International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva arrived in Kiev early this morning, where she will hold high-level meetings with Ukrainian authorities, as Ukraine prepares to mark the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, Reuters reported.
The Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Andriy Pyshny welcomed Georgieva in front of the gilded domes of the Cathedral of St. Archangel Michael, in central Kiev, where burned-out Russian tanks are on display. Together they laid flowers at a memorial wall with portraits of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who died fighting against Russia. The IMF chief then held separate meetings with Pyshny and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko, and is expected to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky later today. Georgieva will also meet with business leaders during her one-day visit to Ukraine, IMF officials said. Georgieva's visit to Ukraine was not announced in advance due to security concerns. Kristalina Georgieva last visited Ukraine in 2023. The IMF managing director, who has close family ties to Ukraine, last visited the country in February 2023. Georgieva's brother is married in Ukraine and was in Kharkiv, the country's second largest city, when Russia invaded in February 2022.
Georgieva's visit to Ukraine comes just a day after President Zelensky declared a state of emergency in the energy sector due to Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. Repair work on thousands of apartment blocks has been hampered by the cold weather, with nighttime temperatures dropping to nearly minus 20 degrees Celsius.
In November, Ukraine and the IMF reached a preliminary agreement on a four-year $8.2 billion lending program, which is conditional on the country's budget approval and donor support, among other factors. The agreement is expected to be reviewed by the IMF within weeks, according to fund officials.
The approval of the financing is crucial as it will unlock additional external investment needed to plug the financial holes in Ukraine’s budget, which the IMF estimates will amount to about $136.5 billion by 2029.
War has hit Ukraine’s economy hard
The war has hit Ukraine’s economy hard, with the country planning to spend most of its revenue – 2.8 trillion hryvnia, or about 27.2 percent of GDP – on to finance defense in 2026.
Georgieva will review Ukraine's progress on some measures, including adopting the 2026 budget, broadening the tax base to increase revenues, and securing large-scale external financing from donors on grant-like terms.
The IMF expects Ukraine to implement some of these measures, but does not expect the country's revenues to increase by 2027.
In addition to working to brighten up the economy, which is characterized by a high level of “shallow companies“, Ukraine has also committed to preserving the independence of its anti-corruption authorities and addressing loopholes in the current labor code.
Two-year EU loan to reduce fiscal deficits
Ukraine took a significant step toward addressing fiscal deficits last month when European Union leaders agreed to provide it with a loan of 90 billion euros ($105 billion) over two years. Ukraine must service the loan, provided that Russia pays it reparations after the end of the war. This means that the loan will not be a burden on the Ukrainian budget.
The IMF also completed a $2.6 billion restructuring of growth-related debt, easing financial pressure on Kiev.
The new IMF program will replace the current four-year $15.5 billion program, of which about $10.6 billion has been disbursed, which assumed the war would end in 2025.
The new preliminary agreement assumes an end to the war this year, but also includes a “negative scenario” in which the war slowly subsides but continues until 2028.