IMF changes mission head in Ukraine

Nikolay Gueorguiev, a deputy division chief at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) European Department, will lead the IMF mission in Ukraine, replacing Christopher Jarvis, IMF office in Kiev announced Tuesday. Gueorguiev will pay a short familiarization visit to Kiev in late June, the IMF press service said in a statement. The IMF delegation completed its previous visit to Ukraine in mid-April, pledging to continue talks on a 15-billion-U.S.-dollar stand-by program in near future. Negotiations between Ukraine and the IMF on the funding have been under way since February 2011, when the previous 15-billion-dollar loan program was frozen. The low utility tariffs for households, high fiscal deficit and lack of reforms in the post-Soviet country still remain the main stumbling blocks in the way of a new IMF loan.