Key recommendations of the International Monetary Fund to Ukraine are the implementation of pension reform and the introduction of land turnover, according to Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.
The prime minister recalled that Ukraine had agreed on an updated Memorandum with the IMF on the cooperation program, and that it includes no provision on raising the retirement age.
”It has two key things – pension reform and land turnover. But it [land turnover] should be introduced in the interests of Ukrainian citizens,” Groysman said.
At the same time, he stressed that the purpose of reforming the pension system is to create fair conditions of social protection for Ukrainian pensioners.
In September 2016, after more than a year`s break, Ukraine has resumed cooperation with the IMF under the four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) worth $17.5 billion. Under this program, Ukraine has already received three loan tranches, totaling $7.62 billion. Ukraine expected to receive the fourth $1 billion tranche by the end of 2016, having fulfilled the key requirements, namely the adoption of the budget for 2017 and nationalization of the country`s largest bank, PrivatBank. At the same time, the meeting of the IMF Executive Board on the Ukrainian issue was being delayed for a long period of time.
In early March, Ukraine agreed with the IMF the updated memorandum. As expected, the Executive Board meeting will take place in the second half of March.
