Ukraine vows to meet IMF loan conditions

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said on Monday that his country stood ready to meet all the International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements needed to get a new bailout. "The government will meet all the conditions set by the IMF, because we have no other choice," Yatsenyuk said during a meeting with members of the European Business Association (EBA). The prime minister said his government was planning to carry out reforms in the social sector and raise utility tariffs to get the loan worth at least 15 billion U.S. dollars. Ukraine urgently needed fresh funds from the global lender to pay off its heavy public debts, he added. The IMF fact-finding team was to start a 10-day mission Tuesday in Kiev, where it would make technical assessment of Ukraine's economic situation and hold talks with the authorities over a possible bailout. Negotiations between Kiev and the IMF on the funding package had been underway since February 2011, after a previous 15-billion-dollar stand-by loan program was frozen. The talks over the new loan stalled last April over Kiev's unwillingness to fulfill the requirements to raise gas prices for households and to set up a floating exchange rate. The political crisis has cost Ukraine economically, as the country is facing a possible debt default. Ukraine needs some 35 billion dollars in aid to improve its economy, according to the country's Finance Ministry.