The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine continues discussing the issue of increasing the price of gas with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the issue is a key condition for approval of the new cooperation program with the IMF, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oksana Markarova has said.
“The issue of energy reform and raising gas prices, and, accordingly, raising tariffs, which is connected with this, is one of the issues we are discussing,” she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.
According to Markarova, the discussions, in particular, go around a gradual increase in gas prices to the market level for households, religious organizations and producers of thermal energy.
“As you know, the Cabinet of Ministers has already approved resolution (No. 867 dated October 19, 2018). The process of revising tariffs, which follows the decision, is underway,” she said.
The finance minister decided not to predict how quickly the IMF could consider the issue of continuing cooperation with Ukraine.
“We are now trying as quickly as possible to send (the approved national budget for 2019) to our partners. I hope that in the near future we will know when the IMF is ready to bring the approval of the new program with Ukraine to the Executive Board,” Markarova said.
At the same time, she recalled that the IMF’s funds, regardless of the volume of the first tranche, will be transferred to the forex reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The Finance Ministry is counting on receiving EU macrofinancial assistance, as well as raising financing under World Bank’s guarantees, which are tied to the program of cooperation with the IMF.
“We hope this year to receive EUR 500 million of EU macrofinancial assistance… The World Bank’s guarantee is $650 million, which means that under this guarantee we can attract $800 million or more going to the markets,” the finance minister said.
