KYIV, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Friday that he had proposed appointing former finance minister Oksana Markarova as the country's new ambassador to the United States.

"If she is appointed, Ukraine will have for the first time an ambassador to Washington, who is well known in the U.S. Administration, including the State Department and the Treasury, and as well in the IMF," Kuleba wrote on Facebook.

Ukraine is struggling to unlock a $5 billion programme the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved in June. The IMF disbursed the first $2.1 billion but delayed further tranches over concerns on anti-corruption reforms and the central bank's independence. (Reporting by Natalia Zinets; editing by Matthias Williams)