US Treasury notes risks of undermining intl support if Rada delays passing budget

"Secretary Lew underscored the urgency of Ukraine meeting its commitments to the IMF and highlighted the risks of undermining critical international support if the Rada delays this effort until next year," the U.S. Department of Treasury reported quoting the December 22 telephone conversation between Secretary Lew and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk. According to the report, Lew consulted with Yatseniuk on the state of the negotiations that he and Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko have been engaged in with the Verkhovna Rada. As reported, ambassadors of G7 states earlier urged the Verkhovna Rada this plenary week to vote for the draft state budget 2016, along with the amendments to the tax legislation. Meanwhile, the adoption of the 2016 budget in parliament is delayed due to the late submission by the government among other reasons. In particular, representatives of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, which is the largest faction in the parliamentary coalition, and the Eurooptimists Association suggest passing the budget at the first reading before the new year and holding the second reading after a detailed discussion of each clause.