The third 3.3-billion-U.S. dollar tranche of a loan program for Ukraine could be released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in early August if it is approved by the fund's executive board, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, head of the IMF 's mission to Ukraine, said here on Friday. 'We were able to reach a technical agreement,' Pazarbasioglu told a news conference. 'Ukraine has met all quantitative criteria and has made very good progress in strengthening the bank system.' Pazarbasioglu said the IMF mission will propose that its executive board approves the third tranche of the 16.4-billion-U.S. dollar loan. However, she stressed that Ukraine could get the third tranche if the country's authorities met conditions including winning parliament's approval to mend banking legislation. 'Ukrainian and IMF negotiators had agreed on the text of changes to banking law needed for Ukraine to qualify for this third tranche of money, and the success of the Friday agreement was contingent on Ukraine's often-fractious parliament passing the new rules,' she added. 'It is extremely critical that they (Ukraine's parliament) get this done,' she said. Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko said at the press conference that her government will use 1.9 billion out of the 3.3 billion dollars to repay its foreign debt. The rest will be 'used according to the cooperation program with the IMF,' she added. The IMF approved the two-year loan program for Ukraine last November and transferred the first installment of 4.5 billion dollars immediately. The fund withheld its aid program in early February, citing Ukraine's failure to trim government spending, which was one of the key requirements Kiev had to meet if it wanted to receive the aid. The IMF resumed talks with Ukraine on April 8 after Ukraine gave assurances that it would make legislative changes to live up to the terms of the international bailout. Ukraine received the second tranche of the loan on May 8, almost three months later than expected. Ukraine is among the countries hit hardest by the global financial crisis, with its GDP growth decreasing to 2.1 percent in 2008, compared to 7.6 percent a year before. In the first quarter of this year, Ukraine's GDP plunged by 20.3 percent compared with the same period of 2008. 