It is critically important for Ukraine to maintain cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, so the government will fulfill the requirements set out in the Memorandum of Cooperation with the IMF. This includes implementing those that foreign creditors have been demanding year after year, in particular regarding the conduct of a transparent competition for the position of Director-General of the Deposit Guarantee Fund. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by the economist, former Advisor to the President of Ukraine, Oleg Ustenko.
I think there is no other choice. This is indeed on the agenda of our cooperation with the IMF, but everyone understands that it is also on the agenda of Ukraine itself. And civil society is constantly talking about it, the expert community is constantly talking about it. And the officials themselves understand it, the deputies also understand and support it. How quickly this can be moved forward is another question, but I think there will be a fairly rapid movement
He added that the fulfillment of the conditions related to personnel policy, in particular regarding competitive selection and the creation of supervisory boards in state-owned companies, have been demanded by foreign partners from Ukraine for quite a long time.
In addition, according to the former Presidential Advisor, the requirements put forward by the IMF to Ukraine mostly coincide with the requirements of the European Union and the United States.
"Everything related to structural benchmarks is more or less the same. The rule of law is the first major group. The second major group is everything related to judicial reform, the third group is everything related to further development of the anti-corruption architecture, that is, everything that can stimulate the development and inflow of investments into the country, even if not now, but in the post-war period. And this orientation goes everywhere, as a cornerstone, through all these cooperations - with the IMF, the EU, the USA, so I think that everything will go more or less clearly, and Ukraine will receive these new funds", Ustenko said.
The economist is convinced that in Ukraine everyone understands how critical it is now to continue cooperation with international financial institutions.
"We currently do not have the opportunity to access external capital markets, we simply do not. Therefore, it is important for us to maintain financing from our allies and partners. And the financing from allies and partners depends, among other things, on whether we have an IMF program or not. Therefore, from this point of view, cooperation is more than important, even despite the fact that, for example, this year we are supposed to receive about $5.6 billion from the IMF, and the assistance from our other allies and partners - both from the USA and from the EU - amounts to about... even if we take only the USA - it's about $30 billion. These figures may seem incomparable, but the funds that come from allies and partners depend on whether there is an IMF program or not", Ustenko noted.
He explained that the state's cooperation with the International Monetary Fund is a kind of signal to other foreign lenders and investors for cooperation.
"I would say that cooperation with the IMF is one of the key cooperations with international financial institutions for any country and Ukraine in particular, especially at a time like the one we are going through now. When we have a gigantic state budget deficit and when the expenditures from our state budget due to the war are covered with the help of our allies and partners - it is simply necessary to have a guarantor of this in order to show everyone that the macroeconomic situation is under control not only here by our government, but it is also under control by our international partners, such as the IMF", Ustenko said.
He is confident that the Ukrainian authorities understand this and are preparing for meetings with IMF representatives more than carefully.
"Therefore, the previous meeting, what is called the review, was conducted quite quickly and effectively, and it was clear that Ukraine had achieved the progress that was recorded in the Memorandum of Cooperation with the IMF. Given that this cooperation is more than critical, I simply have no doubt that the next review will also be positive for Ukraine", Ustenko said.
Recall
In September, an IMF mission will begin work in Ukraine in the context of preparing for the fifth review of the Extended Financing Facility program. Expert discussions will focus on the state of Ukraine's implementation of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies. One of the points of the document is the development of a procedure and the holding of a competition in the spring of 2025 for the position of head of the Deposit Guarantee Fund.
After the dismissal of Svitlana Rekrut from the position of Director-General of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, her deputy Olga Bilay is performing the duties of the head. According to the media, despite the IMF's requirements, the Administrative Council of the Fund plans to appoint a new leader in a closed mode. Currently, two main candidates are being considered - Bilay and the head of the Problem Assets Management Department of the National Bank, Pavlo Polyarush, who journalists call the main contender for this position.
Add
According to the media, Polyarush has repeatedly traveled abroad after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In particular, journalists reported that in November 2022 he received permission to leave the country from the notorious former Deputy Minister of Defense, who is currently a suspect in corruption crimes. The permit was allegedly issued to Polyarush to travel abroad in a Lexus luxury car under the guise of humanitarian aid. At the same time, on what grounds Polyarush traveled abroad from February to November 2022 is still unknown.
Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Mykola Velychkovych believes that law enforcement agencies should investigate Polyarush's trips abroad. And member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense Hennadiy Kasai does not exclude that Polyarush may have problems with this during the special verification as a candidate for the position of Director-General of the Deposit Guarantee Fund.