With reports that Ukraine’s gas supply could be turned off imminently and fears that the country is on the brink of bankruptcy, Ukraine government officials told CNBC the country is relying on International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid to come to its rescue.
“This is a very serious financial crisis there’s no question, and we’re looking forward to the IMF board meeting and the IMF first tranche (of aid) because it’s a critical time,” Natalie Jaresko, finance minister of Ukraine, told CNBC Wednesday.
International financial aid of around $40 billion – with around $17 billion coming from the IMF – was pledged earlier this month but the money is yet to be released and is reliant on several reforms being introduced by the Kiev government.
Speaking to CNBC in Kiev, U.S.-born Jaresko said she was confident that the Ukraine government was doing it all it could to ensure the money was released swiftly.
“We’ve worked very quickly over the last two months to come to a program of Ukrainian reforms so I believe we will be doing everything we need to do to ensure that money does come, and comes as soon as possible.”
