The allocation of funds still requires approval from the Board of Directors, which is expected next month.
The International Monetary Fund has agreed to provide Ukraine with another tranche of credit, despite the fact that Kyiv has not fulfilled one of the key conditions of the program. The parties have reached a staff-level agreement, which paves the way for Ukraine to receive almost $700 million in financial assistance, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. This is reported by UNIAN, the PromPolitInform portal informs.
According to the publication’s interlocutors, the agreement may be officially announced in the near future. At the same time, the allocation of funds still requires approval from the IMF Board of Directors, which is expected next month.
Negotiations between the Fund and the Ukrainian authorities were complicated by the fact that the Verkhovna Rada did not have time to adopt the bill that the IMF insisted on. This concerns the introduction of additional taxation of international postal items worth up to 150 euros to combat the shadow economy. In the end, the Fund agreed to postpone the implementation of this obligation until July, effectively giving Ukrainian deputies additional time to adopt the relevant changes. The next review of the IMF program is scheduled for September.
The bill could not be adopted on time due to its unpopularity among the population. The document provides for the introduction of 20% VAT on international parcels. The initiative has caused concern among Ukrainians who often buy goods abroad, as well as among parliamentarians themselves.
At the same time, the long-term war leads to a significant state budget deficit, which forces the government to look for new sources of revenue. A significant part of the budget gap is currently financed by assistance from international partners, in particular the IMF.
The Fund has already agreed to postpone the implementation of another structural beacon – the introduction of VAT for certain categories of individual entrepreneurs, which Ukraine was supposed to implement by April.
These measures were included in the terms of the IMF’s $8.1 billion loan program agreed last year. However, the Ukrainian authorities have faced significant resistance in parliament to their implementation.
Despite Ukraine’s repeated lag behind the reform implementation schedule, the Fund continues to provide financing within the framework of the four-year program. Analysts note that such flexibility is atypical for the IMF.
The Fund’s program is important not only because of the financing, but also because its support is a signal to other international donors, in particular the European Union.
The EU, which approved a two-year aid package for Ukraine worth €90 billion, has also tied part of the financing to the fulfillment of conditions similar to the IMF’s requirements. Among them is increased taxation of international parcels. The first payment under this program is expected this month.
Ukraine and the IMF – latest news
On February 26, the IMF Board of Directors approved a new four-year Extended Fund Facility for Ukraine in the amount of $8.1 billion. Under the terms of the new program, Ukraine must fulfill a number of structural obligations to the IMF. Among the requirements is a package of tax measures for 2026-2027, which will include taxation of income from digital platforms, the abolition of a tax exemption for international parcels, as well as the abolition of VAT exemptions for individual entrepreneurs whose turnover exceeds the threshold of 4 million hryvnias.
On May 26, the Verkhovna Rada completely rejected the draft law on amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine. A number of amendments to the document, made before the second final reading, provided for the introduction of taxation of foreign parcels worth up to 150 euros, which was one of the requirements of the International Monetary Fund and the EU for providing Kyiv with credit financing.
