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international economic and commercial ties”.
The European Union approved disbursement of €500mn in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine​. The EU says it has now provided Ukraine with €3.8bn euros worth of loans to the country since 2014. Originally scheduled for disbursement in spring 2019, the aid was held up pending Ukraine reaching a deal with the IMF. With the Rada’s approval of the ‘anti-Kolomoisky bill,’ “Ukraine has fulfilled all the conditions for the allocation of further macro-financial assistance to the EU,” the Commissioner reportedly said.
The World Bank approved on May 1 $150mn funding to Ukraine to fight coronavirus​ and to mitigate the social impact of the restrictions. This money is in addition to $130mn in World Bank announced earlier last week. Of the total, $85mn is to go to fight the pandemic. Separately, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov announced that $585mn has been budgeted to hospitals tasked with fighting Covid- 19.
Ukraine’s cabinet decided on May 25 to begin efforts to pursue a $350mn loan from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (World Bank group) for a global economic recovery project, the epravda.com.ua​ news site reported on May 28. The cabinet also approved a letter to the World Bank to start the process.
The European Council is expected to approve in the third week of May a €1.2bn loan to Ukraine​ to address the economic and social consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The loan has already been approved by the European Parliament and is part of €3bn in macro financial aid to EU neighbors. Issued in one year in two tranches, the loan is repayable in 15 years.
6.1.4​ Budget dynamics - privatization
Kyiv’s landmark Dnipro Hotel is to be the first this year’s ‘big’ privatization with a $10mn starting price at this summer’s auction​. Zelenskiy said all state-owned hotels are to be “legally cleared” and sold at auctions.
Zelenskiy said Centrenergo will be sold in the second half of this year.
While ‘big’ sales were suspended due to market turbulence during the coronavirus epidemic, ‘small’ privatizations continued, working toward a 2020 sales target of $220mn.
6.2 ​Debt
Ukraine’s state and state-guaranteed debt rose 1.3% m/m to $81.4bn as of April 30​, the Finance Ministry reported on May 25. State domestic debt jumped 3.4% m/m to $31.6bn, while the state foreign debt slid 0.3% m/m to $40.2bn. State-guaranteed debt climbed 2.0% m/m to $9.7bn.
In UAH terms, overall state debt dropped 2.6% m/m in April to UAH2,196bn, or 55.2% of Ukraine’s GDP in 2019.
The increase of state domestic debt in $terms was due to 4.0% hryvnia
41​ UKRAINE Country Report​ June 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com