The IMF has put forward new requirements for Ukraine: is the government ready for real reforms?

Financial support from the International Monetary Fund, which runs until 2026, is almost exhausted, and available funds are woefully inadequate to cover needs. At the same time, Ukraine is currently unable to implement the reforms, the so-called “beacons” proposed by the IMF.

This opinion was expressed on the air of “Pryamoy” by the executive director of the Economic Discussion Club, Oleg Pendzin.

“The issue is that the financial capacity of the latest IMF program, in which Ukraine is currently located, is practically exhausted. And the funds provided for by this program for 2026 are catastrophically insufficient to cover the needs that Ukraine has in case the war continues. The International Monetary Fund has fundamentally renewed its forecast for the second time, in which it wrote that by the end of this year the war in Ukraine will end… And if so, then you will not need the additional money that a warring country needs,” Pendzin noted.

According to him, there is currently a shortage of $18 billion in borrowing. “In general, Ukraine needs $40 billion next year. This is for macroeconomic financing, for the social block. And 26 billion for military-technical. That is, in total, 65 billion is needed. But the IMF has never given for military-technical purposes,” the expert noted.

At the same time, he emphasized that Ukraine is currently unable to implement the reforms, the so-called “beacons”, proposed by the International Monetary Fund.

“The program that was launched in 2023 was worth $15 billion. We have practically selected everything we need, it ends in 2026, that is, 2026 is the last year of the program, but there is very little money left… There are many beacons that relate to the restoration of Ukraine. There is, in particular, the beacon of bringing the price of energy tariffs to the market level. There are many traditional beacons. But Ukraine is not able to fulfill these beacons if there is a war. Therefore, the question of launching a new program began, which would provide for the money that would be needed in the event of continued hostilities in 2026,” explains Oleg Pendzin, executive director of the Economic Discussion Club.

It was previously reported that the International Monetary Fund is considering the possibility of ending the current financing program for Ukraine and launching a new, longer-term one. Such scenarios are being discussed as part of preparations for the next stage of cooperation.

The updated program will include a review of Ukraine’s reform commitments, including: restarting the Bureau of Economic Security, changes in the customs service, repealing the “Lozovoi amendments,” and introducing transparent corporate governance rules in state-owned enterprises. In particular, it concerns the open selection of members of supervisory boards and heads of state-owned companies.

It should be noted that the previous day, the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Oleksandr Tsyvinsky as Director of the Bureau of Economic Security. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko reported that after the decision of the competition commission, there were no reservations regarding Tsyvinsky’s candidacy.

We will remind, NABU detective Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi became the winner of the competition for the position of BEB director at the end of June, but initially the Cabinet of Ministers did not approve his candidacy andtried to delay the process in every possible way.

The appointment of the head of the Bureau of Economic Security was met with reactions from European partners. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Cos welcomed the decision and recalled that the reform of the Bureau of Economic Security is extremely important.

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