The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concerned about whether Ukraine will be able to continue receiving assistance from the $8.1 billion package because the Verkhovna Rada has not passed all the necessary requirements.
Bloomberg writes about this.
Parliament has until the end of March to pass a number of decisions, including tax increases for businesses and citizens under a new four-year loan program approved by IMF in February, from which Ukraine has already received the first tranche of $1.5 billion.
For example, on March 10, the Verkhovna Rada did not support Bill No. 14025 on taxation of digital platforms, known as the “OLX tax” bill. It would oblige all adult users of digital platforms to declare income. This applies to “OLX”, “Rozetka”, “Glovo”, “Airbnb”, “Amazon”, “Etsy”, “Uklon”, “Bolt”, “Preply”, “Upwork”, and other services.
The IMF’s resident representative in Ukraine Priscilla Toffno told Bloomberg that she was concerned. One source said that the IMF staff, led by the head of the mission in Ukraine Gavin Gray planned to hold meetings with Ukrainian lawmakers starting on March 18.
The tensions come as Ukraine risks running out of money within months after Hungary and Slovakia vetoed a €90 billion European Union loan, arguing that Kyiv does not want to resume transit of Russian oil through the “Druzhba” pipeline.
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