The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed to Interfax-Ukraine its decision to postpone the visit to Russia for consultations on Article IV of the statute, which caused protests from Ukraine and a number of other countries.

"Article IV consultations with Russia have been postponed while we gather all the necessary data and analysis for a rigorous consultation," an IMF representative said in response to the agency's request.

As previously reported, IMF Resident Representative in Russia Annette Kyobe said that as part of the upcoming consultations with Russia on Article IV, the IMF staff team will hold virtual discussions from September 16, and then travel to the country for in-person meetings.

"Under Article IV of the IMF's Articles of Agreement, the IMF staff team will discuss with officials the country's economic developments and policies," the statement reads.

According to information on the website of the IMF representative office in Russia, the last such mission under Article IV, which is usually held annually, was in May 2019. After that, there was another mission in November 2019 to discuss the current situation in the economy, its development prospects and economic policy.

On September 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed concern about the IMF's plans to resume cooperation with Russia and send a mission to Moscow. Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Andriy Pyshnyy and Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, in turn, called on the IMF to abandon the idea of ​​sending a mission to Russia.

Then, Bloomberg said a number of EU countries intend to challenge the IMF's decision to resume annual consultations with Russian economic authorities.

The fund itself, in response to a request from Interfax-Ukraine, named the stabilization of the economic situation in the country as the reason for its first visit to Russia since 2019.