The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed on Thursday that it will release a third tranche of aid to Ukraine amounting to $880 million, as part of the third phase of a relief package worth $15.6 billion adopted in March 2023.
A team from the IMF held talks in Warsaw with Ukrainian officials in mid-February, assessing the country’s achievements within the framework of the objectives set a year ago when this assistance was approved under a four-year Extended Fund Facility. The team estimated the country’s reconstruction needs at around $486 billion.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed the resilience of the Ukrainian economy in 2023. However, she cautioned that “the country’s recovery is expected to slow down” this year, especially due to “delays in external financing.”
The United States has not provided any significant aid to Kyiv since December 2022. Negotiations for new military support to Ukraine have been challenging in the US Congress for several months, without signs of an imminent agreement.
Gavin Gray, Head of the IMF Mission in Ukraine, mentioned during a press conference that the support program assumed the Russia-Ukraine conflict would end by the end of 2024, stating, “We are still proceeding on this scenario.”
