Kyiv wants to use the 2-week IMF mission visit in September to negotiate a new, 3-year aid program

Kyiv wants to use the 2-week IMF mission visit in September to negotiate a new, 3-year aid program to pick up after the current program expires in March, according to several news reports. Since 2015, Ukraine has received about half of the $17.5 billion allotted in the four-year program. Timothy Ash writes from London: “I just cannot see that. The IMF surely will say: ‘Let’s get this review done, and then all regroup after elections to see who is in power and then what the appetite for a new program and its contours are.’ It would be a total waste of time and effort negotiating a new program at this point in time when its totally unclear who will be in office.”