KIEV Ukraine AP An International Monetary Fund mission arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday for a four-day visit to check whether the former Soviet republic was meeting conditions for the next tranche of a dlrs 2.2 billion loan. The visit of the IMF team headed by Mohammed Shadman-Valavi follows that of another IMF delegation last month. That mission left without announcing whether Ukraine qualified for the next loan installment. It also comes as the leftist-dominated parliament gears up for battles with the government over the Cabinet's 1999 budget draft which forecasts a slight economic growth and a tiny deficit 0.6 percent. The document is due to be discussed in the first reading this week. Many in parliament want more spending on social needs which might not be to the IMF's liking. The IMF suspended cooperation with Ukraine last spring to show displeasure with the country's slow pace of economic reforms. But in September the fund announced that it was satisfied with Cabinet's reform steps and approved the three-year aid package of dlrs 2.2 billion. Kiev already has received about dlrs 340 million of the loan. Approval of each new installment is conditioned on Ukraine's sticking to its projected budget deficit inflation and foreign currency reserves. The IMF has expressed concerns over the government's persistent failure to raise enough budget revenues and said reforms in the key sectors of economy energy and agriculture and administrative reform were going too slowly. The fund has also sharply criticized Ukraine's proposals to print money to pay off some government debts. Ukraine's government is caught in a vicious circle of non-payments. It is owed over 9 billion hryvna dlrs 2.6 billion in unpaid taxes while its own debt in unpaid pensions and wages totals more than 3 billion hryvna dlrs 875 million. IMF officials say Ukraine's overall economic situation has become more complex since the loan was approved. They have noted that the credibility of Ukraine's financial market has been undermined by the economic crisis in Russia and Ukraine's economic development could slow with a possible gross domestic product decline. Ukrainian leaders meanwhile have urged the fund to soften its lending conditions especially those concerning tax collection and social welfare payments saying the cash-poor government was unlikely to implement them. Still Ukraine's National Bank chairman Viktor Yushchenko voiced hopes last week that the talks would be successful adding that the sides were working on possible revisions to the loan deal. Ukraine maintains it needs foreign aid to repay a mounting foreign debt before it can improve tax collection and introduce reforms needed to boost economic growth. sms/adc APW19981201.1393.txt.body.html APW19981201.0391.txt.body.html