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According to Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, this is what the government "managed to achieve with incredible efforts as a result of these negotiations [with the IMF]". "We started negotiations from the issue of raising prices by 60% from the current level, but as a result of our negotiations and compromise, we found a different approach, and prices for gas from November 1 will grow by only 23.5% but not 60%," he said. On October 18, Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, greenlighted a bill on the 2019 national budget in the first reading . The approval of the IMF-compliant state budget for 2016 is also crucially important for Kyiv's cooperation with the Fund. The new agreement is subject to IMF management approval and approval by the IMF Executive Board. "Board consideration is expected later in the year following parliamentary approval of a government budget for 2019 consistent with IMF staff recommendations and an increase in household gas and heating tariffs to reflect market developments while continuing to protect low-income households," the IMF underlined .
Ukraine plans to borrow $2bn on international capital markets before the end of this year. Increasingly desperate for cash, the government in Ukraine says it will offer a $2bn Eurobond on the international market before the end of this year, according to comments made by the acting Finance Minister of Ukraine Oksana Markarova on October 18. "Almost $2bn should have been borrowed [at the beginning of the year]. And we are still planning to attract the funds," she said at the debate organized by the Novoye Vremia newspaper from the Ukraine 2020 series in Kyiv as reported by Interfax Ukraine. The finance minister said that in 2018, the maximum amount of the deficit, approved by the national budget, "will be met for sure." "I hope that it will be possible to get all the revenues and get all the funding, and if not, we will make a change in financial terms to keep to the benchmarks," Markarova said, adding that in past months the national budget met revenue targets by almost 100%. Without a functioning International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal the cost of borrowing has risen for Kyiv. The government sold $725mn worth of zero-coupon Eurobonds for "general budgetary purposes", in a surprise private placement deal in August that was very expensive. The notes mature on February 28, 2019, according to Bloomberg data. The government has an estimated of $3bn worth of debt maturing by the end of this year and won’t be able to meet its obligations without raising external financing. Ukraine is going to place eurobonds for the amount of UAH102.9bn ($3.5bn) on the international capital market in 2019 , according to a draft bill of the nation's state budget for 2019 filed to parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. According to the document, the securities' maturity term would be from five to 15 years, Interfax news agency reported on September 17. However, with another $7bn of debt maturing next year, this will also not be enough to cover Ukraine’s obligations and a new IMF programme is desperately needed.
Ukraine's the State Property Fund (SPF) has scheduled the privatisation
auction for a state-owned 78.289% stake in the nation's leading power generating company Centrenergo for December 13. The announcement of the tender will be published in the Vidomosti Pryvatyzatsii privatisation bulletin on October 29. A potential investor will have 45 days to examine the performance and financial results of the enterprise and to prepare all the necessary documents for the tender, according to the SPF's head Vitaliy Trubarov. Earlier, the Ukrainian cabinet approved a starting price for the sale of the 78.3% stake in Centrenergo of UAH5.98bn ($210mn). The Ukrainian authorities will attempt to privatise the company in late November-early December.
41 UKRAINE Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com