Windpower turbines generate electricity in Zaporizhia Oblast, 600 kilometers southeast of Kyiv on Feb. 27, 2019. Ukraine used 8% less electricity in April 2020 than during the same month last year, national energy company Ukrenergo reported. In total, Ukrainians used 9 billion kilowatts.
International Monetary Fund reorients its loan program for Ukraine. Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have refocused their negotiations for further financial assistance. The aid program will now last for 18 months, instead of previously planned 36 months, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice has said. “Given the unprecedented uncertainty surrounding the economic and financial outlook and the need to focus policy priorities on near-term containment and stabilization, negotiations have shifted to this 18-month stand-by arrangement,” Rice said. After the economic situation in Ukraine is stabilized, they can return to the previous program proposal. Previously, Ukraine was hoping for $8 billion in aid from the IMF. While the size of the new program has not been specified, it will certainly be smaller — bad news for a country that needed the money long before COVID-19 struck.
The IMF has appointed a new head in Ukraine. The fund installed Ivanna Vladkova-Hollar as the head of its mission in Ukraine. She replaces Ron van Rooden. Vladkova-Hollar, a Bulgarian citizen, has significant experience in developing economies, IMF representative in Ukraine Goesta Ljungman has said. Vladkova-Hollar previously led the IMF mission in Moldova and North Macedonia.
