Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced yesterday that Ukraine has agreed with two countries on loans to cover its budget deficit built into the 2009 state budget law: UAH 28.1 bln (2.8% of GDP according to Concorde Capital estimates). Tymoshenko, without providing further details said the country is currently in talks with six “powerful and financially stable countries” on loans, two of which have already assented. Andrii Parkhomenko: We expect that the budget deficit will be about UAH 62 bln vs. the planned UAH 28.1 bln. Therefore, if budget expenditures are not cut, the financing mentioned by Tymoshenko will be insufficient to cover the entire deficit in 2009.