Ukraine expects IMF mission after upcoming elections, hopes to get $1.7 bln tranche by 2016 - Jaresko

"Expectations? All our efforts are aimed at getting the tranche before the end of the year," she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday. Jaresko said that the exact date of the visit is not yet available. She also said that the merger of the two tranches is impossible. Jaresko added that further international financial assistance of $2.3 billion is tied to this IMF tranche. The assistance includes another eurobond issue under the U.S. guarantees worth $1 billion, a $670 million tranche of macro-financial assistance from the EU, and a $300 million loan from Japan. The minister said that the Ukrainian government and the previous IMF mission, which stayed in Kyiv in September through early October, failed to agree on tax reform. "The IMF left because we are not prepared to say how to balance it (to reduce the expenses incurred by the tax reform)," Jaresko explained. According to her, other outstanding issues in the talks with the IMF include the further decisive steps to combat corruption and a series of reforms in some other areas.