KIEV, Dec. 15 – An International Monetary Fund team will conclude technical discussions with the Ukrainian authorities by the end of this week, and the mission conducting policy discussions in the context of the IMF-supported stand-by program is expected to return to Kiev early next year, IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton said.

"I visited Kiev on December 13, for meetings with the president, prime minister and their new economic team. I was impressed by their vision for an economic transformation of Ukraine," he said in a statement on his visit to Ukraine, which was released early on Sunday.