Ruslan Kravchenko, the governor of Kyiv Oblast, and Filip Pronin, the governor of Poltava Oblast, were dismissed on Dec. 30 and are expected to be appointed to new positions soon.
The funds come as already the sixth tranche disbursed to Ukraine under the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, raising the amount provided so far to $9.8 billion.
Ukraine and the World Bank signed a loan agreement worth $4.8 billion, which Kyiv will use for priority budget expenditures, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine's budget deficit for 2025 will be $35 billion, but assistance from partners will cover roughly $20 billion, PM Denys Shmyhal said on Aug. 27.
"Now we are constantly discussing with our partners that we need additional financial assurance because the war will continue in 2025, and we need to have a buffer," the minister said. According to Marchenko, the current pledges from partners will not be sufficient.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) on July 29 carried out a cyberattack against the Russian central bank, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.
Based on the deal, Ukraine stands to save $11.4 billion over the next three years and $22.75 billion by 2033, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal explained.
Proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party, the legislation seeks to postpone payments of international sovereign debt and state-guaranteed obligations past its August deadline.
After Vladimir Putin's visit to China, specially authorized smaller banks in border regions have enabled Russian entities to set up non-resident accounts with Chinese banks, Reuters wrote.
Ukraine needs $9.5 billion for rapid recovery this year, namely in the defense industry, energy, housing, agricultural, natural resources, and the IT sector, the Finance Ministry said on June 20.
The loan should be repaid using interest from some $300 billion in frozen Russian assets.
There is a gap in Ukraine's state budget of $5 billion needed for military expenditures, Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko told in an interview with Hromadske Radio on May 22.
"Thanks to the funds raised from domestic government bonds, we were able to finance more than 200 days of our security and defense, which is equivalent to 15% of Ukraine's GDP (gross domestic product) in 2023. Investments in government bonds have become the second largest source of financing for the State Budget after international aid," Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said.
Some Chinese banks Major Chinese are limiting payments for transactions with Russia due to concerns about U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported on April 29, citing unnamed trading and banking sources familiar with the matter.
State railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia's failure to fulfill its freight contracts and sell core assets were the main reasons it lost $436 million (Hr 11.9 billion) in 2020, according to a Nov. 23 report by the Accounting Chamber, Ukraine's top state auditor, that surfaced in the media on Dec. 20.
