IMF chief Georgieva arrives in Kyiv on official visit — Reuters
Kristalina Georgieva (photo: Getty Images)
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, arrived in Kyiv on the morning of January 15 to hold a series of high-level talks, Reuters reports.
It is expected that the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Andriy Pyshnyy, and business leaders.
Details of Kristalina Georgieva's visit to Ukraine were kept strictly confidential due to security concerns. The IMF chief last visited the country in February 2023.
Earlier, Ukraine and the IMF reached a preliminary agreement in November on a four-year lending program worth $8.2 billion, conditional on several actions, including the adoption of the budget and securing donor financing guarantees.
IMF representatives say Ukraine has made progress and expect the issue to be considered by the Executive Board within a few weeks.
Approval of the financing is critically important, as it would unlock additional external investment needed to address Ukraine's funding gap, which the IMF estimates at around $136.5 billion through 2029.
Georgieva will also review Ukraine's progress in several areas, including adoption of the 2026 budget, measures to increase domestic revenues by expanding the tax base, and securing large-scale external donor financing on grant-like terms.
New IMF program
Announcing the new agreement, the IMF said that Ukrainian authorities had also agreed to accelerate efforts to prevent tax evasion, including taxation of income earned through digital platforms, closing customs loopholes for imports, and abolishing VAT exemptions.
The IMF expects Ukraine to submit some of these initiatives to parliament, but does not anticipate revenue increases until 2027.
Ukraine reached an important milestone in addressing past funding gaps last month, when European Union leaders agreed to provide a €90 billion loan for two years. Ukraine will be required to service the loan only if Russia pays reparations after the war ends.
A $2.6 billion growth-linked debt restructuring was also completed.
The new IMF program will replace the current four-year $15.5 billion program, of which about $10.6 billion has been disbursed. The new preliminary agreement assumes the war will end this year, but includes a negative scenario in which it does not end until 2028.
On November 26, Ukraine and the IMF had agreed on a new $8.2 billion lending program.
It later became known that the IMF lending program could be adjusted in line with the European Union's decision on financing for Ukraine.
