KYIV, Jan 23 - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday she had urged President Petro Poroshenko to proceed with reforms quicker, Reuters reported.

“I highlighted the urgency for Ukraine to accelerate reforms and transition to stronger growth, which is needed to improve people’s living standards in a sustainable manner,” Lagarde said.

“I reiterated that the IMF stands ready to continue to support Ukraine, along with other international partners, in its reform efforts under President Poroshenko’s leadership,” Lagarde said.

The comments come two weeks after the IMF has urged Ukraine to accelerate selling state assets to increase private investments and boost economic growth.

The IMF earlier this month warned Ukraine that its economy had been weakening due to slowing investments and amid foreign investors’ complaints about difficult business environment.

Gösta Ljungman, IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine, made the statement after meeting Vitaliy Trubarov, the head of the State Property Fund, to deliver the message.

"The clear requirement of the IMF is to start selling [state-owned] companies in 2019 from the list of large asset privatization," Trubarov said after the meeting.

The slow pace of privatization is a major setback for President Petro Poroshenko and his government, underscoring failure to accelerate long-promised economic reforms.

Poroshenko is running for re-election in March, but is expected to face strong competition from a number of candidates that will criticize him for the government’s poor economic reform record.

The developments come amid dismal performance with privatization last year when only 2% of scheduled assets were sold to investors, forcing the government to borrow money instead to bridge budget gap.

Government critics blamed corruption when well-connected businessmen using loopholes in the legal system to stall privatization allowing them to continue access to state resources.

Ukraine last month won a new lending commitment from the IMF for $3.9 billion in loans that will help the country pay off foreign debts that are coming due. (tl/rt/ez)