Page 13 - UKRRptDec19

Ukraine the size of the future program, only stating that a three-year program is being discussed.
The statement followed IMF mission's two-week mission to Ukraine. "The authorities have requested a new IMF-supported programme to help them achieve these objectives, by providing an anchor for their economic policies and helping to cover financing needs in the coming years," the statement reads. The mission started discussions on a new three-year arrangement that could be supported under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
In 2018, the IMF approved a 14-month, $3.9bn Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Ukraine; however, Kyiv failed to secure this amount of funding before the start of the presidential and parliamentary elections.
2.10 ​Politics - misc
Ukraine’s National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) for the first time directly accused oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky for orchestrating a sustain campaign of physical attacks and “terror” ​intimidations against the bank’s current and former staff on November 27. “Today, for the first time, the National Bank of Ukraine has officially blamed Ihor Kolomoisky for the recent pressure, co-ordinated media attacks, and demonstrations against the institution. They today make it clear that that these actions are believed to be part of the ongoing campaign of intimidation designed to keep him from paying back the $5.5bn he siphoned off from PrivatBank and owes to the Ukrainian people,” the bank said in a statement emailed to analysts and the press.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) team left Kyiv on November 22 without reaching a new staff level agreement with the government​, although Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said significant progress has been made and the two sides are close to an agreement. This was the second trip by the IMF team to Kyiv following the elections of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in April. Despite hopes for a quick deal that would upgrade Ukraine from an Stand by agreement (SBA) to the more extensive and longer term Extended Fund Facility (EFF) worth several billion dollars, talks have floundered on concerns about the hold oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky has over the president, the independence of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and the exclusion of foreigners from the mooted creation of a
land market. ​ ​The IMF mission led by Ron van Rooden worked in Kyiv during September 12-26, but was unable to reach a deal.
Ukraine has around 43mn hectares of agricultural land, of, which 27mn hectares is already in private ownership. ​But 16mn hectares is still in state/municipal ownership. Current land prices are around $1,000 pa, which seems low, but that would suggest at a minimum $16bn potential revenues to the state from land sales. The average price of agricultural land in Poland is around $8,000, and $13,000 in the UK. Assuming the land market is managed well, the $16bn revenue stream from land sales could increase significantly. Imagine around $30bn in land sale receipts to the state over 20 years, or $1.5bn a year, a minimum, or 1% of GDP, covering half the budget deficit.
The big obstacle for the IMF deal is the legal effort by Ihor Kolomoisky,
After weeks of pressure, Zelenskiy said on November 9:: “Our team, the government, the National Bank of Ukraine, the Deposit Guarantee Fund, and I
13​ UKRAINE Country Report​ December 201 ​ ​www.intellinews.com