Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij sent a letter on 17 July 2018 to Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde calling for the IMF to reconsider the condition of an increase of gas tariffs for Ukrainian households for the next IMF funding tranche.
In this letter, the UWC President highlighted that notwithstanding the ongoing Russian aggression and the resulting economic difficulties, Ukraine has been undertaking an ambitious reform agenda while trying to prevent further deterioration of the standard of living for the population. Many of these reforms, that included the coordinated assistance of international financial institutions and pressure from civil society, have been very successful. However, Ukraine will continue to require further support from the international community until the many systemic reforms that have been initiated over the past years begin to bring visible benefits for its economy.
“The withholding of the next funding tranche by the IMF will threaten an already fragile socio‑economic situation in Ukraine, negatively impact the reform agenda, and create economic uncertainty. In view of the above, the UWC calls upon the IMF to waive its condition of an increase of gas tariffs for Ukrainian households for its next funding tranche. The disbursement of IMF’s next funding tranche will enhance further reforms for the benefit of the Ukrainian people and ensure more rapid GDP growth,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
