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2018, which is 18.7%, or UAH3.3bn more than in December 2017. Also, in December 2018, UAH25.2bn in tax and personal income tax contributions were transferred, which is 19.7% or UAH4.1bn more than in 2017. “In 2018, tax and personal income tax contributions to the consolidated budget amounted to UAH229.9bn, which is 23.8%, or UAH44.2bn more than last year's revenues,” reads the report.
The same day as the IMF deal was done the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a $750mn Policy-Based Guarantee (PBG) for Ukraine to support important reforms in banking, anti-corruption, agricultural land, pensions, utility subsidies, and healthcare. The guarantee is expected to help Ukraine raise about $1bn on the international capital markets to finance the country’s budget. “The World Bank welcomes the Government’s commitment to these historic reforms to bolster economic growth, safeguard fiscal sustainability, and improve the effectiveness of social services,” said Cyril Muller , World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia. “These reforms aim to create greater opportunities and improve living standards for the people of Ukraine.”
The EU and the World Bank have drawn up a 12-year, €13bn Eastern Partnership infrastructure investment plan that is to help fund €630mn worth of Ukraine projects, reports Deutsche Welle, drawing on a European Commission document approved Tuesday. Three Ukraine projects listed are: repairing the Cherkasy section of the Kyiv-Odesa E-95 highway -- €210mn; building a northern bypass highway around Lviv city -- €120mn; and, at Boryspil airport, building a new cargo terminal and rebuilding the second runway -- €300mn.
Ukraine plans to leverage the $750mn in World Bank guarantees to raise $1bn of foreign borrowings in two tranches - $400mn in the next 10 days and $600mn next month, Finance Minister Oksana Markarova tells Interfax-Ukraine. On Tuesday, Cabinet of Ministers capped the annual interest rate at 4.9%. Deutsche Bank AG and TMF Global Service (UK) Ltd are to syndicate the loans, earning a commission of 0.8% of the totals, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Ukraine attracts €349mn loan under WB guarantee. Ukraine’s Finance Ministry reported on December 27 it has received a €349.3mn loan (about $400mn) from Deutsche Bank, which was provided under the guarantee of the World Bank. The loan consists of two tranches, a 4-year facility for €53.2mn, and a 10-year facility of €296.1mn with a grace period of 4.5 years. The ministry did not specify interest rates on the loan, while earlier Interfax-Ukraine reported that the cap on such a loan was set by the government at 4.9%. Out of the total $750mn in loan guarantees offered by the World Bank (as ruled by its board on December 18), the country used half of it to secure the Deutsche Bank loan. MinFin intends to attract another loan under the remaining part of the guarantee in 1Q19, according to its December 27 statement. This latest loan raises Ukraine's gross international reserves to about $20.7bn as of December 27, which is the highest level of the last five years, the National Bank boasted to Interfax-Ukraine the same day.
The EU has transferred to Ukraine EUR 500mn, the first half of EUR 1bn in financial aid approved last summer. Valdis Dombrovskis, the Latvian politician who is the European Commission’s vice president for Financial Stability, tweeted Tuesday: “Today the EU allocates 500mn euros of
47 UKRAINE Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com