On 3-5 June 2016, the IMF-World Bank Constituency Meetings 2016 represented by common executive directors and led by the Netherlands took place in Kyiv.
Ms Valeria Gontareva, Governor for Ukraine on the IMF's Board of Governors and Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, officially opened the meeting on 4 June.
In his welcome address to the meeting participants, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko expressed his gratitude to finance ministers and heads of central banks of 15 member states for their consistent support of Ukraine.
“Your assistance and solidarity are critical for achieving macroeconomic stabilization in Ukraine,” said the Ukrainian President.
Mr Petro Poroshenko reassured the meeting participants that Ukraine remains firmly committed to reforms, which are being implemented with the support of the IMF and the World Bank. The Ukrainian President called on international partners to consolidate their efforts to support Ukraine, which strives to create an environment conducive for foreign business and investors.
“Our key priority is the fight against corruption. Over the past 9 months, we have established a politically independent Anti-Corruption Bureau through joint efforts with our partners from the U.S. and the EU and the adoption of international best practices,” underlined the Ukrainian President.
NBU Governor Ms Valeria Gontareva pointed out that Ukraine has succeeded in addressing the key challenges it faced and demonstrated positive developments thanks to the support from the IMF, the World Bank and the IMF-World Bank Constituency member states.
«It is a great honor for the National Bank of Ukraine and for me personally to host the IMF-World Bank Constituency Meetings in Kyiv. We highly appreciate the support provided to Ukraine by our Constituency member states as part of cooperation programs. The EFF program opened a window of opportunities for Ukraine and we strive to take advantage of these opportunities in full,” said the NBU Governor.
In his turn, the Minister of Finance Oleksandr Danylyuk also expressed his gratitude to the meeting participants for supporting Ukraine on its reform path and underlined that Ukraine has returned to growth thanks to close and fruitful cooperation with the IMF and the World Bank.
“Ukraine has returned to growth. This was possible thanks to the support from the IMF, the World Bank and our Constituency member states. Domestic political instability has been left behind. The new government is firmly committed to delivering positive changes needed to set Ukraine on the path to growth and prosperity,” said Mr Danylyuk.
Executive Director at the Board of the World Bank Group Frank Heemskerk thanked the hosts, underlining that Ukraine is facing huge challenges economically, in terms of governance, as well as military conflict.
“I’m proud that the World Bank was ready to create an international package after Maidan revolution in 2014 with defined timelines, volumes, and commitments. We provided USD 2,4 bn for budget support and another USD 2.4 bn for investment vending to Ukraine”,- said Executive Director at the Board of the World Bank Group.
IMF Executive Director Menno Snel stated that he enormously enjoyed the Constituency meeting and thanked Ukraine for organizing and holding it.
“We had our Constituency meetings since 1995 together with the World Bank. For me it’s always an opportunity not only on bilateral basis, but also as a group, even more as a family, to come together and exchange views on various acute problems and modern economic trends. Our Constituency gives a platform for combining productive formal and informal discussions and meetings,- noted Mr. Snel. - This Constituency meeting is my last one. It has been my honor to represent your countries at the Executive Board, see your best efforts and endeavours, help out on your way of changes and reforms”.
Menno Snel also noted that the Constituency member participants had already two meetings on Friday, one of which was meeting with the students at the Kyiv-based Institute of International Relations.
“Honesty, I was so impressed that nevertheless Friday afternoon and simply beautiful weather outside the window, we had more than 250 people packed up in the conference room of the institute. Students all spoke English very well, were enthusiastic and had all kinds of questions about the IMF program and government plan for developing the country. Having such a strong human capital means Ukraine will have a great and successful future as a nation”,- concluded IMF Executive Director.
During the panel discussions, participants discussed a range of issues, including ensuring a sustainable economic future for the Constituency member countries, drivers and trends on global commodity markets as well as economic implications of migration.
For reference
IMF Constituency
The IMF comprises 189 member states split into groups in order to facilitate coordination. The respective group is led by a country with the highest quota in the group.
Ukraine is a member of the Dutch Constituency led by the Netherlands. This Constituency comprises 15 countries, including the Netherlands, Ukraine, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Croatia and Montenegro.
The interests of the IMF Constituency member countries in the IMF Executive Board are represented by Mr. Menno Snel, IMF Executive Director for the Dutch Constituency. .
WB Constituency
Similarly to the membership in the IMF Dutch Constituency, Ukraine is a member of the WB Constituency led by the Netherlands. This Constituency comprises 13 countries, including all the IMF Dutch Constituency member countries, except Belgium and Luxembourg. The interests of these Constituency member countries in the WB Executive Board are represented by Mr. Frank Heemskerk, Executive Director at the Board of the World Bank Group.
IMF-World Bank Constituency Meetings
The IMF-World Bank Constituency meetings represented by common executive directors are held annually in one of the member countries on rotation basis.
These meetings are traditionally an important annual event bringing together high-level officials and leading experts from the European and global financial community. The constituency meetings are usually attended by government representatives from IMF and WB member countries.
The head of the Ukrainian delegation at the group of IMF members is the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Valeria Gontareva and the head the Ukrainian delegation at the group of WB members is Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oleksandr Danylyuk.
To note, the Constituency Meetings 2014 were scheduled to be held in Ukraine. However, the meeting in Ukraine was rescheduled for 2016 due to the hostilities in the east of Ukraine.
The National Bank of Ukraine and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine acted as organizers of this event.