WASHINGTON, March 26 – The International Monetary Fund on Thursday urged Ukraine to approve legislation on banking regulations and on land reform as key requirements to qualify for its lending program.

The approval of the bills, which are currently in Parliament, would allow the parties to proceed towards finalizing the size of the program as Ukraine seeks to double the amount it wants to borrow.

“Adoption of legislation to improve the bank resolution framework and on land reform would allow moving forward quickly with finalizing the parameters of the new arrangement, with larger access than previously envisaged,” Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of IMF, said in a statement.

Ukraine and the IMF discussed $5.5 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan in December 2019, but subsequent outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic had increased the burden on the country with the government now seeking to expand the program to $9.5 billion.

“We are now talking about the main EFF program. But within the framework of this program, we are certainly holding discussions ... taking into account what is happening in Ukraine and the world, including the coronavirus,” Finance Minister Ihor Umanskiy said.

Georgieva said the discussions between IMF and Ukraine made ‘good progress.’

“This last week, very good progress has been made in the discussions with the Ukrainian authorities on the new Extended Fund Facility arrangement,” Georgieva said.

The Cabinet submitted the banking bill to Parliament earlier this week. The bill aims to protect the country's interests following a decision to nationalize insolvent or troubled banks and prevent tycoons from regaining control over their former assets.

An extraordinary parliamentary session to review the bill, as well as other measures to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, has been pushed back from March 26 to March 28 after a fourth lawmaker tested positive for COVID-19.

While the bill could have broad implications in Ukraine, it is widely known that its main purpose is to prevent Ihor Kolomoyskiy, the former co-owner of PrivatBank, from regaining ownership rights to the bank.

Most of the 103 banks that were either nationalized or had their licenses revoked in 2014-2016 were found to have been engaged in widespread third-party lending.

U.S.-based corporate investigative firm Kroll and attorneys at AlixPartners had found a hole of at least $5.5 billion in PrivatBank's balance sheet.

Kolomoyskiy has denied wrongdoing and maintains he is the rightful owner of PrivatBank. (tl/ez)