WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden emphasized to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in their Monday meeting the necessity for Kiev to implement reforms in the energy sector in order to fulfil its international debt obligations, the White House announced.
“The leaders agreed on the importance of Ukraine passing additional reform measures, including in the energy sector, to fulfil its commitments to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and other international financial institutions,” the White House said on Monday.
Ukraine's has a debt is $70 billion, of which $30 billion is an external debt to organizations including the European Investment Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Ukraine has received aid from the US and international creditors to avoid default, as well as tried to implement structural economic reforms.
However, the country remains racked by corruption despite reform measures, ranking 142 out of 175 countries, according to Transparency International’s corruption index.
