Arseny Yatseniuk Natalia Yaresko
Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk and Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko in Kiev Reuters

Ukraine must reach a deal to restructure its debt before the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reviews its bailout programme in June, according to IMF officials.

Kiev has a June deadline to restructure the debt and plug a $15bn ($10.1bn, €14bn) gap in its budget in order to secure a fresh wave of IMF financing.

Some analysts have suggested the timeframe could be too ambitious for Kiev. The country remains crippled by a military conflict in the east, while its hryvnia currency has collapsed as the economy entered recession.

Amid the turmoil, the IMF last month announced a new bailout package which would consist of $17bn in new loans as well as $15bn - $20bn write offs on its debts.

"It is vital that Ukraine and the creditors reach an agreement...before our June review. We want and expect that outcome," said IMF first deputy managing director David Lipton.

"It will be an important consideration in that review. Just as IMF needs assurance that Ukraine's reforms will succeed, we need to assurances that its financing is secured," he added.

Last week the main holders of Ukrainian debt formed a committee to represent collective interests at the debt talks and said they were resisting calls for Ukraine to write down its debts under a new IMF-led bailout deal.

Kiev has insisted that it will need to reduce the face value of the debt but it will struggle to achieve that before the June IMF meeting.

Under the IMF deal, Kiev has also had to push through economic reforms. Legislators last week passed an anti-oligarch law that is designed to promote free competition in the sector and reduce the influence of oligarchs who have dominated the natural gas sector for years.