An International Monetary Fund mission will visit Ukraine to review government policies at the end of August as the former Soviet republic seeks the next installment of a $15.6 billion bailout.

“An IMF mission headed by Mr. Thanos Arvanitis will visit Ukraine Aug. 29 to Sept. 9 to continue discussions,” Max Alier, head of the Washington-based lender’s Ukraine office, said today in an e-mailed statement.

Ukraine was granted its second IMF bailout in three years last July after the global recession cut demand for its exports, including steel, and the budget deficit swelled. So far, it has received two payments totaling $3.4 billion. A third, expected in March, was delayed after the government failed to raise the retirement age and increase household energy prices to help balance the budget, conditions set by the lender.

Having approved a pension overhaul in July, Ukraine “hopes to find understanding on gas prices,” Iryna Akimova, first deputy head of the president’s staff, told a news conference in Kiev today. The IMF may release $3 billion by the end of September, Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tigipko said June 22.

Bloomberg