An International Monetary Fund mission will visit Ukraine next month to discuss government budget policy for next year, First Prime Minister Valery Khoroshkovskyi said. Khoroshkovskyi met the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde yesterday in Washington, according to a press release posted on the Cabinet's website. Ukraine was forced to seek loans from the lender as the economy shrank almost 15 percent in 2009. The IMF approved a $15.6 billion bailout for the former Soviet republic in July 2010, the second in two years. Disbursements to Ukraine were halted after the government failed to raise household utility tariffs, a move the fund wanted to trim losses at state- controlled energy company NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy. “Ukraine has fulfilled almost all the requirements," Khoroshkovskyi said. “Still, to raise tariffs for gas and heat for household without a complex reform of relevant sectors of the national economy will not bring about the expected effect." Bloomberg
