Key IMF Condition: Zelensky Approves Court to Handle Cases Against Officials

President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a bill establishing a new specialized high court to handle administrative cases against central government bodies, as per the website of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

Currently, Ukraine has two specialized high courts – The Anti-Corruption High Court and The High Court for Intellectual Property.

The creation of a new specialized high court was included in Ukraine’s memorandum with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Following the dissolution of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv (DACK) in 2022, Ukraine needed a new judicial body to handle administrative cases against government institutions.

According to First Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Finance Committee, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the IMF Board of Directors is set to review Ukraine’s request for its eighth tranche of financial assistance later this week.

The law, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in late February, provides for the creation of two new judicial bodies:

• Specialized District Administrative Court
• Specialized Appellate Administrative Court

Judges for these courts will be selected through a competitive process overseen by the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ), which must announce the competition within one month of the law coming into effect.

To ensure transparency, the HQCJ will establish an Expert Council to evaluate candidates based on integrity and professional competence. The council will be composed of three representatives from the Council of Judges of Ukraine and three from international organizations.

The Expert Council will be considered operational once at least four members are appointed, including at least two international representatives.

The same four-member requirement applies when the Expert Council determines a candidate is unfit for the position. If there is a tie, the HQCJ and the Expert Council will hold a joint meeting, where a majority vote will decide the outcome.

However, a decision will only be valid if at least two international representatives vote in favor.

At the beginning of March, Kyiv Post reported that the IMF and Ukrainian authorities had reached a staff-level agreement on the seventh review of Ukraine’s four-year, $15.5 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement.

This agreement marks the second-to-last step before the IMF’s Executive Board decides on the release of another $0.4 billion (SDR 0.3 billion). If approved, this would bring total disbursements under the program to $10.1 billion, according to an IMF press release.

What is the SDR?

According to the IMF, the Special Drawing Rights, or SDR, is an international reserve asset. The SDR is not a currency, but its value is based on a basket of five currencies – the US dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling.

The announcement coincided with a tense televised meeting on Feb. 28 in the White House Oval Office, wherein US President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of ingratitude for previous US assistance.

Despite the geopolitical tensions, the IMF confirmed that Ukraine has successfully met all necessary criteria for the next tranche, highlighting the country’s strong program performance.