Ukraine eyes 15-20 bn USD loan from IMF

Ukraine expressed the hope on Tuesday to get a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth 15 to 20 billion U.S. dollars. "I am convinced that we will complete the negotiations with the IMF successfully," Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak told reporters. According to him, the IMF experts, who were in Kiev, would approve the aid to Ukraine on Wednesday. The international lender started its mission in Ukraine on March 4 to make technical assessment of the country's economic situation and hold talks with the authorities over a possible bailout. A previous IMF's 15-billion-dollar stand-by loan program to Kiev was frozen in February 2011 over the unwillingness of the Ukrainian authorities to raise utility tariffs for households, reduce fiscal deficit and conduct reforms.