An IMF deal is stalled because Fund staff members are not convinced President Zelenskiy will try to recoup the $15 billion stolen from banks closed during the 2014-2015 financial crisis,

An IMF deal is stalled because Fund staff members are not convinced President Zelenskiy will try to recoup the $15 billion stolen from banks closed during the 2014-2015 financial crisis, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. Based on interviews in Washington and Kyiv, the Journal writes: “The IMF is holding up the next set of loans until it is convinced Mr. Zelenskiy’s government will aggressively try to recoup an estimated $15 billion stolen from more than 100 banks, including PrivatBank, over the past decade.” The principal owner of PrivatBank, Ihor Kolomoisky, was the main media backer of Zelenskiy when he was running for president last spring.