The Ukrainean parliament has failed to ratify a dealwith the World Bank that was intended to protect foreign investors from the risk of political and economic instability.

The five-year agreement mostly concerned the agricultural sector and the guarantees were to be backed by a special World Bank fund.

Parliament's finance committee had supported the deal.

However, the committee chairman Valeriy Alioshynsaid that it was voted down because the majority of Ukrainean deputies, who are former-Communists, were hostile towards foreign creditors.

The vote came as officials of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund arrived in Kiev to review projects in Ukraine.

The World Bank suspended cooperation with Ukraine last spring following the IMF's decision to freeze aid, because of stalled economic reforms.