I.M.F. Scolds Ukraine Plan for Economy
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN, NYT
MOSCOW — The International Monetary Fund issued on Thursday a scathing report on Ukraine’s financial situation, saying that the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovich had largely abandoned much-needed economic reforms that it had agreed to undertake as part of a deal in 2010 that provided more than $15 billion in loans.
The report suggests that Russia’s offer this week to rescue Ukraine with another $15 billion in loans and a sharp discount on natural gas prices could be far riskier than President Vladimir V. Putin has suggested.
Mr. Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia would use $15 billion from its national welfare fund to buy Ukrainian euro bonds, and that Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled energy company, would reduce the price of gas to $268.50 per 1,000 cubic meters, from the current $395 to $410, saving Ukraine about $2 billion a year.
Ukraine is facing an increasingly severe economic crisis and had been in talks with the I.M.F. for additional aid. Those talks broke off in large part because Mr. Yanukovich and other officials said they found the required terms too onerous. Those terms included increases in household utility rates and limits on government spending.
(More here.)
MOSCOW — The International Monetary Fund issued on Thursday a scathing report on Ukraine’s financial situation, saying that the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovich had largely abandoned much-needed economic reforms that it had agreed to undertake as part of a deal in 2010 that provided more than $15 billion in loans.
The report suggests that Russia’s offer this week to rescue Ukraine with another $15 billion in loans and a sharp discount on natural gas prices could be far riskier than President Vladimir V. Putin has suggested.
Mr. Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia would use $15 billion from its national welfare fund to buy Ukrainian euro bonds, and that Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled energy company, would reduce the price of gas to $268.50 per 1,000 cubic meters, from the current $395 to $410, saving Ukraine about $2 billion a year.
Ukraine is facing an increasingly severe economic crisis and had been in talks with the I.M.F. for additional aid. Those talks broke off in large part because Mr. Yanukovich and other officials said they found the required terms too onerous. Those terms included increases in household utility rates and limits on government spending.
(More here.)
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