WASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund will visit Ukraine as soon as a new government is formed, the country's Finance Minister, Ihor Mityukov, said on Thursday.

He also said he was optimistic Ukraine would be able to reach an agreement with the IMF on the delayed tranche of a $2.6 billion, three-year loan. Mityukov spoke to Reuters in an interview following a meeting with IMF First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer.

"We just agreed with Fischer that a mission will go to Ukraine immediately after the new government is formed," Mityukov said, adding that there is a "good possibility" that the lending under the program will be resumed.

He said that there are a few structural issues that remain to be solved. "But as finance minister I don't see any reason why these structural benchmarks shouldn't be achieved," he said.

The minister said there are two key steps that need to be taken by Ukrainian authorities before lending will be resumed.

The first step is to take measures to improve the fiscal position of the budget and the second is the restructuring of Bank Ukraina, one of the country's top commercial banks. He said that the restructuring would begin with the help of the World Bank as soon as Mityukov returns home.

A few other smaller issues remain to be solved as well before an IMF deal can go ahead, Mityukov added. These relate to the regulation of exports and imports and better exchange of information.

As for a well-publicized dispute with the IMF over the duty on the export of sunflower seeds, Mityukov said he was confident that the issue could be resolved.

"I think we will be able either to resolve this problem or suggest compensatory measures for the liberalization of the trade," he said.

Mityukov, who was in Washington to attend the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank last weekend, also met with World Bank Vice President Johannes Linn. The two agreed that a World Bank mission will visit the country in the third week of May.