Ukraine PM says gas price review wanted by IMF is underway
Reuters
Published Sep 16, 2017 07:17AM ET
Ukraine PM says gas price review wanted by IMF is underway
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman, said on Saturday the government was reviewing the way it sets domestic gas bills to make sure market prices are taken into account - a bid to answer demands under a $17.5-billion IMF aid program.
The long-delayed disbursement of a next tranche of IMF loans also depends on pension reform and the creation of an independent judicial body to tackle endemic graft.
"We believe that the gas price should be determined in accordance with the gas market and in accordance with a formula. The most important thing is for this formula to be fair," news agency Interfax Ukraine quoted Groysman as saying at the annual Yalta European Strategy conference.
"At the moment our technical division is working on verifying the formula that determines the gas price," he said.
The International Monetary Fund wants gas prices to be set by external market dynamics through an automatic formula to stop tariffs being set unsustainably low as a populist measure.
Ukraine has so far received $8.4 billion from the IMF, helping it recover from a two-year recession following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the outbreak of a Russian-backed insurgency in its industrial east.
On Friday, the IMF's first deputy managing director, David Lipton, said Ukraine risked undoing progress made under the program and urged the authorities to push ahead with reforms needed for the next loan tranche.
Earlier on Saturday Groysman said Ukraine needed to set up an independent anti-graft judicial body quickly - adding that it did not matter if it was a separate court, as envisaged by the IMF, or a chamber to existing courts.
"We need to quickly establish an instrument that would allow 'corruptioneers' to face justice and whether it's called an anti-corruption chamber or court doesn't matter," he told the conference.
On Friday President Petro Poroshenko said an anti-graft chamber within the existing court system would be more feasible in the short-term - a proposal that reform activists have said would limit the independence of the body.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.