KIEV, Oct. 15 – The National Bank of Ukraine is in talks with the International Monetary Fund on the sending of a fund mission to Ukraine ahead of the October 28 parliamentary elections, Finance Minister Yuriy Kolobov said.

"The IMF leadership has recognized that they see progress and are ready to send the mission at any time - before or after the elections. As far as I know, the National Bank is holding talks to ensure that the fund's mission arrives before the elections and that its experts see that we are conducting a very responsible policy and are ready to cooperate," he said in an interview with the Mirror Weekly Ukraine newspaper.

At the same time, he said that the issue of increasing energy tariffs was a key issue in talks with the IMF, but now it is not as tough as it was before.