Rada takes final vote to adopt IMF-required banking law

Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, took the
last vote on May 19 to approve the IMF-required banking resolution bill that
will enable its signing by the president and becoming law. In particular, MPs
rejected two draft resolutions aimed at cancelling voting for the bill, MP
Yaroslav Zhelezniak wrote in a blog. Recall, the banking resolution bill (or
the so-called anti-Kolomoisky bill) was approved in the final reading by
the Rada on May 13. However, after the voting, two MPs filed draft resolutions
to cancel the voting, which postponed the bill’s signing until when such draft
resolutions are rejected by the Rada.

Alexander Paraschiy: With the
May 19 vote, there are no more impediments for the president to sign this bill.
As the banking law adoption is the ultimate pre-condition for the IMF to
initiate a new program to support Ukraine, now we expect that President
Zelensky will sign the bill as soon as possible and the IMF board will schedule
a meeting to approve the new loan program for Ukraine.

It’s very likely now that Ukraine will get
multi-billion-dollar financial support from the IMF, the E.U., the World Bank
and some Western governments. Consequently, Ukraine’s short-term sovereign
default risk is extremely low. This opens up an opportunity for Ukraine to tap
the debt markets with a new Eurobond placement in the early summer.