The mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the seventh review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program is scheduled for late February, as announced by the Fund's permanent representative in Ukraine, Prishila Tofano, during the presentation of the monitoring of the fulfillment of IMF program conditions and Ukraine's Plan, initiated by the RRR4U consortium.
"(...) we will discuss new conditions, key priorities for the unified project pipeline within the budget declaration for 2026-2028, as well as the annual budget for the upcoming year," she shared her mission plans in Kyiv on Thursday.
Tofano noted that during the next mission, the Fund also intends to assess the action plan for reforming public investment management.
"And we will review the progress in implementing the action plan to strengthen the medium-term budget framework," she emphasized.
According to Tofano, the IMF considers the reform of public investment management in conjunction with other closely related areas.
"For instance, capital budgeting, medium-term budget planning, given that large investment projects will span several years. But also the reform of capital markets, as capital markets need to be prepared to finance complex projects at both central and local levels," Tofano explained.
If Ukraine successfully completes the 7th review of the EFF program, it will receive $917.54 million in budget funding.
During the presentation, it was noted that Ukraine has failed to meet two structural benchmarks - the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of laws to repeal the so-called Lozovoy amendments and to establish a Supreme Administrative Court to replace the dissolved Kyiv District Administrative Court by the end of 2024. The Ukrainian government registered the corresponding bills No. 12367 and No. 12368 in parliament only at the end of December, and they have yet to be approved even in principle.
The memorandum states that one of the bills proposes amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code that will allow the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to manage requests for extradition and mutual legal assistance, as well as streamline the consequences of the expiration of pre-trial investigation deadlines (particularly in corruption cases), which nullifies the effect of the "Lozovoy amendments."
The second bill provides for the adoption of a law to create a new court that will hear administrative cases against national state bodies (Cabinet of Ministers, NBU, NABU, NAPC) by judges who have undergone proper checks for professional competence and integrity.