WASHINGTON, May 01, 2:54 /ITAR-TASS/. Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund has endorsed a new anti-crisis program for Ukraine that envisions a loan facility in the amount of around $17 billion over the next two years, the IMF press service said Monday.

The first installment of the loan totaling $3.2 billion may be extended to the government in Kiev within days. Further installments will be made available upon the results of regular reviews of the Ukrainian authorities’ action under the program, or approximately once in every two months.