Ukraine doesnt need IMF loan, but ready to make a deal, PM says

The Ukrainian government doesn’t need an IMF loan tranche, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told Ukrainian television reporters on Dec. 27. “Ukraine has gotten through the last two years without the IMF loans and it’s understood that it will get through the next year without them,” he said. He added, “Resources are not only with the IMF. We’ve somehow come to think that there aren’t any possibilities beyond the IMF. In fact, there are enough resources in the world and we’re working to attract them to the Ukrainian economy on mutually beneficial conditions. Nevertheless, the government is oriented towards cooperating with the IMF and finding acceptable compromises, he said.

Alexander Paraschiy: Ukraine indeed can live without new IMF tranches in 2013, given that the resilient debt market continues in 2013. But even in this case, Ukraine’s access to alternative sources will heavily depend on its resumption of a dialogue with the IMF (refer to our Dec. 26 note). The IMF’s requirements to resume cooperation with Ukraine are clear and they have support from other Ukrainian lenders. The Ukrainian PM is continuing to play a game of “hard to get” with the IMF, but so far we see no other way for the government to sustain itself economically but to find common ground, the earlier the better.