Pritzker: U.S. to consider third $1 bln loan guarantee for Ukraine soon

"And we, the United States, our allies, and the international financial institutions, stand ready to support your efforts to improve the investment climate, integrate Ukraine into the global economy, and put this nation on a path to self-sustaining growth. As part of this work, I am pleased to announce that the President, working with Congress, intends to move forward with a third $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine in the coming months," she said at a press conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on October 26.

"This fulfills a U.S. commitment to consider providing a third $1 billion loan guarantee in late 2015 if the conditions warrant," she added.

In her words, she had an opportunity to discuss with President Poroshenko how the United States and Ukraine could use a third $1 billion U.S. loan guarantee to support continued progress in advancing reforms – including "reforms that will be important to unlock international investment into Ukraine, and lay the groundwork for a return to growth."

"Mr. President, sweeping economic reform is never easy, under the best of circumstances, not to mention when you also bear the responsibility for so many challenges – from managing the conflict in the east and relations with Russia, to strengthening the judiciary and law enforcement," she said.

"In America's government and business community, we fully appreciate the difficulty of this task. We applaud your efforts thus far, and you can rest assured that the United States stands with you and all Ukrainians today, tomorrow, and for the long term," she said.

Pritzker says that the most important issue for Ukraine now is to tackle corruption and conduct judicial reform.

"And the progress that the IMF and the U.S. government is promoting tracks with what our private-sector leaders have been emphasizing, and that was repeated in our conversations today with the president, which is a frank discussion about everything from energy reform, to capital controls, to taxation, to the most important issue, which is to address corruption and judicial reform. And the United States believes in Ukraine and is supporting Ukraine as it goes through this very challenging period of repositioning itself to be part of the world economy, and we stand with them, and have done so to date and will do so in the future," she said.

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