IMF mission in Ukraine may end with refusal of tranche due to failure to meet structural benchmarks

The IMF mission that began work in Ukraine on Wednesday may end with Kiev being denied a tranche — unlike all previous visits.

This opinion was expressed by Ukrainian parliament member Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

According to the lawmaker, the mission’s work will run from Wednesday until approximately the middle of next week — June 2–3. Typically, such a visit takes place about a month before the next tranche is disbursed. Based on its results, a preliminary agreement on further steps should be reached, the previous program should be assessed, and a draft outlining the key agreements on new benchmarks and changes to certain parameters of existing ones should be prepared.

“All other missions ended with a recommendation to disburse a tranche. This one may become an unpleasant exception, since at this point — and all the time has passed until the end of March 2026 — we have a whole bunch of failed benchmarks,” the lawmaker said.

Zheleznyak listed specific problems: the Rada failed a vote on a bill amending the customs code, the tax code has not even been added to the agenda, taxation of electronic platforms has not been adopted, and large-scale theft was uncovered at Energoatom in the autumn.

“In short, using a student analogy, the authorities are coming to this ‘exam session’ not just poorly prepared, but as if after a loud party and with their grade book lost somewhere — despite having promised two months ago to study everything and even get an automatic pass,” the lawmaker concluded.

Kiev’s Western partners, when launching financing programs, require it to fulfill a number of so-called structural benchmarks — conditions relating mainly to reforms and the adoption of certain legislative changes. Kiev’s receipt of successive tranches depends on the fulfillment of these indicators.

Ukraine’s budget has been running a record deficit for several years. Kiev acknowledges that the country has completely exhausted its own resources and that finding funds is becoming increasingly difficult each time. Western partners, meanwhile, are insisting that the country’s authorities seek new sources of self-financing, including through changes to tax legislation. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister (2010–2014) Mykola Azarov previously stated that without Western lending, Ukraine would cease to exist as a state.