KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine hopes for $13 billion in external aid this year, including $7 billion from the International Monetary Fund, Finance Minister Oleksander Shlapak said on Thursday.

"This year the possible amount of external resources are $13 billion. We can expect to get about 7 billion from the IMF, the rest we hope to get at donor conferences from other creditors," Shlapak told journalists.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing By Richard Balmforth)