IMF chief said that Ukraine will continue to need assistance even in peacetime

Ukraine will continue to need financial support even after the conflict is settled.

This was stated by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in an interview with the program Face the Nation on CBS News.

The program’s host, Margaret Brennan, noted that the IMF is the second-largest foreign donor to Ukraine after the United States in terms of assistance provided, and mentioned “some problems with putting things in order inside the country.”

Georgieva stressed that Ukraine “has done a great deal,” including in tax collection, which, according to her, amounted to 34% of GDP.

“Just imagine how few countries collect even half that amount. So we support Ukraine because it has proven its responsibility as a partner. That is why it deserves the financial support it is receiving,” she said.

According to the IMF chief, the Fund has a new support program for Ukraine that will be implemented regardless of whether peace talks succeed or not.

“We are working with Ukraine so that it can continue along this reform path, which gives it credibility in receiving large-scale financial support from the rest of the world, especially from Europe,” Georgieva added.

She also shared her impressions from a trip to Ukraine “in the middle of a very cold winter,” when the country still continued to “function” — for example, people “got up and went to work in freezing weather.” According to the IMF head, this is proof of their “determination to keep their society strong” and sufficient grounds for Ukraine to deserve support from the Fund.

Earlier, the IMF said that Ukraine’s population is shrinking faster than that of any other country in the world.