Page 13 - UKRRptApr24

necessary for the survival of the state, and also have not received military assistance, which was planned for almost a year within the Ramstein format by more than 50 countries around the world," Stefanishyna said. "Reaction is one thing, but we expect weapons first of all.
2.4 Without US help Ukraine will run out of money by summer
Ukraine will only have enough money to last until June without more help from the US. For the first time since the beginning of the year, Ukraine began to receive external financing in large quantities. In March, tranches arrived from the IMF, the EU and Canada - about $7bn.
The situation with financing the state budget, which was extremely tense at the beginning of the year due to the lack of external assistance, improved somewhat at the end of March. Ukraine received about 900mn dollars from the next tranche of the IMF, 1.2bn were transferred by Japan, Norway and Spain. Canada provided a loan of $1.5bn. And the largest tranche came from the EU - 4.5bn euros under the Ukraine Facility (UF) program.
This is the first tranche of transition financing from the EU. The second, in the amount of 1.5bn euros, is expected in April. In fact, 4.5bn euros is the amount of monthly support of 1.5bn for the first quarter. In January-March, it was impossible to transfer money, as work continued on the reform plan (Ukraine plan) for the UF program. Therefore, the first part for the first quarter was transferred immediately after the Ukrainian side provided the final draft of the document to the European Commission.
The IMF memorandum places a special emphasis on reforms. “Lack of progress on reforms exacerbates the funding gap, reduces future external funding flows and may lead to donor fatigue,” the document says.
But even at this rate of financing, there is still not enough money for the budget. The required monthly external revenue requirement of $3.5bn is currently only covered by 2/3.
The lack of money is compensated by internal borrowing. The Ministry of Finance holds almost weekly auctions for the placement of government bonds. Since the beginning of the year, more than UAH 100bn have been raised.
If the hope is justified, then the issue of financing by the end of this year can be considered resolved, says the head of the Verkhovna Rada’s financial committee, Daniil Getmantsev. If not, then the money will only last for a few months.
“If the issue with the United States is not resolved in April, then the money will last until the end of summer. Although, options are possible,” he said in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine. He did not specify exactly what options are possible. Let us remind you that the government is working with Ukraine’s political partners to find additional funds for the budget.
However, experts assess the prospects more pessimistically. “For now, we are covering the needs of January-April, and this is if Japan allocates some funds and the EU transfers the second tranche of transition financing in the amount
13 UKRAINE Country Report April 2024 www.intellinews.com