EU and IMF Seeking Financial Backers for Ukraine Rescue Plan – Reports

According to reports in the German media, the EU and IMF are making plans to plug the $15 billion dollar gap in Ukraine's finances with a conference to attract lenders willing to invest money in Ukraine.

Senior European Union officials have disclosed that an 'International Investment Conference' is to be held in Kiev in April in the hope of attracting investment for the country, struggling with war and a shortfall in its finances officially estimated to be $15 billion, according to Die Welt.

Sources in the EU Commission told the newspaper that in the coming weeks Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis will hold talks on preparations for the conference, the prerequisite for which is the implementation of reforms by the government in Kiev, including steps to combat corruption.

Delegates from the EU, International Monetary Fund [IMF] and United Nations, as well as numerous representatives from individual Western states are expected to participate at the event with the aim of collecting the required $15 billion in financing.

In April last year the IMF approved a $17 billion aid program, of which $3.2 billion was to be paid immediately to enable Ukraine to pay its debts, and the remainder over two years. A team from the IMF is currently in Kiev assessing the government's request for more funding, having extended its stay after initially being scheduled to leave the capital at the end of last month.

On January 8, the EU announced a medium-term loan package for Kiev which could reach €1.8 billion (just over $2 billion US), to be distributed over the course of 2015 and 2016 contingent on its implementation of economic and financial policies agreed with the EU and IMF. Funding from the April conference proposed by its Commission is designed to come from donors who will require the implementation of specific provisions in return for cash, and eventually expect a return on their investment.