Ukraine passes IMF's first review of new $15 billion program

The International Monetary Fund agreed to release the next tranche of a loan to Ukraine on July 20, paving the way for $690 million to be disbursed to Kyiv, despite the country failing to meet all of the loan program's targets.

The Washington-based lender called Ukraine's performance "broadly satisfactory" in a press release announcing its approval, but emphasized that several conditions of the program were either completed with a delay or missed entirely.

Ukraine is on its second wartime IMF program, which will lend more than $8 billion to Kyiv over four years to 2030. Kyiv, which relies on continued injections of foreign cash to keep its finances afloat, receives the cash in tranches as long as it keeps up with a pipeline of reforms, which aim to combat corruption, address tax avoidance, and de-shadow the economy.

The country's parliament repeatedly failed to pass through some of those conditions throughout the first months of 2026, amid widespread unpopularity of the changes. Most toxic was a package of new taxes, including the end of a VAT-exemption for self-employed entrepreneurs, a widely used employment status in Ukraine, a tax on small imported parcels, and a tax on income received from digital platforms, such as Uber.

The IMF has agreed to postpone those tax measures to later in 2026 and 2027, according to officials familiar with the latest agreement.

The fund has shown leniency on Kyiv throughout its lending to the war-torn country amid Russia's relentless assault.

“Ukraine continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of Russia’s devastating war," Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, said in a statement on July 20.

But she also said that continued reform implementation was vital for the country.

"The government is committed to accelerating the implementation of these reforms," said Serhii Koretskyii, Ukraine's newly appointed Prime Minister, in a post on LinkedIn on July 21, in response to the news.

"They are essential to maintaining access to external financing, strengthening financial resilience, and creating the conditions for recovery, long-term economic growth, and Ukraine’s accession to the European Union," he added.

Serhii Marchenko, the country's finance minister, also said that "considerable work lies ahead to advance structural reforms," referring to increasing domestic revenue mobilization and reducing the shadow economy.

While by no means the largest provider of cash, IMF programs crowd in other investment by giving confidence to investors that the country is on a path to shoring up its finances.

Ukraine and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement in June, but yesterday's decision was the final green light needed for the cash to be disbursed.