Page 31 - bne IntelliNews Ukraine Country Report May 2017

5.1.3 Gross international reserves
Ukraine's international reserves reached $16.7bn in April after a n ew $1bn tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released under its $17.5bn support programme, and a second €600mn tranche of macro-financial assistance from the European Union, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said on April 5.
The European Union on April 4 made a second €600mn macro-financial assistance to Ukraine to stabilise and reform its economy on April 4. According to the EU, a bid by the Ukrainian authorities to ban exports in order to establish control over deforestation and sale of timber had been unsuccessful. The EU says uncontrolled cutting and export of timber continues, but the state does not receive any direct income from this. Therefore the EU proposed to abolish the export ban and to develop a strategy for the restoration of Ukraine’s forests. In early February 2017, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would allocate a further €600mn to Ukraine even without the lifting of the timber export ban, saying it was enough to submit a corresponding bill to Parliament.
The IMF funds were received in several parts in different currencies:
SDR367mn, GBP200mn, €146mn and $92mn, the central bank underlined in a statement. The NBU added that under the IMF programme agreed in March 2015, Kyiv already obtained $8.5bn ($5.9bn from these funds were channeled to the nation's international reserves).
The current level of Ukraine's foreign reserves covers 3.6 months of future imports and is sufficient to meet the country's obligations and carry out the current operations of the government and the NBU, according to the regulator.
31 RUSSIA Country Report April 2017 www.intellinews.com