to Lytvyn, more details on the issues would come from Ukraine’s representatives at the talks with the IMF – Finance Minister Fedir Yaroshenko and Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Boiko.
Lytvyn noted that as part of its agreements with the IMF, Ukraine has to fulfill four key tasks, including pension reform.
He expressed hope that in September a respective decision would be approved and the parliament would make the necessary amendments to the law on the pension reform, which has been passed, and the president would sign it.
The head of the parliament also said that as part of its cooperation with the IMF, Ukraine has to raise utilities tariffs, and ensure the National Bank of Ukraine’s independence from the Cabinet of Ministers.
"These issues are being worked on today, so we can say that everything is proceeding as normal," the speaker said.
As reported, the IMF mission has rescheduled its visit to Ukraine to late October 2011, although earlier it said it planned to visit Ukraine from August 29 through September 9.
