Ukraine expecting to receive $500 mln grant from U.S., loans worth of CAD1 bln from Canada, EUR150 mln from Germany, EUR200 mln from Italy, $300 mln from Japan in May - minister
KYIV. May 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The Ukrainian Finance Ministry is expecting to receive loans and grants from partners and international financial institutions in May but pins the biggest hopes on such an instrument as Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Friday.
"We have big expectations for what we could receive from partners in the near future. This includes an additional $500-million grant from the United States, EUR150 million from Germany, and another loan of EUR200 million approved by Italy. There will also be 1 billion Canadian dollars from Canada, which has approved the transfer through the IMF administered account," Marchenko said.
In his words, Japan confirmed an additional loan of $300 million after negotiations, and the funding is expected in May.
This month, the Finance Ministry is also counting on additional financial assistance from the Netherlands, $200 million as a first tranche of the $1-billion loan from the World Bank's International Development Association, another $100 million from the World Bank for compensations to internally displaced persons, and $60 million for social benefits.
"The Britons have confirmed an additional guarantee through the World Bank's multi-donor trust fund, in addition to what was given earlier in the amount of $500 million. We are expecting to receive EUR10 million from Latvia and Lithuania each, as well as from Austria, $10.5 million from Switzerland, and EUR20.5 million from Denmark. In addition, Poland and Finland are considering the amount and mechanism of their assistance. There is EUR20 million assistance from Norway, also received through the trust fund. Iceland is due to provide Eur470,000 in May," Marchenko said.
The European Investment Bank is set to reconfigure the current projects to a sum nearing EUR 1.1 billion, which requires a decision of the European Commission, and there may be a loan from France, he said.
"Yet Special Drawing Rights are the mechanism we pin our biggest hopes on. The prime minister sent a letter to countries, potential donors, who may share a part of their SDRs. A $10 share was mentioned. We are working on the mechanism of this process," Marchenko said.
The Ukrainian budget deficit stood at UAH 89.7 billion in April, as against UAH 80.6 billion in March. Out of UAH 76.2 billion revenue of the general fund, UAH 22 billion came from grants.
As to the IMF estimate of the monthly assistance needed by Ukraine in the amount of $5 billion and compensation for the deficit in April, Marchenko admitted that Ukraine did not receive enough funds but, same as in March, the problem was solved through liquidity management.
At a press briefing at the Lviv Media Center on Friday, Marchenko said that Ukraine was negotiating about $11 billion allotment for its budget with international partners, and about $5 billion of that sum had been received.
"We are negotiating a sum of about $11 billion, including $5 billion received by our budget," Marchenko said.
The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union remain key partners of Ukraine, he said.
"We are expecting to receive other funds shortly. We are also hoping for further support by our international partners," Marchenko said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the European Union will provide the second tranche of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of Eur600 million in May.
"The European Union, the European Commission was one of the first institutions to give an instant response and to provide Ukraine with macro-financial assistance. Now we are talking about the provision of the second tranche as early as in May and, possibly, the opening of a new tranche to support Ukraine in June," Shmyhal said at a press briefing on Friday, following a working visit to Poland.