This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/imf-says-it-will-provide-ukraine-with-up-to-18b-in-assistance-over-next-2-years/2014/03/27/5b2a2a5a-b58d-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html?wprss=rss_world

The article has changed 13 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 7 Version 8
Yulia Tymoshenko to run for president of Ukraine; IMF to provide up to $18B in aid Former Ukraine leader to run for president; IMF moves on $18 billion in aid for the country
(35 minutes later)
KIEV, Ukraine — Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Thursday she would run in a planned May 25 presidential election, as the country tries to transition to a new government and cement a deepening alliance with Europe. KIEV, Ukraine — Yulia Tymoshenko, who for a decade has made Ukrainian politics an impassioned melodrama, said Thursday that she would run for president in the May 25 election.
Tymoshenko lost a prior bid for president in 2010 to Viktor Yanukovych, whose eventual ouster last month in the face of mass demonstrations sparked Russia’s recent takeover of Crimea. The former prime minister, who was freed from prison a month ago and released from the hospital a week ago, is facing what may be her last opportunity to reclaim the affection of Ukrainians that she squandered after the Orange Revolution of 2004 thrust her into a position of power.
She was jailed for much of Yanukovych’s time in office and released after his government fell. On a day when Ukraine reached an agreement with International Monetary Fund that will bring it as much as $18 billion in loans, plus an additional $9 billion in associated assistance from the West — as well as a day when Ukraine won a 100 to 11 vote in the United Nations General Assembly declaring Russia’s annexation of Crimea illegitimate – Tymoshenko asked for another chance.
“I consider [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to be Ukraine’s enemy number one,” Tymoshenko said Thursday at a news conference in Kiev. A new poll suggests that it’s a slim one.
Despite her reputation as a powerful prime minister, she is considered a long-shot candidate in a vote that will be watched closely both for the way it is conducted and its potential to bring a solidly pro-Western government to power. She has always been a bundle of contradictions. But that hasn’t always been a handicap in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s growing need for European and U.S. support was evident Thursday when the International Monetary Fund announced it will provide Ukraine up to $18 billion in assistance over the next two years, part of a far-reaching effort to keep the country from plunging into default and to steady the nation as it attempts to build democratic institutions. She was the chief nemesis of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, who made sure she spent most of his presidency incarcerated. Yet she has tended to get along well with Yanukovych’s sponsor, Russian President Vladimir Putin. She made her fortune in the natural gas business. She met her downfall over a natural gas deal with Russia, which Yanukovych said was too generous to Moscow.
At a news conference in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, President Obama called the IMF agreement “a major step forward,” and he urged Congress to approve a U.S. aid proposal now pending in the Senate. Putin said last year that she should be released from prison, where she had been sent for “abuse of office.”
On Thursday, she said, “I consider Vladimir Putin to be Ukraine’s enemy number one.”
That, of course, comes after Russia’s takeover of Crimea, and Putin’s threats against the rest of Ukraine.
Tymoshenko, who is from the eastern, Russian-speaking city of Dnepropetrovsk, portrays herself as a Ukrainian heroine, with her unmistakable blonde braid wrapped around her head like a loaf of artisanal bread.
If she is to make headway in the eight weeks remaining before the election, she has to overcome two rivals: Petro Poroshenko, the chocolate king of Ukraine, and Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing champion turned politician.
According to one recent national poll, conducted March 14-19 by the Center for Social and Marketing Research, Poroshenko, a businessman who runs Ukraine’s favorite confectionary company, is on top, with support from nearly 25 percent of registered voters, followed by Klitschko with nearly 9 percent. Tymoshenko was running third, backed by slightly more than 8 percent of voters.
Among several other candidates, Oleh Tiahnybok, leader of the right-wing Svoboda party, considered by Russia to be a dangerous extremist, was favored by less than 2 percent of voters, according to the poll.
The IMF deal, to extend over two years, is part of a far-reaching effort to keep the country from plunging into default and steady the nation as it attempts to build democratic institutions.
Tymoshenko’s announcement was a reminder to the whole country that steadying the nation is not what she’s about. Her bickering with her Orange Revolution partner, Viktor Yushchenko, helped to undermine progress after 2004. She declined to pursue the sorts of legal reforms that might have enabled her to stay out of prison when a vindictive Yanukovych came after her following his election victory in 2010.
She has been in the limelight for half of Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign nation – years during which it fell far behind its western European neighbors economically and failed to cement an identity as a unified nation.
But she’s tough and determined, and her supporters, though limited in numbers, adore her.
The money from the IMF comes with stringent conditions. Ukraine is facing a period of sharp cutbacks in social spending. The interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said Thursday that the government expects the GDP to decline 3 percent with the new package of loans and reforms. He said it would decline 10 percent without it.
At a news conference in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, President Obama called the IMF agreement “a major step forward” and urged Congress to approve a U.S. aid proposal now pending in the Senate.
“This is a concrete signal of how the world has united around Ukraine,” Obama said, adding that the agreement would help spur democratic and economic reforms in the country.“This is a concrete signal of how the world has united around Ukraine,” Obama said, adding that the agreement would help spur democratic and economic reforms in the country.
Separately, the United Nations General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday saying that Crimea’s vote to secede from Ukraine was not valid. The measure passed 100 to 11, with 53 countries abstaining. Putin had been eager to enlist Ukraine as a member of an economic union he is creating along with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia. When Yanukovych was ousted in February and Ukraine backed away from the union, Putin sent troops into Crimea, after which the autonomous and largely pro-Russian region staged a hastily organized referendum on whether to join Russia. After the overwhelming vote in favor, Putin annexed it.
