WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a bailout package of $17 billion for Ukraine.
The first installment of $3.2 billion has already been released while rest of the amount will be made available in the next two years.
However, the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde admitted that the bailout program faces geopolitical as well as implementation risks.
“On the implementation front, we are taking all the precautions we can in order to mitigate those risks,” Lagarde told reporters. “On the geopolitical front, clearly the bilateral international support, and the cooperation of all parties, will be extremely helpful to reinforce the position of the economy of Ukraine.”
“We believe that Ukraine has an opportunity to seize the moment, to break away from previous practices, both from the fiscal, from the monetary, and from the governance point of view,” Lagarde added.
A political crisis erupted in Ukraine last November when the country’s then President Viktor Yanukovych refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the EU in favor of closer ties with Moscow. Yanukovych left Ukraine for Russia as a political upheaval against his decision became increasingly violent.
The new government in Kiev also faces a crisis as pro-Russia demonstrators occupy a number of government, police and other administrative buildings in several cities and towns in eastern and southern parts of the country.
The Pro-Russia protests gained momentum in Ukraine after Crimea declared independence from the eastern European country and became part of the Russian Federation following a referendum in March.
