Brussels, 22/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 22 July, the European Commission disbursed a loan of €600 million to Kiev, a sum corresponding to one third of the third micro-financial assistance plan approved by the EU in favour of Ukraine (see EUROPE 11354).
The protocol agreement on which the third assistance plan is based, which has been in force since early July, provides, amongst other things, for measures in Ukraine in return for the financial assistance aiming to improve the management of public finances, reform the energy sector, reinforce social safety nets and boost the business environment.
According to the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, the Commission is planning to disburse a further envelope of “1.2 billion euros in the coming months, subject to successful implementation of the economic and structural reforms”. His counterpart for the Euro, Valdis Dombrovskis, said that the disbursement of the aid reflects “the EU's unfailing determination to stand by Ukraine in these challenging times”.
With the guns still not entirely silent in the east of the country, Ukraine is negotiating a restructuring of its public debt with international creditors.
In total, the EU has already paid out more than €1.6 billion in the framework of two earlier macro-economic assistance plans, a tool designed to support the countries of its neighbourhood with serious problems encountered by the balance of payments. (Mathieu Bion)