KIEV, March 20. /TASS/. Kiev needs the next tranche worth $1 bln from the IMF as "air to breathe", Ukraine’s President Pyotr Poroshenko said at a meeting of the Council for Regional Development on Monday.

"This is not only $1 bln the country needs as the air, this is also a macro financial assistance from the EU (where we also met all the criteria) which will be granted once the money from the IMF is transferred to the account of the National Bank. This is 600 mln euros of extra funds," he said.

Poroshenko said that funds from international organizations will be directed "to specific projects", to "joint territorial communities" and will be used "to resolve issues ranging from the construction of infrastructure to energy saving."

Earlier on Monday, the IMF Board of Directors postponed the discussion of the anti-crisis program for Ukraine, which was scheduled for today. The discussion was expected to result in the third review of the program and providing the next credit tranche worth $1 bln to Kiev.

In March 2015, the IMF opened a four-year loan program worth $17 bln for Ukraine. The program envisages allocation of eight tranches. The IMF planned to review the program on a quarterly basis. By now Ukraine has received three of them: $5 bln, $1.7 bln and $1 bln. The last loan was granted in September 2016. This year, the National Bank of Ukraine expects six tranches from the IMF and the European Union for the total sum of $6 bln.