Business Update: Ukraine Expects $5 Billion IMF Loan Approval on June 5, First Payment the Next Day – KyivPost

Ukraine expects $5 billion IMF loan to be approved on June 5 Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in an interview with Reuters. The first tranche of $1.9 billion could be disbursed the following day. Ukraine needs the loans to cope with an economic shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Gross domestic product could fall 12% in the second quarter of this year, according to a preliminary estimate, Shmyhal said.

The European Union has approved the disbursement of €500 million in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. The EU says it has given Ukraine 3.8 billion euros in loans to the country since 2014.

The European Commission said in a press release: “Ukraine remains high on the European agenda. We continue our political, financial and technical support, particularly at this time of crisis, to support Ukraine’s reform agenda aimed at building a more resilient economy. Under the EU’s fourth macro-financial assistance programme, Ukraine has completed the necessary reform criteria and we are preparing a disbursement of €500 million. As part of helping our neighbors cope with the fallout from the pandemic, we will provide Ukraine with an additional €1.2 billion in emergency aid under the MFA.”

Ukraine plans to start lifting its entry ban on foreigners amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said Foreign Minister Kuleba. UNIAN reported that the minister said Ukraine planned to lift the entry ban but did not give a timetable. Since March, only foreigners with Ukrainian residence permits have been allowed to enter the country and they must self-isolate for two weeks. “The Ukrainian government is gradually lifting the restrictions imposed on the coronavirus pandemic, and we are resuming operations at border checkpoints,” he said during a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó in Budapest on May 29.

The Ministry of Infrastructure will open full navigation on the Dnipro River from June 1. This follows the completion of a major project with state-owned company Ukrvodshliakh to overhaul the Kaniv lock which allows more traffic on the river. Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy said the sea locks at the Dnipro Waterfall were built more than 50 years ago and their overhaul was delayed from the 1990s due to a lack of public funds .

SkyUp Airlines says abolishing VAT on domestic flights is essential maintain reasonable ticket prices for passengers. Carriers operating inside Ukraine need the government to remove VAT on tickets more than ever, the airline’s press service said on Thursday (May 28th), noting that it still intends to to chase

The low-cost carrier said: “The development of domestic air transport remains important to us. Before the crisis caused by the pandemic, we regulated the cost of interregional flights so that every Ukrainian could get to Lviv, Kharkiv or Kyiv for 500-700 UAH. One could afford such a price level on domestic flights, compensating for their unprofitability due to international destinations. Today, due to the impossibility of fully resuming international transport, this balance has been broken. This is why we need the support of the government, so that the future of domestic air transport now depends entirely on the actions of the authorities.

Ukraine registered 429 new cases of COVID-19 in the past day, 495 recoveries and 10 new deaths. The National Security and Defense Council says some 13,198 people are currently infected with COVID-19 in Ukraine. The disease has claimed 679 lives in Ukraine while 8,934 people have recovered.

Russia’s GDP plunged around 12% year-on-year in April, which has been declared a non-working month to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Economic Development said in an activity report published Thursday evening. This follows growth of 0.8% in March, 2.6% in February and 1.6% in January, according to the revised data.