MOSCOW - The United States has stressed Ukraine’s need for an anti-corruption court, the US Embassy in Kiev said Sunday.
“On International Anti-Corruption Day, we stress the need to establish an effective High Anti-Corruption Court and to ensure anti-corruption institutions work together in fostering rule of law, and transparent and accountable government,” the US embassy tweeted.
In June, the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill to set up the anti-curruption court which was one of the main conditions for a new batch of financial assistance to Ukraine on the part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Kiev has been receiving loans as part of the IMF’s $17.5-billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) assistance package. The loans, which are part of a four-year program aimed at reviving the Ukrainian economy, were approved by the IMF back in 2015. So far, Kiev has received four installments of aid totaling $8.7 billion.
The IMF froze the aid payments in April, and the fifth payment was never disbursed because Ukraine had not met all of the fund’s requirements, which, apart from the anti-corruption court, also include regulations on gas pricing and a renewed tax policy.