In Washington, Congress moved closer to approving an aid package for Ukraine that will provide $1 billion in loan guarantees and about $150 million in direct U.S. assistance, as well as codify stiff sanctions against senior Russian officials. Ukrainians fear further incursions and difficult financial relations with Russia.
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the deal at midday Thursday, sending it back to the House for final approval. Around the same time, the House voted 399 to 19 to approve a similar aid package. House and Senate leaders were expected to sort out remaining minor differences before sending the final deal to Obama for his signature this week.
According to one recent national poll in Ukraine, independent member of parliament Petro Poroshenko ranked as the leading candidate for president, with former boxer and opposition politician Vitali Klitschko, who has demanded tougher Western economic sanctions on Russia, polling second.
The poll conducted March 14-19 by the Center for Social and Marketing Research showed Poroshenko, a businessman who runs Ukraine’s favorite chocolate company, on top with support from nearly 25 percent of registered voters, followed by Klitschko with nearly 9 percent. Tymoshenko was running third, backed by slightly more than 8 percent of voters.
Among several other candidates, Oleh Tiahnybok, leader of the right-wing Svoboda party, was favored by less than 2 percent of voters, according to the poll, which was conducted in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea, which broke away and joined Russia this month. Russia considers Tiahnybok to be a dangerous extremist.
Tymoshenko made a fortune in the natural gas business in the 1990s, and her tenure as prime minister was widely seen as falling far short of the ideals of the 2004 Orange Revolution that brought her to power. On the night she was released from prison, she made an appearance at Kiev’s Independence Square, the protest site known as the Maidan, to a tepid welcome.
Many in the crowd saw her as emblematic of the problems of Ukraine’s political culture, which they are hoping to transform.
Ukraine is in dire economic straits after years of inefficient management and plunder by corrupt officials. Economic output is expected to fall by as much as 10 percent this year unless reforms are enacted, interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Thursday. The country is also under intense pressure from Russia, which turned against Kiev after the Moscow-backed Yanukovych left office and the new government began developing a closer relationship with Europe.
Putin was eager to enlist Ukraine as a member of an economic unit he is creating along with some former members of the Soviet Union. When Ukraine backed away and Yanukovych was ousted, Ukraine’s autonomous and largely pro-Russian Crimea region staged a hastily organized referendum on whether to join Russia. After the overwhelming vote in favor, Putin annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Ukrainians now fear further incursions and difficult financial relations with Russia.
“Following the intense economic and political turbulence of recent months, Ukraine has achieved some stability, but faces difficult challenges,” Nikolay Gueorguiev, IMF mission chief for Ukraine, said in a statement Thursday. “The economic outlook remains difficult, with the economy falling back into recession.”“Following the intense economic and political turbulence of recent months, Ukraine has achieved some stability, but faces difficult challenges,” Nikolay Gueorguiev, IMF mission chief for Ukraine, said in a statement Thursday. “The economic outlook remains difficult, with the economy falling back into recession.”
The country currently is unable to borrow money on private markets, raising the risk of default when foreign debt payments fall due over the coming year. The country is unable to borrow money on private markets, raising the risk of default when foreign debt payments fall due in the coming year.
”
Ukraine also is counting on help from the United States and the European Union. Support from the wider international community would provide Ukraine with about $27 billion, including the IMF assistance.
The aid will require a wide range of reforms in monetary policy, governance and spending that are likely to inflict painful cuts in social programs. The reforms present a test for Ukraine’s interim government, whose members have been in office only since Feb. 27 and are arranging the upcoming presidential election.
Gueorguiev said the IMF board is expected to approve the loan for Ukraine next month, assuming the government follows through with “a strong and comprehensive package of prior actions aiming to stabilize the economy and create conditions for sustained growth.”Gueorguiev said the IMF board is expected to approve the loan for Ukraine next month, assuming the government follows through with “a strong and comprehensive package of prior actions aiming to stabilize the economy and create conditions for sustained growth.”
The White House welcomed the IMF announcement. In a statement released Thursday, it said, “The IMF program will be a central component of a package of assistance to support Ukraine as it implements reforms and conducts free and fair elections that will allow all the Ukrainian people to determine the future of their country.” In New York, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday declaring that Crimea’s vote to secede from Ukraine was not valid. Azerbaijan, also a former Soviet republic, voted with Ukraine. Kazakhstan abstained, as did China and 56 other nations.
Putin agreed to provide Ukraine with $15 billion in assistance, and the price Ukraine paid for natural gas from Russia was cut by 35 percent.
But that deal collapsed when Yanukovych was ousted — after Russia had provided only about $3 billion. The Russian energy giant Gazprom has said that even at the lower prices, Ukraine has fallen behind in its payments by $1.5 billion. Yatsenyuk said Thursday that he expects the price Russia charges for natural gas to jump significantly on Tuesday — to a level above what it was charging before last fall’s discount.
Slovakia earlier this week announced that it would work with Ukraine on a plan to reverse the flow in some pipelines and ship gas eastward to Ukraine. One potential source for that project could be liquefied natural gas from the Middle East.
Englund reported from Moscow. Scott Wilson in Rome contributed to this report.Englund reported from Moscow. Scott Wilson in Rome contributed to this report.