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World Bank to tie aid to Ukraine to economic reforms there

NEW YORK, March 14, /ITAR-TASS/. Allocation of financial aid to Ukraine in the amount of $ 3 billion will depend on the effectuation of structural reforms by the Kiev government, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in an interview with Bloomberg.

The report said that Kim, who met with acting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Washington this week, said it would not be easy for Ukraine to carry out the changes it has pledged.

“Even in the midst of all these political difficulties, they’re going to do things like remove fuel subsidies,” Kim said on Bloomberg TV’s “Market Makers” program.

“We feel that they’re moving forward, so we’re going to be able to move forward we think fairly quickly, if they continue on that path to being committed to those reforms,” he said.

Yatsenyuk is seeking financial aid from Western donors, including $15 billion from the IMF, Bloomberg said.

As he spoke to his hosts in Washington, he promised “real reforms” to stabilize the national economy, currently plagued by a sliding currency and deepening budget deficits.

The IMF has issued persistent calls to the Ukrainian government to reduce the deficit, to allow the currency to fluctuate and to stop paying out gas subsidies that amount to 7.5% of the Ukrainian economy.

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IAEA chief to have working contacts with Rosatom, no meeting with Putin is planned

Rafael Grossi may visit Russia in late May

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Russian Embassy to Austria denied participation in ceremony at Nazi concentration camp

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"Neither these missiles nor other weapons can help defeat the Russian Federation," Anatoly Antonov said

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