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Key Ukraine creditors clear the way for IMF bailouts

Major Western creditors of Ukraine cleared hurdles to the planned IMF bailout program at a meeting on Friday. The Group of Creditors of Ukraine (GCU) made further concessions to the state attacked by Russia, as announced in the evening. This gives Ukraine long-term predictability for financial aid.

Germany, France, the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Japan belong to the GCU. “Germany stands firmly on the side of Ukraine,” said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Finance. In order to ensure Ukraine’s ability to act in the long term, joint action on the international stage is the best way – specifically via the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “Such cooperation has proven its worth many times over for decades.”

The creditor group pledged to extend the existing debt moratorium until 2027. This means that the interest and repayment burdens for Ukraine will be suspended for a longer period of time. The group is also ready to carry out a comprehensive debt restructuring in a second phase to restore Ukraine’s debt sustainability, the finance ministry spokesman said. “This sends a clear signal to achieve similar solutions with the private sector. These points are a prerequisite for a corresponding IMF program.”

Ukraine has been under attack for more than a year by Russia, which has occupied parts of the country. According to recent estimates, reconstruction will cost at least $411 billion. The IMF and Ukraine had recently agreed on loan assistance with a volume of 15.6 billion dollars over a period of four years. So far, aid has been of a rather short-term nature and has always been negotiated bilaterally with the government in Kiev.


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