Berlin conference clarifies 'financial Ramstein' roadmap for Ukraine - IMF alternate executive director
MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - An international expert conference on Ukraine's recovery that took place in Berlin on October 25 was a good follow-up to the Lugano conference held in early July and clarified a roadmap for launching a financial and economic platform for the coordination of donors and partners, which is some kind of "financial Ramstein," International Monetary Fund (IMF) Alternate Executive Director for Ukraine Vladislav Rashkovan said.
According to Ukrainian media reports, he said on social media that everything had been agreed upon at the Berlin conference and this was the difference with Lugano. He noted that an agreement had been reached on the establishment of the financial and economic coordination platform, and that there had been an understanding of the timing and focus, namely, two horizons of immediate needs and budget support, and recovery and reconstruction. He added that the roadmap for the launch of this platform had been elaborated.
He noted that there are three levels of coordination. At the first political and ministerial level, there are the G7 finance ministers and the CEOs of international organizations (IMF, World Bank (WB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank), the Ukrainian prime minister and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and at the next stages, there are the G7 countries, including large non-EU countries.
The high-ranking officials at the political level of coordination meet four times a year, and the leadership is the EU and the United States, Rashkovan added.
He emphasized that at the operational level, the deputies of the chief executives and the Sherpas, who still need to be identified in certain countries, jointly with representatives of the international organizations and Ukraine would meet every fortnight.
The IMF alternate executive director noted that this has in fact been an extension and repurposing of the existing EC-Independent Fiscal Institutions (IFI) platform. He added that the IMF and the European Commission have been the coordinators and the secretariat, while the IMF has provided the macro framework.
According to him, the third level already exists, namely, the G7 ambassadors and representatives of the international organizations in Ukraine.
Rashkovan emphasized that the issue had been raised but not agreed upon at the Lugano conference on Ukraine's recovery.
As reported, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at an annual meeting of the IMF and the WB called for establishing a financial and economic platform for the coordination of donors and partners, which is some kind of "financial Ramstein," as soon as possible. This idea was backed by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Janet Yellen, and later by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other Ukrainian donor representatives.
The conference organized by the German G7 Chairmanship in Berlin highlighted the need to convene this platform as soon as possible and it was tentatively agreed that this could take place before the end of the year.
Ukraine needs the monthly budget deficit financing of $5 billion in 2022 and between $3 billion and $4 billion in 2023 plus $17 billion for emergency reconstruction.