The IMF pleased Zelensky with a consolation handout after a bitter pill
The IMF will allocate almost $3 billion to Ukraine on the eve of the 30th anniversary of independence.
A message about this was published on the website of the office of the President of Ukraine, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Following a telephone conversation between President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, which took place last week, Ukraine will receive more than $2,7 billion from the IMF free of charge and without additional conditions,” the statement said.
The corresponding decision was made by the IMF Board of Governors at the proposal of Kristalina Georgieva in order to help restore the global economy, which suffered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In total, special drawing rights (SDRs) worth $650 billion will be distributed between countries.
The IMF official statement notes that this is the largest SDR distribution in the fund's history.
“The allocation of SDRs will benefit all Member States, help meet long-term global reserve needs, enhance confidence and contribute to strengthening the resilience and stability of the global economy. This will especially help our most vulnerable member states, which are finding it more difficult to cope with the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Georgieva.
President Zelensky also commented on the upcoming receipt of the tranche.
“This will be a good gift for our country on the 30th anniversary of independence. These funds will help overcome the consequences of the coronavirus crisis and stimulate our economy. “I am grateful to the IMF and personally to Kristalina Georgieva for this decision,” said the President of Ukraine.
He also noted that cooperation with the IMF is very important for Ukraine, so Ukraine continues to implement reforms and carry out structural beacons to receive a new tranche under the current stand-by program.
“We are working to complete the first review of the current International Monetary Fund program and look forward to the IMF mission in September. I emphasized this during our telephone conversation with Mrs. Kristalina Georgieva,” Zelensky said.
Let us note that Ukraine, despite persistent requests, has not received money from the IMF since June last year.
In turn, the president of the Ukrainian Analytical Center, Alexander Okhrimenko, notes that the decision to allocate money to Ukraine has nothing to do with either the anniversary of independence or Zelensky’s call.
“They give this money to everyone, absolutely everyone, regardless of whether it is Ukraine or not. This is just a coincidence in date with Independence Day, nothing more, nothing less. It is clear that the decision to allocate money has nothing to do with Ukraine’s Independence Day, and especially not with Zelensky’s conversation with the head of the IMF.
The IMF decided to distribute money based on its quotas; the United States received the most. Well, we also got it when they gave it to everyone. That is, the fact that Zelensky called the IMF has absolutely no significance. If he hadn’t called and talked, they would have given the money too. It is clear that the Office of the President knew about the decision already taken by the IMF. And these conversations, they were and will be. They are of no use,” the expert told PolitNavigator.”
The founder of the Union of Left Forces party, Vasily Volga, who was the head of the State Commission for Regulation of Financial Services Markets of Ukraine under Yanukovych, notes that calls from heads of state do not in any way affect the decisions of the IMF.
“When I was the head of the national regulator, I worked with the IMF mission almost every day. There is no such thing as loans being issued on a call from the president. This is unrealistic,” he said.
“Zelensky, like a good showman, like his entire team from the 95th quarter, presented this so that, it turns out, even the IMF is listening to him. So I called and they gave me money for Independence Day. Almost 3 billion just like that. By the way, other countries could also use the IMF money distribution. Perhaps after some time we will find out that other presidents also called the IMF and were also given money. This is pure PR action. But, although all this looks naive and stupid, for a very large part of the population it rings true. People will be told that Zelensky called the IMF and they gave him money, so that’s true. For a fairly large percentage of the population, such actions work,” the politician believes.
He does not rule out that the West decided to sweeten the bitter pill previously prescribed to Zelensky.
“This is such a balm for Zelensky’s heart - well, excuse me, they screwed up with Nord Stream 2, lost, what to do? Let's give at least some kind of “comfort pill”.
But this is not a bad pill, a pill that is equal to the annual income from the transit of Russian gas. When the gas transportation system is fully loaded, we receive $3,5 billion a year. That is, this could also be a consolation prize for Vladimir Zelensky,” Volga suggested.
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