Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is urging Ukraine's government to implement austerity measures to unfreeze a $15.6 billion IMF loan.
Strauss-Kahn delivered a lecture on the global economy to students in Kiev on Wednesday. It was his first public appearance since being handed preliminary charges in France alleging he was involved in a hotel prostitution ring. Strauss-Kahn is also fighting off a lawsuit by a New York hotel maid who claims he sexually assaulted her.
The 62-year-old urged Ukrainian authorities to raise household gas prices in order to resume IMF lending which stalled a year ago, saying "there is no free lunch."
President Viktor Yanukovych is resisting the unpopular move ahead of fall parliamentary elections, hoping to get cheaper gas from Russia instead.
