IMF eased conditions for new program for Ukraine, moving prior actions to "beacons" - MP
Kyiv • UNN
The International Monetary Fund has eased the conditions for a new financing program for Ukraine, moving prior actions to "beacons." This means a deferral of compliance with requirements until mid-spring.
The International Monetary Fund has softened the conditions for a new financing program for Ukraine, moving prior actions to "beacons," MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak from the financial committee reported on Telegram on Saturday, citing government sources, writes UNN.
Confirmed with government sources: yes, the IMF blinked first. And gave in. This is truly unprecedented, but it was possible. But. This is once again: here, prior actions were simply moved to beacons.
At the same time, he indicated that "prior actions are what needs to be done before the program, 'beacons' are during."
"That is, in fact, the deadline has been postponed until mid-spring," Zheleznyak noted.
At the same time, he indicated that "the important point here is that absolutely no one will vote for this in the Rada even in spring."
"In short, without further ado, one can say that the authorities' stubbornness is enviable, and they succeeded. Well done. But this also means that all other requirements: from the World Bank, and the Ukraine Facility, and future ones from the EU, will from this moment be perceived by the Rada as a negotiating position that can always be challenged," the MP concluded.
Addition
Earlier, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced that the Cabinet of Ministers would not submit a bill on mandatory VAT registration for individual entrepreneurs with a turnover of more than UAH 1 million in February.
Before that, Bloomberg reported that Ukraine was seeking to soften an unpopular tax bill concerning VAT for individual entrepreneurs, which the IMF had demanded. This law was called a condition for unlocking more than $8 billion under the financing program.
In December, the Ministry of Finance published a draft law on the introduction of VAT for individual entrepreneurs from 2027. The changes provide for a reduction in the single tax rate from 5% to 3% for the 3rd group of individual entrepreneurs who reach the limit of UAH 1 million, and mandatory VAT registration.