KIEV, Nov. 12 – President Viktor Yushchenko and the government still are far from reaching a compromise on the issue of social and economic policy as part of Ukraine's cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, Oleksandr Shlapak, the Presidential Secretariat's first deputy head, told journalists.

"We are still far from reaching those agreements required by the IMF," he said.

"Ukraine needs the resources of the IMF, of course, [but it will get them] only if we fulfill our obligations. We as a state need these [obligations], but not the IMF. But still we're not doing this," Shlapak said.